FACE TOMORROW

Perfectly executed and determined positive Y2K//SXE hardcore from Seattle. Of course, you would have guessed that if you had read the "Rain City Straight Edge" thing on the cover. Moshes on point, breakdowns on lock, cheat beat fastcore parts dialed in. It's all of the things, you know? And some of you....some of you know exactly what I mean. 

RAIN CITY STRAIGHT EDGE

HERE

PROPIA DECISION

Maximum strength late '90s fastcore from Argentina. These kids would have destroyed audiences in North America, just enough of the melodic singing (I am not talking pop punk melodic singing...it's a '90s hardcore thing, you either get what I mean or I'm just going to keep confusing you) and blistering speed on the fast parts. The crew vox juxtaposed against the lead singer and the blistering delivery of riff after killer riff (if you need to pick one song to convince yourself, it's "Operacion"), these kids were doing shit right. <<***see below***>> PROPIA DECISION combine proto-fastcore, relentless contemporary Japanese hardcore (I'm talking the US influenced stuff like contemporaries NUNCHAKU or YELLOW MACHINE GUN) and the aforementioned impassioned vocals that really make this shit stand out. I'm rambling. Because I really like this tape and I want you (yes: YOU) to listen to it....and hopefully you will like it too. Punk is cool, I super like punk. Also hardcore. And if there are more recordings, then please drop me a line and get my address. 

PROPIA DECISION

*** <<...for context, this was released the year the WHN? and LIFES HALT first crossed paths...further reinforcing the hopefully-all-to-obvious fact that the world outside North America is continuously cranking out killer bands and records (and tapes) that get passed over simply because of geography....but I digress...>>

PUBLIC SUICIDE

This 2013 demo is the most glorious collision of early '00s fastcore, ugly '90s SoCal powerviolence and boys making dogpiles all over other boys in the spirit of East Coast hardcore. PUBLIC SUICIDE hit all of the buttons, they flip every switch. And they turn all of those switches to the "ON" position. Five tracks, 4 minutes and 14 seconds - and 64 of those seconds are the instrumental intro. It's so simple, there's no reason it should be this good.....and yet it is totally this good. 

PUBLIC SUICIDE

ARRYAM

Well, here you go, Noise Mongers. And in advance, I say "You're Welcome." The start/stop mania of "80" and those mental sounding drum rolls...that's where I really felt hooked, but you might get sucked in even sooner. Seoul's ARRYAM harness all of the face melting power of blown out noise punk and present it with the fury of early '00s fastcore, trading DBeats for blast beats and making two subgenres seem fresh and exciting in the process. Dongwoo (SCUMRAID) must have shredded his throat laying down these vocals, and JP (MY MAN MIKE) has genuinely reinvented relentless with his drums....this thing is just a fukkn beast. A dozen creamers in less than 13 minutes, but I dare say that most listeners wouldn't be able to handle any more than that. 

DANCE VIOLENCE

NINE CURVE

The title of this banger should tell you everything you need to know, right? I sometimes wonder if there will come a time when this brand of high energy positive determination will ever not appeal to me...and I truly hope that time never comes. Maybe these sounds are passé to some, but these sounds are very very real to me, and even though I might go days (or weeks) without ever pointing my index finger to the sky and silently singing along to something that once meant something greater, it just takes a few seconds of loosely blasting drums and powerfully catchy guitars to remind me how much this shit moves me. Give "Notice" (perhaps the most dated track on this 199? demo) a full volume listen and you'll see what I mean....the whoa-ohhs at the 2:20 mark say it all. So yeah, 18ish year old melodic/posi fastcore from Tokyo. Enjoy and remember.

NINE CURVE

PODEMOS SER TUS HROES

Raw and ripping fastcore from Puerto Rico, P.S.T.H. cranked out a shitpile of demos during their brief run in the late '90s/early '00s. Some of the tracks are pretty basic punk delivered with a fervor that pulls you in....and then they level you with full speed skate thrashers. Make no mistake, this one is raw and nasty sounding - which means it sounds fukkn perfect. 

ANTI-COMERCIAL, RAPIO Y AL GRANO

CHRISTMAS SHIT // AJUDANTI DI PAPAI NOÉU

Oh come on...I had to post this today, right? Fukkn typical. '90s chaotic hardcore from two Espirito Santo, Brasil bands. Djeh nah dah....

SPLIT TAPE

FLIPOUT A.A

CONQUEST FOR DEATH has toured with these monkeys twice now, so I am totally biased....but Tokyo's FLIPOUT A.A are one of the fiercest and most fun live bands I've seen in the last decade. Or two. Light speed Japanese fastcore featuring current and former members of LIE, HAMMER, NAMASTE, THE FANGS and many others...you can taste the sweat. All energy, all go...their name for our tour(s) pretty much sums it up: FASTCORE THRASHCORE HARDCORE CORE-CORE PUNK-PUNK ANNIHILATION. Looking forward to our trip to Brazil in 2017, you fukkrs!!!

SOUTHEAST ASIAN TOUR TAPE 2015

HORSE & DEER

Oh...I'm sorry, did you miss these freaks earlier this year because you don't live in the Bay Area? Sometimes, even amongst the bullshit...sometimes we still manage to win around these parts. Manic insanity from Tokyo, HORSE & DEER plow through 8 tracks of frantic distorted Plasma Speed Punk - launching themselves between riffs the same way they launched themselves through the air. Song construction that defies description, but casts an eye towards the energy they bring to every fukkn live show. Next level.

STRANDING

DUDMAN

Ripping fastcore from Japan - I never got to se these dudes in the flesh, but their brand of start/stop action has always appealed to me. Snagged the (rehearsal?) tape fromth e drummer when his other band was on the West Coast in 2001....and fifteen years later these tracks still burn hard. A dozen bangers in 14 minutes. Get with it, punk. 

DUDMAN

TEAR IT UP

From the ashes of DEAD NATION came TEAR IT UP. We had seen and played with DEAD NATION already, and their Painless EP is as close to flawless as anything from the era....so I admit that I was skeptical. I shouldn't have been. Six songs, five minutes. Ripping new millennium US hardcore punk from fukkn Jersey. Shit holds up, y'all. 

TEAR IT UP

DISTRICT

Five songs. Eight minutes. Wild style Japanese hardcore with heavy '80s DC and Thrash2K influences. The demo is titled Exciting & Super Real, and for good reason. File alongside period comrades like OUTLAST, JELLYROLL ROCKHEADS and TOTAL FURY -pure cream from start to finish...

EXCITING & SUPER REAL

KING DUMP

Few things better than popping in a completely random and unknown demo and getting your ass blown off, right? KING DUMP rip through five tracks of early '00s fastcore with a relentless pace and a brilliantly dated ska breakdown in "Emo Sux." Just for good measure, there's a seven song no-fi rehearsal recording featuring a MINOR THREAT cover tacked onto the end...if anyone has anything to add then I'm all ears (I'm sure we all are). 

TURTLE TIME

FAST FUCKERS // ШАРМ СС

Truly filthy and chaotic sound from Russia to start your week. FAST FUCKERS hail from Краснодар (Krasnodar), near the Black Sea on a little Russian horn surrounded by Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey and Kazakhstan (translation: really far from my house), and they crank out brutally fast and fukkd sounding hardcore with (accidental?) discordant metal tinges when they blast. AF and GAG covers have appears on previous releases...these kids know what's up and they are doing it right. Their buddies from ШАРМ СС (CHARM SS) come from Yakutsk, and in case you ever feel isolated, that charming little hamlet lies just FOUR DAYS' DRIVE to the east and north of Moscow...alternately, it's just a little further from Yakutsk to the North Fucking Pole than to head straight south to Beijing. Even in The Internet Age, I think that the most remote punk scene on earth has created, not surprisingly, some of the most demented sounds on earth. These five tracks are chaotic, disturbing, frustrating/frustrated, and so so good. This is the torment that North American bands so often try to manufacture. Seven digital and physical releases before this split and the death of their bassist in 2015...eternal hails for keeping things fucked up.

FAST FUCKERS // ШАРМ СС

Lost Cause Records: here

ШАРМ СС: here

FAST FUCKERS: here

PAHAA VERTA // YDINPERHE

Pure Finnish cream. Previously released tracks from two of Finland's most killerest fastcore rippers, combined for your ease and convenience. Both bands are lightning fast, and both manage to cram hooks and grooves into their distinctly Finnish takes on a style of breakneck that you might have thought went the way of the wall of noise guitar or delay-laden vocals...none of that here, young punks, just burner after burner after burner until it's over and you do it all again. Top tracks: "Tyhjaí Staí Vituts" from PAHAA VERTA (that double snare crack in the intro? soooo good) and "Jaíaí Kiekkoilija Jumalan Armosta" from YDINPERHE (probably the most "Finnish" sounding blast on their side, and when they go fast on this one? watch the fukk out). Well worth tracking down the wax too...but that's for someone else's blog.

PAHAA VERTA // YDINPERHE

HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS

Anyone who has ever met me knows that I'm going to jump at a band called HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS without hesitation. I confess that the intro almost made me regret that decision, but thankfully that disintegrated into "Must Go Faster" and then it was off to the races. Heavy on the tongue in cheek everything (especially dinosaurs), they thrash relentlessly and almost certainly drink with equal fervor. Get ready.

WHEN YA GOTTA GO

PEUR PANIQUE

I shared the 2011 demo a while back, but I think that France's PEUR PANIQUE got better after I did. The 61 seconds of "Gachis Permanent" sets the stage (and kinda validates the existence of fast hardcore), and the remaining baker's dozen tracks just keep on settling the score. Ferocious, blistering fastcore/PV with slow riffs that will bring you to your knees (or incite you to mosh the shit out of your bedroom). That 2011 demo takes up eight tracks, and the remaining six bangers (and they are basically all bangers) seem to come from two separate sessions...shit man, I don't care when they recorded them, I'm just happy that they did. It's worth noting that "A Quois Tu Penses?" has a sick Tragicore vibe absent from the rest of the tape...but mostly I just want More French Fastcore!

DEMOS: 2011 - 2013

N.E.K. // SEPTIX

Raw and chaotic fastcore/grind from Nagoya. SEPTIX are more primitive, while N.E.K. are a little heavier (and a little more heavy metal). We played with N.E.K. in 2007 at a weird upstairs rehearsal studio - some kids busted out some ALL YOU CAN EAT covers and had Devon sing but I missed it because I went to the store with Kiku. Also, all of the people were very very wasted.

N.E.K. vs. SEPTIX

CRAZY FUCKED-UP DAILY LIFE

16 more tracks of mania from Nagoya's CFDL. A fukkd guitar to be envied and emulated, a blistering pace, and simplicity drilled into your brain with devastating intensity. You know this drill.

CFDL DEMO '91

JUANITO 4 GUNS

Killer comp of mostly under-the-radar hardcore/pv bands. CALLATE from Chile start out with three tracks of frantic grind with crushing sludge dirges, then Japan's FLAT SUCKS dish out ultra chaotic spastic bursts that bring to mind acts like FUTURES and DKs - hard to put a finger on what exactly  they are doing, but suffice to say that when I was playing the tape my lady friend commented "wow, that is awful" to one song and "who's this? I like it" to the next. San Francisco's VENKMAN are up next - eight tracks of fastcore and comedy (typically at the same time) before our Italian friends xDELOREANx drop four downtuned numbers influenced by West Coast pv/thrashcore. All four acts are quality, and will inject a healthy dose of irreverence into your serious consumption of sounds. It's good to be a little irreverent.

JUANITO 4 GUNS