PUNK SINGLES

Remember a few days ago when I posted that (killer) SOCIAL UNREST demo and talked (for the umpteenth time) about how cool mix tapes are and what an invaluable service the tape makers and traders provided for their contemporaries (and countless punks to come)? Well, allow me to present this unnamed slammer probably created sometime in the early 1990s by persons unknown. DOGS, NUNS, EAT, ANGELIC UPSTARTS, THE FREEZE THE FUCKIN' FLYING A-HEADS, NORMALS, BLEACH BOYS, MOLESTERS, SLEEPERS....all tracks taken from singles that were probably (almost) affordable when this tape was put together. Solid as fuck from start to finish - this is the kind of tape that distracts you when you put in on while you're hanging out or trying to do shit. also the kind of tape that makes you want to just sit and listen and think about all of the records you don't have. 

PUNK SINGLES MIX TAPE

THE STICKLERS

The first references that popped up were HICKEY and J CHURCH. The former's propensity for a good, raw hook and general irreverence clashing with the latter's wholly genuine and simple approach to melodic '90s DIY punk. And then I looked inside and found that THE SICKLERS were from Hawaii (the home state of J CHURCH founder Lance Hahn) and they offered thanks to the people who had helped them on their mainland trip in 1996 = folks within HICKEY's orbit in San Francisco's Mission District. The point is, I guess, that it seems like my gut was pretty close this time.

THE AUTO TAPES...

PALABRA // NERVE BEATS

My pal Layla told me she was unloading a shitheap of tapes last week and I suggested that she filter them through me. She obliged and you can thank me later because, even if there were nothing else of merit in that bag (and there was), this Portland/Hawaii split is fukkn great. Weirdo lounge/art sounds on PALABRA'S Morena Montaña, just enough outside of your comfort zone to keep you compelled (unless you're a dummy) - "Muchachitas!" is like a mellow outtake from and early BARRY ADAMSON record while subsequent tracks read like weird meets interplanetary. Yeah....and NERVE BEATS cruise effortlessly between atonal post-psychedelic punk and  something akin to the world that shits their collective shorts over EDDY CURRENT and the like.  More than most shit I hear, NERVE BEATS sound like they could have come from a long long time ago, but both bands sound fresh at 12:04am on a Saturday. Good shit....you're welcome.

MORENA MONTAÑA // FOLOW INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

Good shit, regardless of what you're into...

REVOLUTION ENDLESS SUMMER

A powerfully impressive world of sound from Honolulu has been bombarding me lately in the form of HARSHIST, yesterday's BAG OF CHISELS and this absolutely stellar compilation cassette. GNARWHAL's start to this half hour excursion is more than enough reason to dive in with both feet, driving early-FUCKED UP riffing fronted by snarls reminiscent of Mia Zapata, a comparison that should not (and is not) thrown around lightly. PHARAOHS follow up with a sinister burst of hardcore with hints of metalcore guitars peeking through otherwise burly neanderthal riffing and vocals pushed to their limit, and that flows into melancholic sounds from SUPER NICE. Chaotic and horribly disjointed hardcore from HERBIVOROUS MEN, while SIBLINGS and ILL STANCE are polished and ready for the mosh (it would be wise to learn some shout alongs for the breakdown), I TRAMONTI and WITCH BABY provide sweeter sounds (imagine swaying instead of raging), and MAKUA VALLEY BLAST TEST punish you for ever doubting the prowess of our most laid back state. Lazy garage sounds from DEAD DEAD MILLIES and an addictive combination of electronica and exotica from POG AND THE SLAMMERS (that would feel perfectly at home on the Dual Form compilation) round out this assortment, all the tracks mixed together like you are at one killer (and weird) party. I can assure you these kids are.

REVOLUTION ENDLESS SUMMER: MIXTAPE #1

REVOLUTION ENDLESS SUMMER

BAG OF CHISELS

Sometimes you have a really long day and you just want to do nothing when it's over. Today is one of those days, so I am just listening to these ten songs over and over, and each time I do it is the best three minutes and forty something seconds of my day. Do the math, this is frustration put to sound...and I need to go back to Hawaii. Members of MAUA VALLEY BLAST TEST are partially responsible for this beast - and I assure you that is indeed a fukkn beast.

10 SONG DEMO

get me out of here before I snap // wall closing in on me // why won't my hands stop shaking

bagofchisels(at)ymail(com)

HARSHIST

From an island to the (south)east to an Island to the west, Hawaii's HARSHIST are instantly addictive psychedelic punk. Only four songs on this ten minute demo, but if you aren't sold then you might not have a soul (I'm not judging you, I'm just letting you know). Layers upon layers of awesome shroud female vocals and waves of angular weird punk...this is WHITE LUNG on mescaline and HAWKWIND trying to jam the early Rough Trade catalog all at once - and it doesn't sound like anything you've ever heard.

MYTHOLOGIES

TOON DISASTERS

I've often praised the power of a well crafted mix tape, and Toon Disasters is exactly that. Excellent combination of deep cuts (10,000 HURTS, OCEAN ZOO, RED SCARE, RUGGED EDGE) thrown together into the mix with whole releases from Canadian shitpunks GROUPOEM, Florida's unsung STEVIE STILETTO, VIXEN (the true gem on the tape is this five track slab from '83 - killer female fronted NWOBHM styled jams from Hawaii) and more independent metal/punk from Philadelphia's BLACKTASK. Throw in rippers from WRETCHED, VICE SQUAD, STIGMA and CAPITALIST ALIENATION with a couple of burners from '80s christian band UNDERCOVER that will almost make you wonder if it's worth looking into the world of religious "punk," and you have one bad ass 90 minute tape. Good job, and enjoy.

TOON DISASTERS

CRINGER

It's ironic that it took me until I was an adult to appreciate the eternal teenage enthusiasm and energy of Lance Hahn's music. It was never angry enough for me, it never made me want to break stuff, so I dismissed it as sappy bullshit. Then, sometime after I passed 30, it just clicked. The music wasn't sappy - it was just honest - and I started devouring J CHURCH and Lance's band that came before them, CRINGER. Knowing the man certainly helped, the pure and youthful energy that was always present in the songs (even, or especially, the sad ones) was always front and center with Lance, and you could feel it from the moment you met him. The guitar and the heart can indeed be worn proudly on the sleeve, and Lance proved it over twenty years of writing, playing and recording. Oh yeah, he also started (and almost completed) the definitive book on UK anarcho bands - just in case you felt like dismissing him as a pop punk hack (like I did). This isn't an anniversary or a special day or anything, I just came across this tape and spent my afternoon listening to CRINGER and J CHURCH, and I wish that Lance was still around. This demo is from 1986, just after CRINGER relocated to Los Angeles from Hawaii, and I think that I'll just lift a phrase from the first sentence to describe it: eternal teenage enthusiasm. Something to strive for, I suppose.

WE'RE ALL A-OK