WHO CARES

All hail the trading scene of the 1980s, and gratitude for the gifts its legacy that it continues to to bestow upon the people wise enough to keep opening them. The Who Cares comp was completely unknown before I dug this TDK MA-C 90 out of a forgotten box of live recordings with track listings scrawled on scraps of paper inside each case. But now I know (and so do you), and this is a collection that you simply cannot here. Most of the bands were mere blips on the US hardcore timeline, SHATTERED FAITH probably made the most permanent mark and they fly way under most people's radar. The other acts were mostly new to me: CHEIFS (I thought the Blues EP was the entirety of their output, but these songs easily rival that bonzer), AKA, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE and a pre-walking garbage ghost Duane Peters fronting POLITICAL CRAP and the absolute winner on this tape: SUSPECTS - all the hooks of the absolute best Midwest punk delivered with an unmistakeable California snarl, SUSPECTS drop four tracks on this comp that are, as far as I can tell, the entirety of their recorded output. Check "Make Me" in particular, a perfect (and timeless) dose of frustrated, early US hardcore punk. The songs on this tape are grouped by band, a completely different sequence from the vinyl release, which makes me wonder if this was compiled by folks involved with the comp itself, but these are questions that I will never answer...it's just a serious collection of bangers. No art included - but theres another ripper compilation on the flip side that will appear here eventually. A retroactive thank you to the punk/s who put this together and put it in the mail, and an even more sincere thanks to the punk who received it, partied on it, and then didn't throw it away when they grew up and moved on.

WHO CARES