Friday, July 15, 2011

Krakdown - S/T 1989

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This record is burned into my brain, from the goofy intro to Sick Society, the somberness of Disappointment (my favorite song on the record) and the catchy anthem of Trust come a flood of memories. I was skating at a Sex Vid show once and had a Krakdown stencil spraypainted on my board, this prompted RJ to tell me a story about how the guitar player of Krakdown gave him his first skateboard; small world. Great New York Hardcore. Trainyard has two allusions to Krakdown songs/lyrics, see if you can find em'.

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Negative FX - Government War Plans Demo 1982

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Thank god this got booted to vinyl. One of the best hardcore bands which needs no introduction. Jack Kelly is furious and the musical intensity that accompanies it is beyond wonderful. Scary man covered "Protestor" into Last Rights "Chunks" at our first show, just covering the songs gets my blood boiling.

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Heart Attack - God Is Dead 1981

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So you may have already come across my first post on this band and are already familiar with their background. Their first EP is no letdown. Although not as mature and intense as their first lp it definitely has a lot to offer... fake british accents, more of that amazing drumming and some intense energy. I love it. So glad it's been booted a few times, sure I dropped money on the LP but the prices this EP goes for are ridiculous. "You" is reminiscent of Middle Class's "Situations" at first and then blasts into it, "Shotgun" is my favorite track and the title track has some pretty awesome drumming. Definitely worth it if you haven't spent much time with this release, one of my favorite new york bands for sure.

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Chronic Sick - Reagan Bands 7" 1983

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Chronic Sick is a band that pushes a lot of people's buttons but I fucking love them. They make light of and downright ridicule what a lot of their contemporaries took very seriously. The only interview I've read lead me to believe that the guitar player just liked to joke around as often as possible and coming out of New Jersey you're bound to have a lot of pent up frustration with almost anyone around you. Reagan bands seems to be a jab at the trendiness of hardcore at the time all ripping off discharge and taking anti-reagan stances without substance or reason. Crotch Rot is disgusting and my favorite track on the release for sure. The 7" closes with the breakneck speed of Blood Type X. As always someone had to ruin this band by boosting their popularity through a repress, now Chronic Sick is as trendy as ever. I already had the 90s boot of the LP with the 7" and the demo on it as well but I picked this up for nostalgic value... plus I'd never spend $1000 plus on any record ever, no band is that good.

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Doggy Style - Work As One 1985

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Doggy Style is fucking sick. Some of the stories I have heard about the shows and Brad X's antics make me love it even more. Goofy and lighthearted skate punk with hardcore speed. I love the lp Side by Side most of all but this little release gives us three tracks not heard on the lp marking the few with Brad X on vocals (the only good Doggy Style in my opinion although the rap album is pretty hilarious and not without its gems; maybe I'll put that up later if you're lucky). Tracks like "Emotions" and "Support and Belief'" show a softer side of Brad also incorporated is a spoken call for unity amongst punk attitudes which is pretty goofy but cool. If you haven't seen the music video for Donut Shop Rock it's worth watching. Goofy story; I first heard of Doggy Style when I was about sixteen years old. I had just been booted from my dad's home and was trying to find a job at the mall. I was wearing a suicidal shirt and some old dude asked me if I liked doggy style. I thought he was being a creep but he clarified that it was a band. It probably wasn't until a year or two later that I actually investigated it and got a copy of Rat Music for Rat People and heard their contribution "Janitor Man" or something like that. It wasn't too stand out but then I got Side by Side and Don't Hit Me Up from a personal seller $10 for both. I fell in love with Side by Side, still am in love with it. Never fell for Don't Hit Me Up. I even heard their rap shit The Last Laugh they did with Brian Baker before I heard this 7". Needless to say I ended up loving this 7" too.

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Double O - 7" EP 1983

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Double O was a band from DC set way apart from it's contemporaries. Although I am much more attached to the demo tracks I love this record; it really demonstrates how talented these guys were. Their songwriting is seriously crazy. The A side rips the whole way through with "Is It Better" being my favorite track on the record. The B side is a bit more out there and starts off pretty dark. The track "Death of a Friend" has a dramatic build up that ends in the use of a keyboard or synth, but not in an annoying way like Catholic Discipline or something, like a dark eerie way. I don't know give it a listen for yourself. This record is awesome and I scored it for $15, quite the deal.

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Monday, July 11, 2011

Articles of Faith - What We Want Is Free 1982

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One of my favorite hardcore punk bands, their sound is so dynamic and they covered so much territory. The songwriting on this record is very creative and the lyrics are fucking awesome. This band released a lot of material and I love it all so expect me to put more up. One of the more creative sounding drummers of early 80s hardcore. I've been learning the songs because I'm supposed to play drums for Articles of Faith at New Direction Fest; more info here!
Love it to death.

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5150 - Forever Night/Lil' Miss 1986

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This obscure outfit from Las Vegas was relatively short-lived but has lived on in this interesting boot of the first two 7 inches. I bought this repress out of Brian's distro not knowing that it even existed, another pleasant surprise. The hardcore is fast and surprisingly different from other bands of the area like MIA and 7 Seconds, definitely more aggressive and angry. This release combines the "Forever Night" and "Lil' Miss Succubus" 7"s. My first introduction to this band was off of MRR's Comp dedicated to Tim Yohannan, the tracks off of their second 7" are much more polished and somewhat 'chanty' at times. I enjoy it quite a bit.

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Confront - Payday 1991

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Hardcore from Cleveland Ohio pre-One Life Crew. Don't let the association fool you, this could be described as a very heavy and hard straight edge youth crew ala Judge, Brotherhood, etc not much like OLC. Right In the Eye being a favorite.

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The Abused - Loud And Clear 1983

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From start to finish this record is awesome. None of these tracks let me down and they are forever burned into my brain. I can't say enough good about this record so I'll just have you listen for yourself. If you haven't heard it you should definitely download it. Drug Free Youth who are interestingly smoking cigarettes on the back cover?

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Gray Matter - Take It Back 1986

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Maybe it was their prominence in skate videos I watched growing up that lead me to an early endearment of Gray Matter but I generally really don't like any of the bands tagged with the title and time frame of 'revolution summer'. Gray Matter is an exception. The aggression in tracks like "Burn No Bridges", "Take It Back", and the super intense closing track "Head" draw it nearer to me heart than other contemporaries. Occasionally annoying but altogether intense and very creative, give Gray Matter a try. Extremely odd fact is that this band has two members of Iron Cross.

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The Clitboys - We Don't Play the Game 1983

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It isn't so much the music that turned me onto the Clitboys but rather their attitude. I read an interview of them in MRR before I had ever heard the band where the singer addressed a series of criticisms with an attitude that just got me stoked. Essentially the message was I don't give a shit if people are mocking me for what I write; cliche but earnest and sincere. Download it and check it out. I got an original copy of this record at a shop in Oakland for dirt cheap, I don't think the guy knew what it was.

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The Adolescents - Welcome to Reality 1981

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The Adolescents made three releases in the great year of 1981 and my favor always shifts from the S/T LP and the Welcome to Reality EP. There is something about this record that really makes the tracks stand out from the previous release. They're darker, more morose and somewhat more interesting in a lot of ways. I don't know. Judge for yourself.

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Deep Wound - S/T 7" 1983

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So everyone is familiar with this release by now as it is by no means obscure anymore (what with its shitloads of bootlegs and eventual re-released discography). I really feel like this record is still not given the attention it deserves. Sure it's commonly known but very much underappreciated. The record is insane! From the first track's insanity to the closer on the B side the 7" has everything I need from a hardcore record. It's probably why I have the artwork tattooed on my arm and my voicemail has been Pressures since I was 17. Great record, definitely recommended if you haven't heard it.

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Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes 1977

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Let's mix it up a bit with the Adverts second single. The B-side track Bored Teenagers is much more interesting than the popular A-side but oh well. Based out of London comes some great English punk.

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The Dicks - Hate The Police 1980

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I can't say enough good about the Dicks, they were an incredible band. Here is their first release 'Hate the Police'. An openly gay, communist, and radically political band based out of Texas in the 80s was pretty intense indeed. Just as intense is their songwriting with raging songs that followed the classic Hardcore formula like Lifetime Problems and more dynamic ballad type tracks like Hate the Police and All Night Fever. Love it.

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The Worst - Expect the Worst 1983

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Holy god I screamed out loud when I saw this record at 123 Go records in Oakland. I had no idea they reissued this material on any vinyl format. The Worst were a hardcore band from New York that fucking ripped. Along with the likes of Heart Attack they wrote incredibly fast and dynamic music that is completely uncomparable to any of their contemporaries. Originally released as an LP on the collector coveted Mutha records along with the likes of Chronic Sick and Fatal Rage. The 7" is really good too.

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Youth Korps - '82 7" 1982

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A criminally under-appreciated release that vanished into obscurity somewhere in Connecticut. God, Connecticut was notorious for goofy artwork. This band released one demo that blew through songs faster than any band I think ever at the time, boasting 13 second songs and mapping out a system of songwriting that the powerviolence genre co-opted as their own. This is where the whole idea of blasting into songs for a brief second into heavier breakdowns came from (see JB Theme). Great, great release recorded at Radiobeat studios in Boston. Had Crucial Response not gotten a hold of these tracks and re-released them this band would have faded into obscurity beyond even the Koro EP. Great ripping hardcore with, at times, Rollins-esque vocals.

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NYC Mayhem - We Stand Boot 1985

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The precursor to what would be one of the greatest New York bands ever Straight Ahead. If you haven't heard it yet check out my first post. NYC Mayhem is a bit on the lighter side, lots of joke songs with not quite as creative song writing (although there are some really weird tracks out there with more of a metal influence, see the 'Mayhemic Destruction' demo, quite a change from the usual 30 second song blast). NYC Mayhem covered a lot of ground in their brief and confused existence and you'll recognize some Straight Ahead tunes in there. Interesting stuff.

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