ENEMA SYRINGE

You might not want to trust me, and I understand that. Sometimes I steer you wrong, like the time I posted the interview with my father-in-law talking about heat stroke and hydrating enemas. Sorry. But surely you are by now smart enough to trust Chondritic Sound, yes? Good. They were nice enough last fall to repurpose two older recordings by ENEMA SYRINGE and present them with two short new pieces to create Flapper. It was a good move. Lo-fi disjointed repetition, minimal beats, and polite distortion make up the initial track, and then things slowly get darker and more chaotic. It's like a journey and an escape, all in just under twenty minutes.

FLAPPER

TORTURE CORPSE

Genuinely one of the most compelling and indescribable releases I've come across, Invocation Of Nirrti is also one of the best. The seldom used guitar will bring black metal hordes to the altar, but they will be lost and empty upon their arrival...the tracks breathe and grow, and grow more menacing as they do, and then the sound finishes without closure. The first time through, I found myself lying down next to the speakers, mouth agape, in total silence for several minutes after it was complete...I hope the same for you.

INVOCATION OF NIRRTI

COMING BACK TO HAUNT YOU

Early '90s European rough and tumble edge and 'core comp - from the hyper speed chugs from PROFAX that open the tape to the chaotic live X-LARGE track that wraps things up 90 minutes later, Coming Back To Haunt you is a killer glimpse into the less celebrated world of hardcore. THE CLOWN, LAST STRAW, X WOOLHEAD, HAMMERHEAD B.T., VITAKORN, ALL IN THE HEAD, and a slew of other bands you've never heard of....plus two rippers from MAN LIFTING BANNER. A heads up that a lot of the content here is live (or just generally raw), but personally I think that adds a little charm - the tape hiss just goes up with the volume. BETRAY (harmonics right out of the gate and straight into a whirlwind), ALL IN THE HEAD (pre-fastcore mania!) and POINT OF NO RETURN (best/worst bass tone ever) offer up my favorite tunes, in case anyone is keeping track.

COMING BACK TO HAUNT YOU

POINT OF NO RETURN

Stylistically similar to the early '00s Brasilian band of the same name, Holland's POINT OF NO RETURN dropped this rough piece of uncompromising teenage straight edge hardcore in 1990. Vocals cracking, tinny as shit drums buried under a perfectly filthy guitar that dominates the entire recording - stylistically this is early DC with edge breakdowns and just the right mix of ineptitude and earnest determination. When they talk about their scene you feel like they really believe it, and when they tempo stows to a steady mosh stomp you can feel the room start to move. Call it a guilty pleasure if you like but I feel no shame, and if you don't find the the "Go!" at 1:39 in "Limbo Wolfpack" then you might need to reexamine your musical likes and dislikes because hardcore might not be for you.

GLOVES ARE OFF

"I'd like to know where your ideals have gone

I'm sorry to say but your attitude's wrong

I don't even know if you mean what you say

Get the fuck out of my way

We have to live with your violent shit

I could surely do without it

You're getting me angrier bit by bit

But we'll get our revenge IN THE PIT"

OIL

I guess there was a time when bands like this were just "hardcore," the brief hooks, crew backing vox, breakdowns...all of it was hardcore and Holland's OIL had it all. This 1997 demo is a perfect time warp even if you've never heard these jams before today - it's all of the good shit from late '90s youth crew shits, without any of the shitty shit. I mean, it's not as good as OUTLAST, but "Your Words, Not Ours" is almost as good as "Empty Slogans," and that's a pretty bad ass track and nothing to fukk with so....I'm just sayin'. I feel like kids from OIL did other shit that people cared about later, but maybe I'm wrong? Either way, this demo as your legacy is a damn fine thing, so good job, Dutch dudes. 

OIL

SHIKARI

As a rule, I try to avoid posting tape reproductions of vinyl/CD releases since it kinda defeats the purpose of sharing music that has been denigrated to the cassette medium. There are exceptions of course (like when I taped the STRESS record so I could share it here without breaking my self imposed guidelines), and Holland's SHIKARI is a perfect example. A collection of vinyl releases (splits with PHOENIX BODIES, SEEIN' RED, AÇÃO DIRETA and the Robot Wars 10") and is a perfect example of metallic European chaos frequently tagged with the screamo label. Maybe the label is fair if you want to be literal, as the music is certainly emotional and there is definitely a lot of screaming, but to put a band like this in a box with a label is to do them a severe injustice. The killer metal/hardcore/emo sound from late '90s Germany (SYSTRAL, AKEPHAL) is surely present, but the vocals are high, constant and beyond intense while the drums are a never ending barrage - I cannot think of another way to set the foundation for the wall of guitars that front SHIKARI. Mournful progressions, desperate and all encompassing, drawing inspiration from equally black metal and '90s emo. The level of intensity this band reaches with their very first burst of energy is one that most hardcore bands never achieve in their entire careers. So yeah, I am glad Malaysia's Bullwhip put this shit on a tape so I can share it here....and you are glad too. Powerful and essential.

SHIKARI

GRINDING HALT

One of the first shows I played in Europe was in Gronigen, Holland. We stayed with a super sweet dude named René and cruised around the city late at night while he went to see ISIS with his lady friend. René was in a criminally underrated band called THE LAST MILE (whose entire discography should be mandatory for fans of devastating European HC/crust) who we crossed paths with a few more times during our tour. Around the same time, René was getting GRINDING HALT off of the ground, an equally devastating but more emotional hardcore act that just drips with sincerity. This 2010 cassette compiles the Sprookjeshof 12" and splits with VUUR and DRAINLAND, and the tracks floor me every time I hear them. Splits this year with DAIGHILA and SUFFERING QUOTA (also featuring René on guitar) only show the band getting more intense. I haven't talked to the dude in several years, but if René reads this then he should know that his kindness and hospitality were appreciated...and that his bands are very very good.

SPROOKJESHOF

SUFFERING QUOTA

Holland's SUFFERING QUOTA will crush you. Members of GRINDING HALT and the criminally under appreciated THE LAST MILE are responsible for this insanity - a total head spinning dervish packed with death metal leads delivered unparalleled fury and (very slight) glimpses of melodic crust as in "Wasting Your Time" or "Keep Them Lower."  Throat searing vocals throughout, a mind blowing pace that never relents, and the mid tempo mosh in "All You Fucking Fakes" is absolutely the best 24 second stretch of my day. Five songs in less than six minutes, these tracks will validate your existence.

SUFFERING QUOTA

SVÄTSOX

From the othe side of the tape that brought us the Oorwormer comp a couple of weeks back comes the essential debut full length from SVÄTSOX. Ruins clocks in just under 30 minutes, and delivers first rate angular post punk from start to finish. I've heard the band mentioned in the same breath as THE EX, and it's a legitimate comparison...this record is restrained angular punk at its finest. Dive in kids, get to learning.

RUINS

OORWORMER

Three cheers for bored teenagers copying records onto cassette for their friends. Oorwormer is an essential 1982 anarcho/post punk comp from Holland, and some well meaning punk rocker presented her/his copy with a homemade cover and some crafty editing (the VERZ ED tracks are "Shit, so not on this tape" - though I think that the space time continuum limitations of a 90 minute tape might have been a factor as well, as this comp clocks in just under the 45 minute mark without the VERZ ED songs, so I can only imagine the extra effort required to make a cool cover and a cohesive package with two songs crammed onto the SVÄTSOX Ruins side of the cassette - that's the record taped onto the other side of this shell, naturally it will appear here soon...making tapes is tough work, kids - way harder than crafting a playlist). Two songs each from 13 different seminal Dutch acts, B-SOCIAL and RED ORCHESTRA are my least favorites, though on their own they are still stellar, which let's you know a bit about the exceptionally high level of quality on this comp. NV DE ADEREN turn in two scorchers and might be the punkest act here in the traditional sense, the brilliant INDEX, angular addictions from ZOWISO, dirty melancholy burners from GRRR (fukkn love the guitars), and female fronted bass driven sounds from ASBEST that remind me inexplicably of THE CURE's early recordings. THE EX turn in their expected quality, and the comp rounds out with ATIMS, ZWEMBADEN, HANGDOGS, and  SVÄTSOX - if anyone has a copy of this comp lying around gathering dust, I assure you I will give it a good home.

OORWORMER

VACUÜM

Second (and final) full length from VACUÜM, Holland's weirdest '80s drum machine bizarro punks (though I imagine Jos might be able to contradict me on this point). While this one didn't grab me as immediately as their self titled debut platter, these songs are excellent far beyond their sing-song exterior. I wish that the soul nice enough to copy 1985's Feest onto this cassette had been nice enough to include song titles, but we punks are used to making do with less, so I'm sure you will have no problem overcoming this obstacle.

FEEST

SECOND AUSCHWITZ

By the time these Dutch maniacs released 1985's Murderers, their seventh cassette offering in just two years, their musical skills had improved so much that many of these unnamed 15 tracks almost sound like songs. Like 1984's The Arse Of Mankind cassette, these are politically charged inept anthems assailing governments and animal abusers with equal ire, to the tuneless mess that can sometimes pass as music. Noise punk has rarely been so cacophonous, and SECOND AUSCHWITZ prove that practicing and good riffs are for jerks. Primal and raw anarcho chaos.

MURDERERS

RAW WAR

This was the third cassette comp release from Xcentric Noise Records. I could try to spend some time describing it, but I figure that Pushead did a pretty good job in the review section of MRR in 1983 when this gem was unleashed: "The best international sampler cassette available, with bands from Brazil, Canada, Finland, Holland, Italy, Norway and U.K. Features TERVEET KÄDET, NEOS, OHLO SECO, INDIGESTI, RATTUS and more! A lot of jarring explosive doses of chaos from the world of punk" (Maximum Rocknroll #5, March/April 1983). Lots of live tracks, some tunes from records you might have if you are a collector scum, SIB, 5º BRACCIO and NY RAVERS are probably my favorites on this tape, although the RATTUS and TERVEET KADET tracks are pretty unfukkwithable. And remember ADMASS, those inept UK punk miscreants who made a pair of of yawn inducing appearances on The Escape? Yeah, they made it onto this tape filled with '80s international heavyweights, and Gary Bushell is still a cunt.

RAW WAR

My copy came to me sans cover, and thus sans track listing. Thankfully, Kill From The Heart came to the rescue in both departments.

ALS JE HAAR MAAR GOED ZIT (Nr. 2)

Here's the cassette version of Vogelspin's crucial Holland hardcore comp from 1983 (minus a few tracks, because the label folks made their LP compilation too long to fit on a C60). It's easy to call things essential when they are really good, but seriously: this comp is essential for fans of hardcore punk. HAEMORRHOIDS are breakneck proto-thrash, B.G.K. are well documented, as are AMSTERDAMNED and PANDEMONIUM. Brilliant and fiery female fronted punk from LAST FEW, mile a minute insanity from OUTLAWZ and it sounds like ZMIV listened to MÖTORHEAD, G.I.S.M. and DISCHARGE before honing their attack. This is perfect as it is, but the compiler(s) didn't stop with one side, instead they crammed two more superb Dutch releases on the flip: the Hatelijke Groenten EP from 1982 and THE LULLABIES Single Single EP from 1981. The comp features THE JETSET (rampaging and unhinged hardcore that would have been welcomed on the A side of this tape), two goth punk sounding numbers from MASSAGRAF, the primitive and psychotic synth punk of VACUÜM, and four art/punk jams from FARENHEIT 451 that could have come from an early Rough Trade comp. And then THE LULLABIES single, even after all this brilliance, still manages to take my breath away. Can you imagine Dutch punk that feels like early Aussie bands like THE SCIENTISTS or BODYSNATCHERS or perhaps Kiwi punks THIS SPORTING LIFE? As comparisons go, it's a stretch, but I feel like I'm listening to a lost Australian punk single when I hear these songs, and this EP has just shot to the top of my want list. Someone clearly knew exactly what to do with a Dynamic brand C60, and we are reaping the benefits nearly three decades later - enjoying your Friday will be a little easier after blasting "Fashion Punx" and "Victims Of Society," trust me.

ALS JE HAAR MAAR GOED ZIT

HATELIJKE GROENTEN

LULLABIES

THE EX

It's rather difficult to write an entertaining, informative and/or insightful blurb about a band as influential and legendary as THE EX. Equal parts GANG OF FOUR, CRASS and WIRE, early incarnations of THE EX created some of the most brilliant post punk, but (much like WIRE) did so while punk was still in it's first incarnation (ie; before there was a "post"). 1982's History Is What's Happening is a brilliant, if not flawless record, full of meaning but never remotely pretentious. Their proficient and imaginative songwriting created a vibe not unlike MINUTEMEN or even BIG BOYS - minimal yet still complex (and bass guitar heavy), advanced but accessible. This tape, a wonderful example of the positive results of liberal home taping, features all 20 songs from the LP with four additional EX tunes crammed onto the end before the Dutch additions to yesterday's Belgian comp ("Introduction/Human Car" come from the live 7" that accompanied their 1980 debut LP Disturbing Domestic Peace, "New Wars" also from that LP, and a song listed as "Constitutional State" which is quite possibly not actually the song "Constitutional State," even though a very nice mix tape maker in 198? went to the trouble to type the title on the the cover....I can only share what I know). These politics, and this imagination, seem to represent a specific time in punk...and I think that statement is perhaps more observational criticism of punk today than it is praise of THE EX, but I listen to this music and I just want more. Both for myself and (more importantly) from myself. The title says it all....

HISTORY IS WHAT'S HAPPENING

THE EX are still active (very active) today, and are still very worth checking out, both recorded (you can buy all of their in print records directly from them) and live. I suggest that you do so, even if you don't feel like downloading the digital version of a cassette that was taped from a decades old copy of a record that, by all rights, you should already have.

ALLEZ CRACHEZ LES BELGIAN PUNKS

This 1982 comp was slapped onto the flip side of a hometaped copy of THE EX's History Is What's Happening cassette, and I couldn't be happier. Featuring a few tracks from each of seven barely known Belgian bands, the comp shifts from brilliant UK82 style chaos punk (the opening track from VORTEX is one of the punkest songs I've heard) to slightly more anarcho sounding bands like O-VEUX and ANARCHISTS ON DOPE. The female vocals in TYPHUS are addictive, as is their mid-tempo melody, a characteristic they share with NUITS ST. GEORGES and UNDERDOGS (though the latter is more feriocious). And in case the band name intrigues you, SEXY BOLLOCKS are every bit as punk as their moniker implies. There are a few tracks from the original that didn't make it onto my copy (this is on one side of a C90), but the thoughtful tapemaker added a few Dutch acts to the end of THE EX record, so today you get bonus tracks from SVÄTSOX, DE GROETEN and the recently reissued RONDOS...sometimes you win, whether you deserve it or not.

ALLEZ CRACHEZ LES BELGIAN PUNKS

L'ORAAGJE

I listened to this tape dozens of times before I even got around to ripping it, I kept getting drawn in by the  often unsuccessful attempts at anarcho/post punk, and found that L'ORAAGJE were often more successful when they failed. 1983's It's All Utopia was the only release from this Dutch outfit, and it's a full hour of experimental avant punk noise with guitars and occasional synth very reminiscent of early '80s CURE tracks and an approach to punk that owes as much to THROBBING GRISTLE (check out the 10+ minute "Destroy") as to primitive punks. I asked Jos about L'ORAAGJE, since he is old and Dutch, and it was no surprise to me when he just sent me to former member Jan. Jan told me that members went on to form the decidedly more goth FREISCHWEBENDE INTELLIGENZ while he continued with POST MORTEM (not the UK band obviously) and CONTACT T.B.D., and continues making noise that can be found here. Get into this - TRANSFORM MUSIK.

IT'S ALL UTOPIA

DE WOUT ONVRIENDELIJKE TEEP

Perhaps this comp tape might be better shared on a Noise Punk Monday, but these 42 songs presented by 17 early Dutch outfits are coming your way right now, so prepare your earholes. Raw assaults, many of them live, from bands that were almost all new to me (VACUÜM visited The Escape last year, and apparently shared a member with E.N.E., who offer the best jams on the tape). I can offer no background except that these bands range from primitive to painful in their delivery, but if you are up for the challenge, then  MASSACUBADSET, T.B.R., the chaos of ZOEM, ANTI STATISCH, industrial madness of FAUX and the no-fi UK82 punk from ABCES might start to win you over. It's worth noting that a lot of these songs are about hating, fighting, and/or destroying cops.

DE WOUT ONVRIENDELIJKE TEEP

"The Unfriendly Tape"

DEFLAGRATION

For the last two weeks I've posted compilation tapes that were really more like Best Of collections. Last week's Bad Entrails was a comprehensive trip through '80s US hardcore, while the Us Against Them  comp concentrated on some of the best the UK had to offer.  But this Friday's compilation is full of deep cuts, and doesn't really flirt with anything more well known than DEZERTER or NEON CHRIST. The tape centers mostly on European hardcore, with the aforementioned Southerners and Canada's F.O.A.D. and UNNATURAL SILENCE as the only off continent contributions, and is full of lesser known killers like BLOEDBAD (Holland), UNDERAGE (Italy), CERESIT '81 (West Germany) and UNDERDOGS (Belgium) as well as French TE alumnus RAPT and KROMOSOM 4. Most of this shit is fast and raw hardcore, and some of the recordings leave a bit to be desired in the sound quality department (in the bands' defense, the tape was distributed on a sub-par Salvy brand cassette, which might have affected the distortion levels in an adverse manner...it just depends how much you care about such things and, in turn, how punk you are), but when you hear crucial blasts from Finland's PROTESTI or classic shit from Germans INFERNO and SCAPEGOATS or SQUIRT from Switzerland, do you really care about a little tape hiss?

DEFLAGRATION Vol. 3 Side A

DEFLAGRATION Vol. 3 Side B

BALTHASAR GERARDS KOMMANDO

B.G.K.'s Nothing Can Go Wrogn was the first record I ever ordered through the mail, picked from the Alternative Tentacles catalog because the cover looked cool and packaged along with my Jello Biafra 3xLP spoken word release. The first time the needle hit the vinyl my mind was fukkn blown - I had never heard rage like this before, and these dudes were fast. I think B.G.K. are Holland's answer to Tulsa's N.O.T.A. (or maybe it's the other way around)...just amped up rapid fire hardcore punk, and this live tape highlights the band at their fastest. Excellent quality live recording from 198something, the tape might have been recorded in Phoenix but maybe I just think that because "PHOE" is scrawled on the label...YOUTH OF TODAY and 7 SECONDS are on the other side but no other information is available (I suppose I could ask Devon, to whom the tape belongs, where and when this set was recorded). The guitar, however, is fukkn SCREAMING so I really could give a shit where it was recorded, I'm just glad that it passed through my hands. 14 songs here, but the set cuts off partway though "Distorted Views," so there might have been more at one time.  One of the best hardcore bands ever, though I never noticed until today that Rene's vocals kinda sound like Lee Ving.

B.G.K. live