WORSHIPER

 

Can I tell you the thing that instantly sucked me in? I mean...of course I can. It's my blog thing and I've been telling you things for 5000+ posts now, but I still like to think that you're all eager and willing visitors and consumers. The opening track on WORSHIPER's Pleasure Of The Flesh (titled "Pleasure Of The Flesh" of course) simultaneously reminds me of a song that FUCKFACE would have written at the very end of the run when we were all very very high and a song that a band from Norman, Oklahoma would have written when I lived there in the early 1990s. Something akin to "White Vans In The Mission" by way of FOR LOVE NOT LISA in a time machine but with (very) heavy JESUS LIZARD energy...and that's the shit that's gonna hold my attention securely, you know? So I listened intently, and there's no doubt WORSHIPER are their own animal - while channeling the dark and heavy UNSANE, BLESSING THE HOGS dirges that permeated a segment of the '90s scenes. It's not just good, it's exceptional. And it's not just a rehash, it's a rebirth for a dissonant band who had a short and complicated run in the late 2010s that was cut short by addiction and struggle. Unearthed and remixed a couple of years ago after the passing frontperson Mike Parry, the fine folks at Strange Mono and the band's two surviving members have done the rest of us a service by re-releasing this recording. I was sucked in anyway, the sound/s hold me tight and the ugliness is familiar and strangely comforting, but the context makes this release extra. You can feel the ugliness and the desperation, and you understand WORSHIPER even more in the process.

PLEASURE OF THE FLESH

SICK FATE

 

Even more under the radar mid-decade DIY punk from SICK FATE, a Texas one and done who left us with a vinyl worthy ten song slab before dissolving into the mist. You're going to hear elements of bands-in-common (thinking STORM THE TOWER and ALTARS very specifically) with a fierce vocal snarl at the forefront and a nice touch of boots in the mix. Sometimes...sometimes a solid punk recording lands just fukkn right, and that's what SICK FATE (still) does eight years later. 

MMXV

PRIVATE DETONATION

 

What a great idea - a complete reinterpretation of HIDDEN SPOTS' 2008 Secret Noise EP by the mysterious folks at NecroSignatures Occult Library. Murky, swampy, dark freak punk dirges punctuates by a bizarro psych-punk freak rendition of "Stand Up" before "Unkindness" provides the wildest comedown imaginable. A truly unique listening experience, and the context makes the PRIVATE DETONATION release even more intriguing - Plan-It X sounds completely reimagined for a new era. 

PRIVATE DETONATION

MODERN DELUSION

 

One of the many nuggets from the last decade that I'm still catching up to, this release from Zagrab's MODEN DELUSION is instantly addictive. Hard swinging synth punk with a dark SPITS or MARKED MEN vibe....they absolutely nail the sound and all this tape makes me want is more songs (there was an LP the year after this one, so I've got some searching to do...which I love). We all want more songs, right? Songs like "My Life" and "Wasteland" in particular.

WASTELAND

PUSDRAINER

 

This tape...this tape sounds like slogging through this day. PUSDRAINER in 2013 created the soundtrack for this day in 2023 without even the most casual eye towards the future. Because in 2013, PUSDRAINER were clearly focused on trying to get through their day, and it doesn't sound like it was easy. Today isn't either, and tomorrow will likely be a motherfucker, but take comfort knowing that someone has been there before. And they got through it. "Only Stopping To Fall (No Faith Mix)" is the track that will remind you that you can walk even after you stop. To fall. 

ONLY STOPPING TO FALL

LORO DECIDONO...TU PAGH!

Impossible to understate the impact BCT releases had on spreading international underground hardcore punk around the international hardcore punk underground. I shared this tape thirteen years ago, but I was cranking it the other day and was struck for the umpteenth time how absolutely screaming this fukkr is from start to finish. Perhaps there are other BCT tapes with more 'notable' bands, but the CANI tracks here are relentless and bands like LONDON 77, P.S.A., and SAVAGE CIRCLE should not be overlooked. Of course, stalwarts I REFUSE IT!, C.C.M. and KINA make appearances (it is an Italian hardcore compilation form 1984 after all), alongside more ramshackle earnest efforts from NOISENOISENOISE P.N. and VIVISEXIONE who round out the roster. When something's this good, I feel like I should repost it annually instead of waiting another thirteen years....which makes me wonder if I'll still be doing this when I'm sixty four years old. Will you?

THEY DECIDE...YOU PAY!

SLOPPY JANE

 

What if the things that we knew as "indie rock" were all as dark and demented as SLOPPY JANE? These songs grab you instantly and they fukkn hold you. Like they hold onto you while you listen. They make you feel okay to feel scared and uncomfortable, and Dahl's voice is from an entirely different realm...a place where you are welcome, but a place where you will never feel at home. 

SURE-TUFF