EXODUS

Bay Area thrash at it's finest, EXODUS rip through eleven of their most essential jams on this live recording from San Francisco's Mabuhay in 1984. The live set shows EXODUS at their thrashiest prime - a year before the release of Bonded By Blood, with most of that LP given the live treatment. Guitar solos, verbal attacks on all posers in attendance and gratuitous posturing are all present, with a decent live sound and some crucial crossover thrash metal. There is almost as much entertainment from the between song banter as from the during song shredding, and I have split the tracks accordingly so that, if you choose, you can just enjoy The Wisdom Of Bayloff without the pesky head banging bits. 

EXODUS live // MEGADETH demo

Since it was included on my cassette, why not throw in MEGADETH's Last Rites demo? I've never really been a fan, but perhaps that's because MEGADETH has never been this good since. Raw as shit and faster than anything else going at the time, Last Rites famously features the demo version of "The Mechanix," written by Mustaine and included on METALLICA recordings as "Four Horsemen." The more famous version is slower and contains a lot of filler, whereas this primitive rendition is straight to the throat. Maybe the last song is cut off or something, but it's a decades old mix tape (and a bonus at that...) so no complaining, got it? If all MEGADETH sounded like this then I might not have turned to punk....wait, yes I would have, but this still rules.

GASH

Modern noise punks delivering a raging '90s styled crust assault. Dig a little deeper than the thin topsoil that covers your first impression and you'll find songs that require more than malt liquor to truly digest, and clearly required more than mindless regurgitation of popular genres to create. Boston's GASH added bursts of noise on the flip side of their four song rager, just in case there was any doubt that they belonged on a Monday Escape post. "I am what you made me."

LAUGH AT THE MOON

FIRING SQUAD

High end piercing distortion and a wash of cymbals hover above jackhammer drums while throat wrenching hoarse vocals strain to be heard above the chaos. Florida's FIRING SQUAD blur lines between primitive black metal and grinding hardcore; the mysterious kvltish presentation, the ASSÜCK worshipping blast beat machine on drums, the Japan circa 1983 guitar squelch all combine forces to make one gorgeous racket. There's a dude from MAUSER in this band, if that is something that appeals to you (and it should).

INSTRUMENTS OF OPPRESSION

ATOMIC SUPLEX

Like GUITAR WOLF on mescaline, ATOMIC SUPLEX blast through some of the most insane sounding rock 'n roll I've ever come across. One side features tracks from their full length of the same name (including a self indulgent and saxophone heavy remix of the title track and a version of "I'm On" delivered with farfisa in place of ear splitting garage distortion), and the flip shows ATOMIC SUPLEX in their element: live and on fire in Tokyo. The don't-give-a-fuck just edges out the bluesy swamp rock sensibilities that drive this band, but the conflict is what makes them so addictive. 24th Century Buddy Holly broadcasting from Mars - broadcasting straight into your earholes.

ROCK & ROLL MUST DIE

ALS JE HAAR MAAR GOED ZIT (Nr. 2)

Here's the cassette version of Vogelspin's crucial Holland hardcore comp from 1983 (minus a few tracks, because the label folks made their LP compilation too long to fit on a C60). It's easy to call things essential when they are really good, but seriously: this comp is essential for fans of hardcore punk. HAEMORRHOIDS are breakneck proto-thrash, B.G.K. are well documented, as are AMSTERDAMNED and PANDEMONIUM. Brilliant and fiery female fronted punk from LAST FEW, mile a minute insanity from OUTLAWZ and it sounds like ZMIV listened to MÖTORHEAD, G.I.S.M. and DISCHARGE before honing their attack. This is perfect as it is, but the compiler(s) didn't stop with one side, instead they crammed two more superb Dutch releases on the flip: the Hatelijke Groenten EP from 1982 and THE LULLABIES Single Single EP from 1981. The comp features THE JETSET (rampaging and unhinged hardcore that would have been welcomed on the A side of this tape), two goth punk sounding numbers from MASSAGRAF, the primitive and psychotic synth punk of VACUÜM, and four art/punk jams from FARENHEIT 451 that could have come from an early Rough Trade comp. And then THE LULLABIES single, even after all this brilliance, still manages to take my breath away. Can you imagine Dutch punk that feels like early Aussie bands like THE SCIENTISTS or BODYSNATCHERS or perhaps Kiwi punks THIS SPORTING LIFE? As comparisons go, it's a stretch, but I feel like I'm listening to a lost Australian punk single when I hear these songs, and this EP has just shot to the top of my want list. Someone clearly knew exactly what to do with a Dynamic brand C60, and we are reaping the benefits nearly three decades later - enjoying your Friday will be a little easier after blasting "Fashion Punx" and "Victims Of Society," trust me.

ALS JE HAAR MAAR GOED ZIT

HATELIJKE GROENTEN

LULLABIES

WAR ALL THE TIME

Not to be confused with the UK band also named after the second POISON IDEA LP, Oakland's WAR ALL THE TIME was an insanely short lived super group that played only a handful of shows in 2004. Past and future members of WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?, TALK IS POISON, CALIFORNIA LOVE, CONQUEST FOR DEATH, KILL THE MAN WHO QUESTIONS and LOOK BACK AND LAUGH (among many others) made up this three guitared monster, and though their seven song demo only lasts eight minutes, it's clear that they would have easily attained the same status as any of their previous bands had they kept playing. But after three shows and precious few demo tapes (mine is #5/13), WAR ALL THE TIME packed up and left. The presentation is raw, the riffs are epic and the vocal attack is  searing...

RAW ATTACK DEMO

ABSUM

Black Twilight does it again, this time a torturous funeral doom exercise from ABSUM. There are four movements on this cassette, each more painful and beautiful than the next. The pace is agonizing, and I keep finding myself pleading silently for these tracks to go somewhere, but that frustration is the whole point. Dark industrial dirges through space and sound, ABSUM create an atmosphere in these twenty minutes that most bands would spend their entire existence trying to replicate. Worship Black Twilight, indeed. 

PURGATOÍRE

INTERRACIAL LOVE TRIANGLE

This Montreal outfit crank out a hellish racket drenched in the sweat from a menagerie of snot nosed no-fi garage rock legends. Hijack a young Jon Spencer, force him to listen to SOCKEYE, feed him psychedelics and then ask him to get all sexy ... "get naked // take it all off // you look better that way" ... and write some goddamn songs. One hollow guitar and a bare bones set of ramshackle drums is all these two lunatics need to dish out some of the most brilliantly immature music you've ever heard...check your attitude at the download link, because this shit is fukkn fun.

The FORT FUN Demo

GASMASK TERRÖR // BLOODKROW BUTCHER

A transatlantic noise punk double shot to get you through your Monday. France's GASMASK TERRÖR have been worshipping successfully at the altar of Japanese hardcore for several years now, and this tape shows them dishing out jams from their Architects Of Death EP as well as a scorching live set from 2008. Perfect execution. BLOOD KROW BUTCHER deliver 16 unnamed tracks on their side of the split - chaotic DBeat hardcore insanity recorded in 2009. I hope you didn't need to use your computer today, because you will likely throw it across the room before this one is over. I suggest making a backup copy before you start listening, just in case.

GASMASK TERRÖR // BLOODKROW BUTCHER

VERMES DO SUBÛRBIO

Bare bones South American punk rock from 1995. Elements of rudimentary Spanish and Mexican punk drip from this recording - from the straight beat (that stops during the drum fills in the most endearing way) to the marginally tuned guitar. There is a charm here that is unmistakable, and a handful of songs that are unmistakably awesome like "Violéncia Eterna." Get out yer glue bags.

EXPLORADOS

STONE THE CROWZ

Fukkn brilliant demo from this proto anarcho crust band from the UK. Insistent, furious, frustrated and totally pissed...this is fukkn punk (down to some glued out fool hitting the record button during "Religion Only" for extra street cred). The guitar tone is perfect, vocals have an almost Blinko-esque delivery, and the music sounds like it was made out of sheer necessity. Members went on to form AXEGRINDER, and these tracks were already posted here last year on the excellent Essex And East London mix tape...but I just wanted to make sure you got this shit, because you need it and I want you to have everything you need.

SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN

COMP OF NARF

One glorious hour of insanity from our friends at Fag Tapes, featuring the harsh chaos of SICK LLAMA, demented no-fi garage damage from TY VEK, a total assault from FULL MEAT JACKET, and two acts I'd never heard of (UNCONCERTED and CYGNUS) who both offer up sounds that blew my mind. CYGNUS sound as if they have been lifted from the soundtrack of a futuristic avant Japanese horror film, and UNCONCERTED combine simple surf/garage and electronic noise with fantastic results. Five artists who are each doing something interesting, if not entirely new, and the hour will whisk you away into a world of sound. Fag Tapes (and SICK LLAMA, I believe) is the brainchild of audio/visual artist Heath Moerland, and with over 200 releases under his belt, he shows no signs of slowing down. Great stuff, but insanely limited, so good luck.

COMP OF NARF

GARDY LOO!

GARDY LOO! passed through Norman, Oklahoma in the summer of 1992, and John & Matt put them up after MULTIPLE CHOICE opened the gig at Kelly's Bar & Grill. I hung out for a while, but the dudes were kinda weird, really metal and I didn't drink, so I left pretty quick. The next year, when my band with Matt hit the road, we hit them up for a show in Florida, and what followed was one of the more bizarre nights I've had on tour. Ben (GARDY LOO! guitarist) had been in the Metal Blade band NASTY SAVAGE, and the show we played with them attracted a small but devoted crowd of metal fans...including actual women. Two of these women came with us to Ben's place after the show, and fucking the dudes from GARDY LOO! was clearly the only thing on their mind. Instead of kicking us to the curb in favor of some fine Florida metal babes, the fellas wanted to party with us, and we drank (well, everyone but me) and talked shit and watched TV while the girls waited patiently for their turn. Bassist Rich put in a videotape he thought we would like...it was home spliced footage of his cat...then there was another cat...then they were licking each other's assholes, which was funny, and we all laughed. Then the video cut to Rich and his girlfriend...licking each other's assholes (maybe it was just a regular boring 69? It was nearly 20 years ago, and I can't really remember whether it was buttholes or sexy bits). And then some hilarious home editing: cats/people/cats/people...you get the idea - the dude was showing us the home porn movies he had made, which is kinda weird...but still the girls waited. They were there to get laid, and no home 69 video was going to stop them. The video continued, and then the Young Wizard saw his first shit-eating film. Without going into details, the quote from that eye opening motion picture that sticks with me to this day is: "It's wonderful Mistress, but...too much cracker and not enough shit." The girls were nauseated (as were we all), but STILL they waited. And when the tape was over, instead of shooing us off to bed so they could get into some hot metal girl action, Rich said: "You guys wanna watch the shit eating part again?!" and started to rewind without waiting for a response. The girls were fed up - clearly, to the dudes in GARDY LOO!, images of the consumption of excrement were more appealing than the promise of actual sexual conquest, and the girls were not about to play second fiddle to a German poo enthusiast any longer. 

GARDY LOO!

Obviously, I shared this cassette as an excuse to share a childish tale about dirty movies and the unrealized potential of rock 'n roll related sexual conquest, but fans of neanderthal thrash metal rejoice, because these Florida home movie enthusiasts crank out some legitimate fist banging anthems (remember, this is the axeman from NASTY SAVAGE). Sure, it's dumb as shit, but sometimes heavy metal is stupid, and sometimes that's when it is the best. 

FURAN

Japanese hardcore had really hit its stride in the late '80s - when punk and hardcore around the world was trying desperately to get a paycheck (or worse, get funky), the Japanese were solidifying their place outside of traditional society, and creating some furiously passionate music in the process. FURAN is a prime example: totally pissed, with the discretion of a bulldozer, and with the intensity that only Japanese seem to be able to create. Give me one word to describe FURAN, and I think I will choose "RAMPAGING" - they play what most folks call traditional Japanese hardcore, and they do so with pure fire...motorcharged punk insanity. This demo was released by Overthrow 20 years ago, and the chaos that label releases to this day is a testament to their commitment to a life apart from society. Punk for life. 

FURAN

SUBTERFUGE

Not to be confused with the also excellent Canadian band of the same name, West Midlands' SUBTERFUGE existed just long enough to grace us with two blistering demos filled with gruff vocals and killer UK82 meets Oi! punk fukkn rock. Both demos are included in this download, but I recommend you start with Woolshag's Last Round, if only because the version of "Cars Don't Cry" is worthy of any KBD geek's eternal devotion. Even if you are too cool for all of the other songs on this tape (or on this blog, for that matter), "Cars Don't Cry" is a legitimate unearthed classic UK punk tune. That demo, their second, came only a few months after the first, but is far advanced in both songwriting and recording - would have made a ripping and sought after EP. The Good Beer Guide demo, from earlier in 1983, features a rougher recording and more unhinged approach to the songs (the first tune, "Stand Up" is a total street punk anthem) - every bit as awesome as the later recording, but appealing to a different part of my brain. I especially like the vocals on this first demo (though I cannot shake the SOCKEYE comparison that jumped into my mind the first time I heard the vocals - it doesn't make any sense, but I can't make it go away, so I feel like I should share). I tacked a few rough quality live songs onto that demo, and an excellent set (also from 1983) is included as well. The live set is great, but I think I am most entertained by the audience who appears to not even give half a shit that there is a band playing. SUBTERFUGE were writing songs that deserve serious credit in the halls of punk history, but I think that, aside from their short reign and limited output, the vocals probably turned off most punks - catchy uptempo songs with an abrasive singer that tries to inject melody into songs that don't need them. A minor criticism, as you are about to be treated to an hour of brilliant UK punk.

SUBTERFUGE

MUERTE A LA MUERTE

This one might be not enough noise and too much hardcore for fans of pure noise punk, but Spain's MUERTE A LA MUERTE create the aura that Mondays are known for at Terminal Escape - raw and ferocious. Bare bones '80s USHC is given the treatment on this tape, a rudimentary attack using simple riffs, a hollow bass, a questionably tuned guitar, cavernous vocals and tinny drums straight out of 1982. It's the same formula that your favorite noise punk bands employ, but MUERTE A LA MUERTE eschew DISCHARGE in favor of NEGATIVE FX and DYS and what appears to be an excessive and irrational affinity for designer sneakers. Also, this demo has four different covers.

MUERTE A LA MUERTE

  

SICKOIDS

I was fortunate to see the second SICKOIDS show in April, and I was sufficiently floored. They have clearly spent some serious time studying the guitar tones of the '80s greats, and have managed to combine classic Midwest hardcore and UK anarcho punk into one magical tone that shines through even on this rough demo recording. The SICKOIDS' sound lands nearby - with elements of legendary US hardcore colliding with modern melody and an approach clearly rooted in UK punk (PENI is heavily represented in most aspects of this recording, even the US hardcore bits). The players here are top notch (members of WITCH HUNT, DIRECT CONTROL, GOVERNMENT WARNING and CRACKS, among others), but previous bands be damned when I heard this shit, and this demo just serves to make me excited for future vinyl releases. 

SICKOIDS

I did a little maintenance today, fixing some posts from the early days of The Escape. I was recently with a friend who had downloaded the MALICE demo from this site, and I was struck by how shit it sounded...I've gotten (a little) better at this since I started, and that demo deserves proper treatment. Thus, MALICE has been re-ripped and re-zipped for your downloading and listening pleasure. You will also find repairs to the broken links for two other early posts, T.V.O.D. and FARCE. 

THE EX

It's rather difficult to write an entertaining, informative and/or insightful blurb about a band as influential and legendary as THE EX. Equal parts GANG OF FOUR, CRASS and WIRE, early incarnations of THE EX created some of the most brilliant post punk, but (much like WIRE) did so while punk was still in it's first incarnation (ie; before there was a "post"). 1982's History Is What's Happening is a brilliant, if not flawless record, full of meaning but never remotely pretentious. Their proficient and imaginative songwriting created a vibe not unlike MINUTEMEN or even BIG BOYS - minimal yet still complex (and bass guitar heavy), advanced but accessible. This tape, a wonderful example of the positive results of liberal home taping, features all 20 songs from the LP with four additional EX tunes crammed onto the end before the Dutch additions to yesterday's Belgian comp ("Introduction/Human Car" come from the live 7" that accompanied their 1980 debut LP Disturbing Domestic Peace, "New Wars" also from that LP, and a song listed as "Constitutional State" which is quite possibly not actually the song "Constitutional State," even though a very nice mix tape maker in 198? went to the trouble to type the title on the the cover....I can only share what I know). These politics, and this imagination, seem to represent a specific time in punk...and I think that statement is perhaps more observational criticism of punk today than it is praise of THE EX, but I listen to this music and I just want more. Both for myself and (more importantly) from myself. The title says it all....

HISTORY IS WHAT'S HAPPENING

THE EX are still active (very active) today, and are still very worth checking out, both recorded (you can buy all of their in print records directly from them) and live. I suggest that you do so, even if you don't feel like downloading the digital version of a cassette that was taped from a decades old copy of a record that, by all rights, you should already have.

ALLEZ CRACHEZ LES BELGIAN PUNKS

This 1982 comp was slapped onto the flip side of a hometaped copy of THE EX's History Is What's Happening cassette, and I couldn't be happier. Featuring a few tracks from each of seven barely known Belgian bands, the comp shifts from brilliant UK82 style chaos punk (the opening track from VORTEX is one of the punkest songs I've heard) to slightly more anarcho sounding bands like O-VEUX and ANARCHISTS ON DOPE. The female vocals in TYPHUS are addictive, as is their mid-tempo melody, a characteristic they share with NUITS ST. GEORGES and UNDERDOGS (though the latter is more feriocious). And in case the band name intrigues you, SEXY BOLLOCKS are every bit as punk as their moniker implies. There are a few tracks from the original that didn't make it onto my copy (this is on one side of a C90), but the thoughtful tapemaker added a few Dutch acts to the end of THE EX record, so today you get bonus tracks from SVÄTSOX, DE GROETEN and the recently reissued RONDOS...sometimes you win, whether you deserve it or not.

ALLEZ CRACHEZ LES BELGIAN PUNKS

WAX IDOLS

Dreamy and insistent noisy pop. Reverbed guitars give off shy, mournful howls while persistent beats drive breathy '60 girl group vocals through a clouldless night en route to a creepy but harmless small town haunted house. The first track appears on their recent (and excellent) Hozac single, but the final track on this tape, "Batcave" (with Hanoi James on extra retro sounding keyboards) is the fukkn song of the month for this bearded superhero - brilliant and relaxed. WAX IDOLS have been making waves in the Bay Area for a while, but judging from the flyers of their past shows I came across, shows mere blocks from my house at venues I am familiar with on nights I spent at home, those waves are in a pond other than the one in which I am swimming. It's good to have something new to seek out, and something wonderful to discover, especially in your own city - and now I have WAX IDOLS. Get some yourself from Psychic Snerts before they go away...

WAX IDOLS

ENOLA GAY

This totally ripping 1982 recording from ENOLA GAY garnered the following review from Tim Yo: A 12-song studio demo that's well-produced. It's got that chunky drumming that I don't go for too much, but the guitar sound and vocals are real good, and it's real powerful overall. The main problem with Enola Gay is that they rely a bit too much on the basic repetitive thrash struture. More variation would help. More variation? Is the dude crazy? ENOLA GAY's disjointed drum attack makes rhythmic circle pitting a true challenge, but straying away from their 1-2-1-2 primitive thrash attack is the last thing they should do (and thankfully they didn't). And besides, "Systemets Vold" is a nice mid tempo respite from the breakneck pace of the rest of the demo. These are almost the same tracks released as the 317 Nitter demo that earned the above review, and later reissued on the ENOLA GAY 1982-84 LP released by Kick 'n Punch (several were also on BCT #18, I Thrash Therefore I Am), but this recording sounds much rawer (perhaps the LP was just cleaned up/beefed up and the between song banter was eliminated?), the songs are in a slightly different order, and "Guds Børn" is missing from this tape.  Whatever the source for this recording, the result is 19 minutes of brilliant shits from an essential band.

ENOLA GAY

DESPERDICIO

Sendai-City raw punks represent! It was weeks after the recent disaster(s) in Japan before I got word that DESPERDICIO members were all alive and well, and the first thing I did when I received that email was blast this tape at full volume. Tsuyoshi (vocals) arranged the last show on the 2009 CFD Japan Tour (it was a killer, of course), and is one of the finest Japan punks I've encountered, but these sounds need none of those bullshit "nice guy" recommendations to convince you of their complete power - the distortion speaks for itself. None of us are on this earth for very long, and we need to make as much noise as possible while we are here, so play this LOUD.

DEMOSTRACIÓN

GRITO DE ALERTA

Metallic charging anarcho/thrash from Chile, not to be confused with the crust assault of Brasil's GRITOS DE ALERTA. The music here falls in line with a lot of '90s South American HC/thrash, but with up front politics and a female vocalist that commands very flattering comparisons (POST REGIMENT comes to mind on many of the more straightforward parts). The guitar shreds almost constantly, a high pitched buzzsaw battling tinny distortion with glorious success while the vocals dart between earnest dual male shouts and the female screams that make GRITO DE ALERTA an unqualified winner. 

RABIA DESDE EL FIN DEL MUNDO II

THE SMELL

Fred handed me this last weekend while I was in his house, and I was excited. I've heard mixed reviews about this new SF band, but everyone agrees that they are...something... and a band that can universally mystify and frustrate both fans and detractors is a band that I want to get behind. Synth punk might be the easy tag, but this keyboard driven punk is another animal entirely, perhaps more in line with late '70s SF art/punk freaks than anything that has come since. The vocals have a distinct BLATZ quality, but they seem aloof and only partially connected to the music they accompany. A carnival thrill ride awaits you, John Waters will be your guide, a trip through the less attractive and more exciting pockets of The City. I love the myriad of music and people that fall under the generous "punk" umbrella in this town, and I love when I listen to a demo and I am more confused at the end than I was before I pressed play. I also love that THE SMELL's version of "Skulls" is even weirder than the one I posted earlier this week.

HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE

IRON LUNG MIXTAPE

Other bands have dabbled with collecting the music of their friends and associates in the form of a familial mix tape, but it should come as no surprise that IRON LUNG have perfected it. One track each from 20 bands, and not a clunker in the bunch. There are IRON LUNG related projects (WALLS, PIG HEART TRANSPLANT, COLD SWEAT, SOCIETY NURSE), Iron Lung Records artists (WHITE WARDS, BIG CRUX, SLICES, EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING), and Terminal Escape alumni (SELF COM, RUNNING FOR COVER, KIM PHUC) alongside SOLUTIONS (the best band hardcore band you have never seen), MENTALLY CHALLENGED, MIND ERASER, Aussie synth punk from TOTAL CONTROL, LORDS OF LIGHT lounge offshoot STUDIO GEORDIE and tracks from two of my bands, OPT OUT and VACCUUM. The SELF COM and MENTALLY CHALLENGED tracks are easily my two favorite, but I assure you that the next 40 minutes of your day are going to be filled with excellent music from across the sound spectrum. Get a copy if there are any left, and if you've missed out then let's hope you have learned a lesson about what happens when you snooze.

IRON LUNG MIXTAPE I

JOINT DAMAGE

I saw a thing on a flyer that described JOINT DAMAGE as somewhere between DEATHSIDE and DEAD BOYS. I think that description is foolish and inaccurate, but I also think that it gives you a good indication of how you will feel after you listen to these five tunes. FUNCTIONAL BLACKOUTS meets DEAD AND GONE might be closer to the comparison that I would use, but band comparisons like this are rather trite, so I would serve you (the follower) better if I just told you that I think JOINT DAMAGE fukkn rule hard and sound creepy and garage-y but not even remotely pretentious (a common but unfortunate side effect with many bands tagged with the "garage" label), and that I think you should listen to this band. If comparisons aren't your thing, and "members of" tags are what get your juices flowing, then JOINT DAMAGE has member(s) of LOGIC PROBLEM and BRAIN FLANNEL. But "members of" comparisons should hold about as much weight as "this sounds like" tags (which is to say: very little weight) and you should really just get on board with "JOINT DAMAGE rules." Isn't that endorsement enough? 

JOINT DAMAGE

UTOPIA PARK

An about face from yesterday's primitive thrash metal assault, but still no closer to the studded jacket wearing, pogo inducing insanity that keeps you coming back for more, I present you with 20+ minutes of glorious drum machine driven pop music. UTOPIA PARK are from Iowa, and create this wonderful soaring sound that takes me back to Restless-era FLAMING LIPS while reminding me how I felt when I first heard ANDREW W.K. without doing anything in particular to sound like either. It's hard to take them seriously, but it's also hard to not get into it...so I find it easiest to not resist. Special award for the weirdest MISFITS cover I've ever heard.

UTOPIA PARK

AVOID

This is a hard thing that I do. Make no mistake, I enjoy it, but my desire to please and entertain so many people from so many places and backgrounds with such different tastes and interests makes my endeavor  both challenging and frustrating. While I know more or less what genres will result in mass downloads and (silent) accolades, I also strive to expose the casual follower to something unique, something interesting, and perhaps something that they have never heard before. Enter: AVOID. Light years from the DIY punk subgenres that make up the vast majority of Terminal Escape posts, AVOID unleash bizarrely intelligent neanderthal thrash metal on unsuspecting ears, all high pitched and childish  in the most brilliant way imaginable. Liberal doses of SLAYER and MEGADETH went into the earholes of this Wyoming trio, which must have gone nicely with the indulgent doses of beer that went into their gullets. But more than a curious underground metal discovery (and one from fukking Wyoming, a point that should not be overlooked or understated), AVOID are bad ass DIY thrash from a time when the metal and punk worlds started to collide in the interest of playing fast and getting wasted (it could easily be argued that punk simply succumbed to the mostly apolitical and relatively mainstream morals and ethics exhibited by the metal community, but that is a discussion and debate best held in a different forum - perhaps a forum with free alcohol). Did I mention that AVOID were from Rock Springs, Wyoming? In 1988, thrash metal was king, and these dudes must have been royalty in their town - this is awesome, and I highly suggest you burn a few brain cells today.

INDUCT TO SACRARIUM

SHITFUCKER

Back when noise punk and raw DBeat were a way of life and not the genre du jour, Michigan's SHITFUCKER pounded out brilliantly gruff metallic DBeat noise with enough fuck you in the monitors to retain their urgency five years down the road. The approach is more anguished and frustrated than intense or furious, and this is a vibe that suits their music well (even if unintentional...no, especially if unintentional). The vocals fit the en vogue mold - hollow and reverbed to shit - while the guitars are more metal than their current comrades...but the more I listen to SHITFUCKER, the more I am struck by how fukkn well they master this relatively simple but strangely elusive raw punk formula. Clearly they spent an excessive amount of time with their GLOOM records, but the importance lies not in how you reach your destination, but simply whether or not you've made it. SHITFUCKER made it years ago, and are currently sitting back with tall cans of Suntory watching everyone else scrambling to reach the same plateau. Perhaps I am making this cassette seem far more grandiose than it actually is...or perhaps right now it just sounds really fukkn good to me.

HUMAN DISORDER

Also, don't confuse this Michigan band with Oakland's current ragers, SHITTY FUCKER. SHITTY FUCKER released their music on Tank Crimes, but they are not the same band as SHITFUCKER. Tank Crimes impresario Scotty is from Michigan, however, and SHITFUCKER are from Michigan, so I can understand how that might serve to enhance the confusion, but Scotty is not in SHITTY FUCKER, he is just releasing their music, and SHITTY FUCKER are still a totally different band from SHITFUCKER. This clarification will mean little (or nothing) to readers not from (or familiar with) the Oakland/San Francisco area, but it did give me a good excuse to type variations of the words "shit" and "fuck" several more times, which I enjoyed, so thank you for humoring me.

DIPERS

Raucous and feisty garage punks from New York City (and the name is pronounced "Die-Pers," just like the Portland band whose logo they are borrowing, but with a 'D' on the front end) deliver four tunes that are as full of don't-give-a-fuck juice as they are with killer riffs and punk songwriting sensibilities. After a couple of passively solicited cassettes received through the mail (passively in the sense that I didn't ask, and solicited in the sense that I always want more tapes) and enjoyed while drinking, I had the pleasure of meeting The Head Diper in Brooklyn at the OPT OUT show - he was appropriately awkward and properly enthusiastic and not even remotely cool (at least not intentionally)...which of course made him just about the coolest dude in the room.  These songs don't care if you like them, but you nothing short of a fool if you don't recognize the casual genius contained in these seven minutes - it's like SOCKEYE took the time to write the great raw hardcore record we always knew they had in them, but without sacrificing any of their wit. Get ready for "Dog Mosh."

PRONOUNCED DIAPERS

Eat The Life: here

DIPERS: here