Faith / Void - Split LP (1982)

Faith was signed to Dischord Records from 1981-83, not solely because lead singer Alec is Ian MacKaye's younger brother; but because they played a rawer, dirtier (dare I say more urgent?) version of Minor Threat's brand of hardcore punk. They released two EPs (a 1981 self-titled cassette-only release and a 12-inch vinyl from '83 called Subject To Change) and then they were gone. The various members would go on to play in several seminal hardcore bands through the next decades, but this Split LP with Void was their shining moment.

Side 2 belongs to Void, with their more metal-based approach- at times it's terrifying, with all the rage of eventual thrash mavens Metallica and Slayer, barely preempting their two debut records by less than a year. It's ultimately the more rewarding of the two sides; what Faith lacks in chops Void makes up for with sheer moxie. Their career left behind even less music; a posthumous EP called Condensed Flesh and a demo called Hit & Run, because that's literally what they did.

If you're in the mood for some early-80s hardcore, here it is...

Faith / Void - Split LP (1982; Dischord Records)

Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come (1998)

It's been brought to my attention that punk, and especially hardcore (and post-hardcore for that matter) have been sorely under-represented in this here blog. Let me remedy that malfeasance by posting one of my favorite punk (or post-hardcore, whatever) records of all-time, Sweden's Refused and their landmark 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come. This album took such a toll on the band that they had to break up immediately following the completion of recording. Good thing they didn't hang around in the aftermath of this record, they not only set fire to but destroyed preconceptions of how punk was supposed to sound; they basically turned the world on its fucking ear.

Blending as many styles as they could here, it runs the gamut from straight ahead chunky rock riffage to shrapnel-laced blast punk to artier noise stuff to screamo and back again; it seeks to confound ears- every time I think I know what I'm listening to, it changes from one to the other. If it's not a focused arpeggio centered around minor chords then it's screechy string rakes and harmonic Eddie Van Halen-esque tapping sections, and then jumps on to these over-the-top bombastic drumming passages, all the while knob-twiddling galore behind the studio glass (acting as an instrument in and of themselves). I'm out of clichés and adjectives after this paragraph.

Anyway, this is meant to be listened to loud. Turn this shit up, kiddies.

Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come (1998; Burning Heart Records)

Shelter - Perfection Of Desire (1990)

Shelter is a hardcore punk band from New York City that rose out of the ashes of several other influential bands of that era- on this album we have lead singer Ray Cappo (from Youth Of Today) and Tom Capone, who would later go on to help start Quicksand. 

Shelter is unique in that they were the originators of the genre Krishnacore, which fused hardcore (and often a brand of melodic hardcore) punk to Krishna consciousness. One of my favorite bands of the early '90s.

Shelter - Perfection Of Desire (1990; Revelation Records)