STINGER

A flaming hot staff thrust to the sky: STINGER is ruthless hardcore manifested as war metal.  There's a ripping split with MAULER that came out earlier this year, but I still think I prefer this 2014 cassette release (and not just because I'm trying to be contrary). I just listened to the last 45 seconds of "By The Fang" and my day is pretty much downhill from here. 

STINGER

HUMAN ADULT BAND // PENIS IN VAGINA

I haven't forgotten about you, but I was in sunny Southern California for a few days and the time that I had planned to spend (at the very last minute, naturally) stocking up daily posts for you to enjoy I instead spent on the phone with lawyers and bankers trying to sort out the mind numbing shitshow that is the estate of my dead father. And then I went to LA with FUTURO and it was fukkn great, but now I'm back and you can have your tapes again. Every day. The way you like it. 

HUMAN ADULT BAND (still active) play weird drugged out/drawn out noise rock, their side was recorded live in 2005. Don't really know too much about PENIS IN VAGINA on the flip....I tried using the internet to search for their name. I suggest you try doing that as well, and let me know how it works out for you.

GOD'S WORK

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

KANTUTA // ANTI ARMADA

Two NY/NJ raw hardcore Spanish language powerhouses. Both bands are blown to smithereens and ruthless. Get ready to put your Noize Not Music tattoo to the test. Tu-pa-Tu-pa-Tu-pa? Meet pure distortion...I think you two are going to get along great.

SPLIT K7

WORKING STIFF

2013 New Jersey mutant rock, represent. In a limited run subculture inundated with self indulgent hardcore acts, something about these kids stands out, and instead of being coy I'll just blurt it out: the fukkn guitars. Nearly constant single note dementia playing two step with some animal just pounding out chords and the combination makes the band sound really....off. The tracks are solid, meaty hardcore burners with a dash of brooding midtempo dark punk, all topped with distant, distorted vocals....and then they just drop a lead in your lap ("Ownership," for example) and you remember why you're still listening (because you've heard solid, meaty tracks before): the fukkn guitars.

WORKING STIFF

CRUCIAL YOUTH

Here's hoping that your 2016 is full of positivity. 

THE UNITED WAY

BLUNT FORCE

Last year, I pulled this tape out of the demo box at Maximum Rocknroll and figured I would give it a spin because it looked pretty good. I read the introductory-slash-promotional material that came from the folks who released it (who are also responsible for rippers from PURE DISGUST, OBLIVIONATION, PROTESTER, and THE FLEX, and many others) they mentioned that the band brought to mind UK82 punk and some other stuff, including the Boston band SLAPSHOT...and with that in mind, I set out to write my review for the magazine. I listened. I loved it. I made the entertaining mistake of mentioning that I have never heard SLAPSHOT in the review which bent a few folks on the internet the wrong way, but I guess those are the breaks (I mean really, you can't expect everyone to be familiar with EVERY starter band, can you? I have since listened to SLAPSHOT and think that they are basically fine). That nonsense aside, the shit is raw straightforward hardcore punk with a serious "almost Oi!" edge. And it's really good. "Bleak" is the burner, while "Doesn't Matter" keeps up a midpaced creepy crawl that's just a teensy bit faster than a breakdown for its entire existence...and if the subtly flanged guitar intro to "Cross" doesn't make some idjit in a bleached jean jacket stage dive then I don't know what will. The vocals are almost breaking for the entire demo which gives every track an edge, and the solo in "Doesn't Matter" is some serious Mould channeling and it works frighteningly well. Nothing fancy here, just the good shit....sorry about the SLAPSHOT thing, dudes.

BLUNT FORCE

*Go back to your shitty life // I don't care what you say* - "My Path"

*You're a piece of shit // you fucking suck // we don't need you* - "Spineless"

K.G.B.

The vocals are what grab me, throaty and fukkn pissed and so unmistakably '90s. Post NYHC and pre "hardcore/thrash revival," there was some really excellent music that history seems to gloss over with asinine statements like "there were no good bands from the '90s," and there are boxes in closets full of demos like this one that prove those statements wrong. Emotional and powerful, heavy and determined, plenty of groove in the most positive way imaginable. "Let Go" is the standout track, a slow creepy crawl that sets a mood equally harsh and dark, topped with tinny guitars and those nasty vocals dropping seriously heavy knowledge. New Jersey, man...New Jersey.

DESERVE MORE

Can you feel my anger? // Can you feel my pain? // Can you feel my hate? Because I can // This world, this life, feeds my fire and it's burning bright // taken all I can // Swallowed all the shit // Tasted all the hate...now I let go

TRIGGERVISION

Hiltz gave me this tape a while ago, just after I posted the TRIGGERVISION '87 demo...shit, that means he gave me this shit like five years ago, which explains why I found it randomly in the glove box a few weeks ago? Actually, what explains that discovery is my lack of organization, but nothing can explain TRIGGERVISION. Equal parts THROBBING GRISTLE, KILLDOZER and SWANS, this chaos was light years ahead of its time in late '80s Jersey...I'm talking PSYCHO SIN irreverence clashing with epic waves of troubled sound - tell me that "Slow Death" isn't one of the most fukkn tortured songs to pass through your earholes. It's not? You're lying (or you need to send me all of your tapes)...and then "Ultimate Border" is just a bizarro psych-freakout of the highest order. No background or context required,  fukk me if this isn't one of the coolest tapes in my house.

TV88

SUBURBAN UPRISE

Seminal mid '80s New Jersey hardcore, it's hard to believe that this shit isn't widely celebrated today...but then I guess that exactly what I'm doing right now. The vocals are barked out with unrivaled ferocity and the songs are snappy, throttling USHC at its finest with a spastic pace and over-flanged guitar. I got this on a mix tape that also featured SOCIAL DECAY and a few other Jersey acts, and the handwritten notes indicate that the bangers contained in today's download come from two live sets in '86 and '87 (way better quality than you expect when you think of a "live recording" - I'm talking along the lines of Live At The Crystal Pistol with this one, in terms of both both quality and caliber).  Ten tracks of killer, pissed and under the radar '80s shit, the internet exists so you can find out about shit like this, punk.

LIVE DEMO I + II

LETHAL AGGRESSION

Mid '80s drug fueled nihilistic hardcore from New fucking Jersey. There is nothing even remotely subtle about these seven ragers - there's a little metal sneaking into the program, but it's in the context of screaming bloody mayhem...the title of this demo provides pretty good insight into where these dudes were coming from. These are not friendly sounds.

FROM THE CUNT OF THE FUCKING WHORE

New Jersey Drug Core

AGONIA

I saw these maniacs a few months ago at a bar down the street from my house....and then I went to see them in Oakland the next day. There's something about the way about a band feels that transcends the sound (even if the sound is awesome), and AGONIA nailed it. It was awkward, it was raw, and it was perfect. There's a tinge of goth that comes through on the tape that was perhaps absent live, maybe it was getting caught up in the moment or maybe it was ineptitude. The demo comes close - certainly close enough for those of you not fortunate enough to see this outfit in the flesh...

AGONIA

A PRIORI

Underappreciated '80s New Jersey punk dripping with originality. There's the almost TSOL vibe that comes across on their Damn The Past LP from 1988, but this (admittedly rough) demo also has tinges of metallic crossover hiding in the hooks. I sent this one out to a few Jersey folks hoping for some song titles (or background), but I got a big goose egg. I first heard the band from one of the Shredder Records comps (with MORAL CRUX and CRIMPSHRINE, I believe?), and the aforementioned 12" is frequently seen chilling in bargain bins - which on the one hand is a shame, but on the other hand is pretty good for you, my dear record hunter.

A PRIORI

Ritual Control will be playing our last show of tour tonight at The Knockout in San Francisco with CRABAPPLE, THE NERVOUS and A PRIORI. Not the New Jersey band I just blabbed about, of course. 

ONE BIG CROWD

Just like the cover says, this 1987 comp is stuffed with punk and hardcore bands from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. A relatively known acts (VATICAN COMMANDOS, VIOLENT CHILDREN, 76% UNCERTAIN, SHEER TERROR) and some absolute killers that I heard for the first time (JAVI AND THE BASTARDS, UNJUST, KRIEGKOPF). Nearly an hour of jams, and I'm guessing this comp was released years before "metalcore" became a bad word, so don't let that scare you off. It's all punk shits.

ONE BIG CROWD

SOCIAL DECAY

Absolutely fierce '80s hardcore from New Jersey. Noise freaks note the guitar, thrash fiends dig the relentless all out attack, and hardcore maniacs get pumped on the breakdowns. So far ahead of their time (but somehow still a few years too late, no?), 1987 has never sounded so good. I'm serious, kids, this shit will turn you out. You think you are pissed? Get into "Kill Or Die," "Taste My Gun," "Fuck Your Mind Again" or the title track...you aren't alone. Six demo tracks and nine live stunners, mandatory listening for thrashers, punks and bangers.

SICK SOCIETY

SLAUGHTERED GRACE

New Jersey....wow. This is absolutely primal death/thrash metal from Lodi, NJ circa 1989, six tracks of face melting shred of the highest caliber. All of the necessary elements are presented for your enjoyment: rampaging, forceful drums seemingly just a hair ahead of the beat, screaming (and dueling) guitar solos, sporadic breakdowns with ominous gang vocals and a singer trying desperately to cram all of his wisdom into each verse. Equal parts (early) DRI and SLAYER with a thankfully subtle element of cheese, these maniacs dished out a slab that holds up perfectly today - in fact it makes me want to wreck shit. After this demo and one single SLAUGHTERED GRACE called it quits...I can only imagine how good they would have gotten had they kept going.

CALL THIS PLANET...SLAUGHTERED GRACE

PRIMITIVE PACT

This burner is all about the guitar. Rarely have I heard a guitar recorded that so perfectly suits the style. Hollow and piercing, it bites through the rest of the band with pure ferocity and I confess it was near the end of the demo before I stopped focusing on that one instrument and actually realized how searing the band is. UK82 energy harnessed and ramped up several notches - these New Yorkers are clearly on a fukkn mission, and they are succeeding.

END OF THE WORLD

CRUCIAL YOUTH

No explanation necessary, right? Irreverent, wacky, sloppy, hilarious. Eight track 1986 demo from New Jersey's most tongue in cheek hardcore band.

CRUCIAL YOUTH

I HATE THIS

Four ripping snotty hardcore creamers in just under a minute and a half. Shit smokes. The insert says it contains this 2007 demo as well as the Walls demo from the same year, but the insert is a liar so I'm just gonna listen to these jams on repeat.

I HATE THIS

WEIRD KOREA // SPOOK HOUSES

Biting and hopelessly cool garage punk from New York's WEIRD KOREA, drenched in '60s pop hooks and swinging like there's a boulder tied to their collective sack. It would be easy to dismiss them simply because it seems they are so very far from my non-art school and non-cool world, but if you manage to hold out until the bass fill that closes "Cheep Thrills" and the strained vocals that kick off "White Guilt," then you'll be hooked just like I was. Head south on a few confusing turnpikes and you'll be in New Jersey, home of SPOOK HOUSES. Less raw, more jangly, more natural, softer, sweeter, but fukk me if the songs aren't just as good. While the 5+ minutes of "Home" might not have been the best way to start off their side, the three songs that follow are packed charm and casual hooks. Breathy, with lots of open chords and echoed backing choruses. Wouldn't think this was my thing, but it clearly turned out to be.

WEIRD KOREA // SPOOK HOUSES