SLOPPY JANE

 

What if the things that we knew as "indie rock" were all as dark and demented as SLOPPY JANE? These songs grab you instantly and they fukkn hold you. Like they hold onto you while you listen. They make you feel okay to feel scared and uncomfortable, and Dahl's voice is from an entirely different realm...a place where you are welcome, but a place where you will never feel at home. 

SURE-TUFF

BRAINXTOILET

Y'all, this shit is just nasty. Filthy. A full power grind assault in seven disgusting movements...to hear the guitar slide up the neck in "Blessed" is to hear heaven.

PAINMAKER

 

REAL ONES

 

Rapid fire un-appreciated Oklahoma DIY punk from some time in the mid-1990s. Real nice and snotty - young idealistic punks raised on a diet of early decade East Bay punks, SCREECHING WEASEL and all the shit that permeated the '90s...and I swear if you know the decade then you know exactly what the fukk I mean. REAL ONES are fast as shit, the drums are air tight and the bass is doing things that should never be okay but sound essential on this recording. So here are the REAL ONES. To sum them up.....they sound like REAL ONES. 

REAL ONES

SCUMRAID

 

What if I told you that the most powerful Japanese crasher crust band of the 2010s was from Korea? You might say I was wrong (and then we would have a spirited discussion about bands that we both love), but you would not be able to deny SCUMRAID's unhinged rage. We played with them in 2015 in Seoul and they blew the roof of the joint, but their set in Oakland for Manic Relapse was a thing of absolute legend - one of the most intense live experiences of my puny decade. No real introductions needed for this trio by now - if you know then you know, and if you don't then I suggest that you learn.

RIP-UP

THIS IS THE SAME RECORDING AS THE IRON LUNG EP WITH THE SAME TITLE, DUH.

 

FINAL DOSE

 

I've said it many (many) times, but I'll repeat: it doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be good. It doesn't have to be new to be essential. This four song piece from FINAL DOSE isn't going to make you stop the presses and reevaluate everything you've know about punk, but these four tracks will absolutely light a fire under your ass - and that's really what I want from a punk tape. Sinister, snarling clenched fist punk that is as timeless as it is urgent...it's good. 

FINAL DOSE

N.N.S.

 

Somewhere between harsh noise wall and damaged by distortion shit-fi noise punk dirges lies N.N.S., who managed to grace us with but one colossal recording in 2006 before disappearing. Early Nurse Etiquette fodder, primitive and glorious and incredibly difficult to listen to (unless you are one of us, of course).

MURDERS

THE CYSTS

 

It was the late 2000s and DIY punk on the West Coast was a motherfukkr - killer bands popping up in scenes that seemed to come out of nowhere and it was impossible to keep up. So what happens? You miss out of on a few things, but thankfully there is the internet (right....we are thankful for the internet?). So here are four damaged and demented chaotic punk tracks from the state of Oregon, released sometime around the era referenced in the first sentence - they slipped by me once, I suggest you don't make the same mistake.

DESTROY MASTERS

HISS

 

Maybe HISS came and went in a flash, or perhaps I just stared directly into the light for just a little too long...either way, this masterpiece of thunderous noise punk was (is) etched into my brain. Complete distorto-mania with cave creature drums and a creepy crawl vibe when they slow it down (rarely) that will give you absolute chills. Bands can sound intense, powerful or cacophonous....but it's uncommon to hear a band sound so fukkn tortured. So, enjoy?

HISS

WOVEN SKULL // NACHT UND NEBEL

 

From deep in Satan's Pimp comes this two track offering from two previously unknown to me acts. Twenty minutes of live psychedelic expanse from WOVEN SKULL with a crushing low end minimal noise experience from NACHT UND NEBEL on the flip. Both deserve more time than one can give...but that's what repeated listens are for.

SUMMER TOUR TWENTY THIRTEEN

DOMINANT HAND

 

On the one hand...what even is this? Creepy goth soundtrack scores with brooding baritone vocals presented as '80s PIAS fodder? On the other hand...does the what even matter? Do you need answers or do you want to submit? But on the DOMINANT HAND...on the dominant hand you will find DOMINANT HAND.

DOMINANT HAND

STAGNATION

 

Man...no one sounds like STAGNATION. So much so that it's hard to even know if STAGNATION sound like STAGNATION from one release to the next. Three doses of repetitive, untitled, noise laden mania...if you already know then you surely know. I found out on the Tokyo Sound System comp (my listening ears have not been the same since I heard that compilation, by the way - absolutely formative), and I've followed STAGNATION ever since...actual sonic destruction. The living punk embodiment of not giving a fuck. About anything. Bands like this are best consumed (by me) in small/er doses, and the three track !!! sits just about right with me, so....you're welcome.

!!!

CLOSET WITCH

 

Almost hard to believe this Iowa outfit has been kicking for a decade now, but I was blown away by Chiaroscuro when I checked it out last week and fukk is it cool to listen to the band in their infancy. All of the power is there on Ergot and Black Salt (both released in 2015, and combined on this tape), but CLOSET WITCH are absolutely primal and unpolished on these early recordings - no less devastating the than the band they became, but some of the power manifests as passion here and I am all about it. Check the new recording of course (and everything in between), but the roots are fierce. The roots are beautiful. The roots are ugly. The roots are pure. Choice cut: "Secane" - if only as a reminder that the grind is driven by internal forces.

ERGOT // BLACK SALT

GHOST IN SALAD // MOON CLIMB THE WALL

 

Mindfuckery from two disparate but complimentary entities. GHOST IN SALAD hit like a horror soundtrack trying to escape from a plastic bag at 16rpm. MOON CLIMB THE WALL are irreverent primitive electro-punk clashing with monotonous and ominous noise churn. Neither act is even remotely pleasant to listen to, which should be precisely the point.

UNCLE LOUIE AND NEPHEW MATHILDA

MODA RIDICULA

 

Absolutely raw fist banging late '90s Mexican anti-fascist hardcore - MODA RIDICULA were complete off of my radar until Lalo downsized a couple of years back, but it's been blasted to death since it landed at TEHQ. Thirteen studio tracks recorded in 1994 and a scorching batch of live songs from the following year - fiery, in/tense, uncompromising hardcore punk.

REBELION CONTRA LOS MALES INJUSTOS Y EVITABLES

CROSS STITCH

 

If I wanted to create a bratty, snappy punk band with '00s indie undertones, that band would sound like CROSS STITCH. Take DIY punk energy and UK post-angular stiffness, but make it sound like the people creating the sounds entered the punk vortex via STROKED and FRANZ FERDINAND instead of MINOR THREAT or THE CLASH. It's a stellar creation, even if my imagined assessment is completely off base. 

THE EARLY YEARS

SURROUNDED BY GOLD AND DEAD

 

Criminally limited SICK LLAMA adjacent project from the turn of the (last) decade. This crew was so unbelievably prolific, and the constant urge to disseminate is enviable even while the actual output is (was?) consistently engaging. So yeah...thirty plus minutes of quasi-improvisational electronic noise for your earholes. You deserve this. You also deserve more, but you deserve this also.

SURROUNDED BY GOLD AND DEAD

THE GOVERNMENT

 

Stunner of a debut from SF's THE GOVERNMENT - four doses of classic American punk that sounds like meeting an old friend. Guitar like Agnew clashing with East Bay Ray and vocals delivered with an irreverent adolescent sneer - you feel like you know the band before you even hear them. It's rare to find a band that gets you excited about the present and the past, and that's exactly what THE GOVERNMENT does. 

FIGHT THE TIDE

PIG DNA

 

And here you go - years (literally...eight years) since the last timer PIG DNA graced the digital pages of this virtual publication, here are PIG DNA destroying your throat once again. Maybe this is two songs and maybe it's less than six minutes. But this tape is a reminder that there was a time when music didn't matter - a time when punk was more important than sound and when 'noise not music' really meant "noise is music' ands we all fell for it. The cycles are real, and I can't wait for the kids to get back on this train....

NUCLEAR BOMBS ARE FUCK ALL NEW

YOU BETTER START RUNNING WHEN THEY DROP ON YOU

GOD MODE

 

There's something truly special about being old and irrelevant, especially when you have already put in your time. You can look with and from a perspective, you can listen with unencumbered ears and you can just take it all in because no one really gives a fuck what you think. This feeling is compounded when you're the creator instead of the consumer....and let me introduce GOD MODE. It's not even about how hard they're going, or how fast...it's about their trajectory. Uncompromisingly fierce DIY hardcore punk - grown ass folks playing a young punk's game and scoring all the damn goals. Because really...who fukkn cares, so go hard as fuck.

GOD MODE

ODILIO GONZALEZ

 

This fucker. GodDAMN this fucker makes me cry. The tapes came from Pat so I shouldn't be surprised when Odilio hits in that way because Pat didn't fuck around, but Odilio is the sound of love - unrequited, lost, passionate....love. And that voice lands like Wayne belting out "Oh, Heart" in an otherwise lonely hotel room and if you know what that means then you fucking know what I mean. There's a KALX segment where Pat opines about Odilio and another DJ tries to sell him on other Puerto Rican and/or Latin singers and Pat stiffens because Odilio is so honest and raw. It's unique...it's special. Love is special, my motherfuckers - the love of person and the love of sound. It is to be sought after, fought for and celebrated. 

15 EXITOS ORIGINALES 

AMENAZA MEXICANA

 

Look at the title.....you need more than this? It's literally says "punk compilation" on the cover and - I mean, you like punk, don't you? All of the kinds of punk are here, and it's all of the kinds of punk that are all of the punk things that I like. I like punk. Do you like punk?

AMENAZA MEXICANA

INDRE KRIG

 

I feel like INDRE KRIG was on the tip of every tongue when this demo started popping up two summers ago, and last year's stellar Destroyer EP only sealed the deal. Fierce, frantic hardcore punk with constant swing and more riffs on this four song demo than most bands can muster on a full length platter. Bands that full every void don't come around often, but INDRE KRIG does. 

DEMO '21

LAST HOPE

 

I first heard LAST HOPE a lifetime ago on the Bulsa Breakout tape, but I wasn't prepared to blast their 1995 tape this morning. Is it rudimentary? Yes. Is it typical? Definitely. Do I love it...? Absolutely. You like punk music, then you need LAST HOPE in your life. All I can do is speak truths here, punk/s.

LAST HOPE

 

DEGOLLADA

The most gloriously snotty raw punk I've come across in ages; ramshackle lo-fi hardcore manifested in a basement in Argentina. Five songs here...and all you're going to want is five more. You can't have them, so you'll listen again.

DEGOLLADA

 

VALTATYHJIÖ

 

Holy shit what a monster this tape is; just complete Scan-DBeat mania crammed into four relentless bursts. I feel like it might have slipped under most radars if the folks at Sorry State hadn't given the tracks another round last year, and we owe them (the band and the Sorry Staters) a debt of gratitude. Absolute fukkn masterpiece - "Panst Nanmot" on repeat all day. 

LUKKO

LETHAL LIMITS

 

LETHAL LIMITS

NEFARIOUS SCENARIOS

 

If you told me in 2009 that I would be posting hip-hop mix tapes with black metal imagery and SISTERS OF MERCY samples on this blog in 2023 I would have probably thought....."damn, sounds sick." So here you go: NEFARIOUS SCENARIOS. Nothing for the layman (read: me) to say other than....LISTEN to this. You have never heard a tape like this one, and you have never heard a collection of sounds so...interesting. I can't describe it, but I can tell you that it exists. 

CRIMINALIST

DROPPINGS

 

DROPPINGS

ECHTHROS

 

GOD IS LOVE