MINUS

 

Raw and brutal Indonesian street punk. It retrospect, it sounds kinda hopeless.....which is probably why I like it. Twenty-one songs, metallic and desperate. 

DISCOGRAPHY (1992-2000)

MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL

 

Doubling up on the comps this week to take a look at what the tastemakers at Maximum Rocknroll were shoving down our throats 32 years ago today. Honestly, this is a little taste of why some of "us" (I'm talking about some nebulous, royal "us" as in 'a general vibe not necessarily supported by facts') started to sour on the mag during the middle of the '90s. There was a perception that Tim & The Gang were moving away from hardcore and the burgeoning (and more metallic) crust/PV movements and just leaning on rehashed garage rock standards and classic "punk," just as they famously slammed the door on what was then called emo so drastically. Never mind the motivation behind any of the editorial decisions or the validity of any of these impressions....just listen to this radio show and know that, simply put: the nebulous, royal "we" were wrong. Garage rock? Sure, tons of it. Absolute screamers from PSYCHOTIC TURNBUCKLES, PSYCHOS, HEADCOATEES, MOE TOWN. Pre-alt/grunge explosion early cute from SMASHING PUMPKINS and MODHONEY. You've got NAPALM DEATH, FRUMPIES and GERMS in the same hour. And then there's the real reason we did (and still do) tune into MRR Radio - unknown and under-the-radar tracks from PRESSURE 28, FIGHTERS, JUDGE NOTHING, WOMBELS (the surprise highlight of this show for me), KEEP and others. These shows are fukkn priceless, period. And that magazine was (is) an institution for a fukkn reason. 

MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL #594

CHANNEL THREE

 

How far they fall...and how fukkn fast. Listen to CHANNEL 3 shredding live in 1982 and then imagine that this abomination was recorded just three years later - it's wild. You can talk about contemporaries who released seminal hardcore/punk recordings and then descended into the murky butt rock underworld; SSD is an obvious example, F.U.'s get mentioned as well but My America still rips even though it's not a raw hardcore record. Sticking with California though, T.S.O.L. is the easiest comparison but fukk man....at least they were gradual, at least Revenge is still a pretty good record and honestly I actually liked Hit And Run when it came out in '86 (still have the copy I snagged when it was current, in fact). But these assholes went from one of the best SoCal punk songs ever ("You Make Me Feel Cheap" from 1982's Fear Of Life) to a ripping sophomore effort in '83 to....this piece of garbage. Like, it's like a full fucking hour of the montage song from '80s teen movies - the song you hear the edgy band in the club playing when the square girl is going to meet the mysterious boy in the leather jacket, But this is the wholesome version. Look at the cover photo/s - it's like they were trying to ape GANG GREEN's party-punk aesthetic but make it suitable for a photo spread in Teenbeat. Even the songs that seem good in the moment (I'm looking at you, "Penance Of Passion") are sonic turds when you listen with perspective - it's like a grundgingly palatable version of a thing that fukkn blows, you know? This was released on Enigma, who were also responsible for the aforementioned Hit And Run shortly after this complete waste of resources....almost makes you wonder how many other bands they sucked the soul out of in the 1980s. To be fair, THE DEAD MILKMEN and WIRE were both on the roster at the same time so clearly the label wasn't all bad, but there were a lot of people on the payroll who presumably signed off on this release...and that's not exactly a ringing endorsement of their hiring practices or quality control standards. Someone even approved the AEROSMITH cover - and it's a song that's only memorable because of the title (which is admittedly good - but this version sucks more than the original, which totally sucks). I bought this tape for $4 last weekend at a shop in Fresno along with an ALBERTO Y LOS PARANOIAS album that I hoped would be better than it is, a coupla ELVIS records and a folk jammer I snagged because it had a cool gatefold photo of a dude chilling on an outhouse shitter. And after listening to all of them, I only regret one of those purchases and I'm left wondering why this recording even exists. So...enjoy?

LAST TIME I DRANK...

••••
UPDATE: After feeling disgusted with myself for digging so deep into this tape, I decided to check 1989's Rejected and it sounds like it's even worse. Man, I fukkn love those first two records though, and they are still active...kinda sound like SMITHEREENS-tinged California melodic punk now. 

BARRIO MUSIC

 

Dedicated visitors will remember my excitement when I came into an entire set of the East Side Story comps. On that note, those who know me can imagine the look on my face when I was presented with the opportunity to score the first eleven volumes of the Barrio Music comps that started trickling out of Mexico in the 1980s. Essential....? I mean, you can listen to oldies on the radio if you prefer (or at least you used to could be able to do that but the radio is different now so I suppose it really depends on your market) but there's something about a perfectly crafted collection of songs, and that is exactly what these comps are. Much like East Side Story, these tapes are filled with standards that you (should) know inside and out ("I'm Your Puppet," "Seasons In The Sun") mingling with essential cuts like "Eighteen With A Bullet," It's Okay" and "Those Oldies But Goodies" that have spent decades in the shadows. These compilations create a vibe in the most glorious way, and I look forward to sprinkling the next tewn into your life. 

BARRIO MUSIC vol.1

ACHTERLICHT

 

You want to talk about something being greater than the sum of its parts? Then let's talk about ACHTERLICHT. The opening burst is dirty, fuzzed out hardcore that made me think of (LA) STAINS, then before you can blink the other sounds creep in and then before "Exaltation" starts you're listening to some lo-fi hi-NRG garage punk and how the fukk did we go from STAINS to SPITS without inflicting mental whiplash on the listener? Don't know, don't care. Want more of those guitar solo, want more period. Luckily for me (and you) here have been three releases since this 2023 demo...

ACHTERLICHT

CADAVERIBUS

 

Was drawn to the cover initially (for obvious reasons), but when I opened the case and saw "Cadaveribus is a new Death/Doom band from Tokyo, Japan" printed on the inside of the j-card under the track listing....? I was helpless. So I took this four song cassette home and popped it in the deck and I get exactly what I was hoping for - filthy guttural primal death metal stomps layered with stench and doom. The four tracks here are painfully restrained, the vocals are disgusting growls and the guitars redefine disgust itself. "Demonic" is the most melodic cut, anchored by a guitar break around the 2:30 mark that will break hearts, but the individual "moments" are simply too many to count (though you would be advised to prepare yourself for the moment when the tempo picks up in "Eternity" because.....oooff, motherfukkr). A truly devastating release - exactly what I was looking for and exactly what I wanted but even better than I expected. 

OPEN THE GATE

LOST GOAT

Kinda hard to believe I've only posted LOST GOAT once. Considering the outsized impact the band (and particularly their live performances) had on me in the latter half of the 1990s, you'd think I would have blabbed about them far more than I have....then again, they only released one tape so there's that. This tape was pulled from an AlcoholoScott box after his death a few years ago, VOID's Condensed Flesh started the side and this batch of tracks labeled LOST GOAT DEMO '97 followed. Nothing on the flip because why on earth would you want to listen to anything after that? Six songs - "White Dog" from the TOWEL split and a couple each from the GRINCH split and Trapped On Earth. The song "Trapped On Earth" is as close to sonic perfection as you're going to get today. 

DEMO 1997
When we walk we walk with fear, treading heavily on the surface
When we talk we disappear, never listening through the years
When we walk we walk with fear, nestled safely in the knowledge that the world won't change a bit and we won't lose any convenience... 

GUGAT

 

Filthy. I don't know how else to describe GUGAT, the shit is just disgusting. Razor sharp, ferocious metallic with these groove parts that just....well, they're fucking filthy. Dual femme/masc vocals are like relentless body blows while the guitars take the entire sound to other dimensions. "Bapakku Seorang Demonstran" is the most complete example of their brutality, but Family Values is best consumed as a complete document. GUGAT knocks the snot out of me like the first time I blasted the YELLO MACHINE GUN / NUNCHAKU split - a reference that will mean approximately fuckall to almost anyone who reads this (but it's a really killer record).

FAMILY VALUES