ROBERT LESTER FOLSOM

 

I had this sweet mid-90s Maximum Rocknroll Radio tape I was gonna post but my track listing didn't match the audio and I'm having a really gnarly week so I didn't feel like sorting out the edits and shit so....so I'm not posting it but it started with a BLINK 182 song that's pretty good (in context) and it just feels weird to type out those words but I listened again and it's true so I am determined to post that MRR show soon. In other news......

I went to see INNUENDO and NECRON 9 last week and they both ripped. Milwaukee punk rules period. The locals were fine, but the opener was a SoCal outfit called LAMICTAL and they also ripped. Singer runs a label called Popular Affliction and I stocked up on my way out of the gig (live shows are still the best place to buy records and tapes, straight up). Truth be told, I didn't pay too much attention and just traded $40 for a bunch of tapes I didn't know shit about because the band was good and the dude seemed chill and stoked. got a few hardcore and synth punk tapes.....but then I checked this motherfukkr out. I don't know the history and I don't really care because FUCK ME this shit is beyond beautiful and there's a dude in Southern California releasing hardcore slammers and melancholy '70s freak folk and where has this reality been all my life, you know? Check this shit:

"See You Later, I'm Gone"

"Heaven On The Beach With You"

"Nobody Wants Me"

"I'm Still In Love With You"

"Sunshine Only Sometimes"

"Slowly Sinking Ship"

"Lonely Lovers"

"She"

....yeah punk, this shit is real as fuuuuukk. I don't know what else to say and/or what other context to offer. I went to a punk show and dropped $5 on a previously unknown and currently essential collection of sounds from a different world.....the sounds are not punk, and I made the right choice. Will you make the right choice?

ODE TO A RAINY DAY
SUNSHINE ONLY SOMETIMES
ARCHIVES 1972-1975

SMALL REACTIONS

 

Not even really sure I have words for this. It came to me in a box a few weeks ago and I was smitten from the first listen just as I am smitten on a Thursday evening in preparation for a Friday posting and a long Friday at work. What is Night Reactions Mix 001 exactly? Shit, I can't even say what it is approximately....but it's more or less a politely damaged dark indie shoegaze thing that sounds like it escaped from 1992 Manchester through a tunnel and emerged in a basement covered in mud and sadness. You know....more or less. It's a truly gorgeous recording and it led me down a rabbit hole of releases that spans from the peppy "Cult Hero Jonathan Lewin" (2010) to the advanced indie pop of last year's Your Face Replaces Mine. This tape though? Today's tape? This shit will make you weep. You'll hear Movement-era NEW ORDER and early SISTERS dredging post modern dark indie like WAX IDOLS and TJO through '70s NY No Wave, but mostly you'll hear a brilliant and beautiful tape that came to me in a box. I opened the box and this was inside....it's the little things. The little things still happen, and they're still important.

NIGHT REACTIONS MIX 001

WEAPONIZED FLESH

 

Sometimes it's wise to sit down and take stock of your surroundings before you blast a cassette for the first time because, if you're like me, you might find yourself lost, confused and searching for your ass after the first track. It can be disorienting to not know where (or who) you are when you realize that your ass has just been blown off, so I suggest proper preparation before blasting WEAPONIZED FLESH for the first time. After that first listen? After that first blasting? Game on, motherfucker - you're gonna realize that you didn't even need that ass anyway and the whole Who am I? Where am I? quandry is going to see so very petty and meaningless. 

HURTFUL

SLUGGA

 

I'm in Arkansas today, trying to sneak a peak at a mind melting astronomical event. You're at work, cranking some maniacal glue sniffing hardcore punk squirms from deep in the heart of Georgia. The way I see it, we're both winning. 

SLUGGA

NØ

A couple of years ago a coworker said he was going to throw out a bunch of records a friend had left at his house - I said I'd take them just in case because, well..it's probably all crap but you just never know, and I'm happy to chuck it all after a little dig if it is, in fact, garbage. A small crate of Jamaican press reggae and dancehall 45s later my record shelves were a little more rounded and my coworker netted a few bucks even though most of it was, in fact, garbage. A couple of weeks ago a different coworker said he was going to purge a bunch of cassettes - I said I'd take them just in case because, well...it's probably all crap but you just never know, and I'm happy to chuck it all after a little dig if it is, in fact, garbage. Let the 2005 demo from NØ be the first (of many) reasons why you should always ask your friends (and coworkers) to let you dig through their tapes before they head to the garbage (or the thrift store). 

NØ

DIVORCE

Y'all need to think about DIVORCE. Totally off the rails SE screamo/fastcore hybrid that imploded after this demo and the ten song EP that followed. The songs are so fast, so erratic, just head spinningly wild from start to finish - imagine '90 West Bay without the slow parts, played by END OF THE CENTURY PARTY. Nine songs in under eight minutes; hard to describe how refreshing this approach sounds now, twenty years after it was recorded. 

DIVORCE

SPEWTILATOR // COFFIN DUST

 

No surprises here, just brutality. COFFIN DUST (Philadelphia) open with "Necronomibong" and never looks back - clicky bass and DBeat and filthy mosh breakdowns and blast beats you almost don't even need the rest of their side (hint: you actually do need it, and it actually slays). On the flip, SPEWTILATOR (Atlanta) can't seem to get themselves out of a mosh - classic party thrash spending loud night with guttural grind. Both bands fucking reek, which is exactly why you will listen to them. 

ANCIENT RITES OF GETTING CONJURED

SLUGGA

 

Someone's gonna know what this shit is, right? Every time I pop this one in, the answer is just barely out of reach - I know I know who this is, but I just don't know who this is. Sharp, tight punk with a killer snarl and a Midwest swagger...someone help the rest of us.

UNKNOWN ARTIST

UPDATE, 29 May: It's SLUGGA from Atlanta. I probably got this slammer in OKC back in 2016 and forgot what I got. But Ross has got me covered. And you. Thanks, Ross. 

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES FROM DAY ONE

 

Here it is: Region Rock. Those shitty folk punk banjo playing inept coffee shop rock motherfuckers that ain't punk that people call Region Rock? Fukk that shit. Because you know what's punk? Fukkn STUN GUNS and SPAWN SACS and LES TURDS and KREAMY 'LECTRIC SANTA and shit like that. So forget what you think about some overly broad and arbitrary subgenre descriptor, because if this is Region Rock then I was there for it the first time and I haven't left. 

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES FROM DAY ONE

30 BANDS, 51 SONGS FROM "THE REGION"

APPARITION

Jason Griffin has been in so many good ass bands...shit just ain't fair. Then again, maybe part of the reason all of those good ass bands were so damn good was because Griffin was behind the kit - dude is just a monster. But far from a Jason Griffin appreciation post, I type these words to tell you that Georgia's APPARITION released two wild tapes in the late 2010s. This is the first one, and if you like maximum intensity hardcore punk with weird jerky stops and unconventional riffs then you're going to fucking love it. I wish I had seen them live, but I also wish that I could play in a band with Jason Griffin. Listen to "Nauseous" on repeat. Trust me. 

APPARITION 

PROFANE GRACE

Record stores, as a concept, are cool. We can all just agree on that, right? And the cool record stores are a whole different level of special. For those of us (I'm talking to you, if you're reading this) who like to dig, there's nothing quite like a good shop, out of the way, with a worker/owner/proprietor kinda lurking behind the counter pretending to do something important while they watch you dig...wondering if you're one of them. And when (if) you can break that seal, the distance evaporates and conversation immediately turns into "if you like this then you gotta check out THIS" and "have you heard that?" and then you're just talking to an old friend because you get each other, you know? That happened to me a few months back at LongHair Records in Albuquerque. Extremely cool small shop that focuses on the fringes of metal and experimental sounds without making your regular ass rock shopper feel alienated. I brought the dude a stack of records (good stuff - not "valuable" in the monetary sense, but also not dollar bin fodder) and left with a stack of excellent tapes. More importantly, I left knowing that this was the store I need to visit every time I'm in Duke City, because everything felt right. Regular ass store in a strip  mall, next to a smoke shop and a bunch of empty store fronts. In the non-Covid reality they host gigs inside and/or in the parking lot. Heavy emphasis on freak VHS tapes and new age tapes (ask me for the story he told me - it's genius and you will be amazed) and this brutally raw black metal tape from PROFANE GRACE. I basically said all that other shit just to tell you that I got this PROFANE GRACE tape there - but the other shit was probably more important. I also snagged the Artspace Quarterly tape, and a bunch of Krshna chants. I just needed an excuse to blab, apparently. It was a really good visit. 

THE SEAL OF XASTUR 

NEATO TORPEDO

 

Maybe someone can help the rest of us out here? Apparently this cassette is the sole release from Georgia's NEATO TORPEDO, and it came out in 1990 on Selfless Records. The same Selfless Records who fucked with everyone from ANTISCHISM and DROPDEAD to JAWBREAKER and THE QUEERS, so naturally I'm gonna pay attention...right? Well this one came before all of those and it's straight late college town proto-grunge. The kind of shit that was, like, kinda GIN BLOSSOMS but they still played the punk shows. That was a think in college towns in the early '90s, I swear. This was recorded in 1989, which means that less than two years after this tape, Selfless Records would release ANTISCHISM records. Good job, Selfless Records. And also, the track "Tom" is really good. 

NEATO TORPEDO

FORCED ENTRY

This is a MONSTER. From the chaotic simplicity of the guitar that opens "Chump Change," Georgia's FORCED ENTRY is off to the races. Ironically, that first track may be the least interesting of the bunch, as they seem to gather steam (and confidence) as they move forward. Classic and honestly somewhat basic USHC, reminiscent of MECHT MENSCH or even a slower NEON CHRIST at times but, as with most of the things that grab me by my old ass throat, FORCED ENTRY don't sound like they are going for a sound as much as they sound like they are going for it. Which is to say that their influence and motivation is drawn from the same well as the greats....and a well is way cooler than a mirror. 

 FORCED ENTRY

The tape snapped halfway through "Police," which opens with such a nasty and blown out bass that you leap up and break shit before the rest of the band drops in 3 seconds later. It's a bummer, but fortunately the internet can be used for more than just conspiracy theories...like, the rest of this demo. 

UNIFORM

You see, this is what dark and introspective punk is supposed to sound like. Not like 1984 reborn as a new band who sounds like they wish they were alive in 1984...but like a band weaned on this shit who find themselves as a bunch of grown ass adults with punk and nihilism flowing through their veins. And they just can't help it. As much MISSION OF BURMA as FLUX OF PINK INDIANS, and with a presentation that sounds as urgent (and relevant) as anything you're going to hear this week (year). Atlanta bred, with a members of list that'll make you drool (WYMYNS PRYSYN, DASHER, BRAIN F≠, NURSE, CHEAP ART...I mean, if you pay attention then you get the drill), and UNIFORM manage to land at, or dangerously near, that formidable heap. "Evolve To Dust" invokes HIS HERO IS GONE with the leads, "Parallel Android" conjures early CHROME demos, and the "Nuclear Winter (BRITE GUSH)" demo has the winning and/or endearing character of current NWI punk....this collection listens like a stroll down a very dark path. There are teeth lurking in the trees, monsters hiding in the shadows, and ultimately you just want it all to envelop you. So let it. 

DEMO + NO TRENDING 

Also, they called themselves "Funeral Oi" on the internet, which is pretty cool. 

THE VIEW: AN ATLANTA COMPILATION 1984-1990

All hail region specific compilations, and especially ones that focus on overlooked eras and/or regions. The View piles over an hour of under the radar punk and hardcore onto this comp, and it's fukkn great...but first off, NEON CHRIST's "Savior" is one of the greatest uncelebrated tracks from a band known primarily for playing faster and looser than anyone on the planet, this song is just pure power and should be considered essential listening. The rest of the comp is excellent, with dips into the proto/pre college radio/alt that put the  post hardcore era on the map mixed in with basement DIY and punks breaking out of the then "traditional" formulas. Highlights for me include ACT OF FAITH, KICKER BOYS, THIRD SEASON and STICKMEN....but I am only two ears. 

THE VIEW: AN ATLANTA COMPILATION 1984-1990

The Atlanta specific Beyond Failure blog made an excellent post about this compilation many years ago. Worth checking for a local's perspective alone, but the comments from the label and other people involved and influenced by the tape at the time are well worth a read. Careful though - I got caught up in some pretty lengthy Atlanta nostalgia...and I'm definitely not from Atlanta. 

SHAVED CHRIST

I don't remember when I met Jason Griffin, but I feel like I've know of the dude for a solid 20+ years. HICKEY crossed paths with his band TRES KIDS during one (of many) jaunts through the Southern States, and there's a pretty famous photo of someone from the band passed out next to a pile of vomit, curled up around a HICKEY CD...and over time these are the associations that stick with you. I missed DIVORCE, I missed NO, I feel like I maybe played with GOAT SHANTY in Richmond in 2002, definitely saw AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER in Texas in the mid-'00s, then NO STATIK played with HARSH WORDS in Atlanta in 2013. The point is, it's not like we are tight or anything, but man, I really like that dude...and he hits the drums really good. Like, really good. I also missed SHAVED CHRIST, who claim one of the coolest monikers in modern hardcore and are complete rippers. Like TOTAL FURY crashing headlong into NEON CHRIST, these Georgia kids just fukkn burn through forced, disjointed and ultimately destructive US hardcore punk. No fancy studio work, just one screaming (loose) guitar track amped up higher than the rest of the mix and a crew of fellas banging the shit out of some punk because that's what they fukkn do. There was one six song EP that came shortly after this 2011 demo - I suggest seeking out that slab. You need it. 

SHAVED CHRIST

Listen to the one guitar overdub in "No Crux" and then come talk to me about punk. Fukk.

AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER

My pal Jason from Georgia has been in a bunch of bands in the 20ish years that I've known him. Georgia is pretty far from every house I've ever lived in, so we don't visit very often and I have only seen him play a few times....and he's a really good drummer. And a super hilarious dude who I really like hanging out with when our paths cross. Most of Jason's bands seem to fly more or less under the radar, perhaps because some of them have had really stupid names like AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER, but that's punk's loss, and not Jason's. Because that fool gonna keep beating the shit out of the tubs and cranking out relentless DIY as fukk hardcore until the rest of punk has finished making the switch to self indulgent bedroom electronics - and then he's gonna out live the next punk generation too. Jason made me a tape of this AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER recording back in '06, I decided to include his handwritten address on the cover in case you want to send him a postcard and tell him he rules. 

AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER

OHIO // ONTARIO // GEORGIA

We were supposed to tour together in 2002 - it would have been KYLESA's first - but they killed two vans in three days and (wisely?) decided to stay home before we even left the Southeast. While our shows definitely benefited from having their name on every flyer, I still really wish that we could have just done the damn thing together. But we shared a shitload of bills through the mid-'00s, and they were like family every time they came through. Obviously KYLESA was on the road a lot during that time, and obviously they had similar relationships with friends all over the country, but when they rolled up to our place on Achilles Street in Milwaukee it always felt like family. And then they proved that we were family when I went to Europe with them in 2008, but that's a different story....

I don't remember exactly when Laura made me this tape, but I'm pretty sure the tracks from the No Ending EP were yet to be released at the time, so that means 2002/3, pretty soon after we met. It's a pretty simple concept for a mix: throw some new shit from your band on a tape with some classic bangers that you want to turn your friend/s onto. And if the shit bangs, then you're finished...and this shit bangs. Ohio 1983 // Ontario 1987 // Georgia 2002 // Thanks, Laura. 

BLACK DEATH // INFERNAL MAJESTY // KYLESA

CELEBS WITHOUT THEIR MAKEUP

One of the (many) things in my life that I stumble across and wonder Where did this come from? Subdued freak beats and electronic pulsations from somewhere in the American Southeast. Imagine primitive '60s experimental/electronic artists with the access to today's modern technology but without the exposure to techno or EDM or anything of the sort....it's weird and erratic but it doesn't sound intentionally weird. It sounds intentional, to be sure, but organic. Some patience required, but definitely worth the effort. 

THE EMPEROR HAS NO SKIN

MIDGET FARMERS

This band must have existed in every town that had even the slightest hint of an alternative scene in the early '90s. Equal parts melodic alternative rock and rehashed late '80s US punk, these are the bands who had friends who were sure they were gonna make it, though I dare say that none of them ever did (I can name at least a half dozen from my shithole town). There's a part of "James #1" that is dead on NAKED RAYGUN, but the song has none of the teeth, you get what I mean? But still,m there's a time and a place for this shit, and strangely I still find these scores rather endearing...perhaps the eight of you who bother listening after I basically said the tape is a stinker will find Georgia's MIDGET FARMERS rather endearing too.

AMERICA'S A PLACE TO WASTE YOUR LIFE

And yes, I am aware the that song "Black Girl" is, at best, really stupid but most likely it is just super racist. I'm not making excuses.