SENZA TREGUA

BCT devoted a thousands of plastic cassette shells to the task of spreading Italian hardcore around the world, and I think that this is the finest of all of the comps that they put out. There are piercing high end guitar assaults right next to perfectly crafted full-fi hardcore acts, and every band included is fukkn great.  This tape was a straight repress of an Italian cassette comp of the same name, though the BCT version featured different artwork. Neither version, of course, features liner notes laid out in a manner that can definitively tell the uninitiated listener which band is which, and I'm afraid that I am not going to be able to help you in that department. Sure, some of this shit is a no brainer, but I know so little about bands like PUTRID FEVER and S.D.P. that in the interest of not making a fool of myself by mislabeling shit, I didn't name any of this shit. I put each of the like sounding bands onto their own track, so several tracks contain 3-4 songs. If this is confusing - don't blame me, blame the Italians and the BCT dude. The insert in all of it's non-informative glory is scanned below, and between that and a quick google search (or bing it, I'm not particular) you have all of the information that I have, and you are welcome to re-name my moniker-free tracks as you wish. What it really came down to was that no matter who some of these bands are, the shit completely rules....like really hard, especially towards the end when things start mellowing out a bit after you've been raging for a full 45 minutes. Some days it's better to share than to inform, and today is one of those days.

SENZA TREGUA

FIRST STRIKE

All modesty aside, I think the last three comps I posted were total fukkn killers...and I see no reason to start making Fridays any less awesome today. BCT should need no introduction on a website dedicated to punk tapes, and First Strike was their first release, unleashing unknown US hardcore on unsuspecting punks combing the pages of MRR looking for tasty jams. The punks who mailed in their $4 (17 years ago and the price was the same as today - inflation still evades the punks) for this tape were rewarded with 60 near perfect minutes of blistering earnest hardcore. Milwaukee's CLITBOYS start the party with 8 songs, most of which can be found on their brilliant EP - political and punk as shit, especially considering their locale. FUTURE RUINS have a slight UK tinge, but their raucous thrashy punk is fronted by melodic USHC vocals and it works great - if you like to be confused (I do, so I place myself in the "fan" column). VIOLATION (from fukkn Maine), and VATICAN COMMANDOS (yeah, the band that MOBY played guitar in for a few months), are raging hardcore, the kind of shit that makes the genre awesome. SKOUNDRELZ are slightly more blah and more rock influenced, while MR. EPP take the hardcore approach and inject heaps of drugs into the mix (a good idea, at least in this case). POISON CENTER just fukkn rip, most of these songs are simply raw as hell (which is not a problem at all), while EAT THE RICH are San Jose's sunbaked-don't-give-a-fuck version Midwest hardcore and CULTURAL BREAKTHOUGH wrap shit up with three live and raw bangers...if you don't love hardcore after this tape is done, then you need to get your ears flushed.

FIRST STRIKE

RATTUS

Finnish legends RATTUS were unleashed domestically by BCT in 1984 with this cassette, made up mostly of material from their earlier, harder to find records. Why they started the tape with "Rockabilly Reagan" is a mystery, but the rest of the tape more than makes up for this minor indiscretion (though perhaps we could have done without one of the two "Horror Business" covers that wrap up the release). This is mandatory hardcore.

FINNISH HARDCORE

English translations for the song titles, recording dates and member info are all included in this scan, if you feel inclined to study up:

AHHH...ITALIAN PUNK!!

This tape came in a loaner box from Terminal Escape minion Blake, who was not only responsible for the other BCT tape posted, as well as many of the Oklahoma gems featured over the last year. BCT should need no introduction, and neither should 80s Italian hardcore, especially to people as cultured as yourselves, so dive in and party yer asses off to CHELSEA HOTEL, SHOCKIN TV, TIRITUTA LIMITATA (OK, maybe don't party to that one, it's not really all that great), EU'S ARSE, the always brilliant NABAT (I'm wearing their shirt right now, thanks Abe!), the cardboard box drum sound that PEGGIO PUNX somehow manage to make work in their favor, CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS, DARK RIDE (this band is so raw and shitty, I fukkn love it), and one brilliant track from the mysterious ROUGH. Top quality music for top quality people.

AHHH...ITALIAN PUNK!! BCT #4

GEPØPEL

This should fall in the "needs no introduction" category. Holland's GEPØPEL were exposed to the outside world via this crucial BCT Presents split cassette in 1985 (I skipped the FUNERAL ORATION stuff because most of the tracks are either on this demo or their second one which is gonna go up here eventually). Totally raging simple hardcore delivered at a blistering pace (except for "Slecht," which is painfully slow) with the same endearing vocal delivery that makes early FUNERAL ORATION so hopelessly catchy. If you haven't heard this, then you need to get on board...cheers to Blake for lending me the original for this one, way better than the fourth generation copy that introduced me to this band.

GEPØPEL   

LORO DECIDONO...TU PAGHI!

AAARRRGH!!! Fuck! This shit is so good it melts my fukkn brain! BCT was the vehicle that first exposed most of my friends to all things killer, European, and hardcore, and there was serious emphasis put on the noise coming from Italy. BCT #25 is one of several BCT tapes chock full of raw Italian HC, and this volume features jams from CCM, I REFUSE IT!, P.S.A., VIVISEXZIONE, CANI, KINA, NOISENOISENOISE P.N., SAVAGE CIRCLE, and the brilliant but until today totally forgotten by me LONDON '77. Mostly live recordings, excellent quality raw punk shits, this is fucking mandatory.

THEY DECIDE...YOU PAY!

FUNERAL ORATION

I suppose i could try to convey the sounds contained on this tape, but for music that has been passed around and analyzed so many times, that just seems a little redundant. If you had this as a teenager, then here it is again, and if this somehow slipped by you, then do yourself a favor.  In the words of Pushead, printed in MRR 26 years ago:

Tremendous explosions of maniac proportions that blisters as it smiles in triumph. Titanic nitro charges of frizzling speed and determined spunk packed by well-written lyrics snorted out in a raging fury. This entire effort reminds me of the Neos. It is irresistible and crude, as it devastates with hammering force. A band that should not go unnoticed by compilers around the globe.

THERE IS NOTHING TO LAUGH ABOUT

I saw FUNERAL ORATION in the late 1990s (Chicago I think?) when they came to the US.  Having heard these songs so many times, I was beside myself with excitement. They were terrible...oh well.