ANFO

 

If you were digging through crates in the early '00s, then you came across ANFO records. The La Sangre.... EP seemed to be in every bin for a while, the split with D.F.C. was my first exposure to the Brazilian thrashers (who I'd finally get to see ten years later) and there  and I feel like there's probably a CD (or two) sitting on my CD shelf (ok - shelves)....but naturally, it's the tapes. There are a couple of splits that predate LatinoAmerica Resiste, and this first full length length harnesses all of that power and then some. Throaty, churning political crust punk - emphasis on punk, you know? I wonder what would happen if a band like this dropped in 2023, but I know what happened the first time I heard ANFO: I got chills. Shit is real. 

LATINOAMERICA RESISTE

****

COMMANDING THE FURY

 

Brutally primitive lo-fi dungeon synth pairing, combining the singular closet casiotones of CIMMERIAN FURY with dark and hesitant improvisational missives of FOGMOON TOWER. As with many tapes that I share here, these sounds do not come from my world....but as with many tapes I share here, that's exactly the point. 

COMMANDING THE FURY

ISTUKAS OVER DISNEYLAND

 

Flawless anthemic punk from one of the longest running DIY bands in Philippines. 

Short on words, just grateful to be still breathing and always breathing in sound. 

And besides, they have enough words in the title alone, no?

NUNG PERA AT SALAPI YANG SAKIT AT KAPANAMDAMAN, ING SIMBUYU HING SOBRANG PANGABURI AT HILIG YA'NG PANULUNG MAKAPALDAN!

SOCKEYE

 

You know what the world needed 33 years ago? SOCKEYE knew. The world needed a collection of SOCKEYE rarities and outtakes, because the readily available SOCKEYE recordings were just a little too accessible. You don't know how much you've missed out on by not having an acoustic version of "Double Dork Piggy" until you hear the acoustic version of "Double Dork Piggy," you know?

EYE-GOUGING PROJECTILE-SHITTING FUN!

•••

And in case you were wondering, in case the suspense is just too much...yes, there is also an acoustic version of "Boy With Breast Implants." You're welcome.

I.B.M.

 

Pararhythmic sex obsessed acid drenched acid EBM from Chicago's I.B.M., a release that opens with the deliciously distorted title track "Eat My Fuck" and then drags the listener through an hour of dirty trance inducing glory. Eat My Fuck feels filthy, Eat My Fuck feels magical...Eat My Fuck fits perfectly. The only question is: Are you ready?

EAT MY FUCK

LAMENTATIONS OF THE ASHEN

 

Posted Libertine Cyst a few months back, and was pleased to snag a copy more from LAMENTATIONS OF THE ASHEN at Longhair this past spring. Disparate and beautifully determined atmospheric black metal from New Mexico - this was the first full length following a couple of criminally limited run releases near the end of the aughts. It listens like an invitation, a request for your time. But what In The Burden Of The Heart's Plaint offers in return is...worth that time. "...In Dreams Painted Red" is perhaps the most traditional track on this 2010 cassette, but it's one that brings the entire recording together, and one than I can listen to repeatedly. I look forward to finding and devouring the rest, but I appreciate taking my time with them as they come to me. 

IN THE BURDEN OF THE HEART'S PLAINT

CHOW LINE

 

What does it say on the cover? Can you fukkn read? No shame if you can't, modern industrialized educational constructs are an absolute motherfucker so it's probably not your fault. Let me help you out: SIX TRAX RIPPER. Can you read that? Because that's what it says, and that's what it fukkn is. A ripper with six trax. You're welcome. Fuck school. Listen to punk tapes all day. 

SIX TRAX RIPPER

MASISIN

 

Under the radar ripper from the mean streets of Santa Barbara. Chaotic, blow out high speed DBeat mania of the highest order - five raw blasts that leave nothing to the imagination. As near as I can tell, MASISIN dropped this tape and left the building, so be grateful for what you get. 

MASISIN

GUN OUTFIT

 

Be careful when you start sifting through the formidable collection of sounds GUN OUTFIT have been responsible for the past decade plus. Dreary PNW melancholy and NY No Wave dissonance join forces, join hands, and drop the needle on Sweetheart Of The Rodeo and you still never know what you're going to get from one release to the next. The band's legacy and output are well documented justifiably revered so there's no need to throw my words onto the pile...but I respect the band's ability to exist between and in spite of categorization. This one came from 2012, but there's so much more where this came from. 

GUN OUTFIT

MACRONYMPHA

 

One hour of complete aural madness some of of the true masters. Thirty years in and MACRONYMPHA are still creating the walls of harsh noise presented on 1995's Psych Rot. Rough sonic abrasions that defy description just as they confound conventional listening. To be experienced, friends...even if not necessarily enjoyed. 

PSYCH ROT

FIFI

 

If you think Southern California punk and then I tell you that this 1995 tape from FIFI features members of AMGRY SAMOANS, RF7, MORAL DECAY and BAD RELIGION (and randomly, Nina Hagen's husband...thanks internet), then I'm guessing most of you will be able to identify the sound before you even press play (or click the link). The real question I have is why this gem has remained more or less uncelebrated for so long. Maybe it just came too late, but if you uncovered FIFI on an uncirculated demo that indicated a 1986 recording date....? Legend status. But instead they were from the '90s, they had a full length on Triple X (which I swear denoted an instant relegation to second tier and/or 'I don't care' status for otherwise substantial punk and metal bands) and....the masses wanted Warped and NOFX in 1995. "Wig Out" has the quintessential SoCal surf swing, "Antibodies" is a classic burner and "World Of Disaster" is a damn near perfect song...so what are you waiting for?

FIFI

НОВА ГЕНЕРАЦИЯ

 

Admittedly, НОВА ГЕНЕРАЦИЯ (NEW GENERATION) takes a bit to really settle into...but they are worth the (your) effort/s. Eastern Bloc cold wave hits different - the(ir) new wave reflects and projects their environs and it's the very result that is cold, more than the intent. 1987's Вход Б (Entrance B) seems to live in and among that general observation, with tracks like "Ловец На Сърца," "Да, Да, Да" and "Аз Съм Аз" that sound like an '80s new wave broadcast from another dimension. This was the first of several staple releases from the band before founder Dimiter Voev's death in 1992...and my first exposure to them. As you tunnel into whatever you're into, remember that if you keep digging, you might come out the other side and discover an entirely different existence. 

ВХОД Б

ACEPHALIX

 

When ACEPHALIX landed in the late 20000s no one really seems to know what happened or how to react. After a couple of demos and their bulldozer debut on Prank, they seemed to migrate organically out of the DIY punk realm and when Southern Lord released Deathless Master in 2012 I honestly didn't even notice for a while...now, a decade later, this is still kicking my ass. Old school death metal churn clashes with DBeat stench and ACEPHALIX emerge from the depths as an unheralded monolith. To be held "In Arms Of Nothing" all damn day is to understand the sonic manifestation of involuntary solitude. 

DEATHLESS MASTER

ON WINGS OF SONG

 

Another offering from Robert Gass and ON WINGS OF SONG - a solid hour of Eighties Americanized Eastern Enlightenment through chant. You put these tapes on and you forget they're playing. You put these on and you forget everything else. Maybe it's a trick, maybe it's a ruse. But maybe you need to spend some time with yourself today. Maybe you need to spend some time on yourself today. Never mind the higher power chants, never mind the repetition, never mind the message itself...mind the journey. Gass and his singers may have found what works for them. What works for you? 

HARA HARA

EDMOND SHIT SPLIT

 

Three cheers for fukkn Ross, because this motherfucker has unearthed and/or preserved a treasure trove of essential Oklahoma punk blasts, many of which might have been lost forever if he weren't such a nerd. This one is two suburban Oklahoma City bands who clearly worshipped at the altar of fiery (and drunk) East Bay DIY punk - THE BI-PRODUCTS have a serious GRIMPLE obsession while INDOLENCE bleed BLATZ on their six songs. This one was never released because the bands stiffed the recording engineer back in 1998 and never got more than a rough mix...which Ross rescued and booted for folks who know what's up. Because Oklahoma hardcore is what's up.  

EDMOND SHIT SPLIT

PROLIX DESTRUCT

 

I've been listening to this a lot the past few days....it's just a killer, no-bullshit punk tape and sometimes that's exactly what you need, you know?

SHAPING OUR TOMB

STANDING ON A FLOOR OF BODIES

 

Completely maniacal Bay Area grind circa 2010. Drenched in noise and tech insanity, STANDING ON A FLOOR OF BODIES destroy seven movements in five minutes. This tape was at the front end of a slew of devastating but underappreciated releases at the start of the last decade, I love this shit. 

TEACHING PIGS TO SING

BILLY & THE BAD PEACH

 

What a fucking mess this is. What a disgusting and dreary mess. Think about KILSLUG and KILLDOZER. Think about CRAMPS and GALLON DRUNK and think about BRAINBOMBS. Think about sonic damage. Think about going for a ride with the bad kids and deciding you don't ever want them to bring you home...even though you told your mom you were just going to the movies with your friend Steve. Your mom calls Steve and finds out you lied...but you're already gone. Think about that. 

BILLY & THE BAD PEACH

GRUNGE TO ALL // ALL TO GRUNGE

 

I initially thought this was a harsh noise homage to a genre, and was intrigued. Then I realized the Grunge To All... was a harsh noise homage to an effects pedal, and I got excited. Short written blips from participating artists talking about their affinity for (and use of) the DOD Grunge, including one who described manipulating sounds through eight of them to create their contribution. THUP, MONSTER ZERO, SHRIKE, LOGAN T, GNAWING TEETH, FRESH BAIT, SANKT, FELL SOLO and others make appearances (there's a 3" CD too, but you know that can't live here....and you know why) - the folks at Audible Mastication have taken a concept and a highdea and ran with it. The result will split yer fukkn head open with a solid hour of white noise/HNW dedication. 

GRUNGE TO ALL // ALL TO GRUNGE

VORE

 

Mexican solo black metal warrior Tza-Xaaguum has manifested as several different entities since the mid 2010s, including a handful of supremely damaged and chaotic releases under the moniker VORE. This is so gloriously fukkd up. Éléphant sounds so incredibly fucked up. Raw and disturbing pieces spanning more than 90 minutes, VORE create an entirely different and damaged world through sound - a world where even the beauty doesn't work quite properly. It's a world that feels like a reflection, but the reflection itself feels real. 

ÉLÉPHANT

THE DEADBEAT CLUB

 

                                

Another one here that lands juuuuuust right, there's something extra special about the feeling you get when something touches you and it just instantly works. Vital Earnings is a tape that looks inward while it surrounds you with sound - dark and serious psych tinged indie/punk with the eager approach of a a teenage shoegaze outfit, THE DEADBEAT CLUB are as addictive as they are intriguing (and this is only a small sample of their output since they started five-ish years ago). Squirm your way between THE FALL and INTERPOL and find your own place...for the nuanced punk who fucks with everything and respects when it's done correctly. 

VITAL EARNINGS

MONGOLOID

 

Portland miscreants channeling damaged early-SST results in a gloriously raucous dose of sonic nihilism. The Deranged 12" that came later in the decade is sorely overlooked (based on how often I see it cheap and used, at least), but why not start at the beginning, you know?

MONGOLOID

 

WRECKING CREW

 

I'm pretty sure it was Chris(tine) who turned me onto this record, which was probably less than ten years old at the time. In general terms I was more of a Midwest/West Coast guy (geographically and sonically), but I was always hungry for sound in that pre-internet reality...and this Boston shit? Yeah, I was all in. Zero bullshit full throttle hardcore punk with tinges of metallic crossover and intense marble mouthed vocals - Balance Of Terror is a second tier starter record for lots of folks and for good reason. Sonically, WRECKING CREW land somewhere between CRUCIFIX and NYHC....but in 1989 I suppose that meant they sounded dated to some (guessing here, I was teasing my hair and putting songs by THE CURE on mixtapes for girls in 1989). Never mind the context though, the record fukkn slams and still gets frequent spins at TEHQ. When my pal Mike asked if I wanted his tape copy....? I wasn't bummed. 

BALANCE OF TERROR

RICHARD HAMILTON

 

You need to be in the right mood for My Perfect World, but when you are....there's nothing more perfect. Expertly crafted indie-pop dripping with breathy early '90s college radio hooks, Sir Hamilton is a master craftsman who deserves to be included in conversation with Chilton, Dando and the upper echelon. Listen to "XOXO" and tell me I'm wrong. 

MY PERFECT WORLD