NERVESKADE

Noise chaos punx from PDX. NERVESKADE worship at the altars of DISORDER and Japanese noise, and manage to recreate the sound and the anxious vibe almost perfectly. The bassline in "Screams" makes it the highlight track for me, but "System Hell" and "Alcoholic Overfed" will make any noise punk grin from ear to ear. They are touring the west coast in October with D-CLONE, and they have a new EP. You should go see them, and you should buy it. Get out your glue.

Pacifist Anarko Infested Noize

CITY INDIANS

City Indians hailed from Derby, and this is the Spoilsport demo from 1986. Relatively basic, but super in your face UK82 punk, with a very serious animal rights angle. (It is sometimes astounding to me just how fucking political a large part of the DIY punk scene was in the UK, and equally bewildering how much a large part of the scene in the US today is just simply not.) Killer four song demo, that probably came 4 years too late for anyone to get really excited about it at the time. But now? This guy is excited.

SPOILSPORT

KIM PHUC

Kim Phuc was the young girl featured in what is probably the most famous Viet Nam War photo ever taken (likely among the most famous photos ever taken anywhere), you know, the child running naked down the road, her body burned by napalm? Yeah, her. KIM PHUC are currently an incredible genre bending band from Pittsburgh. Equal parts DICKS and SCRATCH ACID played through molasses as the soundtrack to a John Waters film. They have a couple of records, get them, they rule. And this is their demo, it also rules.

Golden Happiness

DER PARASIT

As I mentioned with the State Of Confusion comp a few weeks ago, the ease with which a punk (or even better, a "tape label") could put together a cassette release in the 80s is astounding. Most of these official releases were dubbed one by one, the covers photocopied to order so that they never had to be made until it was sure they were to be sold. No risk, no worry! Starting today, I'm going to post a compilation tape (or mix tape) every friday, and I figure I better start with a ripper, right? Here you go:

This Maxell UL60 is chock full of brilliant 80s DeutschPunk from a few bands I was familiar with, but Der Parasit no. 1 has heaps of bands that I had never heard at all. CERESIT is probably the best known band on the tape, and one of their tracks, "Snuff Squad" appears later on their classic Three Gallows LP. LIEBIS deliver 80s German punk in it's finest and most simplistic form, the riffs are melodic and bouncy but the attack is still pissed. R.A.F.G.I.E.R. were unknown to me before this, but these songs are stellar, I only wish that they were both studio tracks. The REST OF THE BOYS tracks are a little disappointing...not bad, but they fall a little flat for me. But S.O.S. is worth the whole comp for me...scorching furious German HC at it's finest, and they wrap the tape up with "Neonazischweinne," which is probably my favorite track in the whole hour. In all there are 26 songs by 11 German bands, a pretty sweet way to spend an hour, I'd say.

Der Parasit SIDE A

Der Parasit SIDE B

KRONDSTADT UPRISING

(I know that the spelling here is different than the spelling of both the Kronstadt rebellion and KRONSTADT UPRISING, the band that appeared on Bullshit Detector as well as their EP on Spiderleg. I only transferred their own incorrect spelling of 'Krondstadt' from the cassette cover, as you can see.)

KRONSTADT UPRISING slip under a lot of folks' radar, but their limited recorded output is brilliant dark anarcho punk. 3/4 of the band spent time in the short lived BLEEDING PYLES, but KRONSTADT themselves switched members around quite a bit, and after this demo vocalist Spencer Blake was gone, and vocal duties were handled by guitarist Paul Lawson. These tracks, from the first recording in 1981 sound disjointed and awkward, and even after trying to decipher what exactly is going on, I'm still not entirely sure if the guitars are played through a bizarre effect or if perhaps the bass guitar is just horribly out of tune. Spencer's vocals are so thick and accented that I think one might actually have to be from Essex to really understand everything he is saying. Regardless, these tracks fucking rule, and "Anthem For Doomed Youth" is one of my favorite examples of furiously angry and frustrated UK punk; the drums simply cannot keep up with the pace of the song, and the vocals are just spewed forth with such urgency that any semblance of timing or rhythm is long forgotten. "Receiver Deceiver" was the track that KRONSTADT featured on Bullshit Detector vol. 2, but I've never seen any of these tracks elsewhere before I came across this tape. For your pleasure and mine, if anyone comes across a scan of the cover (if there was one), that would be totally sweet. Cheers...

KRONDSTADT UPRISING

ASHAME

Super noisy, fucked up one man punk from the Pacific Northwest. Guitar, drum machine and vocals are all that ASHAME need to make a pretty massive ruckus, a ruckus that is almost constantly out of tune and off time. In a different time and from a different place, this personal assault might be called art, but perhaps it's really just a total fucking mess made in some dude's bedroom. I would try it while eating cereal, or perhaps toast.

ashame

SING ALONG SONGS

I am well aware that the "modern" tapes I post are not met with very much (if any) excitement. Except from me, which is why I continue to post them. I also realize that the last 80s upload I gave you was BAD BEACH, which is certainly worth a few listens, if only because it might take a little while to determine that it is actually not really all that impressive. So today, you get a treat. Pushead gave this demo a good review back in 1984, and one listen will leave no question as to why. Instead of just managing to "stand up" to the test of time, I think these S.A.S. tracks are even more impressive 26 years later! This rapid fire UK punk recorded in '83 owes as much to early US hardcore as it does to the punks from their homeland. Fiercely political, high charged and punk as shit, it's like COURT MARTIAL doing FUs covers...and it's not difficult at all to imagine early UK thrash/hardcore like RIPCORD or GENERIC taking liberal cues from S.A.S., especially "Day Of Oblivion," the second track, which sounds like a slightly slowed down RIPCORD tune with my early morning "haven't had any caffeine" ears. "The Heroes Are All Dead" is a pure UK riot punk ripper, and "Slaughter Of The Innocent" is pure glorious DISORDER madness. "We Don't Need It" could be a lost early Dischord track; GOVERNMENT ISSUE, TEEN IDLES, S.O.A., I am sure these records did not go unnoticed by S.A.S.

You can (hopefully) get their lone EP at 7inchpunk (am I not the only one who is bummed that this site has fallen by the wayside? and what happened to punktapes.com? such promise...), but not until after you check out the demo, rawer and punker, as demos typically are. Enjoy your day.

S.A.S. 1983

TOTAL ABUSE

Make no mistake, I am the first in line when it comes to not going nuts over whatever folks claim will be (or is) the Next Big Thing. And often when there's a show that everyone is wetting themselves in anticipation over, I find that I am typically rather skeptical. But then there's TOTAL ABUSE. This Austin band had folks overly excited last year, and when I put on the 12" I admit that I thought it was pretty good. But then Dan dropped off a handful of unwanted demos in the free box and I listened to this. And Sex Pig is worth all the hype.

SEX PIG

BAD BEACH

Dark and moody UK punk on this BAD BEACH demo. I have been trying to figure out how to describe these tracks, but I'm at a loss....maybe if THE MISSION had risen from the ashes of an anarcho punk band instead of a goth band? Listen for yourself, and someone give me a better comparison please, I'm going to eat breakfast. Cheers.

Bad Beach

CIVILISED SOCIETY?

Since I was a little feisty last night with my OCCULT BLOOD post, today here's something that most everyone knows and everyone will surely enjoy. This demo was from '85, and was released on Peaceville Tapes. I don't remember Dinger's vocals being this off (that's off time and off key, a perfect combination!) on the other recordings, but Bev is stellar as always. Five killer tracks here, I have several more recordings of theirs that will go up in time. Cheers and happy listening!

Who Would Have Thought...

OCCULT BLOOD

OCCULT BLOOD are a noise outfit from Melbourne, Australia. Chances are very good that not one single person who has downloaded even one single thing from Terminal Escape will enjoy OCCULT BLOOD. Actually, I am willing to bet that no one will even listen to this track, and that is everyone's loss. This is fucked up beautiful noise, and I would be very happy if someone would comment on this post...humor me, whether you actually listen to it or not, because I fucking love it. Really, you should listen to it; it's totally great. Improvised mayhem, orchestrated controlled chaos. One long and painful track on side A, with three tracks on the flip side. The tape is short, but the two sides each stand so well that I felt it was best to separate them into two downloads. Thank you, and good night.

ROGER EBERT

anyone got any IDEAS?

The text on the tape reads: "SAMPLE TAPE, IDEAS PRODUCTS LTD." Thats it.

This is clearly a rehearsal or live tape, and the quality reflects that, I tried to EQ the recording as much as I could, but I'm pretty low tech here at TEHQ. The songs are slow to mid tempo UK anarcho punk, and it sounds like they are being delivered by teenagers, but I don't even have song titles to help solve the mystery of IDEAS. Personal favorites include the sixth song (called "Straightjacket," I think) and the fifth, which sounds like a slowed down Riot City Records style track. I have another IDEAS demo to post at a later date, I don't know anything about that one either. I am a fucking fountain of information, aren't I?

THE IDEAS 2

SPERMICIDE

1989's self titled debut release from SPERMICIDE sounds years older than it really is. Disjointed and awkward feminist anarcho punk from New Zealand with a militant anti-baby stance voiced in nearly every song ("Big Dick Mother Fucker" being the exception, that song is just anti-man). These girls are not exactly technically proficient, but they are clearly ferocious, and their enthusiasm in evident even in the liner notes of the cassette, where they band proudly states, "This very short tape is SPERMICIDE's first offering to the masses!!! (there will be lots more!)," and inside they take the time to thank me for buying their demo and encourage me to write them letters: "We will reply!!! (try and send a stamp?)". While it's true that maybe they didn't need to record a second reprise version of "B.D.M.F." (though of course I've included it here for your pleasure), I think that Dunedin (south island), New Zealand produced some serious feminist rockers. Like ANTI-SCRUNTI FACTION and BLATZ vacationing in the South Pacific!

"I wouldn't have your baby, not if you paid me to//I wouldn't have your baby...'cause babies make me spew!!!"

(that is the last line to the fourth tune on this demo, the blatantly misspelled and terribly punk "Steralize." I like this demo even more the more I listen to it.)

PEACE OR ANNIHILATION!!!

Total raging DBeat crust assault from Jakarta, Indonesia. These are some of the nicest dudes I've encountered anywhere, half of this band opened up their homes to us while we were there, and we played with GLADIATOR, the bassist's other band (who totally fukkn rule, by the way). Then I got home and popped in this demo, and I was floored! Fans of raw DBeat will be delighted at this 2006 recording, pure textbook fist in the air rampaging kång, with obvious influences from DISCHARGE, ANTI CIMEX, SHIT LICKERS, CRUCIFIX, and...well, you get the drill. Unfortunately, my ridiculously "purist" parameters for this blog mean that many of the bands I discovered in Indonesia will remain on my CD shelf, as they did not have cassette demos, but STRAIGHT AHEAD, GLADIATOR, HELLBOMBS, BULLETPROOF, SCOLD, HOODED, STRAIGHT ON VIEW, SECOND COMBAT and scores more bands we encountered there are living punk to the fullest, and inspiring anyone lucky enough to cross their paths.

I could go on and on about how awesome our time in Indonesia (really, everywhere we went in SE Asia) was...instead, I'll just say "thank you" to the punks.

Horrific Disturbing Visions Of War

ASKO

Last weekend, the long running Bay Area zine Maximum RocknRoll hosted a five day fest in San Francisco with the folks from Thrillhouse Records (30th & Mission, the best independent punk store in SF, hands down). The bands that played were as diverse as those covered in the pages of MRR, from SF legends CRIME to new bands like YEAR ONE and NODZZZ, from the in your face hardcore of SKIN LIKE IRON to the full on crossover thrash of VOETSEK to the truly odd stylings of KREAMY 'LECTRIC SANTA and 50 MILLION. The killer of the weekend for me was the crew of LA bands that came up to melt our faces. Sadly, TUBERCULOSIS didn't get to play friday night (damn jail, fucking up our good time!), but SEND THE DOGS, DESCARADOS and RAYOS X were all fucking fantastic (as were all of the bands Friday; ADELITAS were a total surprise, and of course, locals N.N. did not disappoint). ASKO were from the same East LA/South Central scene that spawned the bands that graced us this past weekend, and at least 2/3 of the band does time in TUBERCULOSIS and/or RAYOS X. This demo from 2008 is their only document, and it is a full on scorcher. As I've said many times, while I hold the "glory days" of punk in high regard, it's what the punks are doing today that really excites me. Up the punx indeed!

ASKO

STRENGTH OF WEAKNESS

More stuff here from Wales. Its seems that STRENGTH OF WEAKNESS only gave us this one demo, though from the sound of it I wouldn't be at all surprised if they had changed their name and tries to go a touch more commercial. The title track of the demo has guitar hooks worthy of the classic early CULT (or DEATH CULT) stuff, and though "Borstal Boy" isn't quite as brilliant as SHAM 69's "Borstal Breakout," it's certainly in the same league. The opener, "Question Song," is the sort of slow reggae infused UK punk that I hated for years, and now have grown to really really enjoy (much to my own dismay), and Keep Going closes with the rather plodding "Time Runnin' Out" which I admit ends things with a bit of a whimper, but the other three tracks more than make up for whatever you might find lacking. As is typical, I know little about these cats...they came from Bridgend and this was recorded in Cardiff in 1984.

Keep Going

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL SHIT!

Here's a tape comp from 1990. Some of these UK punks were clearly moving in a more metal direction, especially HERB GARDEN's "Shit On Me," the tape's opener, but there are sweet slabs of late 80s anarcho punk here as well. "Fanta Babies" from SCREAMING HOLOCAUST is my fave, but perhaps you might also enjoy "Stress" from V.S.S. or the VATICAN SHOTGUN SCARE track, "Jesus Made Me Fat." the MUSICONTROL spoken track could have been on any number of Crass Records style or era releases. Nine tracks, enjoy.

NOW SHIT

SELDON CRISIS

Wisconsin, USA, has grown killer punk and hardcore since the early 80s. The pedigree on Midwestern punk in general in extensive, but Wisconsin specifically has a rap sheet of contributions as long as my proverbial arm. There's the obvious (DIE KREUZEN, MECHT MENSCH, TAR BABIES, CLITBOYS), the lesser known (PROSECUTORS, LUBRICANTS, RPMs), and then the 90s brought us ANIMAL FARM, DEMISE, DAMITOL and scores more. But what, you ask (or don't ask, I plan to answer regardless) has Wisconsin done for us lately? If you like hardcore, then it's done an awful lot. In the 00s, the America's Dairyland has spawned FURY OF 1,000 ZEUSES (unknown, yes, but please check this band out!!), PROTESTANT, HOLY SHIT, WORDS THAT BURN, CATHOLIC BOYS, DIOS MIO, NORTHLESS, GET RAD, CHINESE TELEPHONES and so many more it's impossible to count them, much less list them all. Obviously I'm biased, as I spent many many hours in damp foul smelling basements in Wisconsin, but this state has produced some of the finest underappreciated punk and hardcore that the US has to offer. Enter SELDON CRISIS, from Richfield, WI. Raw and distorted blasts of snotty hardcore punk from the Heartland of America. There are folks here from a few other, more known, bands, but really, would mentioning BEAR PROOF SUIT get anyone all charged up? Didn't think so. Fucking get into this, it rules.

Green Bay Packers Professional Football

BILE

If I didn't know better, I would swear that this band was from the mid 90s, and that they likely make mediocre generic crust music, in fact, that's fully what I was expecting when I put the tape in. Holy Shit was I wrong!! Brilliant discordant and ultra discordant 80s UK punk is what I got; thick molasses accent on the vocals and guitars that are struggling hard to keep up and play along, much less stay in tune. This was one of the best surprises I've had in quite a while, and as usual, any wisdom anyone would like to impart upon me as to the origins BILE, make yourself known! cheers...

BILE demo

ACID ATTACK

Portsmouth punks circa 1981-84, ACID ATTACK graced us with two demos. This is the second, self titled, tape recorded about a year before the band split up. Especially for a young band playing relatively simple UK82 mid tempo punk, ACID ATTACK's guitar work is fucking brilliant, and the ever-so-slightly off kilter vocals really give this release something special. Personal fave is "Warsaw," though the chorus to "Dancing In The Fallout Zone" is pretty damned punk...enjoy!

ACID ATTACK

7 MAGNIFICOS

There's this dude from Argentina named Tommy Del Mar, he is an artist and all 'round super sweet dude. Tommy came to San Francisco a few times in the 90s, and immediately acquired a pretty enthusiastic fan base amongst our friends here. In 2002 on a tour of Brasil, imagine our excitement when we pulled up to a show and there was Tommy, waiting for us outside. Even better, he was living in Brasil, and his band was on tour, and they were hoping to jump onto the show that we were playing that night! Fast forward the story through weird club owners, uptight show promoter and add a smattering of scene politics being discussed in rapid fire Portuguese, and Tommy's band didn't share the stage with us that night. In fact, I don't even remember if they stayed for the show at all, his bandmates understandably soured by their treatment.

Why do you care (if you care at all of course)? Tommy's band is 7 MAGNIFICOS, and the demo that he handed me when we parted ways 7 years ago (the last time I saw him) is the one that I am posting today. 7 MAGS are an anomaly in hardcore; they are genuinely original, and rarely, if ever, on this demo can I claim that they sound like anyone else at all. The songs are blended together brilliantly, and it really does feel like you've listened to one concise statement instead of 17 songs. How perfect are the stampeding elephants after the 4 second burst of "Ren Ha Ga"? These tracks appeared on a CD as well, with a "better" recording, but I almost never pull it out, this tape provides me with far too much joy to sour the experience with one of those round shiny things. I know this isn't from the UK, and even worse, it was recorded in the last 10 years, but 7 MAGS are fucking brilliant, and I hope you enjoy:

Per I Qualche Dollaro Piu (Por Un Punhado De Dolares Mas)

Also included in the download is their first recording session from 2000. There are 11 more tunes, and while they might not flow together quite as well as the "Per I Qualche..." demo, it's still a killer document of a brilliant band.

SELF ABUSE

A lot of the cassettes that I have are home tape jobs with no covers or band information, just song titles and perhaps an address if I'm lucky. I suppose the fellow who made the tapes didn't feel the need to meticulously record all of the information about each and every band he was compiling to make my life easier 20 years in the future (I've asked him about several bands, and and even when the tracks are written out in his very distinctive handwriting, he typically has no additional wisdom to bestow upon me...leaving me googling my evenings away, trying to get to the bottom of exactly who PRE MENSTRUAL TENSION were, and what they were all about.) This SELF ABUSE tape has nothing but an address that places the band in Bournemouth, southern England. After consulting my magic ball, it seems that these tracks are the band's first (and only) EP, I Didn't Want To Be A Soldier, tracks from the second demo, Teenage, and then a live version of "Pills," which appears in studio form on both of the band's demo tapes. It's kinda like your own personal "Best Of SELF ABUSE" courtesy of some dude in England circa 1983! The tracks are pretty straight forward UK82 punk, but super well delivered and the fact that these fellows appear so very young certainly ups my enjoyment factor a few notches (which might be a tad ageist of me, but I just love it when kids rock). UK bands wrote a fucking load of songs about sniffing glue ("State Of Mind" on this tape). Where I grew up, we huffed paint and gasoline, occasionally Liquid Paper, but never glue. Just an observation.

Soldier EP (plus demo tracks)

UPDATE:::It seems that SELF ABUSE are back at it! Check them out here if yer interested. cheers.

KRUNCHIES

Killer Chicago punk. Amanda's vocals either absolutely make the band, or make them unlistenable, but for me they are just punk as shit. I'm late for work, tuck in.

No Dice

SIZZORZ

So, I pretty much use Chris and KFTH as my gauge for how much time I should or should not spend researching a new, unknown (to me) band. If he doesn't know shit about them, then chances are really good that my unconnected ass isn't going to do much better. Perhaps this is a good idea, but then again, perhaps I am just lazy. 

SIZZORZ are textbook anarcho punk, hailing from Wales circa 1982-3, these tracks are moody, kinda dark, slightly off kilter, and totally punk, even if their logo looks like it was ripped off from a late 80s surf company.

As a very important and rather personal side note, today I discovered that my favorite taqueria has gone out of business. For those of you who have never spent time in San Francisco, I realize that this might not seem like a very big deal, but for the people who HAVE spent time here (or live here), you certainly understand that this is a terrible situation. Surely, Casa Mexicana can serve me a satisfactory burrito, and of course Papa Lote dishes up a fine side container of table salsa, but they are not MY taqueria, and therefore I will feel a little lost until I can settle into a new place. A place that can wrap black refried beans and Spanish rice inside a wheat tortilla with just the right amount of tofu (with ranchero sauce)...a place with the salsa bar that has avocado salsa...a place where the guy is always rude and the ladies are always kinda distant and disinterested...a place where you have to walk right through the kitchen (past the guy making tomorrow's black refried beans), just to go to the bathroom. A place where the perfect food comes in a fucking tube.

Azteca, RIP

SHRAPNEL

There's a good chunk of information readily available on SHRAPNEL, and several other recordings have been posted (probably these as well), but these tracks are just too fucking great for me to chalk it up to "everyone has probably heard this," and move on to something else (although tomorrow's post is gonna be a true killer.) These tracks made up SHRAPNEL's 4th demo, recorded in 1986 for (I think) a split with SYMBOL OF FREEDOM, who were also from Wales and shared a member with SHRAPNEL later on. I especially enjoy the drums on "Root Of All Evil," they seem like they are trying so hard, and only succeeding about 75% of the time. The audio dips out for a second during "They Are All Wrong," hopefully because someone drunkenly pressed record on a boom box in Wales in 1987 (a fella can dream, can't he?). Charging UK anarcho punk that will have your fist waving furiously, tuck in.

THREE PIECES OF SHRAPNEL

NUCLEAR FAMILY

So, as promised, I went to see DEEP SLEEP from Baltimore last night. So Fucking Good! Every ingredient was there for the perfect hardcore experience: a guitar that has spent years honing it's tone on early HUSKER DU and perhaps a few ARTICLES OF FAITH singles, a singer that is snotty, energetic and charismatic, a bass player who simply fucking FLIES over the instrument, I mean good like like early C.O.C. kinda good, and of course a drummer that is solid meat and taters backbeat. They totally killed, but they did not have any tapes. Go buy their records.

The point is...watching DEEP SLEEP reminded me why I love punk, and as much as I love listening to and discovering and sharing unearthed gems from 20 years ago (almost 30 sometimes), I would trade all that in a second for new punk and hardcore that I can feel and breathe and truly experience. Enter: NUCLEAR FAMILY. One of Albany, New York's finest exports of late, these folks have graced us with a few (three?) tapes as well as one stellar EP. This cassette was the result of not having anything to sell on their recent tour, and the tracks were hastily recorded before they set off, which might help explain the 25% cover ratio (seriously, the DILS cover rules, and Jen's vocals on the WIPERS and BUZZCOCKS tunes just makes so damn much sense!). Check them out, buy their record, go see them, and long live punk.

NUCLEAR FAMILY

IN OR OUT?

I'm about to head out to see a band from this century, so forgive me if I don't get bogged down with lengthy musings about a band about whom I know nothing anyway. IN OR OUT says it all with the lyrics; before I even heard a note, I read: "In this world all governments are exactly the fucking same, so if you want your peace and freedom, refuse to play their game." If it were only that easy. I'm off to see DEEP SLEEP, and if they have a tape, then you'll be hearing that tomorrow, if they don't then I'll be blasting their records all by myself. Enjoy.

LIE...F