GEIGER COUNTER // ZUDAS KRUST

 

It's hard to know what to say when something is executed this perfectly. GEIGER COUNTER harness '00s epic crust, Burning Spirits, face melting fastcore and DISRUPT and create something that is so instantly infectious that....it's hard to know what to say. So you flip the tape to blast ZUDAS KRUST. Epic and apocalyptic crasher crust borrowing from the classics but delivering with wild thrashcore energy. Two tracks from ZK, three from GC.... and every single one of these five tracks is an absolute berserker. 

GEIGER COUNTER // ZUDAS KRUST

FAGGOT

 

Look...FAGGOT were legends. I never even saw them play, but I celebrated the band and their mission openly. I met Jason in '94 when MULTIPLE CHOICE and his band RESIN opened for TOTAL CHAOS in Mankato and I met the Profane Punks for the first time. I met Saira in '98 when ARTIMUS PYLE played with DETESTATION at the Wasted In The Woods festival in Tenino, Washington. And then sometime in the mid '00s they were in Minneapolis....and there was FAGGOT.  You can dismiss them as a schtick if you want, and you'd be forgiven because the name and the song titles bend the needle towards gimmick....but listen. The subject matter is real, the compositions are advanced and FAGGOT just don't hit like. a regular band - or any band for that matter. You take this demo a few steps in another direction and you're on a whole other trip - it jams, it grooves, it's just......different. I don't think FAGGOT would give half a shit about my opinion though (then or now), but I do think that FAGGOT would be happy to know that someone is (still) listening, you know? Check the LP on Profane Existence to be sure, but check this tape and know that FAGGOT were revolutionary punks. 

FAGGOT

DIRTY JUNK

 

I love one that's hard to nail down...and DIRTY JUNK is very hard to nail down. Imagine a show with MILEMARKER and GODHEADSILO and STILLSUIT....who would you get to open that bill if you lived in Minneapolis? I'd suggest DIRTY JUNK - because you want a band that fits with the sounds but tweaks them (all) and makes you re-hear things that you already know. DIRTY JUNK does that...and more. It only takes two people to create this mood-by-way-of-racket, and I spent some serious time with the rest of their catalog after On Yr Knees was finished with me. It's Wednesday, so why not? Right?

ON YR KNEES

HEALTHY COMPETITION

 

I want to say that it's the guitars that make this tape....but really it's the whole damn thing. You'll hear hints of fellow Twin Cities rockers URANIUM CLUB mingling with wild off kilter punk and then boom there's shades of chaotic '90s indie/emo and why oh why does it all work so damn well together? I can't answer that, young punks...but I'm here to share, not question. Kinda like therapy. 

VOL. 1

DELETER

 

Both of these songs should be commercial hits. There are only two songs on this tape, and both of them are worthy of large scale appeal and (dare I say) success? Carefully rafted and expertly delivered dark indie pop - I dropped Franz and Interpol references when I posted their full length a few years ago, but lazy comparisons do a disservice to a track like "A List Of Demands." And "Mention You" is even better for fuck's sake. 

DELETER

WILD CHILD

Someone's gonna know what this shit is (and I hope they tell the rest of us?). Don't know how it ended up on my shelf, don't know what the band is (there's a W and a C so I'm going with that until further information becomes available), don't know what the song titles are (or if there are song titles). That doesn't leave very much space for things that I do know, so let me tell you this: New Century punks injecting '70 D. Crash fire and '80s D. Yow danger freak energy into hard and fast modern hardcore is a really good idea. Guitar on the dreary third track. The drugged out vocals on the fifth. Hell, the drums on the fifth too. The B side collage that hits like MILK CULT minus the beats. This tape is a total killer, and all I've really got to offer you is a W and a C....

W C

UPDATE: The band is called WILD CHILD. They were from Minneapolis. 

TYPEWRITER

 

And to follow that comp with a sounds that could easily worm their way onto a future P.O.B.D. collection - introducing Minneapolis freaks TYPEWRITER. 2016's Songs From Space Station H is a four song injection of spasmodic space punk, teleported from the past and also timeless. Shrill guitars and robot dork vocals are along for the ride while the erratic snappy drums kick everything along in fits and starts. They clearly have the chops to drop into smooth and sultry pop (as on "Battery Life") which makes it all the better that they consciously choose not to...the listening experience is both confident and awkward (just how I like it). The synths aren't the focus - those guitars, they do the trick - but then they move in and dominate "Cutting Board" just to let you know what they are capable of. And speaking of capable, turning "Burning For You" into a jerk track stripped from the grooves of a never-was NY No Wave record to close things out is...well, it's a pro move. 

SONGS FROM SPACE STATION H

NOSE RING

 

This 2016 blast comes off like a crew of dirtbag hoods making some gruff and shitty punk music just to show the wimps how it's done. Clenched fist UK influenced head smashing pogo punk. "Fight Till We Die." "Concrete Block." "No Escape." "Never Change Me." I mean...you get it, and so did NOSE RING.

STOP BELIEVING IN THE SYSTEM THAT OPPRESSES YOU

THE AGENDA

Just some teenagers from Minneapolis shredding they way through eight tracks recorded live in 2005.  Like, I'm talking about complete and total shred. High end, raw, frantic hardcore punk.  

THE AGENDA

BURGER THIRST // SERENGHETTO

Utterly demented and borderline unlistenable shit-fi garage from BURGER THIRST. Sometimes sounds like an actual garage jam accidentally captured on tape, and everything just sounds so incredibly damaged....like not the kind of damage that you can capture or recreate on purpose. SERENGHETTO manage more fidelity on their side, but you have to remember that is "more" in comparison to "none." Atonal noise rock drones that would have appealed to fans of 1991 proto-grunge mingle with Japanese psych rock riffs and meandering vocal wail/whines and then they wrap up with a swinging catchy punk number. I don't even know what's happening anymore, but I'm pretty sure both bands are (were?) from Minneapolis.

BURGER THIRST // SERENGHETTO

CARRION SUNFLOWER // VVLAD

The curiously prolific art/goth outfit CARRION SUNFLOWER left countless releases in their wake, and I keep coming across them. What seems like a dozen or more split cassettes, a few live recordings, small runs reproduced in questionable fidelity just to ensure that their wake will extend far further than their real time impact that ended a few years ago. Their side of this 2015 split features four pieces of dreary PTV-by-way-of-BAUHAUS and/or ULVER with droned/spoken vocals, leaning heavily on a manipulated acoustic guitar for ambiance. Self indulgent to be sure, but I highly recommend sinking into the murky recording and the hiss heavy duplication, CARRION SUNFLOWER make it worth the effort. On the flip, Norway's VVLAD offer one creepy ambient track, one piece of AM transistor radio quality dreary street corner insanity delivered with just a lonely guitar, and finish with a bizarre dose of awkward no-fi black metal that sounds almost as if someone pirated all of the elements from different sessions, different recordings...indeed even different bands, and placed them on top of one another to create a new being. It's a really weird listen, as with CARRION SUNFLOWER, but you need you let go, and let the bleak solitude envelop you.... 

CARRION SUNFLOWER // VVLAD

THE REAL ENEMY

I remember how stoked we all were when we heard this demo from Max, and its hard to believe it was twenty years ago. They were tough as fukk, they were genuine, their energy was through the roof, and these edge kids were fukkn punk. It showed in the music and in the delivery, and it especially came out in the live shows. A gallop reminiscent of Japanese bands like EARTHQUAKE and REPAIR, with a positive straight edge 'core fury urging everything even faster. Also - THE REAL ENEMY had riffs. Two demos, an EP on 625, and a split (and tour) with HOLDING ON that brought them to the Bay Area where we played a couple of killer shows. I said it's hard to believe it was twenty years ago....but at the same time, it feels like a different lifetime. 

TRE2K

DELETER

This one dropped at the same time as the NO STATIK What Did You Give Away When You Gave In? EP on 25 Diamonds, which is how I heard about it. I appreciate a label that is all over the place, releasing what they like instead of just focusing on moving units - because if you feel it, then surely it will show...and the units will move themselves. Or not. But I was extremely happy to have our hardcore slab paired up with this sonically advanced offering from DELETER. Cold future sounds with the same ear toward early Rough Trade that made even the most jaded perk up when those first INTERPOL and FRANZ FERDINAND records dropped in the early/mid '00s. Because good is good, and that's what these kids are. Levitate The Pentagon with stick to you like glue....if the soft Butler-esque rasp of "Kill The Comedian" doesn't resonate in some way, then maybe we need to talk about broadening your view a bit. Listen, and listen repeatedly. DELETER have earned it. 

LEVITATE THE PENTAGON

BURNING

Maximum volume yields superior results on BURNING's sole release. Heavy synth/mechanical industrial presented with depth and brutality. BURNING owe as much to IDIOT FLESH as to NITZER EBB, with a monotony that make you want to stab yourself in the eye more than hit the dance floor. It's awkward and painful to listen to...at least that's how it feels if you're doing it right. 

SILVER A.D.

AUTUMN

There's a contextual aspect of virtually any independent musical creation that can sometimes be every bit as important as the content. I saw a modern power violence band last night who had all of the chops, all of the riffs, all of the power....but does that make them better than CROSSED OUT? I mean, they were devastating to be sure, but what about the band who created the sounds, created their own neanderthal style of destruction...and did so in a virtual vacuum without the help of youtube or the internet. Obviously I think that history will judge the former more "important" than the latter, who was able to carefully study their forebears and hone every detail of their craft, which does not mean that the latter didn't level the joint last night, because they absolutely did...and I was wowed. But I think you get my point. Rewind to Minneapolis ethereal goth outfit AUTUMN. In 1992, there was no retro online subculture of misfits and inward punks looking to a bygone era of goth for inspiration. Aside from the true heavyweights, most of the '80s goth/new wave bands were playing way smaller clubs, if they even toured at all. The blurry lines between the sub-scenes became more defined, and I feel like dark wave and goth became even more insular...more isolated. Strict adherence to a bygone subgenre is a bold move in any scenario, and even more so without the digital connection to other outcasts as a crutch. But AUTUMN's four song demo tape is strong and proud, teetering between COCTEAU TWINS spareness and Wayne Hussey's bold guitars, a sound they were creating in Minneapolis at a time when DESTROY was dominating the underground basement scene. Drop AUTUMN in 1984 and they would have mesmerized the masses...instead they continue to create in the face of all of the obvious obstacles, feet firmly planted in a sound, permanently attached to a world that will likely never be theirs, releasing songs that have evolved into a sound that is truly their own after more than a quarter century in the mire. They switched singers before really hitting their stride (no criticism, but Renee's voice is absolutely the focal point of this recording), and in fact their own discography shows them starting two years after the release of this tape with a darker, slightly more aggressive eight song self titled demo, but the innocence and isolated conveyed by this tape might serve as a vote against comfort. AUTUMN did what so many are trying to do, and they seem determined to stand strong amongst the waves of youth and perspective crashing around them...I applaud them, and I listen to "And Deep Inside" with complete focus.

AUTUMN

The power violence anecdote was probably a stretch, but I think you get my general idea. 

TEMPLE

You know the goth thing has grown roots now, right? I feel like there is a generation now who are basing their sound on bands who based their sound on bands from other times - removing a layer of association, but perhaps allowing for more freedom within expanded confines. Whether or not this applies to this Minneapolis act is up for debate, but the excellence of this half hour of music is painfully evident regardless of which sphere/s of influence TEMPLE draw from. Dreary, plodding, with swarms of guitars and indulgent brooding vocals that dominate with confidence when they take over from the guitars, then find a way to coexist when they share the spotlight. It just works, so I guess where they get it from is a discussion for another time. 

TEMPLE

MYSTERY DATE

I've been sitting on this one for a few years, if only because there's never a right time for some things. The amateurish hard driving lilt of "Talking and Talking" may be great, but often at six in the morning I'm more in the mood for relentless blast beats or (more) shit-fi noise punk. And the self important relevance of some late '80s indie/punk mix tape often seems more topical than the garage-meets-UK punk swagger of "High Speed Romance" so I tend to fall back on the things that make me more comfortable. But I will likely hang on to my SOVIETTES records through virtually every imaginable purge, and I have no connection there except for some really good tunes - and "Come Find Me" is a good tune of a similar caliber. There's something lazy about the vocals, and there's something casually brilliant about the presentation...and sometimes that's all you need. 

LOVE COLLECTOR

NOVA MOB

I remember talking to my rep at SST in 1988, just a high school kid pretending to know something about the business end of the music business. They had just shipped a package that included RUN WESTY RUN's Hardly, Not Even and the first post-HÜSKER DÜ offering from drummer Grant Hart, but all I wanted to know was when the rumored Bob Mould solo record was going to drop. Virgin would release Workbook a year later, and I listened to the 2541 12" hundreds of times in that year...the innocent lilt and profoundly sad tone of Grant's voice was so much more evident than on even the mellowest HÜSKER tracks, and his solo material just felt wholly real. I certainly devoured Mould's solo works as well, but there was something about 2541 and Intolerance that resonated powerfully with me. So when Grant's solo work evolved into NOVA MOB, I followed willingly, and I still spin 1991's The Last Days Of Pompeii on the regular. Listening now with 2018 ears, I'm struck by the similarity to JAWBREAKER (especially in "Wernher Von Braun") that I never noticed before - probably because I never listened to JAWBREAKER. "Admiral Of The Sea" is worth the price of admission (in the case, free) on its - both versions of the song are striking and though I could never defend the dated drums and waka-waka guitars in the rock version, both are hopelessly endearing. Perhaps my affinity is clouded by history and perceived personal connection, but I think this record is pretty near perfect, and I was happy to spend $1 last year for this well loved cassette copy.

THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII

ASS // COLON PIPE

This is what splits should be like, y'all. Wild and loose cacophonous punk from Minneapolis's ASS on one side (remnants of the overly prolific '00s will remember their pink LP cover from the middle of that decade), like a Midwestern future FILTH (or that's what many of us thought at the time) ringing in that dupa-dupa 1-2-1-2 drum beat damn near a decade before it seemingly infected every corner of punk and hardcore. But to mix it up on the flip, ASS is paired up with COLON PIPE. Five bursts of tortured electronics on their side, defying construct or classification. Elements of techno creep in occasionally, and moments sound like primitive video game soundtracks ("Azmile Quite Convinzing" most particularly), both doomed to be overshadowed by overbearing synth blasts. Disjointed (almost) to the point of unlistenable at times, but that is most certainly the point. So I guess your week is gonna start out kinda weird, and you are welcome for that. 

ASS // COLON PIPE

JUHYO

The world of ambience and noise and electronics overlap and merge in countless series of concentricity that I will never fully comprehend. The decidedly accessible nature of the media/medium further ensure that all but the most dedicated followers of these arts will miss something here and there...and by "something," I am referring to large swaths of sonic contributions worth of serious investigation. My point is this: Don't miss JUHYO. This Minneapolis duo has been casually and confidently cranking creating and cranking out brilliant sounds for a decade or so, and their most recent two track tape is an exercise in patience and dedication. Listen to the swell of electronics that takes up the first 5 minutes of "Grave Mistake," and then realize that this swell is, in fact, the track itself rather than an introduction to aural violence. It's a tension that is so calm that's it's difficult to put into words. And the unfortunately applicable "Buddhist Violence" on the flip...how something so peaceful can be this soul crushing is a statement on the times as much as it is an example of sound. 

GRAVE MISTAKE // BUDDHIST VIOLENCE

Presented as a double A side split release with each member's label (Housepig and Hear More) and releasing one side of the tape, and taking charge of the corresponding artwork. A brilliant way to package and disseminate a brilliant release. As is often the case: Maximum Volume Yields.