PERSONAL REGRETS

The tape gods dropped a mighty one on me last night - I was ripping this ABEYANCE set from 1985 and I see a faint 'PERSONAL REGRETS' scrawled on the back side of the tape. I feel like I've heard a track or two when digging into '80s Las Vegas punk....but was this an entire session? Yup. And if you're looking for under the radar raw and ferocious USHC then you're going to be just as chuffed today as I was last night. Ten songs in less than twenty minutes, with a sound that lands (appropriately) somewhere in the desert just beyond the reach of LA punk. File alongside SUBTERFUGE, PLAIN WRAP, SELF ABUSE, ABEYANCE and the lot...and thank the traders who came before you.

PERSONAL REGRETS

ROTARY CLUB

 

Based on analytical analysis, most of you have missed out on the recent vinyl slab from Reno, Nevada's ROTARY CLUB (all hail digital technology - the folks at Iron Lung HQ have a digital version for your ear holes). Two doses of precision punk that learn from the lessons of the masters without plagiarizing, it's a truly perfect punk single and I cannot recommend it enough....but this blog is (still) about tapes, and ROTARY CLUB crammed some of their magic into a little red plastic shell last year and I just can not get enough of this shit. You're going to hear folks throw around the KBD tag a lot and I'm certainly not going to disagree even though it doesn't tell the whole story. This shit is thick and sassy and it swings like nothing I've heard in forever, but it also hits hard and the songs are a master class in punk song craft. Like....what if KARP did a record on DANGERHOUSE in 1979? Think for a minute about how that might feel, because ROTARY CLUB do it like that. Then consider that all of the lyrics are land line telephone themed and you have something (a band? a project? ...a movement?) that's only scratching the surface of something great. 

HUNG UP ON RITUAL

CATAPULT

 

Today is Karoline's birthday, so you should tell her she's pretty cool if you know her. If you don't know her, well...you probably should. Your world would be better for it if you did. You might be asking yourself what Karoline and CATAPULT have in common, and I admit that it probably seems like a bit of a stretch. Karoline is from Wisconsin, CATAPULT were from Las Vegas. Karoline is a person, CATAPULT were a band. BUT (and hear me out here): CATAPULT sound like they should have been on a Very Small Records comp (hell, they might have even been on one - there were so many bands on those comps, who can keep track?!), and Karoline had a lot of Very Small Records comps. CATAPULT sound kinda quirky and weird, and Karoline is pretty quirky and...well, you know what I mean. Did they ever know each other? I have no clue. But CATAPULT released this tape in 1997 and that's the year Karoline married me. I'm glad she did, and I hope she has a lot more birthdays. Also, I only remember this band from the LEAP FROM SOCIETY split, but this shit really holds up and I think I need to track down their records. So many things came out of the '90s that are addictive, totally unique and generally (also genuinely) amazing. Yeah...you know what I'm gonna say next, so I'll spare you. 

SMORGASCORE!

REDRUM

 

Time has been kind to REDRUM. Don't get me wrong, when I saw them at the PCH in 98 (or 99?) I was fucking floored. It was the first time LIFES HALT and WHN? played together - the entire show was wild as shit, I think REDRUM played second, and they just set up with purpose and without pretense and they leveled the joint. Only saw them a couple of times after that, and quickly they were overshadowed by the drummer's other band, but this thing....it's a fucking beast. Imagine them as a lifeline, connecting the fast intense hardcore that took over the turn of the century to the dirty, pissed, patched up hardcore punk of the 1990s basements. Not the introspective emotional shit, the sketchy desperate shit. And it still sounds real. 

REDRUM

ABEYANCE

Mid '80s melodic Las Vegas punk...the more you keep digging, the more you'll keep realizing how much deeper you have to dig. 

THE RETURN OF...ABEYANCE!!!

CRUCIAL ATTACK

I posted CRUCIAL ATTACK's 2004 demo a few weeks ago, and I was reminded just how damn good they are. On their first recording, the 2000 Good Enough For A Demo demo, you can hear the roots of that fury, and it's the speed that really shines. Clocking in at ten minutes (including samples, because those were the times), treat yourself to eight bursts of relentless hardcore punk. There's nothing else to say. 

 GOOD ENOUGH FOR A DEMO

CRUCIAL ATTACK

I think this might be my favorite CRUCIAL ATTACK offering. Reno's millennial edge warriors never sounded dirtier, never sounded more intense....never sounded punker than on this 2004 offering -  eleven minutes of lightning fast, filthy, furious straight edge hardcore. The guitar that starts "Head Straight" (lyrics below) is straight shit punk amped up real real high, and the lurching blown out drums that drop at 0:43 are simply destroyed and, as a direct result, destructive. I could listen to this shit over and over and over again - CRUCIAL ATTACK doesn't make me feel strong or satisfied in any way, CRUCIAL ATTACK makes me pissed. 

GOOD ENOUGH FOR ANOTHER DEMO

SELF ABUSE

Culled from a ripping TDK D60 filled with '80s Las Vegas hardcore, it's hard to figure out why someone hasn't unearthed this SELF ABUSE demo before now. Advanced North American hardcore punk from 1983, hints of 7 SECONDS/YOUTH BRIGADE melody and full speed ahead 'core that hurtles from one song to the next with a CLITBOYS-caliber fury. No titles, no info, just an internet search that led me to a few tracks on the Viva Las Vegas cassette comp, a particular affinity for the guitar tone (and riff) that start the fifth track and the obligatory pro-beer faux country closer. Also, I think one of these kids was in M.I.A., and I think I'm gonna blast Murder In A Foreign Place today, because it's been a while. 

SELF ABUSE (Las Vegas)

Someday I'll be old but now I wanna be free

REMAINDER

This demo grabbed me the second it started....when people use the dreaded term "melodic hardcore," this is what I always want it to mean. It rarely does, but when it does.......damn. Heartfelt and high energy hardcore is hard to pull off without coming off corny, but Las Vegas punks REMAINDER are tough as nails through the strained anthemic vocals and the guitar leads (I mean the solos and those GORILLA BISCUITS harmonies), and there's not a hint of insincerity as this criminally short demo sinks into your skin. 

REMAINDER

MOON BLOOD

Yesssssss punk. Get ready. Tighten your shoe(boot)laces, because you are about to go fukkn wild. Straight for the throat feminist pogo hardcore mania from Las Vegas with vocals that'll make you rip your heart out and die for punk. This is what the shit is about, motherfukkrs, I want more and more and more. Fast, raw, serious fukkn punk. 

CRAMP

SPITTING IMAGE

All the bands who want to draw from '90s grunge and college rock need to listen to this. And all the bands who want to play dreary and boring goth punk but can't seem to remember how to make bleak music sound punk need to listen to this. And the people who just generally want an example of how to positively use effects pedals for guitars are welcome to give this a spin as well. Reno, you're doing a good job right now.

ICON ALIVE

RAD TIMES

Not exactly sure why this one strikes a chord with my ears, because this kind of raspy and casually melodic punk typically doesn't float my boat. It might be the manic venom from the vocals, or perhaps a certain je ne sais quoi that reminds me of '90s Mission punk created and captured on 4-track cassette recorders in the wee hours of the morning? Either way, Reno's RAD TIMES sound exactly like their name, and tracks like "You'll See" and "Don't Care" are shameless ass shakers. This is sweaty basement in the middle of summer, an afternoon at the lake with your friends, it's revolutionary in its wholesome honesty...RAD TIMES indeed.

RAD TIMES

7 SECONDS

I make no secret of my affinity for this band, and I'm not even remotely ashamed to say that I can still sing along to most of Soulforce Revolution (though revisiting that record after a decade or so has made me stop asserting that it is a great record - it does hold a special place for me but it's really not that good). Based on notes hand scrawled by an unknown punk from the past, these tracks are demos that predate 1986's New Wind, but I ain't gonna lie and say I'm some expert - these are stripped down (punker?) versions of some killer tunes. I put this period of 7 SECONDS more in line with '90s "personal is political" hardcore than with testosterone fueled '80s USHC, and perhaps that's why this the band resonates with me, even the "bad" records. And for what it's worth, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? blatantly lifted the first riff of the title track (fifth tune on this demo), though I still contend that it was an accident and we didn't realize until it was too late.

7 SECONDS

THE HORDE OF TORMENT

Absolutely killer thrash metal circa '89. These tracks were recorded around the same time the band moved to San Francisco to dive into the then thriving scene packed with bands like VIO-LENCE, DEATH ANGEL, FORBIDDEN and the like. THE HORDE OF TORMENT changed their name from PESTILENCE after one of several other PESTILENCEs got a record deal, and cranked out a few more demos almost as good as this one before they fizzled along with the Bay Area thrash scene. This demo was put to wax a few years later (on a 12"  backed with three more bangers that are almost as good as these and one certified scorcher called "Liquidation"), and one dude later joined MACHINE HEAD, for whatever that's worth.

PRODUCT OF A SICK MIND

Interview with two of the dudes here, conducted by a total thrashaholic who clearly has zero patience for aging metal dudes dismissing their speed metal past in favor of broadening their artistic horizons. His commentary at the end of the interview is superb. 

7 SECONDS

If 7 SECONDS had toured the US as relentlessly as BLACK FLAG, then the face of punk and hardcore in this country would be much more attractive. Please discuss.

3 CHORD POLITICS DEMO (1982)

THE INDOORS

Two demos today, both from Reno's THE INDOORS. Old//Older is an excellent foray into dark and serious punk packed with reverb and intrigue - all presented with a raw intensity. But that's just a teaser for 2012's self titled four song banger, absolutely brilliant moody songs shrouded in mystery. These tapes were sent in by F.O.T.E. a few months back and sadly I didn't get around to listening to them for weeks...my personal over extension in this case sadly results in you lovely people having to get through life for a few extra weeks without these songs in your life. Somehow you made it, but after hearing "People Aren't Strange" for the first time you will honestly wonder how you pulled it off.

THE INDOORS

VARIOUS STUFF 87

I've put this one aside several times in the past, not because it is somehow lacking, but it's more a collection of various recordings than a mix tape or a comp. But Saturday night at the LIGHT BRIGADE show I was talking to Mike about my one of my favorite punk songs (I named the band, he immediately recited the lyrics, justifying our friendship even further) and that song is sitting right at the front end of this tape in raw demo form, so I figured it was some kind of a sign. And so here we have two tracks from EMBRACE, a few jams from HELLBASTARD's Ripper Crust demo, that horrible cover tune that OFFENDERS never should have released, plus tracks from ASEXUALS sophomore release Be What You Want (1: While the first record is fukkn flawless, I purged this one long ago but these tracks are stellar...a change in taste or was I just not paying attention? 2: "Contra Rebels" is a pro-US military intervention track, an oddity in 1980s punk even if they were from Canada). Australia's VICIOUS CIRCLE from the 1985 split with PERDITION dish out a few rippers, and the tape closes with a poignant and irreverent 1986 live recording from DANBERT NOBACON of CHUMBAWAMBA (singing about Rupert Murdoch 25 years ago, no less). There are demo tracks that pre-date 7 SECONDS' 1986 LP New Wind (the one that most people say is when they started to suck, but I still contend that they were crucial up to and including the release of Soulforce Revolution, an unpopular opinion to say the least...but don't even get me started on how I think they are better than BLACK FLAG), and the tape starts with six demo tracks from the band that got me to upload the whole damn thing, GRAY MATTER. If this was someone's version of a punk primer kit, then they did a stellar job.

VARIOUS STUFF '87

killing confusion by killing options // burning our bridges to stay warm

CAUSTIC UPROAR PART II

Abrasive and relentless garage hardcore. I cannot think of a tape I have heard that is less concerned with being cool, which makes it infinitely cooler than all of the cool tapes you'll never hear because they were pressed in quantities that barely hit double digits so they can remain mysterious and seem desirable. Twelve songs here, and the tape still just manages to scratch the 10 minute mark - great fukkn songs delivered honestly.

CAUSTIC UPROAR PART II

IRON LUNG

The IRON LUNG Comedy Hour was recorded in late 2001 at Burnt Ramen Studios in Richmond, California. It was one of the funniest live shows I have ever seen, and most everyone who was in attendance would surely agree. Between bursts of their now trademark brand of powerviolence, Jensen and Jon were on fukkn fire, ripping into the crowd and themselves with surgical precision. They were awesome, and it seemed like a logical and brilliant idea when Enterruption decided to release the recording on cassette. Even in their infancy, IRON LUNG were one of the most devastating live bands going (a legacy that they have solidified over the last decade), and The Iron Lung Comedy Hour Live features several tunes that haven't appeared in their live sets for years. Of course, a lot of the comedy has a certain "you had to be there quality" to it, but the "Water - the building block of life" bit holds up nicely to last year's "Vote Black!" from the Supersonic live LP. 

For the purposes of your entertainment, I have separated the tracks so you can either hear the entire set, or just listen to the wit and wisdom of these two modern day wordsmiths. It's not ego that drives them...it's confidence.

IRON LUNG Comedy Hour 

(actually only 19 minutes long)

IRON LUNG Comedy Hour

(music free, pure comedy version)

(the tape comes with stickers...you just get pictures of stickers)