GREENEARTH TAPES

 

Not going to take up a ton of space talking about how important international tape comps were (read: are) again, instead I'll just let you know what's waiting for you on this 1990 slammer.  RESIST, NUNCA MAS and INSURGENCE representing the US (hard to believe no one has unearthed the INSURGENCE catalog for a fancy reissue...yet), SEDITION and CRITERIA from Scotland, plus European hitters like VERDUN (France),  STRAWBERRY (these Polish punks were new to me), SILENT WATER (Belgium) and AKIE MAU MAUS (Germany). Throw in Canadians HYPOCRICY and English crustlords DISASTER and you've got an hour of fucking rage that starts with "Dismember Nazi Scum" and ends with "Growing Greed." 

DIE FREIHEIT VOL.3

105 LUX

 

Over the weekend, I got a few tapes from the folks at Music Not Noize (no new posts in several years, though most of the links are still live and you can still get lost there for hours). It's going to take months to really poke through everything, but I had never heard of 105 LUX so I popped in Przeciwko immediately. It's basically been on repeat since (so it's going to take me even longer to get through everything, it seems). Infectious early '90s Polish punk with a heavy (if inadvertent) UK anarcho influence, especially in the vocals. I ripped POLITICAL ASYLUM's Walls Have Ears collection yesterday, and I feel 105 LUX would be an excellent companion - song structures often 'too complicated' for punk, some metallic high end guitars with sung, poetic vocals. Not sure what makes vocals poetic, but once I typed the word I couldn't think of anything else, so I'm sticking with it. 105 LUX feels innocent, feels urgent, feels real - this one is going to be in regular rotation until I can track down their other two tapes. 

PRZECIWKO

CZERWONA CHORĄGIEWKA

 

Brutally lo-fi and gloriously grinding Polish grind crust circe 1991. What the fukk were you doing in 1991....? For most readers, the answer will be: Not this. And that's why you should listen to CZERWONA CHORĄGIEWKA. Because they were. And these seventeen songs fucking prove it. Noise - not fucking music.

IDŹ STĄD

WŁOCHATY

 

2000's Zmowa is possibly my favorite release from WŁOCHATY, though it's not the one I most often turn to (and admittedly there are a few more I haven't spent time with). This record is just....realized. The way they layer guitars, they way they drop melodies into their bitter and stark hardcore and/or anarcho punk, the way it almost feels like you're listening to a full concept piece instead of a mere collection of tracks. Poland's WŁOCHATY contributed more than a bunch of tunes during their twenty=plus year run...it feels different. They feel different. They feel important, always have. 

ZMOWA

ŻONA ZŁA

This band is simply brilliant, and I should just stop there and (strongly) suggest that you listen. However, I will add that their approach to Eastern European punk is cold, relentless and deadly; their presentation is cold, deadly and relentless; they will make you want to break everything. Polish ex-pats making life in Dublin...this is their second tape, and it's offered here with the highest recommendation. 

SESJA 2

DEZERTER

I'm going to assume that introductions and background information would largely be wasted on such a knowledgable assortment of punk fans, but I also cannot ignore DEZERTER's importance, so here you go. Released by Maximum Rocknroll in 1987 from master tapes that D.O.A. brought back from a European tour, Underground Out Of Poland combines tracks from DEZERTER's first EP on Polish state label Tonpress and their set from the Jarocin festival in 1984, previously released by the band as a cassette. Searing and essential punk rock music - the version of "Niewolnik" here is impossibly fierce, and "Szara Rzeczywistość" is simply one of the greatest punk songs of all time. Period. 

UNDERGROUND OUT OF POLAND

DEZERTER are, of course, still very active. They continue to plays shows and release records, and many of their older releases and recordings have been made available to the masses by Pasażer.

JAD

Five songs. Six minutes. Polish hardcore delivering that stomp squirm that you kids like to get low to, Polish hardcore that launches and lurches into breakneck ferocity on the second track and leaves your clenched fist/s in the dust. Thick and meaty (check the chorus riff in "Paich" and then just quit punk) mania that is so deliberate, so precise, and so perfectly executed. Listen to the fire in the vocals and remind yourself how well suited Slavic language/s are to hardcore, especially hardcore of the cromagnon variety. This demo is on wax now, and should be considered essential modern punk in any and/or all formats. 

JAD

SOLO SE OYE PUNK

You've seen these comps before...I mean, if you have paid attention to The Escape then you have seen them before. There are four volumes of Solo Se Oye Punk (that I know of), and I might argue that this one is the most crucial (though Volume 1 is pretty fukkn essential) - basically, this is the perfect international hardcore punk mix tape. The one that your friend never made you because your friend didn't have the KORO single and had never heard of RAPPRESAGLIA. It's like internet-era punk making the pre-internet-era tape you wish had helped you change your life instead of listening to DEPECHE MODE until you were 17 and then finally figuring out that Punk Rules and that yes, you do need to listen to ATAQUE FRONTAL to be happy. This one leans heavy on Italy, USA and Sweden (I guess that's fair), but Finland, Japan, Poland, Spain and Peru make notable appearances. File under: Essential. 

HARDCORE

WŁOCHATY

Fourth full length from some of my favorite Polish anarcho punks. The guitars are inimitable in tone and presentation, and the combination of fierce political punk and hopelessly addictive pop tunes is one that has always worked well for WŁOCHATY. Fourteen songs, not a dud in the bunch, and still available from Nikt Nic Nie Wie - some things should always be in print. 

DROGA OPORU

ŚMIERĆ KILINCZNA

The second volume of Punky Reggae Party (find the first tape here, hard to believe that I posted those tracks more than five fukkn years ago). I'm going to avoid a history lesson, primarily because I know little about ŚMIERĆ KILINCZNA aside from their two 45s on Tonpress, these two cassettes, and the things you find when you slip down an internet hole....like this insane video for "Paciorek" (a more subdued, yet weirder, version of that track can be found on Punky Reggae Party cześć 1). Basically, I know that ŚMIERĆ KILINCZNA were a band of Polish punks active in the early '80s who bridged punk and reggae sounds and approached everything with an intellectual weirdness that is difficult to describe. Favorite jammer on this installment is "Robinson," but this might simply be because it rocks harder that any of the tunes aside from the untitled and impossible to digest final track, a free form rocker that sadly falls victim to age and the physical limitations of magnetic tape. Their normal approach was steeped in reggae/punk, but these two tapes forgo the latter for the former, and you should prepare yourself for extended jams and gratuitous guitar solos...not that I'm complaining. I can't pretend that these tracks weren't a hard toke at first, but context and concentration is everything, my friends....and now I find myself binging on these two tapes with almost alarming frequency. If nothing else, this version of "Edukacja" from the second Tonpress single is really really cool.

PUNKY REGGAE PARTY cześć II

APATIA

More stuff I scooped up in Poland on my first trip to Europe, I think I came home from that trip with four different APATIA tapes. I suppose they will all find their way home to The Escape eventually...Odejdź Lub Zostań is from 1994.

ODEJDŹ LUB ZOSTAŃ

APATIA

Anyone who's toured Europe has undoubtedly seen APATIA tapes and CDs filling distro boxes, especially as you head east. We were predictably entertained at the title of their 2000 full length 100% Vegetarian Band, and that was probably what made me check the band out in the first place, but I came back from that trip with a few different APATIA tapes that still get regular attention today. Energetic Polish punk that nods at mid '80s UK anarcho (I'm thinking later SUBHUMANS) instead of the two chord UK82 stomp that is (and has been) so often emulated, these tracks were recorded in 1992 many also appear on the Wlka Czy Apatia? CD (also released by Nikt Nic Nie Wie). Light years from brainless hardcore, bands like this remind me how refreshing it can be to listen to bands who are....well, who are light years away from brainless hardcore.

BÓG, HONOR, OJCZYZNA, FASZYZM

WŁOCHATY

While I hesitate to call WŁOCHATY "legendary," their quarter century of Polish anarcho punk should certainly put them in that category. Multiple vocals spitting far left politics amid a blur of lightning speed angular hardcore, lazy horns lurking (mostly) in the background, and a presentation that is the very embodiment of "in your face." WŁOCHATY liberally use samples and interludes to break up the flow of Wojna Przeciwko Ziemi (War Against The Earth) - take the more than two minute intro to "Ostatni," for example - which helps the feeling that your are listening to a complete thing...because you are. This 1996 release might be my favorite of theirs (Droga Oporu is very very worth your time as well), there's something about the combination of UK anarcho (think the choppy, CRASS-esque approach) and sharp Eastern European punk that hits just about every nerve. 

WOJNA PRZECIWKO ZIEMI

Still in print and available from Nikt Nic Nie Wie.

REJESTRACJA

Aside from their 1985 split tape with ABADDON, the only REJESTRACJA releases were comp tracks and blasts on various compilations (including their tracks from Jak Punk To Punk, which are obviously fantastic). The first time I went to Poland, this band was presented to me as a thing of legend; live tapes and stories passed between friends over the years but few actual studio documents of this band that should be filed alongside SIEKIERA, DEZERTER and TZN XENNA in that country's seminal first wave. I got this tape on that trip, a late '90s reissue of a 1985 live show and recordings from '82...screaming and absolutely crucial Polish hardcore punk. If you don't know, this this is a good place to start.

REJESTRACJA

POST REGIMENT

My history with this band started in 1998 when I was driving BY ALL MEANS from Italy on their tour with AVAIL and BOY SETS FIRE. After the Memphis show, a friend of mine got piss thrown on his from a rooftop when he left the venue, a reaction to the table of politically left leaning books and literature he was peddling at the show (the Italians, of course, though this was fukkn insane...we explained to them that it was, in fact, Tennessee). We went back to Paul's place and, after a meal and a pleasant visit, we all started to forage for sleeping spots - I lost the musical floor space contest and was about to retire to the hopelessly hot and humid van when Paul offered his air conditioned bedroom (thanks, buddy). He put the Czarzły LP on as we laid down and I fought to stay awake so I could hear more of these magical sounds - I had never heard melodic punk like that before, and I didn't want to miss any of it (though I missed a lot because sleep always wins eventually). I snagged the Tragedia record shortly thereafter (and the others shortly after that) and joined the cultish legions that had figured out that there was a band in Poland doing something really really special. In Lublin a few years later, I picked up this 1988 POST REGIMENT demo (it was one of many that I bought on the suggestion of our hosts....and the only one that I still own); rough, low fidelity (at least on this initial recording) and absolutely brilliant melodic punk that deserves to be uttered in sentences with DEZERTER and ARMIA, there's something indescribably special about many bands from this time and place. Though Nika's voice doesn't really appear until the second side of this demo, you can hear the band's sound developing though the tracks...and when she does start singing you can hear a legend in its infancy. There seriously are not enough words for how good this bands is....my only apology is that this cassette is not first generation and is therefore a bit hissy (what do you expect for a mere seven złoty?), but I feel like that's exactly how this should be heard for the first time. So please do. 

16 LATKA

DRUGS & POLITICS

Early '90s metallic and engaging Polish punk. I really like these sounds, even though I would guess that the band were aiming for something that I wouldn't like. Does that even make sense? Maybe the second sentence is confusing, but those of you who were intrigued by the first sentence should get amongst this shit immediately. You're welcome.

DRUGS & POLITICS

HIPOKRYZJA

Ignore the cover (I actually considered not posting it because the full color amateur photoshop so blatantly dates this release) but dig the jams...please. How many bands like HIPOKRYZJA must there be? Earnest and fierce Polish punk along the lines of masters like ARMIA and TZN XENNA, but this tape comes from 1997, when the style was (perhaps?) out of vogue at home but the internet had not yet become the great geographical equalizer. This tape is almost an hour long, and parts of it might be too produced and "modern" for some, but take a look at some of the other shit that QQRYQ released (POST REGIMENT, SCHIZMA, CITIZEN FISH, DEZERTER, loads more...) and perhaps you will decide that diving into Nie Jesteście Inni is a good idea. And you will be correct.

NIE JESTESCIE INNI

TROMPKA POMPKA

You can practically smell the cheap black market alcohol wafting up from this Polish trio. Male/female vocals and a painstakingly lumbering punk gallop, this is rudimentary chaos at its finest. Hints of classic Polish punk, heaps of sloppy magic...just look at these fukkrs, because that's what they sound like.

TROMPKA POMPKA

JANUSZ REICHEL // GUERNICA Y LUNO

The concept of putting two completely different artists on a split is a good one, but the execution often leaves a bit to be desired...that's certainly not the case here. GUERNICA Y LUNO are charging, passionate hardcore - hints of metallic influence in the guitars and and brilliantly forceful vocals. JANUSZ REICHEL played in ZIMA during the late '80s, but these tracks are haunting psychedelic folk weirdness, acoustic guitars and layered vocals work together to create a mood that is hard to shake even after the tape is over. I would have thought the hardcore tracks would be my jam, but even though they are great I find myself drawn to the quiet intensity of the acoustic material...and I wish my Polish was better. 

Abyś Wiedział, Że Nigdy Nie Przegrasz

THE CORPSE

I've posted tapes from THE CORPSE in the past, but everyone can use a little refresher on occasion...and these tracks are far and away my favorite from the band (at least this week). A few tracks appeared on 1984's split with MOSKWA, but by the 1988 release of Skazani Na Ból! their assault had become faster, more precise, without losing one shred of the raw intensity that sets them apart from throngs of late '80s hardcore/thrash.  The chops are undeniable (combine the most essential moments of Eastern European punk, US crossover and Japanese hardcore), but the fire with which THE CORPSE deliver their fury transcends genres. This is absolutely mandatory listening. If you don't know, then it's time to learn.

SKAZANI NA BÓL!