ACHTERLICHT

 

You want to talk about something being greater than the sum of its parts? Then let's talk about ACHTERLICHT. The opening burst is dirty, fuzzed out hardcore that made me think of (LA) STAINS, then before you can blink the other sounds creep in and then before "Exaltation" starts you're listening to some lo-fi hi-NRG garage punk and how the fukk did we go from STAINS to SPITS without inflicting mental whiplash on the listener? Don't know, don't care. Want more of those guitar solo, want more period. Luckily for me (and you) here have been three releases since this 2023 demo...

ACHTERLICHT

B.G.K.

 

DEAD KENNEDYS were my first real starter band. I followed the 1985 PMRC hearings as a new teenager and avid TWISTED SISTER fan, and heard DK mentioned here and there as an example of a band to be feared (their name often mentioned alongside BUTTHOLE SURFERS, of course). But there was no internet, so it was name and notoriety only for a while until a visiting cousin gifted me a copy of Give Me Convenience... and it was fukkn over. I devoured the lyrics and the visuals, but the music? Fukk dude, I had simply never heard anything that raw and that fast before - I knew some punk by then, but this was different. On top of that, you could straight up send them money and Alternative Tentacles would send you more records from different bands - I got KLAUS FLOURIDE's solo platters like this, more DK records, heard TSOL and MDC for the first time and I also got my first real taste of '80 European hardcore when I traded a paltry $6 for a copy of Nothing Can Go Wrogn! that I still own today. I didn't have the context, but I knew the shit ripped and I drove the damn grooves off of that record...I often wonder what it might have been like if I have been able to put the pieces together then, in real time, but everything just seemed so completely foreign and impossible to reach so I focused intently on the magic that was in my hands and in front of my face. Funny that BGK were one of my first 'real' underground hardcore discoveries, but when WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? covered "Action Man" fifteen years later I had still not heard the White Male Dumbinance EP - good that didn't (still don't) feel like I have anything to prove, I suppose. But this tape is a much more recent acquisition - a relic from the '90s tape traders that compiles both the EP and both LPs...a flawless discography. Fitting that fan club tape label Poison Planet named this release Best Of and then included essentially every song BGK recorded. I kinda feel like BGK were the European NOTA, which I guess brings the whole Oklahoma thing full circle, right?

BEST OF B.G.K.

Also, Poison Planet popped singles from MORNING CRESCENT and ULTRA VIOLENT on the end of the tape, and we are all grateful. 

VAAL

 

Random pickups are still my favorite. Of course I get stoked when the new CYBERPLASM 12" slides through the mail slot and I know my brain is about to melt, but what about dropping a few dollars because something looked interesting? Because something felt right in your hands? That was my experience with VAAL, mysterious Dutch black metal misanthrope who has been responsible for scores of releases under different monikers since the mid-teens. Since this isn't "my" realm, 2019's Ondood Rehearsal was my first exposure and....consider me exposed. Seven cold and impassioned blasts that led me down a dark hole to find OLD TOWER, STAAR, THE WAMPYRIC SPECTER and other associated manifestations, in addition to a swarm of recordings under the shadow of VAAL. There's a reason I keep the genre at arm's length...these vortices have strong pulls, and one curious soul might never leave their orbit. 

ONDOOD REHEARSAL

GOD

By the late '80s, you had folks who felt like punk (and specifically hardcore) was just completely dead and you had folks who had just moved on and you had folks who were being introduced to new punk-adjacent (or punk influenced) bands without even knowing about the sonic roots. You also had punk and hardcore bands cranking out killer records. GOD cranked out three full lengths around the turn of the decade - way more on the rock and or grunge tip (sign of the times, you know?), but this 1987 recording leans heavier on NYHC and SUICIDAL influences. The transfer is admittedly not the best (tapes, motherfukkr!), but there are some nice rougher versions of some cuts that would appear on the Sweet Life LP, plus "Survival Of The Meek" is a total slammer and doesn't seem to pop up anywhere else. 

GOD - 1987 DEMO

RECOPILACION PRO-VEGETARIANA

 

Pretty fukkn self explanatory today - twenty eight blasts of pro-animal rights mid 1990s crust/hc from around the world. INTOLERANCE, EXCREMENT OF WAR, HIATUS, FLEAS & LICE, SEDITION, HELLKRUSHER, ACTIVE MINDS, , NATIONS ON FIRE, CONFRONTATION, INTESTINAL DISEASE, MEDIA CHILDREN, SCRAPS....do I need to go on? Because there's more. 

HARDCORE PO EL DERECHO A LA VIDA, A LA LIBERTAD Y AL RESPETO DE L@S ANIMALES

SOLIDARIDAD CON VOZ Y RUIDO

 

I want more compilations. Region specific. Ideologically focused. Benefits comps. Killer bands on the same comp just because they are killer bands. Compilations curated by someone who wants other people to hear the bands that the curator likes. Compilations designed to give a voice to bands and/or issues that get overlooked. All of them. Solidaridad Con Voz y Ruido is some of many of the above - released in Puerto Rico around the turn of the century and reissued on cassette in Mexico shortly after, there are twenty three doses of femme focused hardcore punk from all over Europe and Central/South America. Melodic hardcore/punk, abrasive hardcore, raw punk, clenched fist protest punk, throw your arm around your comrade's shoulder and sing every word out loud punk...and it all means something. I want more compilations. 

SOLIDARIDAD CON VOZ Y RUIDO

JUNIOR

 

Un(der)known punk. Kinda melodic, would have fit in nicely on a bill with J CHURCH and/or GOMEZ and/or TINA, AGE 13. There must (still) be thousands of these bands filling up the cracks in time. Waiting for the future to find them. The final track here is the reward for your (minimal) effort. 

JUNIOR

SOUNDS OF DEFIANCE

 

I should just be able to list the bands and if you weren't already aware of this 1987 comp then you should be salivating. So....DARK AGE (Switzerland, ex-THE DECAY), BAD ATTITUDE (Germany), INSTIGATORS (UK), 16 BLSÂRE UTAN HJÄRNA (Sweden), KRULL (France), UNIFIED FIELD (USA), NO CONTROL (Australia), SCOUNDRELS (Holland), G-3 (Peru), PRESIDENT FETCH (Denmark), R.I.P. (Spain). Not too shabby for a comp put together by some kids from South Dakota, I suppose. More mix tapes, more comp tapes, more international collections. 

SOUNDS OF DEFIANCE

HOLLAND HARDCORE

 

I remember picking up all three volumes of the Holland Hardcore LP reissues in one glorious moment in the early 2000s, and then I devoured them (pixelation and all). Each collection is packed with essential tracks from some of the greats, but also includes more under the radar acts perfect for the budding connoisseur. 1984's 2nd Attack features PANDEMONIUM, INDIREKT and FUNERAL ORATION from the first category, with SESAMZAAD, BLOEDBAD and THE APERITY'S in the second, while C.K.N. fills the void that's in between. Little to say that hasn't already been well covered over the last three decades, but there's a reason these recordings are considered classics. 

HOLLAND HARDCORE: 2nd ATTACK

ERIC LOU ROOT

 

A simply indescribable recording from 1980s Netherlands, a private pressing unearthed by nerds in Amsterdam and presented on cassette by the geniuses at Loathed Sound. Drugged out synths dominate a recording that was perhaps initially meant by the artist to be akin to reggae/dub, but manifests something completely different. Like a SCIENTIST session invaded by Latvia's ZODIAC, Root jams through an hour of bizarre, innocent and pure sounds that transcend earth and universe, unrestrained by convention, tradition, or gravity. You can feel how deep inside himself the creator had to go to pull these sounds out...makes you wonder if he ever came back. 

DON'T WORRY

SWEAT TONGUE

Thirty minutes of minor "chord" improvisational abomination, like a NY No Wave reject lost in the darkness of the Mississippi Delta, lost and confused and trying to play his way to safety. The line between brilliance and instability is a thin one....and it's best to not think of it as a straight one. 

DRAPE

Choice cut here is "'Eleonore'," and feel free to get lost in SWEAT TONGUE if you need more.  

NETWORK 76

Cold, ferocious Dutch punk from last year. There's a DK vibe from the guitar (I'm really talking "Human Show") but without the effects, and the vocals call back to a time of showmanship that's all but gone in favor on contrived writhings. There are way too many comparisons jumping out at me to try to fire them all into one little paragraph, but during "Tired" I had at least five moments that made me pause and rewind to try to nail what "that part" reminded me of. I didn't always find "it," but it enhances that mystery and the experience on future listens. Only four tracks here but each one sticks with you, perhaps because everything sounds so instantly familiar. 

INSANITY

MOWLAWNER

2015 release from this extremely prolific Dutch drone dealer. Ultra minimalist offerings, constructed with care and casually building to white noise crescendos over the course of several minutes (and often over several compositions). The seven minutes of "Moulding Tongues" is worth the price of admission on its own, but be warned that a journey through the MOWLAWNER catalog will consume a healthy portion of your day....and night. 

CHORUS OF PLAGUE AND DIVERSITY

MAX KUIPER & THORSTEN SOLTAU

I don't want to get caught sounding pompous by trying to present a bunch of information about these two artists that I only recently discovered because of the internet and their association with Chondritic Sound, so I will spare you. I will recommend that you look into both Max Kuiper and Thorsten Soltau on your own, but I will space you the uninformed summary. Instead....listen to this release. A truly beautiful collaboration that leaves me speechless every time I listen to it. Analog sounds, piano, harpsichord, loops, voice...sourced and conceived by one artist, treated, produced and completed by another. Simply put: This release is stunning. 

ANIMI SUB VOLPE LATENTES

THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS

My introduction to THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS was The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse LP in 1990, and I scooped The Maria Dimension as soon as it dropped the following year. Both records were on Play It Again Sam, a label more known for proto-industrial and acid house releases, so for years the band was linked (in my band) to that scene - it's the only reason I checked the band out in the first place (and where is THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX now....?). It's an association that's not entirely unwarranted but, since the early 1980s, The DOTS have consistently held a zone far outside the realm of simple classifications. Psychedelic and ethereal sounds that might owe more to early PINK FLOYD than to experimental and electronic music, The Maria Dimension is full of in depth orchestral arrangements, with tracks like "Pennies For Heaven" serving as multi-layered sequels to "Just A Lifetime" and "The Pleasure Palace" from the previous record. While there's no "I Love You In Your Tragic Beauty" here (though I would argue that there are few equals to that song on any record released by any band at any time....it's like the fucking "Angel Of Death" of melancholic psychedelia), the collision of Krautrock and shameless individualism with a true hallucinatory sonic experience ("The Grain Kings," lights off, full volume) makes for a record that I might enjoy even more than its predecessor. Oh...I snagged this cassette in a 50¢ bin somewhere in Arizona, so....the hunt is still worth it. 

THE MARIA DIMENSION

C.K.N.

Screaming Dutch hardcore from 1985. I first posted this one years ago, but the link is long dead. I

This one is straight fire, kids....highly recommended. 

C.K.N.

VACUÜM

Originally posted here back in 2010, the 1982 LP from Holland's VACUÜM deserves a revisit. Fully programmed drums and a fun, irreverent approach to fast, aggressive punk. Not much to say that I didn't say the first time around, so in case you missed it...

VACUÜM

ENEMA SYRINGE

You might not want to trust me, and I understand that. Sometimes I steer you wrong, like the time I posted the interview with my father-in-law talking about heat stroke and hydrating enemas. Sorry. But surely you are by now smart enough to trust Chondritic Sound, yes? Good. They were nice enough last fall to repurpose two older recordings by ENEMA SYRINGE and present them with two short new pieces to create Flapper. It was a good move. Lo-fi disjointed repetition, minimal beats, and polite distortion make up the initial track, and then things slowly get darker and more chaotic. It's like a journey and an escape, all in just under twenty minutes.

FLAPPER

TORTURE CORPSE

Genuinely one of the most compelling and indescribable releases I've come across, Invocation Of Nirrti is also one of the best. The seldom used guitar will bring black metal hordes to the altar, but they will be lost and empty upon their arrival...the tracks breathe and grow, and grow more menacing as they do, and then the sound finishes without closure. The first time through, I found myself lying down next to the speakers, mouth agape, in total silence for several minutes after it was complete...I hope the same for you.

INVOCATION OF NIRRTI

COMING BACK TO HAUNT YOU

Early '90s European rough and tumble edge and 'core comp - from the hyper speed chugs from PROFAX that open the tape to the chaotic live X-LARGE track that wraps things up 90 minutes later, Coming Back To Haunt you is a killer glimpse into the less celebrated world of hardcore. THE CLOWN, LAST STRAW, X WOOLHEAD, HAMMERHEAD B.T., VITAKORN, ALL IN THE HEAD, and a slew of other bands you've never heard of....plus two rippers from MAN LIFTING BANNER. A heads up that a lot of the content here is live (or just generally raw), but personally I think that adds a little charm - the tape hiss just goes up with the volume. BETRAY (harmonics right out of the gate and straight into a whirlwind), ALL IN THE HEAD (pre-fastcore mania!) and POINT OF NO RETURN (best/worst bass tone ever) offer up my favorite tunes, in case anyone is keeping track.

COMING BACK TO HAUNT YOU