UNDERGROUND PILIPINAS

You ever want to listen to a compilation with a bunch of bands you've never heard of? That happens to me often, and last week I reached for Underground Pilipinas when I got the itch. Sixteen bands (I've never heard of) from Philippines - street punk, hardcore punk, catchy punk, shit punk.....all of the punks are represented in various forms, and the success rate is extremely high. Choice cuts from BERZERK, STOUT, BANANA IS THE BASTARD, VAMPIRE STATE, ARMED and DISARMED. There are others, but it would just be me listing more bands I had never heard of....until now. Enjoy yourself. 

UNDERGROUND PILIPINAS

 

KILLRATIÖ

 

Remember last week when I said I got a coupla tasty morsels from Zepol and I was excited to pump the new KILLRATIÖ tape? Well...I may have been excited, but I definitely was not prepared. Salmo Katorse is an absolutely flawless example of the pounding desperate crust tinged hardcore that dominated the 2000s, but KILLRATIÖ seem to have marinated in the desperation and the result is devastating. Listen to the last thirty seconds of "B.N.P." and know that these punks have figured it out...this is how you fukkn do it. I would love to see this band again. 

SALMO KATORSE

GIBRALTAR

 

Got a little care package from Philippines last week and....woof. I'm pumped as hell to blast the new KILLRATIO (of course), but holy shit this slab stopped be dead in my tracks. GIBRALTAR are an absolute powerhouse, the kind of doom tinged crust that North American DIY seems to have steered away from over the last decade or so. Talking ZEROID, KILARA caliber tonnage retooled for a new world filled with the same fukkn shit...this is a fucking monster, kids. Strap yourself in. 

GIBRALTAR

MALICIOUS EXISTENCE

 

Face ripping grindcrust from Naga, Philippines, rooted firmly in 2000s fastcore/thrash mania. You only get ten minutes here (two of which are spent on samples in the truest '90 PV/grind/crust tradition) but MALICIOUS EXISTENCE prove their point on the eponymous opening track and spend the rest of the tape driving it home. Crushing slows are your only respite until "Personal Hell" comes to a merciful end and you can exhale - this is an all killer, no filler, no bullshit, black clad sonic assault. There's more where this came from, but Operation Noise Pollution will keep you busy for a brutal minute.

OPERATION NOISE POLLUTION

ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND

 

Stalwarts of the Manila punk scene for nearly thirty years, ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND keep cranking out essential records and show no signs of mellowing. 2020's Kalbaryu is a master clinic in catchy street punk - a timeless recording that transcends scene, genre and region from a band still fiercely connected to (and integral to) the DIY scene in Philippines. Sometimes the best things are so perfectly executed that all you can do is shrug and say "yeah - of course it's that good." And this is what ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND have been doing for longer than many of their fans have been alive.

KALBARYU

DISABUSE // COMMIT ARSON

 

Don't be fooled by the DISABUSE logo font, just a brutal dose of thrashing crust culminating in a gloriously stilted DISCLOSE cover that shows the band trying to reign in their assault to fall in line with standard raw DBeat fare. The fact that they can't quite pull it off only shows that their machine is built to fukkn blast. COMMIT ARSON go straight for the throat on the flip with more face melting dual vocal grind/crust tracks...your knuckles are going to be sore after listening to this shit. And your ears will be bleeding. To visitors who didn't want to be smashed in the face with the raw shit from Philippines today? Well, you can't always get what you want....but these two bands have got what you need. 

FULL BLAST OF ANGER

THE CLASS

 

Perhaps "I Just Wanna Be Alone" is the summer anthem that we all need in 2024, or perhaps it's just me. But 2019's Pulang Demonyo tape is absolutely the dose of Pinoy street punk I needed on this fukkn Thursday. All praise to the folks at Struggle Records in Naga for dropping this burner in my lap, now go crank "Resist To Exist" knowing that this the fire that street punk is supposed to bring. 

PULANG DEMONYO

THE MUSIC FRONT

 

A late '80s recording from post-URBAN BANDITS Arnold Morales (re)issued for new generations of punks. THE MUSIC FRONT are more '77 punk with a serious ear to the would be pop hits that came out of the first wave/s of UK punk. "Radio" deserves to be packaged for cult status - the song is more than worth the entire cassette on its own, but it shares space with "Start A New Day" and "Till I Kiss You" and seven other should-have-been classics. It's hard to believe that a session this good was kept quiet for over thirty years, just a perfect listen from start to finish...and the punky reggae anthem "What Is A Friend" as a closer? Yeah, I'm gonna be listening to this one for years (and years) to come. 

THE MUSIC FRONT

BAD WAVE

 

Often when I get a grip of new (to me) bangers, I like to spread the listening out instead of listening to everything start to finish all at once. So ever since I received a box of killer tapes from Zepol a few months back, there's been this stack of Pinoy hardcore on my shelf winking at me....and every now and then I gran a new (to me) one and I blast. Last week it was BAD WAVE, and oh fukkkkkkk me I guess good things come to Wizards who wait. In your face hardcore with serious (and shameless) PV and metal undertones, BAD WAVE just makes you (me) want to destroy, and closing with the criminally ominous outr "Dare" just seals the deal. It's absolutely nasty, and It's exactly what I was waiting for...it's exactly why I waited. 

BAD WAVE

HANGAL

Six minutes of furious power viol;nce from Philippines - I only knew HANGAL from a CAPITALIST CASUALTIES tribute comp before this eight song bulldozer....but oh fukk were they worth the wait. If you're still reading, then I really don't know what you're waiting for, because sample laden first wave PV worship rarely sounds this spot on. |

HANGAL

 

TOXEMIA

 

For the reader who thinks the world is just a little too pretty, a little too well put together, I offer TOXEMIA. Filthy guttural old school death thrashers from Philippines, TOXEMIA have been in the game for two decades and its clear on 2048's Invocation Of Misanthropy that they have not gotten any prettier over time. Dust up your knuckles and take a look at your surroundings...shit is fucking nasty. 

INVOCATION OF MISANTHROPY

ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND

 

Flawless anthemic punk from one of the longest running DIY bands in Philippines. 

Short on words, just grateful to be still breathing and always breathing in sound. 

And besides, they have enough words in the title alone, no?

NUNG PERA AT SALAPI YANG SAKIT AT KAPANAMDAMAN, ING SIMBUYU HING SOBRANG PANGABURI AT HILIG YA'NG PANULUNG MAKAPALDAN!

KILLRATIO

 

Brutal melodic crust from Philippines, KILLRATIO were one of the best bands CONQUEST FOR DEATH played with on the Australasian tour in 2008, and the show in Lucena is one of my favorites that I've played anywhere (ever). A blistering studio recording and a raw as fukk live set on this cassette, and motherfukkr would I love to see this band again. 

NOT DEAD YET

OBIEDO METALPUNX COLLECTIVE

 

Got a box of Filipino rippers from Zepol (KILLRATIO) a couple of weeks back and I've been itching to really sink my ears into everything (or let everything sink into my ears). This tape from the OBIEDO METALPUNX COLLECTIVE is the first one I've spent proper time with and it keeps hitting harder every time I listen - rough and raw punk and hardcore from three bands out of Naga City who've banded together and formed their own gang of sonic terror dealers. Brutally harsh vocals drive OMNIPOTENT through four blasts of hardcore ripped out of the early '90s USDIY crust annals. URUR lay a steaming pile of raw blackened crust at your doorstep...not for those with weak constitutions. Then the tape ends with MALICIOUS EXISTENCE taking sound to raw extremes - guttural bursts of raw PV-tinged grind/crust that will make you question your fucking reality if you listen at the proper volume. And I stringly suggest listening at the proper volume. There will be more blasters from Zepol's package on these pages eventually, but I'm gonna be stuck listening to this shit for a long ass minute. 

D'BEAT BASTARDS

HOLY COW

 

HOLY COW make a mockery of fast hardcore on their 2016 self titled tape. Fast and wild, also wildly catchy (SIDETRACKED tempered with PUSRAD). Erratic, also irreverent (MELT BANANA tempered with DEAD MILKMEN). Thirty songs in well under twenty minutes from a Philippines trio more concerned with doing what they want than they are with what you're going to think about it. So don't think, just blast "Punk Nga Eh!" all damn day. 

HOLY COW

THE EXSENADORS // ANINOKO

 

Earlier today I saw that the folks at Aklasan Records updated their distro with some essential releases from the Philippines, and figured it was an excellent time to remind myself (and you) how excellent this short split tape from 2016 sounds. Two absolute burners from ANINOKO - I've said before that they may be the might be the most important band in the Bay Area and I'll say it here again. And "Tanginamo Trump" may have been written at the beginning of the collapse, but it serves as a searing warning gone unheeded half a decade later - and 2018's Ugat was absolutely one of the best records I heard that year. Long running Filipino band THE EXSENADORS drop two killer bombs of their own, wildly catchy street punk that delivers the hooks of DEAD HERO with the churning fury of bands like MANKIND? or THE PIST with a nice noise piece at the end of their side. Not surprisingly, the new tape is one of the essentials I'm about to grab from Aklasan...one of many. Punk is important, and it's nice when something punches you in the face to remind you. 

THE EXSENADORS // ANINOKO 

CLEAN SLATE

 

On the off chance that you aren't currently moshing, I'd like to direct your attention to Manila's CLEAN SLATE. A frenzy of honest hardcore power, with a voice that reminds me of circa-2001 TOTAL FURY - it's a little loose, it's fully in the red, it's a little out of tune (note: just a little) here and there...but when you're going this hard, trading energy for precision is not just acceptable - it's encouraged. There's an EP on Still Ill that dropped a couple of years ago (note: it's a killer), but I recommend (as always) starting with the demo and then moving along chronologically. 

DEMO 2016

BARRED

I don't know how to exactly describe what this shit does to me, but this is what I want tough, meaty, mosh mandatory metalcore to sound like. This is what I want it to feel like. Just four tracks here from Filipinx rippers BARRED, but the churn is fierce as fuck and the devastation is constant. Break free b/w Break shit...on repeat. 

BARRED

ANINOKO

Sometimes I think that ANINOKO is straight up the most important DIY band in the Bay Area. Four Filipino immigrants living and working here, surrounded and influenced by their community and shaped by the distance between them and their families, they take honest hardcore intensity to a new level. While whatever flavor of the month band is singing about abstract death and/or despair or perhaps the perils of wars that they will never know, ANINOKO speak bluntly about the problems associated with donating money to mainstream aid organizations and class separations in Philippines permeating every aspect of society (the first track on this demo, "Aircon" addresses this in the context of something as simple as air conditioning). They talk about the social struggle of the immigrant communities they are a part of, and they sing about the reality of raising families while being separated from their families. And if you don't want to get heavy....? That's cool, because they also rip. They translate well on studio recordings, but (as with most, if not all, good hardcore) they are best experienced live....which I will be doing this evening at El Rio in San Francisco. 

AIRCON

REPUGNANT

Raw grind brutality from Philippines. Not for the faint, but definitely for the true lo-fi grind maniacs. 

REPUGNANT