THRASH UP MY ASS!

 

The compilation is such an important thing in the history of DIY punk and hardcore, especially in the pre-internet eras. Mixes passed from hand to hand were the key to countless young rockers discovering new bands. Regional comps put together by nerds and super fans were instrumental in putting cities, states and countries on the collective map. And sometimes...? Shit just ripped. And, with 2011's Thrash Up My Ass! as evidence, clearly shit still rips. Talk about your all-go-no-slow compilations, this plastic blue shell struggles to contain 60+ 60 second bursts of hardcore/fastcore fury. A few household names (SHORT FUSE, HJERTESTOP, REPROACH) and so damn many bands that were new to me - and notably brilliant sequencing (SUNPOWER into TENSE REACTION is so particularly choice), so you want to flip it and thrash it right up your ass. Again. And this is why these comps are (still) so important. 

THRASH UP MY ASS!

DIORETIX

 

It's a fukkn crime that DIORETIX existed under the radar. 

I could go on but that is really the entire damn blog blurb. 

They were that good. 

2017

LYSOL

 

Magic isn't an accident, folks. Sometimes it's intentional and calculated, sometimes we call something "magic" simply because it's too damn good to describe by any rational and/or normal means. LYSOL are intentional and certainly calculated, but are LYSOL magic? I'm not saying they are, and I'm not saying they are not - I'm saying that their grunge infested bluesy garage punk manifested as uninhibited, nasty 2010s DIY hardcore is (was?) something truly special. And that, my friends, sound like magic to me. 

ON THE CORNER

 

KLONNS

 

It's hard to explain how something can simultaneously sound this raw and this bombastic, but then it's also hard to describe how KLONNS can feel so completely original within the admittedly restrictive confines of blown out hardcore. Then again, maybe you describe it the way KLONNS do...maybe you explain the sound as the New Wave Of Japanese Hardcore. They first popped on my radar with last year's Crow EP from Iron Lung Records, and digging back in their catalog since then has been a true joy. This tape combines the first two self released cassettes - twenty minutes of black metal tinged grinding crust destruction. Essentially just regular Tuesday stuff around TEHQ. 

DISCOGRAPHY 2016-2017

TOASTY!

 

You want to know what my life is like? I put on my coat a few days ago and this tape was in my pocket. I don't know where it came from. Maybe I was drunk or maybe my memory is garbage - either option works and neither option is acceptable. So I put the tape in and it's some weird future power violence with maybe sci-fi and/or gamer themes because there are words I don't understand but also I'm old and I don't understand a lot of things. But I understand blast beats and I like to grind, so I keep listening. Nine tracks, six minutes....if this was in your pocket then you'd be stoked too, right? So I guess my life doesn't completely suck. 

MK PV DEMO 2023

CRIME DESIRE

Look...time makes legends, okay? I've seen CRIME DESIRE a few times with admittedly mixed results. The first time I saw them I felt like I was watching a parody. Sounds fucked up to say about a band that I like but....shit was real. But punks is freaks, right? And few modern bands are willing to let that flag fly as honestly and proudly as San Diego's CRIME DESIRE. The band now (?) is completely different from the band that recorded this demo more than 20 years ago but...time makes legends. Listen to "Face The Facts" and know that these misfits and mutants were on a path. They were driven. They are driven. Also, the convergence of discordant hardcore punk and total dissolution is....well, this recording has aged well. I've seen CRIME DESIRE a few times. I cherish every one of those moments as I listen to these sounds with Future Ears and an old/er heart. CRIME DESIRE are always real, and they have never been anything that they weren't. We should all be so lucky. 

TXB 13014 DEMO 2003

MAX NORDILE

 

Why the fuck not stick with Wet Cassettes for another day...especially if they're combining forces with Max Nordile? Exactly. There's no reason not to stick with a winner paired with a winner. Twenty minutes of sonic debauchery from one of the finest modern purveyors of improvisational free form sound. I am in constant awe of Nordile's ability to create and document....the fact that they share those documentations with us? That's just the bonus. You never know what you're going to get, but you always know there's nothing else like it. 

A RACE TO THE BOTTOM

WET CASSETTES

 

For a label notable for criminally short releases, this 40+ minute compilation is noteworthy for its quantity alone. But the quality....? Oh, that's where Wet Cassettes truly excel. Fucked up noise, lo-fi punk, insane grind, complete fucking mania, dark industrial fuckery....it's all here, punks. Twenty tracks from the likes of ARACHNID SALAD, FLESH COLLAR, BIG GHONGUS, NIGHT GOSPEL, MORE SMOKE and others...time to submit. Time to get weird. 

THE COMP VOL.1

FLESH EATING CREEPS

 

In the 1990s, there was no widespread internet access. In the 1990s, there were fewer preconceived notions of what bands were supposed to sound like. In the 1990s, your scene was determined by your friends (especially if you lived in a small/er town). In the 1990s there was a band called FLESH EATING CREEPS from Virginia. Brutal, sarcastic, metallic, emotional. Rough? Yes. Powerful? Definitely. Rules? These kids didn't even open the book to know what they were (or weren't) supposed to do, they just unloaded. This is honest music created from a chaotic world - a patchwork of erratic technical hardcore with screamo tinges and grind tendencies presented with complete disregard for convention. This tape has everything, so you're gonna hear a coupla different versions of "The Brutal Blizzard Of '96" and "I Wish I Could Say I Give A Shit About You" along with "Fuck Your Friends, Every Single One Of Them" and 54 other doses of sonic butchery. In the 1990s there was a band called FLESH EATING CREEPS, and I honestly don't think that this band could even exist in the modern era....so revel in your history, young punk. 

THE BOOK ABOUT THE MOVIE: COMPLETE RECORDINGS 1995-2000

CYANIDE TOOTH

 

Got the latest CYANIDE TOOTH joint in the mail from EB a while back, but waiting until I had the time to properly listen before I popped it in...this was a wise move. It was dark, it was quiet (a rarity around my place), it felt right. Psychedelic other world sounds that move the listener light years beyond the realm of simple knob twiddlers - the pieces that make up the first side are absolute mind melters, while the three on the flip act in concert as a calculated come down. Sometimes you just need to get away - and a vacation to the sixth dimension might be exactly what the doctor ordered. 

SIXTH DIMENSION VACATION

DEATH RIDGE BOYS

 

It's impossible (for me) to put on a DEATH RIDGE BOYS record without getting sucked in completely. This band doesn't "sound like the classics," this band sounds fucking classic - absolutely essential modern rock 'n roll steeped in street punk and North American hardcore/punk. All pretense stripped away, no hook off limits, politics on their sleeves right next to their hearts...with three covers to remind you where they are coming from. Gonna blast this shit while I ride six miles to sit in a cubicle and think about my decisions. 

BOOTS ON THE STREETS

PEOPLE'S TEMPLE

 

I've been trying all morning to put my finger on what makes this demo work so well and....I still can't describe it with words. It's how PEOPLE'S TEMPLE feel - that's what work. That's the thing. They're honest, and it oozes out of the riffs. The guitar tone is worth the price of admission on its own, but they way they make 2021 New York feel '80s German hardcore without sounding like '80s German hardcore...? Well, I told you (my) words weren't going to do them justice, and I was right. This is for for fans of punk, straight up. 

8 TRACK DEMO

OK SATÁN

 

Rarely does a recording sounds as much like you think it's going to sound....rarely is the book (tape) so easily judged by its cover. But this duo? This shit sounds like it looks. Primitive drum machine punk fury with wild/ly damaged guitars and vocals that embody the opening line of the final track: "I don't get it, shit's too much. It's too much." And it is a lot, my friends, but OK SATÁN understand this. 

OK SATÁN

••••

Look at these folks...they understand a lot. 

HOARDER

 

Have I ever said that there's just something about Olympia? (hint: I have) It's kinda like Buffalo I guess...there's just something that happens there and it feeds itself and it fulfills it's own prophecy with each new punk generation. I've made this (admittedly genius) observation before, and still I'm constantly amazed (impressed? surprised?) when I'm blasting a thing and getting down and I realize (or re-realize) "oh shit - of course they're from Olympia." And that's what happened with this live HOARDER tape. Maybe this one should be on the other blog, but....well, you know what they say about rules. 

LIVE ON KAOS

D.I.Y. CONSPIRACY VOL.6

 

The beefiest contribution to the DIY Conspiracy series, from the bulldozer Scandi-crust of CONVINCE to SHEEVA YOGA's fastcore/grind and an absolute smasher from ΝΥΞΗ leading the charge. Bands from Chile, Denmark, Belgium, Russia, Greece and Czech Republic spatter a Swede-heavy volume in a series born out of Covid isolation. Pop one of these shredders in and you'll be instantly reminded how big DIY punk is....and then you'll likely skip the reflection and start raging. 

DIY CONSPIRACY VOL.6

SHELTER MUSIC

 

The parade of compelling sounds from the Yard Sale For World Peace family appears to be never ending, and the latest release in their series of improvisational performances recorded in open air park shelters is further confirmation that these people are on an entirely different plane. One half hour of imagination and sound that travels from dark voids to whimsical sonic narratives....the laughter lifts and, as the label description reads: Cement and wood melt. Pay attention to these people. 

SHELTER MUSIC

DIE IN VAIN

 

The fine folks at General Speech dropped this blast from DIE IN VAIN a couple of years back, and it was in regular rotation at TEHQ for months. Hyper charged Turkish street punk dripping with '80s UK hooks, but with a...something...that sets them apart (I'm looking at you, "Baska Bir Yer York"). Four tracks that set the stage for last year's EP on La Vida Es Un Mus, four tracks that deserve repeat listens. 

DESPERATE TO PISS

EGGPLANT & FRIENDS

 

I can only assume this is Robert Eggplant related, but I wish that I could tell you more than I can tell you, dear visitor. But what I can tell you (dear visitor) is that this mysterious tape will move in and out of your ears, roll into your day and then fade naturally back into the shadows....sounds that are present without ever feeling urgent. Mostly solo acoustic, mostly melancholy without ever sounding sad, mostly...interesting without ever feeling important. It's one of the things in life that's there if you want it, there if you need it, but demands nothing from you. It's cool, there is a place for those things, and the curious among you will want to know what this (almost unmarked) 90min cassette has in store for you. The uncurious (incurious?) won't bother - and that's fine too. 

ROUGH DRAFTS

FEROCIOUS X

 

The Osaka show in 2006 - Kevin brought us a killer spread and scored Jensen and me copies of the new but already scarce Befreia Från Vånda EP before the show, and then FEROCIOUS X blew the fukkn doors off the joint. On a night where we saw FRAMTID, SPRIAL COLLECTIVE and CROW, it's noteworthy that FEROCIOUS X made the impression that they did. And nine years later I was beyond chuffed when I saw that we were playing with them again...and again they were an absolute steamroller. They translate to the recorded medium effortlessly - pure sonic devastation, exactly when you need. That Osaka show in 2006....that was one of the good ones. 

SVÅRT ATT ÖVERLEVA

MEDIA BLITZ

 

You like punk? You came to the right place today, because this MEDIA BLITZ tape is fukkn punk, punk. 

U WANT IT U GOT IT!

CRUDE THOUGHT

 

Earlier this year I posted the first CRUDE THOUGHT tape and kinda gushed about how honest the band sounded. Everything I said there applies here, but this recording is like the band has fully manifested their vision. From the opener "It Could Be You" to the awkward monotony of "Body" that closes the tape, CRUDE THOUGHT deliver damage with intention and you can feel them when you listen. Read everything I said back in January and know that it's all amplified here. 

CRUDE THOUGHT

IRON LUNG MIXTAPE III

 

Iron Lung Records has been the most consistent North American label for well over a decade. From LBB to PHYSIQUE, from DOLDREY to DANK GOBLINS.....they know what they like. The releases are all over the map sonically with one constant through line: quality. You see the lung logo on the back, you know it's good. This dropped in 2017, so I think we're all due a new mix....if we've earned it.

IRON LUNG MIXTAPE III

KEM TRAIL

 

Suspend belief for a brief moment (or for fourteen minutes) and let Ach Cola Acht Bit take you to a place where punk eschewed guitars and sonic fury and found a home inside video games. DBeats make way for power-ups, clenched fists open up to hold controllers and the chaos is contained inside your screen. I was initially inclined to wonder why this exists, but now I'm left asking myself how it can feel so right.  

ACHT COLA ACHT BIT