BEHAVIOR

Saw these maniacs in SF a few months back, and even though I had difficulty getting over their bored and absent appearance on stage I was floored by the sounds. Hard to listen to the breakdown in the opening track "Blush" and picture the three piece just standing on the stage, awkwardly plowing through the notes. No chaos, no desperation. But the sounds are nothing is not desperate, and the guitars that drive these songs are transfixing and original - songs that call for straightforward power chord hardcore and are instead treated with damaged off kilter leads and a loose, casually precise assault. Noisy, chaotic and wholly original within the context of context of raw nihilistic hardcore. Maybe their motionless live persona was simply the result of life as a complete outsider? Maybe...

CONTEMPT

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Thrash2K from the subsubsubgenre's heyday, when thrashcore was about circlepits and raging hard and a chorus of background vocals and international DIY hardcore and living your life the way you want and being positive. But it was mostly about ripping metallic thrash influenced hardcore punk. We played with these dudes in Germany in 2003 and they absolutely ripped it. I listened to this tape in 2013 and it absolutely crushed.

NEVER STOP CUTTING OFF HEADS

BLACK HAT

I would submit that for a time Covalence is more akin to being trapped in a printing press than anything conventionally thought of as music. An oppressive wash of monotony closes in on all sides which reduces competing sounds, musical or abrasive, to little more than auditory hallucinations fighting for legitimacy through a fog. Then the first track comes to an end, and BLACK HAT begins the real journey. Two pieces of primitive and minimal subdued electronics followed by "Lattice and Coromant," a brilliantly tweaked high energy dance track - you've heard of "taking drugs to make make music for people to take drugs to?" That track is quite possibly the very embodiment of that methodology, and the execution is mesmerizing. The tape closes out with five more minutes of chilled electro-drone and a stunning proto-industrial piece titled "Singing Point," and I want nothing more upon the conclusion of Covalence than another listen. I want to submit completely to these sounds.

COVALENCE

DON'T BLAME ME, I VOTED FOR DALE SHADBEGIAN

I can't exactly remember how or when we met Dale. It might have been in the summer of '94 while he was on tour with DALTONIC and we crossed paths in Iowa, both of us opening for AVAIL for a few days...but I can't really remember if the dude I'm thinking of was in fact Dale (footnote 1). It might have been in the spring of '95 at FAT DAY's house in Boston (Somerville, to be precise), meeting new friends on the strength of nothing more than a phone number on the insert of a record in a $1 bin (footnote 2). But I know that we hung out with Dale once and he was a total nerd in the most awesome way possible, just having a blast and not giving a shit about what was cool or how he was perceived and the absolute epitome of "down to earth." And then I know that we came to Massachusetts in 1996 (when we lived with FAT DAY for a full week, but that's a different story) and Dale was at the show in roller skates (true story) and that is likely where he gave us this tape. My point, though fuzzy at best, is that the dude was chill as fukk and super fun to hang out with and is a perfect example of the people you meet on tour, who make that tour better, and who then fade into memory. I have no idea where Dale is today, how Dale is today, or what Dale is doing today, but I thank him for being a friend to four dudes who needed one and didn't necessarily deserve it. I also thank him for this mix tape (footnote 3), more people should make mix tapes for bands on tour. If today's bands don't have cassette decks in their vans then that's their problem.

DON'T BLAME ME, I VOTED FOR DALE SHADBEGIAN

footnote 1: While I do not know if the dude in question was Dale (though I am pretty sure that it was), DALTONIC's other roadie was the singer from CONVERGE. Fast forward to sometime in the mid 2000s at Gilman (half a country away from where we had originally crossed paths), I was selling books at a matinee CONVERGE show and said hello to the guy selling merch (it was the singer). He hesitated only briefly and then remembered precisely where and how we had initially met (and when we initially met I was clean shaven, which should give anyone who knows me an indication of just how long ago it really was). My mind was blown, I can barely remember people I met last week. Also, AVAIL was not the slightest bit excited to have us in tow for those few shows.

footnote 2: The Live Poultry Fresh Killed EP is arguably the wisest dollar I have ever spent. And that phone number was OAK-SAGA, some things stick with you forever.

footnote 3: About the tape: A lot of exactly what you might expect from a young, enthusiastic DIY punk in the mid '90s. A lot of political hardcore and crust with a predictable predilection towards the East Coast. Lots of classics that you need to listen to more often (seriously, how long has it been since you blasted DEFORMED CONSCIENCE....? What?! Fuck that. Time to dive in, kid), but among mandatory bands from that era of US DIY punk and blasts from lesser known (but no less awesome) contemporaries, there are plenty of tastes from starter bands that you might expect a younger punk to pepper a mix with - and who is going to complain when SLAYER and DEAD KENNEDYS come barreling out of their speakers? Dummies, that's who. Bonus points for the VENTURES and CHEECH & CHONG tracks and the field recordings from the psychiatric rest home, this is a brilliantly crafted mix, streamlined for road listening. Recorded with purpose, delivered with kindness, this is the stuff that is important.

RHINOCERVS

I was hanging out with an old friend who is more well versed in the world of metal (black, death, new wave of british heavy....all of it) than I am, a friend who is also much more articulate than I am, so I asked him what he thought about and how to describe RHINOCERVS (it was part of a larger discussion involving the Crepusculo Negro/Black Twilight scene). His response was simple and blunt: "They are the most compelling current North American Black Metal band." Exactly. You don't just put it on and rock out, these songs consume you, and while I do not think that this is the best RHINOCERVS release (that distinction falls on RHINOCERVS 11), these bleak sounds are nothing if not compelling. Total desperation and maximum intensity.

RHINOCERVS 13

Unrelated:

Many of you have sent messages requesting re-ups, I will get to them soon. I do a lot of things and manage my time poorly, this is a deadly combination.

STEPDAD SS

Ugly, disgusting hardcore punk from some of the dudes who brought you the sounds of NÖ POWER. But you see, there are hooks galore in this onslaught, and even though "Overpower" sounds kinda like a glorious trainwreck (especially when it disintegrates into the guaranteed pitstarter "Media Nightmare") the song is catchy as shit. That's what STEPDAD SS are great at, taking filthy US hardcore and shoving it into your face in the form of something that is not just palatable, but in the form of something that is delicious.

STEPDAD SS

OPPOSITION PARTY

The first notable hardcore band from Singapore, OPPOSITION PARTY started in the mid '80s and are still active today. Their sound quickly progressed from UK influenced punk to metallic punk, and by the early '90s they were basically a metal band, sharing bills with larger metal acts that passed through the region. 1990's Brain Fucked EP from France's New Wave Records is probably the best chance for "western" punks to snag physical copies of their releases, most of which are still cassette and CDr demos. This two song teaser might not be the best introduction to the OPPOSITION PARTY, but their version of THE CURE's "Killing An Arab" is interesting at the very least, and the other track sounds like a metal band trying to fill a niche between DICKIES and pop music. Seriously. It's weird. And kinda awesome. There are certainly more important recordings by this band (I do not know where or how these songs were released), but it's a good kick in the ass to learn more about things outside of your comfort zone. OPPOSITION PARTY are not cool and/or hip, which is exactly why you should dig deeper.

"Killing An Arab // Baka Uta"

COLOR BLIND

Intense and unashamedly political chaos from a mysterious three piece. Relentless and blown out noise (not music), but done the right way: by accident. I don't really think that COLOR BLIND were trying to sound like an inept and out of tune cacophonous mess, but they do it so much better than legions of bands who choose this sound as a calculated tool. Don't know when this is from or where this from (I feel like it's LA, though I don't really have any rationalization for that feeling, it's just a hunch), but I know that it pushes the limits of acceptable noise and that the motivation is pure and with purpose, even if naive. Sometimes (often?), that's all I need. Also, they are really bad at spelling...I mean, like, really bad.

COLOR BLIND

...(END ANIMAL EXPLOITATION BY ANY) MEANS NECESSARY!...

"Legal murder aproved by a blind world of hate, these inhumane crimes are organized by the human race. All products made for humans are tested on animals, we can't test them on ourselves we're to much of fucking cowards. A daily mass murder that you don't find disturbing, you contribute by wearing their dead flesh like it's some kind of fucking trophy. Us humans are free, shouldn't they be too? THEY ARE NOT SLABS OF MEAT, SLAVES OR MEDICAL TOOLS!!! All you libral jerk offs only see through conventions sigh, just cause it's a tradition doesn't right! YOU ARE ALL SADISTIC FUCKS, to pathetic to face it. That animals spend their whole lives in crates, gallows and cages, There is a solution, but first we have to know: how can you fix a fuck up that screwed up millions of years ago? DIRECT ACTION IS NEEDED, TIME FOR US TO CARE. NO ACCOMPLISHMENT WILL BE MADE WHEN YOU JUST SIT AND STAIR!!!"

SID VISHNU

'90s political hardcore, not far removed from their American counterparts like BROTHER INFERIOR and AUS ROTTEN, but with more of a street punk tinge than either. New Zealand's SID VISHNU are an aural time warp, and I can only imagine how much more I would dig these sounds had I seen them at the time. Through process of elimination I've decided that the singer has made me food on more than one occasion, but I liked the tunes before I did the math, so my affinity is unbiased...

COLLAPSED & BLEEDING

STRONZA

I played in Bangkok in 2006 (same tour I mentioned yesterday). Four fellows from Singapore came to see the show and hang out (the latter being much more awesome than the former) and they were nice as hell, just solid dudes and great to spend time with. And if this tape is any indication, I really wish we had stopped in Singapore on that tour in addition to Thailand (I made it there two years later with CONQUEST FOR DEATH, and it was great). STRONZA perfectly bridge the gap between early '00s fastcore/thrash and later '00s Scandinavian (by way of US basements) melodic crust. Defiantly feminist and proudly defiant in a place where that actually means something, STRONZA's approach to punk rock is...well, it's just right. Members went on to SLUTET and probably a load of other bands....fukk, I need to go to Asia again.

STRONZA

ULTIMATE ROOM ¡CHALLENGH!

In 2006 I toured Australia. It was great fun, people there are shockingly nice and while some shows were better than others, the experience was overwhelmingly positive. We had three days off in Sydney in the middle of the jaunt, which would ordinarily be great for sight seeing but this pause was not in our favor. The joint where we were staying seemed really far from any kind of action (though it probably wasn't) and it had bugs that made it impossible for me to sleep inside (I'm pretty chill about that kind of shit, I'm just allergic to fleas...and there were a lot of them). But there were plenty of people who offered to take us to see shit; scuba diving, sight seeing, Chinatown, camping, delicious food, historical sydney - the whole city was going to be ours. Except that one by one, the people flaked...and every day we waited at the warehouse for that day's saviour, only to be left hauling our sad asses to the market for another round of dinner supplies. I'm making it sound dreadful (it wasn't) and pathetic (we actually had a great time and did hang out with some absolutely ace people), but it all lead up to our surprise when Nina came to pick us up. She had offered to take us camping outside of town, and after feeling abandoned by one empty promise after another (I'm being melodramatic to achieve literary effect here...), we didn't imagine anyone would make good...but someone did. Jensen stayed behind to get some records, and Yeap joined our journey into nature - we were fukkn camping. By camping, I mean we drove to the store, bought a ton of food, two tons of booze, and we drove into the forest where we made a fire and got plastered. I don't think we even bothered to make a tent, we just burned shit and got wasted and blasted this tape and took ridiculous shirtless pictures of ourselves.

ULTIMATE ROOM ¡CHALLENGH!

I'm sure that Nina told us what the "Room Challengh" was (or why it was spelled this way), just as I can assure you that I most certainly do not remember. I do recall that the tape was a part of an exchange with a friend and I can promise you that I have never heard a better getting-shitfaced-in-the-forest-with-some-of-your-best-friends (and some people you hardly know) mix tape. Some tracks (3 and 15 specifically) were already cultural sensations but we heard them for the first time that night with no warning and no context and our minds were blown (moments from these tracks are still a part of our world of inside jokes). Some tracks (7, 18-20, 25, 26) are stone cold classics and would be appropriate for virtually any mix tape ever while others (2, 12, 13, 16) have no business being on any mix tape ever, which might be why they are so perfect. There are songs that make you shake your head (4, 10, 21, 24) and others that kick the party into high gear (6, 9, 11) even if you have no idea what the fukk you are listening to. There's nothing cool about the tape, but everything about it is awesome...and Nina let me take it home where it still gets occasional listens and never fails to bring back excellent memories. Everything is presented to you without artist or song info, so you can  listen with the same wonder as we did that night. Might I suggest a flaming stick, no shirt, complete darkness and the smell of eucalyptus?

VILE INTENT

These dudes just get meaner sounding. Cavernous powerviolence with lurching blasts, rumbling low end a level of discomfort that permeates the entire recording, but is especially evident when VILE INTENT slow down. Seven songs in as many minutes, this third cassette (the plastic shell version of the EP by the same name) came my way ages ago, and I have been remiss in not sharing it before now...

SKIN IN THE GAME

THE FARTZ

Sometimes you get an old tape from someone who ain't into punk anymore and it's just some jammers that their old pal made for them when they were in high school and not really concerned with accurately crediting the exact source of all the songs they were cramming onto that '90 minute Maxell. So according to that (probably stoned and/or gacked out) teenager, this is THE FARTZ. I ain't no expert, I just like to listen to the shit. I'm think these creamers are from the pre-FARTZ band 10 MINUTE WARNING, but I never bought the CD Sub Pop re-issued 15 years ago (or the 12" that Empty released more than two decades ago). Maybe I should. The vocals are the West Coast's answer to DIE KREUZEN, and the band just smokes - especially the fourth track (maybe it's called "Buried Alive") which is a breath taking tutorial on perfectly executed hardcore punk. The next ten minutes of your day just got a whole helluva lot better.

THE FARTZ

CIGARETTEMAN

Not exactly what most people think of when I mention Japanese punk in the early '90s but no less addictive. CIGARETTEMAN were shamelessly influenced by West Coast melodic punk (JAWBREAKER, CRINGER), and deliver their songs with hopelessly endearing female lead vocals and just enough crunch in the guitars to keep them from sounding too pretty. After this '94 demo came two EPs and splits with DISCOUNT and JOHN COUGAR CONCENTRATION CAMP (the former is brilliant, while their tracks on the latter are not quite as good - but still very good), and the band progressed into a masterful interpretation of the kind of punk that makes you lament instead of fight, makes you feel strong inside instead of feeling hopeless. You can be shortsighted and turn people off by calling them pop punk if you like, but that would be your loss.

GOLDEN BAT

Oh yeah, the Prince cover is perhaps expendable, but it's still kinda cute...

CRUCIAL MACABRE

There's nothing fancy here, but Syracuse's CRUCIAL MACABRE are just relentless. Searing hardcore delivered with absolute precision and maximum effect - I might say something like "they don't make 'em like this anymore," but instead I will just say that I'm glad they still do...

CRUCIAL PUNISHMENT

DRAG AGE

Sometimes noise is just, well...noise. There's an appeal to the sonic confusion of a barrage of harsh sound that is completely removed from any familiar kind of aural stimulation, but for me it's an appeal that is typically short lived and therefore I can only ingest in small doses. But artists who carefully construct and manipulate the noise and present it in the form of (and within the context of) music are something different entirely. DRAG AGE's swells of grating industrial sound flow like songs, arhythmic and lacking anything approaching a chorus but calculated, deliberate and indeed musical. Terrifying, but musical. "Blueberry Skull (Night Of Weeds)" is the standout - desperate notes pleading from behind a wall of relentless sound. 

PUNISHMENT NIGHT

There are several releases in the DRAG AGE arsenal, this one came from the All Hell label and was recorded in 2010.

WOODLAN'S EDGE

On the rare occasions when simply hearing a tape actually takes me right into the bedroom where it was recorded, I find it pretty easy to overlook aural shortcomings. WOODLAN'S EDGE play bleak death/black metal its most primitive, meandering interludes with tinges of prog that I would suggest can only come from a one man bedroom project with no editorial oversight are dropped in between filthy blown out sounds that push the boundaries of music and competence, guitars hissing so high in the mix that I'm not even sure if there are any drums involved. This might be of use to the adventurer and/or completist, but for those who like it weird and dark, you have just found your weekend jam.

WOODLAN'S EDGE - INTRODUCTORY SAMPLER

APATHY PISSES ME OFF!

Killer California bands on this early '90s compilation, but the tape's opener from Texas might be worth the whole damn thing on their own. Much of the tape is west coast punk from...: LOOKOUTS (second tier East Bay punk from the dude who marketed East Bay punk to the world with shocking success, arguably the most lucrative accident this side of NIRVANA), BLATANT DISREGARD (regular Escape visitors will hear their demo soon, way underknown Bay Area punk), NO USE FOR A NAME (early stuff, a must hear for people only familiar with the Fat Wreck output), STIKKY (if you don't know then you need to start learning), and SWEATY NIPPLES (every bit as ridiculous as you think the name makes them sound, but charming nonetheless) and CONFRONTATION (first EP was on Draw Blank....like INFEST, you fools, so get amongst this shit). DISRUPT are the east coast's lone representatives, their guttural dual vocal crust is especially raw on this recording - ripping lo-fi crust at its absolute finest from true masters. But my favorite bands on the comp are the bands I know nothing about...EXOTERACY (metallic edge of the late '80s punk spectrum), I think APOCALYPSE are from the Left Coast and their sneering thrash metal only reinforces my initial impression, and FREEWILL crank out some of the best 7 SECONDS worship I've ever heard (totally want to hear more from this band - anyone?)....and then there's DEAD HORSE. I don't want to make this a post about DEAD HORSE, but suffice to say that if there were any justice in the world then the words PANTERA and SLAYER would never pass the lips of a neanderthal metalhead unless accompanied by the words DEAD HORSE, and those metalheads would be better for it (as would we all). The true meaning of kvlt, DEAD HORSE are barren and brutal in the most brilliant manner, and while Texas has produced more than a few mandatory metal outfits, this band absolutely should have been in the big leagues and their catalog is well worth seeking out. "World War Whatever" starts the comp and it's the song of the day without question...so yeah, killer tape with killer bands, what the fukk else was I supposed to post today?

APATHY PISSES ME OFF!

JOCK CLUB

Sometimes it works. Sometimes you get to a show and you do not know a soul and you wait for what seems like an eternity for anything even remotely interesting to start (in an art gallery, no less). And you walk to the store to buy a beer and drink it in the alley because you get bored and you wonder whether you should even bother returning to the "show" that isn't a show at all but a gathering of people who aren't necessarily better or worse than you, aren't necessarily more or less cool than you...they are just different - as in not "your" people and while you aren't talking to any of them you also don't really feel the need to get to know them (nor they you). But you go back anyway because there's always the outside chance that the outfit you came to see will be as good as you hope, and tomorrow be damned you're going to find out. But first you have to sit through an opening act, and unfortunately for you the term "act" refers to a dude half your age wearing well tailored clothes and looking into the screen of a laptop computer. But sometimes it works. Sometimes that opening act is JOCK CLUB, and their construction of beats and sounds and moods is either brilliant in a general sense or just perfectly timed in fateful sense. The main act that night was everything I hoped and more, but this was a killer shocker. This is why you should damn tomorrow and stick it out just in case.

FANTASY

If you feel like getting lost for a few hours, I might suggest the folks at Ascetic House...

BHOPAL STIFFS

Maybe if BHOPAL STIFFS had released more than two records people would have paid more attention, and maybe if their sounds had reached the world's ears in 1983 instead of 1987 then people would remember them today...but history isn't always fair even when it is kind. History has definitely treated this ten track demo from 1987 kindly, and if this is a band you've skipped over then it's been your loss. Contemporaries of NAKED RAYGUN and EFFIGIES (and two of them would go on to form PEGBOY), this is brilliant melodic punk from well before the term was used in a derogatory manner. "Pay To Play" is my jam of choice, but there's not a clunker on this tape - no need to pick the thing apart, just do yourself a favor....I'm sure this isn't the original cover for the demo, but this is what Devon's tape looked like so this is what you get to look at. 

BHOPAL STIFFS

16 BLÅSARE UTAN HJÄRNA

Crucial late '80s Swedish hardcore punk, 16 BLÅSARE UTAN HJÄRNA defy subgenre pigeonholes but lay down some of the most insanely essential hardcore. Melodic but dark, the guitar work could easily be viewed as a precursor to primitive black metal while the frenetic pace owes more to RAPED TEENAGERS or Spain's ROUSE (though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that ROUSE owe their sound to 16 B.U.H.) and the songwriting begs comparisons to some of the more original US hardcore of the mid '80s. I know this might not make any sense, but it's as if HERESY started cranking out melodic punk if only because it sounds like 16 B.U.H. want to play at breakneck speed but are trying desperately to hold themselves back. I was planning to post the BHOPAL STIFFS demo today, but that tape reminded me of this one and I realized that I'm playing a show with MOB 47 tonight, so I'll put the BHOPAL STIFFS up tomorrow. You'll like it, I promise. I don't have a cover for this tape, but the internet tells me it looks like this:

VAD HAR VI, GJORT FÖR FEL?

And RITUAL CONTROL is playing with MOB 47 tonight. That shit is crazy...

STERILIZED

Perhaps you care or perhaps you don't, but a small crew of miscreants from the town of Olympia, Washington have done something weird to the standard USHC brand. WHITE WARDS and GAG have corrupted the paradigm with filth and alienation over the last couple of years and the result has been quite pleasing. Well STERILIZED have taken that model and applied it to raging DBeat...and the results are similarly jaw dropping. Only three tracks here, but fukkn shit is this crucial beyond words. Bombed out and fierce as fukk, the vocals on "Heading For War" alone will melt the wax on whatever cool banger you scored last weekend that you though was essential. Just...wow.

STERILIZED

You can get this from these dudes. Actually, you can get a lot of good things from them. Like real things that you can hold on your hands. Physical objects. Manifestations of the sounds you hear. It's worth it. Trust me. 

STAMANECH 6.40

Just...holy shit. In a world where gratuitous samples and songs about professional wrestling stood as equals alongside punishingly heavy hardcore - what was then the transformation of '90s political crust - there are few bands that stand the test of time. Sometimes, those bands are certified classics, and sometimes those bands are new discoveries like STAMANECH 6.40. Pissed as fukk but with an undeniable sense of levity, this shit is exactly what I need. I hope it is also exactly what my friends in Australia need after their apparent return to reactionary rule. Any time your newly elected prime minister declares that your country is "open for business," you should be very afraid...but the industrial remix of "Sabu" contained herein should serve as an escape and as a survivor of The Bush Years (all 12 of them) I can assure you that escapes are necessary. Politics aside, this demo was a total shock and totally rules.

STAMANECH 6.40

TOTAL TRASH

These maniacs sent me their second tape a few weeks ago and as much as I was smitten by the wash of noise on that first release, the mask of screeching distortion has been (at least partially) removed here to reveal pure and brilliant songs. Shades of '90s Gravity Records, a childlike admiration for SONIC YOUTH and adolescence spent listening to Midwestern hardcore and East Bay punk...these are all things that I imagine helped create TOTAL TRASH, but the band could just as easily be an earnest and filthy modern grunge/indie outfit cranking everything up louder than it should be...or a perfect accident.  You Don't Try is infinitely cleaner than last year's self titled release, but these hooks are still being bashed out with the subtlety of a jackhammer - and yet still the hooks are there. "Daddy Imarichgirl" is faster and more intent this time, while "Bugz" is the hit, a dreamy upbeat and hopelessly infectious number with off kilter (and ever so slightly off key) vocals that is followed by most determined and angry dirge that TOTAL TRASH have offered up thus far to close out the tape. All of it was good last time...it's better this time.

WE DON'T TRY

Good way to get your shit noticed when mailing it to Terminal Escape HQ? Make it look like this:

SUCKY ISRAHELLI HARDCORE

Maybe I should have teamed this one up with the PUBLIC DOMAIN//MEKHEI NAATZA split I posted last week, but maybe this will just serve as a reminder that you need to snag that one too. Killer Israeli hardcore, punk and post punk on a mix tape from the early '90s. The two aforementioned bands along with RAMPAGE (somewhere between 7 SECONDS and GRIMPLE), USELESS ID (probably the best known '90s band from Israel if only because they were able to tour extensively), NOT4SALE (the stinkers of the mix...I mean, it's a homemade regional sampler from the '90s so how is there not going to be a funk/ska band?), tough metallic HC from PREDATOR and a band called ETHOS who steal the whole fukkn show. What if a band took the same anarcho influences that ignited SUBMISSION HOLD but then took the whole thing in a driving proto-goth direction? I dare say that ETHOS will be the best band you hear for the first time today - even though there are only three tracks and the recording leaves more than a little to be desired. Get this because you are curious, and keep the ones you love...

SUCKY ISRAHELLI HARDCORE

RUNNING CHICKENS

Japan's RUNNING CHICKENS play(ed) the kind of catchy pop punk that took the US underground by storm two decades ago and then blossomed into the behemoth that made it impossible to distinguish between "our" punks and MTV kids when cruising through Anytown, USA on tour. Go ahead and dismiss this as pop punk if you like but before you go, please note that these kids were doing this in 1991, which puts them on the very front end of that wave, and also please recognize that there were really good at it. "(I'm Gonna) Run Away" is the hit that never was and while the chicken trilogy might be a little trying, "Refuse" and "Break Down The Unity" are total killers that would have suited me quite nicely when this demo was recorded....22 years ago.

RUNNING CHICKENS

LOT LIZARD

Rarely do bands ever sound more like their name than this Philadelphia outfit. Greasy, deranged, sleep deprived....desperate. LOT LIZARD deliver the most disgusting six minutes of your day, there might be some subtlety trapped in there somewhere but I can't seem to find it. This shit is ugly with a capital U, and four songs is simply not enough.

"I"

THE BOLLOCKS

One of the first of Malaysia's wave of political DIY hardcore acts in the '90s (file them alongside CARBURETOR DUNG in the "important DIY Malaysian punk category), THE BOLLOCKS' 1997 cassette release Revolution is a supercharged street punk screamer. The foundation might be pretty basic pogo, but THE BOLLOCKS inject so much power and raw energy into their delivery, and tempered with primitive metallic leads the result makes even ultra basic tracks like "Unity" hopelessly addictive. But for every bouncy sing along punk number, there's a hunched over burner like "Justice," a gruff UK82 masterpiece reborn with an intensity rarely found in the so-called "first" world. THE BOLLOCKS released an excellent EP on Tian An Men 89 around the time of this cassette, and are still active today...

REVOLUTION 

DUBKNOWDUB AND WHITE DEATH

This might be a split release. This might be a collaborative effort. This is definitely a harsh toke. The audio version of an earthquake prolonged over 40 excruciating minutes. Proving how little I know of the noise world, I picked the tape up out of nothing more than curiosity at a shop a few weeks back and a fellow shopper exhaled the kind of despair typically reserved for the moment when your record shopping buddy snags that $3 copy of The Will Never Die EP from the bin you were just getting ready to pick through. Naturally, my interest level shot up when I realized how much this cassette was coveted by at least one other humanoid...so I purchased it blindly. It was a wise decision. 

DUBKNOWDUB AND WHITE DEATH