GUILTY PARENTS

Simultaneously forceful and thoughtful, Nottingham's GULTY PARENTS drop a searing guitar in the middle of driving and vaguely trippy post-hardcore. This could be a modern incarnation of DEAD AND GONE or THE VSS, or perhaps it's just BL'AST worship played through a HAWKWIND filter. No matter what lazy terminology I use to describe them, this tape is a killer, and the electronic remix that wraps the thing up just serves to seal the deal.

NORO

REGRES

Straight Edge hardcore with unmistakable Polish roots, REGRESS have grown heaps since this 2001 debut, but it's the first thing I heard from the band and still probably my favorite release of theirs (though the new record, while maybe more emotional and less hardcore, is really really good). You can tell that they still have room to grow on this tape, but that might be part of why I like it so much. I snagged this from Refuse Records while in Poland in 2003 at the label's 10th birthday bash. The 20th is coming up soon (well, the Berlin show was last week and the Warsaw show is next week)...THE CORPSE, TZN XENNA, CATHARSIS, O INIMIGO, COKE BUST, REGRES and more...damn.

REGRES

THE PSYCHWARD CULT

While the first track "Pharaoh" could be the soundtrack for a low budget horror film, it's "Distress, Anxiety, Hallucination" that really seals the disturbing mood. This is a terrifying mania crammed onto 1/4" magnetic tape.

MEDICINAL DREAMING

NERV

If this one looks familiar then you are paying attention. Here's what I said about this cassette in my post last September:

Iowa ain't a hotbed for hardcore killers. I came from Oklahoma, not exactly punk's ground zero, but Iowa? Shit is rough. Perhaps NERV are trying to go back in time and rewrite their state's hardcore legacy, and if that's the case then this demo is a great start. Screaming hardcore ripped right out of the backwards attitudes that dominated '80s Midwestern culture. This is teenage anger dished out in sub-minute bursts - addictive riffs bashed out at a frenetic pace and frustrated vocals barely keeping it together. The guitar leads alone make this worth the price of admission, nine songs in as many minutes. Maybe my opinions about hardcore in The Hawkeye State are worth reconsidering.

And then I got an email from Joe a few days ago. Joe took exception to me seemingly clearing Iowa off the punk map and he let me know that Iowa's hardcore legacy did not need any rewriting. As proof, Joe included a link to a CD comp he made spanning Iowa punk and hardcore from 1983-2013. While there are a few bands I recognize (FORCED EXPRESSION, TEN GRAND, SONG OF ZARATHUSTRA, BLACK MARKET FETUS and MODERN LIFE IS WAR should all be relatively familiar names), there are 30 bands on this comp and the vast majority were new to me - and awesome. A healthy helping of the '90s pre(and proto)screamo the Midwest and Plains were so good at cranking out (ECLIPSE OF EDEN, THE KINSHIP, IN LOVING MEMORY..., SWING BY SEVEN), some weird shit (PATRICK SWAYZE'S GHOST, LOS VOLTAGE), some terrifying hardcore (TOO PURE TO DIE, AGRESS, APPROACHING NAIN, OMENS) and a killer cross section of newer ferocious punk bands (NERV, BIG BOX, SUPERSONIC PISS). I missed some, to be sure, but since I mentioned punk "history," I gotta talk about the five bands from the '80s....every single one of these tracks is an absolute stunner. ABCESS (Midwest hardcore punk madness), PREACHERS (totally demented and furious), PENT-UP AGGRESSION (this is Killed By Hardcore perfection), STIFF LEGGED SHEEP (nasty blown out hardcore)....and then there's HUMAN ERROR. The 61 seconds that make up HUMAN ERROR's "Mig 21" are simply insane; MOB 47 by way of THE FIX, and every bit jaw dropping as either. Seriously. Maybe you're too cool to admit that METH AND GOATS are punk, but I can assure you that this HUMAN ERROR track with blow the fukkn doors off of whatever you thought Iowa was capable of. 

NERV

And so I included Joe's comp in the file that contains Joe's band NERV. You can also get it directly from him, via the excellent Iowa Hardcore blog, and you can blast the new NERV EP here. I assure you that this too, is awesome. Being set straight has never sounded so good.

DEAD SEEDS

The band might be new, but these gents are veterans and they know exactly what they are doing. While DEAD SEEDS are drenched in mid '90s guitar heavy punk (the stuff that came after "grunge" had moved on but still wasn't hardcore), the combination of the strained vocals and songs that writhe more than rock deny the listener any kind of real comfort. The parts are all things that we might already be familiar with ("Teeth Like Tombstones" would be a perfect bridge between FUEL and DRIVE LIKE JEHU), but their sum still sounds new and worth far more than the paltry eight and a half minutes that this demo offers. 

DEAD SEEDS

IRON LUNG MIX TAPE II

What can I say? This is the best of the best. The physical things are long sold out, but if you missed the product then here is your chance to hear the sounds. DREAM DECAY, USELESS CHILDREN, HATRED SURGE, MUTANT VIDEO, BRAINOIL, HUNTING PARTY, GAS CHAMBER, THE LOWEST FORM, HARPOON GUNS, GAG, COLUMN OF HEAVEN...yeah. If you didn't know, these dudes are kinda killing it right now. The first mix tape was a killer, I dare say this one is even better.

IRON LUNG MIX TAPE II

VAGABONDS

I went on my first full US tour in 1994. There were a couple of shorter jaunts that came first, but in '94 we embarked on a truly ridiculous nine week journey with nothing in tow but a demo no one wanted and some really ugly shirts. We played with LAGWAGON on a native reservation in Arizona, we played with DEFIANCE at ABC No Rio, we played with AVAIL in a high school gym in Iowa and we played with TOTAL CHAOS in Mankato, Minnesota. We played an arcade in Albion, Nebraska and the office of a used car dealership outside of Albuquerque. We listened to BORN AGAINST and PROPAGANDHI constantly, and slept on picnic tables at rest stops because we had nowhere else to go and unironically called it "camping." The whole thing was full of future memories permanently etched into my mind, but I think my bandmates would agree that the highlight of the tour (at least in the "memorable experiences" category) was the Spiderfest in Marmora, Ontario (population 1,500 or so). A regionally legendary fest by that point, Spiderfest was held on the estate of an old dude named Spider who was punk as shit and didn't give half a shit what anyone did on his property (I believe that 1995 was the last year that paramedics were allowed at his alcohol fueled drug/punk fest in the woods, eventually leading to the authorities shutting the fest down). We rolled into town clueless and a couple of townies directed us to Spiderland Acres for a weekend of confusing debauchery...several hundred people fukkd up as all hell wandering around the woods...and there were some bands too. I am sure that most of the bands were complete shit, but BLOWHARD, ARMED AND HAMMERED, POLITIKILL INCORRECT, SHITFIT and the leather kilt wearing MC (named Thor?) made an impression that has lasted two decades....and then there were VAGABONDS from Montreal. Snotty UK influenced bar punk that might not mean shit to me if I heard it today but, at 21 years old and a million miles away from anything I had ever seen or done before, these haggard (read: drunk) dudes cranked out some perfect party tunes. And the drummer was so incredibly annihilated one morning on the path from where we were parked to the stage that we thought he might be dead. There was this grimace frozen on his face that I could not possibly describe, and even after he woke up, that grimace was there for the rest of the weekend. 

FROM AUTUMN TO FALL

Imagine my surprise when a quick internet search revealed that punks STILL put on a Spiderfest in Ontario (footage from 2012 here...about like I remember, but with way less people). Spider died in 2009 at the age of 72.

RE-UPS

I fixed a slew of dead links over the past two days, check the bottom of the page for a complete list. It was kinda cool digging back through older posts, and it's nice to see (hear) how much I still enjoy most of them. CAGES (both posts) are jaw dropping, TRAUMA (both of them), PURE GROUND, OUTRAGE, BELLICOSE MINDS, LÄRM, RØSENKØPF (both posts), the ‘Raw War’ and ‘Us Against Them’ comps...and a lot more. The vast majority of the pre-2013 links are still dead, however, and they’re probably going to stay that way....

NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR

Cassette version (obviously) of this absolutely devastating 2006 release, Copenhagen's NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR blow the damn roof off of the bulldozer ScandiCrust pradigm. Fist banging kång meets rampaging dual vocal crust with gratuitous leads, heavy as shit and absolutely urgent seven years after it's release. Members of PISSCHRIST, URO, KROMOSOM and others, just in case you missed this one the first time around and still need convincing. The metal breakdown during "In The Shadow Of The Gallows" is the only music you will need today.

NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR

BERU

Instantly entrancing, 2009's What Would I Do Without You is more an aural journey than a mere listen. Maybe you file this somewhere in the world of nuevo-folk artists, or maybe it's dark psychedelic ambiance, but compartmentalizing BERU (the moniker assumed by solo artist Jessica Collins) does these sounds a disservice. A breathy excursion clouded with misty eyes and led by airy vocals intent on complete mesmerization, this release bounces between sweetly innocent and painfully simple moments of emotional exposure to confusing swarms seemingly created for the sole purpose of concealing those very same emotions. Powerful music that will leave you simultaneously contemplative and elevated.

WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU

PIG DNA

These recent Bay Area transplants have me sucked in completely, even though I've yet to see them play a note. The first demo was an absolutely filthy dirge delivered from murky depths, and this second effort (the only difference in the title is the extra 'R' at the end) is only slightly cleaner. A musical struggle, with drums jerking the band forward instead of driving them and guitars trying to decide between psychedelic bliss and distorted hiss (they don't seem to be able to make up their mind, which is fine by me). The screams sound more desperate this time, putting me on edge even more than the determined if hesitant attack from the band - when the chorus of "hate the fuckers" closes "Bosses" ...well, you get the impression that she really means it, that's all. PIG DNA are pure and unfettered, and I look forward to seeing them in the flesh.

CONTROLUUUFUUCKERR

TENDRIL

Harsh and uncomfortable sounds - churning and awkward. 

Necessary. 

TENDRIL can be found here.

SMEAR

MANIMALS

A few years ago (....ok, it was a lot of years ago), a good friend of mine suggested that I buy this really shitty looking horror punk record out of a dollar bin (he already has all of the records, so he is the perfect friend to shop for records with). I bought that record, and it was awesome. These four songs are not on that EP, but their metallic approach to punk is every bit as evident on this demo as it would be on their killer 12" EP. The influence they take from a certain band is obvious - especially in the vocals - so I've included a few songs from that band in the DL to get your juices flowing (the tracks were on the  same mix tape I ripped them MANIMALS shit from).  But what you really should be stoked about is the four songs from a mid '80s Ohio shock punk juggernaut. "Rot In Hell" tonight indeed motherfukkr.

MANIMALS

STEPAHEAD

Here I am again, talking about how much I miss punk in the '90s. Maybe it doesn't make any when I spent my evening getting floored by STRESSORS, MANIPULATION and NEEDLES and being surrounded by pretty awesome people...but still this is what I reached for when I came home.

FIRST STEP

PEDESTRIANS

Everyone was playing fast, and every new band seemed to want to play faster. The only hooks came in the form of melodic guitar leads influenced by DISCHARGE or ENTOMBED and the songs were abstractions about war. This seemed to be the world that PEDESTRIANS rose out of (and I don't mean Chicago as much as I mean the year 2003). The were catchy and aggressive, but you could still shake your ass - in fact sometimes you just couldn't help yourself. Two killer 12"ers and two EPs (one flawless and one really good) followed this demo - all worth tracking down if you missed the boat the first time.

PEDESTRIANS

B-ABUSE

I dare say that there are not enough bands like B-ABUSE kicking around anymore. It seems like when I see current bands trying to channel powerful emotion in terms of modern hardcore, the result is more akin to nihilistic and/or abstract black metal or something equally foreign. Their sound is simultaneously chaotic and comforting - when they unleash it is an impassioned desperation that drives them, but the majority of [tens]65 is calculated and deliberate. "Menschzerstörung" is hopelessly engrossing - making an audio soundtrack to the Apollo 13 mission is an endeavor beyond daunting, but the result is mesmerizing and well worth the entire cassette. You can write this off as screamo if you like, but it would be your loss...these Germans personify so much about why the mid '90s will be viewed fondly by historians once we have some distance from the schlock that dominates people's memories. Apocalyptic and introspective while carrying a faint beacon of hope. Hope for our both community and for the Greater Society are both in short supply, and I welcome a return to a frustrated determination.

[tens]65

FACTION

And admittedly rough rehearsal recording from FACTION, but it's cool to hear these tunes in their formative stages. Still surprises me that this band seems to be destined for second-tier status in the world of '80s UK anarcho punk, as they evoke more passion and emotion than many better known and more emulated acts. "Banner From The Lion" is a total killer, they were flirting with No Wave art/punk perhaps without even knowing it.

FACTION - PRACTICE 198?

PIG HEART TRANSPLANT

Soaring waves of sound interspersed with jabs of indigestible noise and distortion. PIG HEART TRANSPLANT make you rethink music as they reinvent themselves on virtually every release. This 2007 cassette features two tracks - 18 minutes and 8 minutes respectively. One harsh and poignant, one subtle and disturbing....enjoy your week.

BLACKMAIL

CONFLICT

I pulled these tracks off of a mix tape packed with crucial demos and lifted the cover scan from Kill From The Heart, all so you could dig on one of my favorite under appreciated early '80s hardcore acts. The guitar is screaming, a buzzsaw on top of a furious drum attack that is a little more unhinged on this recording than on their LP (which is mandatory listening in my opinion). And while the vocals that "Nurse" belts out might be a little bouncy, there is an attitude and a ferocity that no melody can hide. "White Skin," standout track, and "Chronic" sounds like the hardcore song that X never wrote. This shit rules so hard, now I need to get myself an original...

AMERICA'S RIGHT

ILLEGITIMATE SONS OF JACKIE O

Here's what I said about the 1990 ILLEGITIMATE SONS OF JACKIE O demo 19 years after its release:

ILLEGITIMATE SONS OF JACKIE O were a fucking bulldozer of freaked out noise every time I saw them.  This demo is equal parts tortured hardcore and drug addled psychedelic fuzz, and it is still superb 19 years later.  The SONS were from Tulsa, and started clearing rooms in the mid/late 80s...it seemed that a town that was (at the time) best known for NOTA and the Confederate Hammer Skinheads didn't take too kindly to a 6'4" rail thin weirdo spazzing out and screaming the words to "Freaked Out Hippie Queer." The weirdo was Dan Riffe, and his guitar work was from another planet (as were his vocals); just wave after wave of distorted bliss, with wailing awkward leads that would hit you in the face like a spitwad that was equal parts JIMI HENDRIX and East Bay Ray.  Their live shows were the closest thing to Land Speed Record that I will ever see, just a total assault on every thing you though you knew about punk...after getting crushed by a dozen 90 second bursts of sweat and frustration, ILLEGITIMATE SONS might deliver "Danse O' The Sun Faerie," a six minute (or longer) three note psych jam that seemed to exist for Dan to channel demons and materialize them in the form of chorus pedals and feedback while Chris and John plodded and pounded away on a dirty groove that could continue indefinitely...and I never wanted it to end.  Dan moved to Norman in '92 or so, and joined my mediocre band after we booted our self righteous singer. He was every bit as bizarre as he appeared to be and the union (and the band) didn't last long. He also fronted THE BRUTAL GARDENERS (which I was in as well) and released a brilliant solo tape as VAN GOGH'S EAR, all of which will make it onto Terminal Escape eventually. Through Dan, I discovered everything from WRETCHED and TERVEET KADET to NON...these are very important friends to have in Oklahoma, and I owe him a lot. ILLEGITIMATE SONS OF JACKIE O had a couple of vinyl releases as well, one on Dallas label Scratched Records and another one I've never been able to track down.  They look like shit, they are both amazing, but since you probably don't have them, I'll tide you over with this demo.

HERE COME THE SONS

Today I heard that John died on the fourth of July, and I feel like I need to somehow express how important this band was. How huge it was for 19 year old me to see that weirdo John wailing away all blissed out while delivering a total avalanche of sound that fell bizarrely and inexplicably between psychedelia and hardcore. Beyond the obvious Oklahoma aspect of this band and the dudes in it, THE SONS weren't cool...but they were cool as fuck, and coming from someone well versed in the world of "not cool" this was fucking massive. I described Dan in depth in my post above, but John was the stoic being when they played, long hair obscuring any expression, half swaying and half flailing about. Maybe it's mostly due to when and where I saw the band, but their impact on me was immeasurable - and John's role as an incredibly chill dude dishing out a pulverizing low end without a shred of pretense is one to be emulated. I should not try to pretend that I was friends with John or that we had some crazy history together but, as a punk in my formative years, his presence was terribly important, especially in retrospect. Perhaps sometimes your presence is every bit as important as what you present....

HOME LOBOTOMY KIT

This is the aforementioned 1991 Scratched Records EP. I came home tonight a reached for it immediately - flipping past ICONOCLAST, ICONS OF FILTH, IMPACT and others that were less important. I listened to it, then I listened to it again while recording it onto cassette, then I listened to it again while converting that cassette to mp3 form and scanning the artwork, and then I listened to it again while editing the tracks and preparing the material for download. This music is about being a weirdo, this music is about being outside. 

John Shannon was 44 years old.

MIDWEST MUTANTS

MIDWEST MUTANTS

Not exactly a mix tape this Friday, more like a mix zip filled with short run demos from some of the most deranged hardcore bands that the dilapidated cornholes of the Midwestern USA is cranking out. Three installments in the 2012 Halloween Cassingle Series on Spotted Race, two songs each from Belleville, Illinois' LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS and TRAUMA HARNESS (the former personifying the term "deranged" I dropped earlier, and the latter injecting much needed aggression into the current trend of reverbed goth-esque dark punk) and KOWABUNGA! KID from Champaign who play deliberate and plodding punk with an attitude that will draw you in faster than you can lament the death of the family farm or blue collar manufacturing. More dark shits, but this time with blown out NEGATIVE APPROACH hardcore barks from LAUGHBOY, plus the much hyped (by at least two of my friends) first demo from LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS and an essential banger from St. Louis' NOSBOS, who the label describes accurately as "über slimey." These are punks that have existed below the cool radar for so long that they've created their own world, and the world looks pretty fukkn sinister to these eyes. I suppose it's possible that I'm just getting old and that these bands are basically made up of kids I don't know, which is why I think they are "under the radar," but fukk it man: I don't care why they are awesome, I just want to hear more. More from these bands, and more from the kids that they will assuredly influence. Listen to the jams and then mailorder some tapes, they are $2 each for fukks sake.

in order of mention:

LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS

TRAUMA HARNESS

KOWABUNGA! KID

LAUGHBOY

LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS

NOSBOS

DISPIRIT

The buzz started around this band well before their first show (a show that I was en route to when I heard about Daniel Higgs performing in a yoga studio - my choice was obvious), and though it was ages before I actually heard the band, DISPIRIT did not disappoint. The brainchild of John Gossard, who was responsible for WEAKLING, perhaps the most quietly influential Bay Area black metal band ever, DISPIRIT dole out atmospheric and bleak black metal steeped in melancholy and doom (the subgenre and the emotion), combining the pace of Gossard's other notable act ASUNDER with whitewashed guitar melodies and genuine despair. The tempo doesn't increase beyond an excruciating crawl until twenty minutes into the demo, and even then the result is an increased focus on the melody...trying to find the band through the severe lack of fidelity. But the poor recording sets the mood, and I think it's important as an introduction - nothing about DISPIRIT is pretty. It took me almost two years to see the band live, and as much as I was prepared to be blown away, I left the show underwhelmed and wondering if the hype had slipped through the band's grasp...and then I listened to this tape. Tortured sounds, to be sure (and the next time I saw them it was everything I had hoped it would be).

REHEARSAL AT OBOROTEN

FESTA DESPERATO

Perhaps you are familiar with their later releases, perhaps not, but this 2003 shell from FESTA DESPERATO is a total scorcher.  While it's possible that the then en vogue fastcore explosion had more than a casual influence on their brand of rage, years later these songs are a manic cacophony of the highest order. Abrasive and sometimes painful, this chaos draws equally from '80s Italian hardcore, LÄRM and ripping USA thrash, while somehow managing to stay rooted in the punk history of their region. This one has spent years on my shelf, but it's going to be quite a while before it gets re-filed.  Apparently members are now involved in EVIDENCE SMRTI and others...

PRVNÍCH...

COMPLETELY FUCKED

Tortured, belligerent and snotty hardcore from DFW. Eleven songs in less than ten minutes should tell you what you are in for here - this demo comes from the year two thousand and ten (that's a lot of numbers in one sentence). I wasn't sure if this band was originally called PROGNOSIS NEGATIVE and then they changed to COMPLETELY FUCKED, or they used to be called COMPLETELY FUCKED and they changed to PROGNOSIS NEGATIVE (it's the former, but the internet is initially unclear and/or I am lazy)...either way, both names are good, the jams are solid, the band broke up last year and some of the dudes are now making excellent sounds in SIN MOTIVO. Did I mention that the jams are solid? Yes, I did. Good.

PROGNOSIS NEGATIVE

BODY COLLECTOR

It's more like the sound of a prolonged natural disaster than anything resembling music, BODY COLLECTOR churn out a fifteen minute wave of destruction on 2008's Night Sick. Distorted cacophony atop arhythmic low end rumblings, these sounds will suck you in as quickly as they will turn your stomach. These reactions are both to be expected.

NIGHT SICK

THE BROOD

Ned mailed me one of these stunners a couple of months ago, and I dare say that I've listened to THE BROOD more than just about any other band new or old since its arrival. They take hooks and anthemic Oi! tinged punk and make it more aggressive and sinister than I can possible explain. A lot of that rage is from Ned's vocals, though the relentless pace has a lot to do with the tension and the guitar is unhinged, even when sneaking melodic leads in between choppy riffs steeped in chorus. This demo is passionate and real, and in an overwhelming sea of new bands and new trends and new next big things, THE BROOD is important.

IF TOMORROW COMES

GROTUS

I feel like GROTUS came a few years too late. The whole industrial/electronic thing was passé to even casual listeners by the time this band started cranking out excellent records that I feel like were in dollar bins basically from the day of their release. But this Bay Area outfit were head and shoulders above most of their predecessors, and with this four song slab as an introductory demo, you know that they were on a mission. Critics and other musicians fawned over them (I often read their name mentioned alongside NEUROSIS and CONSOLIDATED, and I think that pretty accurately describes their approach, but with a lyrical wit rooted in DEAD KENNEDYS' irreverent and sarcastic punk), and when I moved to SF they were one of the bands poised to make a move to the big time. They didn't. The internet tells me that they toured with KORN in 1995, and listen to "Daisy Chain" from this demo and you might wonder who was an influence upon whom, just like their addition to the Alternative Tentacles roster while Biafra was focusing on LARD makes perfect sense. But after a few records and a quick dip into the major label pool...GROTUS faded. The tracks from this demo later appeared on their 1991 full length Brown, but you should start here.

GROTUS

SOLO SE OYE PUNK vol.4

Simply put, this is probably the best international hardcore/punk mix tape I have ever heard. Perfect selection of unknown bangers and under the radar classics interspersed with a few tracks that should be familiar with punks who have taken the time to dig a little. I dare say that a tape like this might not have been able to exist (but for an elite few) in the pre-internet years, but the ensuing conversation would detract from the sheer power of the contents of today's link. Do it.

SOLO SE OYE PUNK vol. 4

7 SECONDS

I make no secret of my affinity for this band, and I'm not even remotely ashamed to say that I can still sing along to most of Soulforce Revolution (though revisiting that record after a decade or so has made me stop asserting that it is a great record - it does hold a special place for me but it's really not that good). Based on notes hand scrawled by an unknown punk from the past, these tracks are demos that predate 1986's New Wind, but I ain't gonna lie and say I'm some expert - these are stripped down (punker?) versions of some killer tunes. I put this period of 7 SECONDS more in line with '90s "personal is political" hardcore than with testosterone fueled '80s USHC, and perhaps that's why this the band resonates with me, even the "bad" records. And for what it's worth, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? blatantly lifted the first riff of the title track (fifth tune on this demo), though I still contend that it was an accident and we didn't realize until it was too late.

7 SECONDS

THE 150 MURDEROUS PASSIONS

An intellectually advanced industrial noise excursion originally released as a 12" in 1981 by Come Organisation and United Diaries and subsequently reissued several times over the following decade (and still available on cassette). A split of sorts, with William Bennett (WHITEHOUSE, CUT HANDS) contributing the shorter track and Steve Stapleton (NURSE WITH WOUND) contributing a 28 minute mindfuck. Both pieces are mesmerizing, coming from a time when the effort required to create "noise music" meant that it was virtually impossible to do so without passion - and that distinction is perhaps more obvious in this subgenre than any other that has managed to persevere. To say that these two artists have been merely influential would be a criminal understatement, and this release is noteworthy both for the aural content and the history (and perhaps petty controversy) that surrounds it. But that's what the internet is for. For what it's worth to those who know what I'm talking about, I think this is the possibly not authorised remixed version of The 150 Murderous Passions with more reverb. But since I'm not going to drop the cash on the original I cannot be certain...

THE 150 MURDEROUS PASSIONS, OR THOSE BELONGING TO THE FOURTH CLASS, COMPOSING THE 28 DAYS OF FEBRUARY SPENT IN HEARING THE NARRATIONS OF MADAME DESGRANGES, INTERSPERSED AMONGST WHICH ARE THE SCANDALOUS DOINGS AT THE CHÂTEAU DURING THAT MONTH

NECRO HIPPIES

Punk is different in the south. Punk is too often a luxury in metropolitan areas (especially on the coasts), but when you go to a punk show in some sweltering and foreboding shithole town surrounded by ignorance and cultural void...the shit is necessary. That feeling of belonging, even if you are still by yourself; that feeling of acceptance, even when you are still a complete outsider; the feeling that these people will reach out for you, even if you know that you will never scream while you are falling; and the sound that comes from desire. Maybe I'm putting too much onto NECRO HIPPIES, but this is the band that I needed when I was trapped there. You aren't going to get the flavor of the month today, you aren't going to get the latest trend or some internet based fashion plate steeped in supposed influences from bands you've never heard of but are supposed to love. But what you will get is a brutally honest and criminally good punk tape from 2010. Punk that is necessary. Punk is necessary.

NECRO HIPPIES

UNDER

This tape is absolutely disgusting. Bombastic dirges lurch with such force that UNDER start to seem almost peaceful...but it is a short lived peace that is destroyed by searing vocals and the overwhelming weight of life itself. The sound is massive, everything pushed to the very limits and then just a little bit further. Distorted by volume and intensity more than by aural manipulation, these five minutes will absolutely crush you.

UNDER