MARVELOUS

 

Wild Japanese fastcore in the early '00s tradition with all of the hooks and quirks that made that shit stand out (think FUTURES / JRRH and the like, but with a bit more melody from the riffs). It's over in a flash, but MARVELOUS leave their mark and then some over eight absolute rippers. Crew For Life manifested the wax, and the fine folks at Thrash Tapes were nice enough to repackage inside a plastic shell for Western consumption - I can only imagine what these cats are like live (but I'm gonna assume it's killer).

BARENO!!!

SKITKIDS

 

I truly hope that this needs no introduction, and I suspect that for most readers this will be a reminder to go (re)listen to one of the best releases of the '00s and not any kind of new discovery. SKITKIDS were a product of their time and place, and when Besöket Vid Krubban dropped it completely changed the game. I remember Mick giving me a copy in Philly and being stoked to crank it once I got home...he warned me devilishly that I was not prepared but even still I underestimated. It was like INEPSY and ANNIHILATION TIME and fucking TOTALITÄR all at the same time, but faster and wilder than any of them. The were shit-hot fire on stage, and as good as Onna For Pleasure was...this is possibly the only recording that came close to capturing that shit in the flesh. Hard to imagine anything hitting like this ever again. 

BESÖKET VID KRUBBAN

PENELOPE HOUSTON AND THE BIRD BOYS

 

Another recording that (likely) came before the 1988 release of Birdboys. Like the session posted last year, this features songs that would appear on that game changing LP and is a brilliant early glimpse into a group led by one of the most iconic figures in early SF punk. It's a beautiful and grounding collection of songs...and remember that this was recorded less than a decade after AVENGERS played the final SEX PISTOLS gig. Also worth noting that the opener "Harry Dean" rips the lead from "Knife's Edge" off of AVENGERS guitarist Greg Ingraham's never-really-released solo demo from 1984. 

PENELOPE HOUSTON AND THE BIRD BOYS

OUTRUN X SHADOWS

 

Another addition to the seemingly endless NecroSignatures (Occult) Library of sound. Each contribution different from the last, and often giving no clues as to what the next chapter might have in store. OUTRUNXSHADOWS effortlessly floats between manipulations of subgenres, creating distinct sounds that defy description or categorization - this is truly one of the most unique things I have heard in recent memory. Dark wave, bleak lo-fi metal, indie/punk, synth-pop....it all makes sense here and it all feels right here. Somewhere On The Southern Front, something incredibly special continues to simmer - it started with OLD THRASHERS REUNION a few years back, and this small band of freaks have delivered nothing but genius ever since. I offer this post (and the embedded links) with highest recommendations. 

OUTRUN X SHADOWS

BARRIO MUSIC

 

My mother is visiting for a few days - and she's from Mississippi so when I say "visiting" I mean to use the very act of visiting in the very present participle tense of the verb - we visit. Especially when it's raining and kinda cold and I get a little under the weather to go hiking....we visit (which is technically the imperative if I recall, but I digress). Anyway, I was finishing the edits on this monster volume of Barrio Music earlier this week and she instantly noticed the opener "Knock Three Times" (TONY ORLANDO & DAWN) - she said that her mother had disapproved of the implied infidelity in the track...but she paid a little closer attention to the tape after that (and I bumped the volume accordingly). Soon it became hit after hit after hit and she had stories about several of them as we cruised through other Barrio volumes; one was her deceased brother's favorite song, another was the soundtrack to her first ever slow dance on her first date, and several were just in the glorious category of "oooohhhh, that's a good one!" as we listened, eventually moving on to (and through) the East Side Story comps). And I started to think about the universal nature and appeal of these tapes. The context is cool no matter how you look at it - popular tracks (and under-the-radar would-be standards) from a bygone era created and/or appropriated by low rider and inner city subcultures, then collected by fans-turned-bootleggers from Mexico in the 1980s....yeah, that's a story. But really, the shit is just timeless. And while the songs and the collections tell a story, so does each song tell its own. Stories of love and loss and excitement and heartache and heartbreak and of happiness and innocence. And I like stories....a lot. It's part of the joy of visiting. 

BARRIO MUSIC Vol.3

BESTIAL ABYSS

 

Picked up a satanic black metal tape at a gig a couple of weeks back and the dude was like "this is another band we play in - take this one too." And just like that, I discovered BESTIAL ABYSS. Sonic savagery of the highest order, primal beats buried in a consciously murky production so it sounds like the very recording itself is marching to a slow and deliberate death before being plunged into chaotic madness. This is what I want my black metal to be like - I want it to sound fucked up, I want it to feel ugly, I want it to sound dangerous. BESTIAL ABYSS is all of those things and more. The lurch of "Trampled Under Blighted Foot" will turn your stomach....this is what I want. 

PROMO MMXV

TIME TO KILL

 

It's easy to imagine these Tehachapi, California rippers igniting the pit on a bill with THE NEIGHBORS in 1996 or with HOLIER THAN THOU in 2004 or with TORTURE UNIT in the early 2010s. But time and place is everything and TIME TO KILL were landlocked for a few years in Tehachapi, California....which means that the erstwhile denizens of Tehachapi were privy to some absolutely sinister drunken hardcore back in the late 2010s. So here's a fierce and uncompromising five song motherfukkr from a time when it was time to kill. 

TOSSIN' EM BACK

MASS GRAVE

 

Not at all unusual to find multiple artists who have chosen the same moniker, but it's not typical to see several in similar eras and genres. So to be clear - this is not MASSGRAVE the face melting crust/grind band from Vancouver, this is not MASSGRAV the crust 'n roll band from Stockholm, this is also neither the German death metal MASS GRAVE nor the French death metal MASS GRAVE. This is the Bulgarian grinding death juggernaut MASS fucking GRAVE and thank the god/s that Canada's Funeral Hymns reissued this 2013 masterpiece a few years back or it may have been forever lost in the CDr demo abyss. This is the kind of grind that makes you realize after each track that you haven't really been breathing, but you barely have time to reload oxygen before the next round of grievious bodily harm commences. All consuming grindcore rooted in OSDM, this is the shit that will make you not care about anything else while you're listening, and that is exactly the kind of listening I'm looking for these days. Hail.

FADE OF LIFE

FRAGMENT

 

Maybe it was just because it's been a minute since I blasted FRAGMENT, but this tape knocked me completely on my ass when I popped it in last week. This is the same In The Dust that Desolate released on wax six or seven years ago and I swear it hits harder in a 2025 world dominated by retro 'hardcore' and punks who've grown out of the genre/s and seemingly turned to dark wave for excitement (don't get me started). This is thirteen minute of pure hell - distorted and chaotic crasher crust rooted in DBeat, speed and confusion (or CONFUSE-ion, if you're picking up what I'm laying down). Every single EP is a killer and all are recommended - I'm not even going to say this one is the best (that status might be reserved for the Serial Mass Destruction EP on Sewercide) - this one hits just fukkn right in the moment though. Listen to "Final Stand" before you do anything you think is important today and I reckon you'll change your mind as the Maritime dominance continues....

IN THE DUST

OBLIGASI

 

It's an absolute shame that these kids only cranked out this one tape, but good grief it's an absolute beast. Eight blasts of late-decade power violence from Malaysia - high/low vox, crushing neanderthal stomps, discordant fast riffs that hit like nails on a chalkboard punching you in the face. There's an INFEST cover too, but by the time you get through "Democrashit" and "Weak" that track is barely more than an afterthought. 

OBLIGASI 

PRIMITIVE

 

Sister band of the equally uhhhhh....primitive DENIM posted a few months back. PRIMITIVE (and I dare say there are fewer bands more aptly named) dish out six minutes of utterly ignorant Oi! that's more than a little (and very intentionally) rough around the edges. Say what you will, but when you want to turn it off and just stomp around a bit....well, this shit hits the spot. 

PIGS FOR SLAUGHTER

LUPITA D'ALESSIO

 

Today is for '80s Mexican smooth pop rescued from a thrift store in Pomona on the way to House Of Fortune last weekend. So now I've given you The Sleeping Lioness and a portal to one of the best meals you'll ever have...two things that you didn't know you needed, and I can't think of a better soundtrack to a wonderful meal. It's still early, you've got time to plan you're evening. You're welcome. 

SOY AUTENTICA... Y PUNTO

UFFIZI

 

This short-lived trio would have been just as comfortable on a bill with SISTER FUCKER as with LIVID....but they were just a few years too late for either. The songs are so gloriously honest and bratty that they could have come from literally any era from 1978-present (which is their charm and their staying power) but they are quintessential mid-10s Bay Area. But really, I'm posting Nous Sommes Riches at 12:11 on 12/11...because you need to hear "The Fucking Song" immediately. 

NOUS SOMMES RICHES

MEZTISOUL

 

Half hour chill-house mix from Central (CA) Valley's MEZTISOUL. Bump under heat during the Season Of The Disappearing Sun if you'd like to have the same listening experience I had.....and it was a sensational listening experience. 

PRESCRIPTION PART 1

VAARALLINEN

 

Spent some time at practice tonight learning an IMPALERS cover that we may or may not play in a few days, and honestly I can't think of a better  thing to settle into than this VAARALLINEN tape. The bands that tweak the DBeat formula and make it sound different are special bands - and these punks from Singapore do (did) exactly that, just like those punks from Texas. This is the 2012 demo with tracks from the Hautausmaa EP crammed onto one cassette, and if need a reminder that Scan-DBeat hardcore rulz then I suggest you look no further. Shit is absolutely mental, even (especially) while it's more than a decade in the rearview mirror. "Ei Jumalaa" at full volume, all damn day. 
 

SOSIAALINEN KONTROLLI

TOPSY TURVY

Seven minutes of dual vocal Indonesian crust brutality. Not exactly sure what else it was that you thought you needed today, but rest assured you didn't actually need that...you needed this. You needed it before, and I gave it to you. You needed it again today. You're welcome. 

ELEMENTS OF RESISTANCE

NO COMPLY // LOS CRUSTÁCEOS

 

On one side you've got ten minutes of furious blastcore/PV/grind from Chile's LOS CRUSTÁCEOS with a. blatant and heavy West Bay Doomryderz influence. And it would be simple enough to tell you that the other side rips and recommend a DL+listen....but NO COMPLY is on the flip. You know NO COMPLY, right? Fuck me (and fuck you) if you don't, but if you don't....please do. NO COMPLY are (were) a special thing - Florida's SUPPRESSION perhaps. Like...if you know and you were there then there's no replacement, even though an outsider might raise an eyebrow. NO COMPLY's contribution to the second wave of DIY/PV is impossible to understate, and this 1999 live recording captures them in a rare, raw moment of ferocity. It would be very hard to find a band more dedicated to the craft than NO COMPLY, and when Justin passed in 2023 we lost a real one. Listen with volume and listen with intent, my friends. 

NO COMPLY // LOS CRUSTÁCEOS

MERKED

 

Fifteen minutes of anti-capitalist mince/grind from Oakland. You can say that there's nothing special here, and I'll respond by saying that you're wrong. It's fierce and ugly....there are now sounds for now times. And if you don't thing "Soothing Sounds Of Slaughtered Rapists" is special, then I suggest you visit a different and/or worse/r blog. Choice cut: "Remove The Burden." Mandatory listening: Start to finish.  

MURK MOB

PAIN IN MY HEART

 

I don't know how often I need to remind you how much impact the right mixtape can have in the right moment. There's an art to curating a cassette the right way - it can't just be bangers and it can't just be unknown gems (even if the gems are all diamonds), it's better if there's a through-line but if you deviate from the mission it can deaden the impact. A perfect mix is indefinable, but when they come to you.....you know it because you feel it, and you cherish them. Bailey makes them. Jensen makes them....and apparently Pinhole Collapse makes them. Pain In My Heart is the fifth in a twelve tape series, and is among the most gut-wrenching and excruciating listens that I have endured. Ever. You want to talk about variations on a theme? You want to talk about heartache in song? You want to talk about fucking pain? REUBEN BELL and BILL BRANDON and JOE WILSON and MARION BLACK and JOHNNY THUNDER and CALA THOMAS are gonna tell you about pain, motherfucker. The only hope on this tape is the hope that hopefully you'll be able to make it through the pain. The pain will never go away, but maybe you'll make it. I told you a few months ago that Howlin' At The Moon was perfect....and Im here to tell you today that this next volume hits ever harder. Absolutely devastating. Listen to DIANE LEWIS' "Please Let Me Help You" and cry. Cry, motherfucker. 

PAIN IN MY HEART

ATAUDES

 

I don't even know (or remember) how this one came to me, but I am glad it's with me now. Black infused blasting death metal from Argentina presented with a powerfully determined focus, ATAUDES will lay waste to your earholes and calmly remove all hope from your heart. Shit sounds that bleak because shit is actually that bleak, and ATAUDES are the soundtrack to that reality. It's dark and determined, listen to "Nos Merecemos La Extincion" if you have any doubts. And when you listen to "Nos Merecemos La Extincion" you will surely have additional doubts. 

MERECEMOS LE EXTINCIÓN

EATING

 

I do not know how to (best) describe EATING, because EATING defies description. Sure, it's avant-improvisational jazz/punk......if you want. But it's something else even though it's also not. All of the sounds are here, punks - the foundation of everything that you do is here in one form and/or another. So listen and learn and fucking create everything that you are compelled to create, because that is exactly what makes the Music For People punks very very special punks. 

EATING

SKATEBOARD & THE PUNKS

 

I remember a conversation a lifetime ago about the then-changing dynamics (and admittedly, economics) of DIY punk record production, distribution and consumption. The internet changed shit (...duh) and there were so many more options - options in general but specifically options without the realm/s of things classified as DIY punk. Gone were the days when a mediocre band could self release a mediocre EP and go on tour and hit a few distros and move 1000 copies (or more) with relative ease while the "bigger" bands could reliably crank through five times that number. We were (at the time of this conversation) in a place where even the flavor-of-the month bands would struggle to sell more than a few hundred records and hope that their online streams and bandcamp DLs might result in enough visibility for their live shows to be well attended. Maybe they'd sell some shirts, you know? And it's not about money - it's about survival. It's all connected. Anyway, as a contribution to this conversation, my buddy mentioned a band from Buffalo called BROWN SUGAR who dropped a stellar full length back in 2011 and flew through 500+ physical copies like it was 1994 when they hit the road. See, the internet didn't care....but the punks did. Tour. Put it in their faces. Play shitty shows where none of the people are cool - they'll recognize that you aren't cool either and you will all realize that you're on the same team. Fuck selling records, it's about getting to the next place to connect with new freaks - or connect with the one freak in that next place, you know? 
Why do I say these things? Because the dude who played guitar for BROWN SUGAR later played in a band called SKATEBOARD and also in a band called THE PUNKS. Each band released a demo in the 2010s and some genius packaged them on one destined-to-be-overlooked cassette in the 2020s. But let us not get bogged down in the connection to a conversation about punk economics, instead lets talk about how fukkn much undiscovered DIY punk lights a fire under our collective ass. The five tracks from THE PUNKS are enough to make your old-ass self want to go start a new band (tonight) and the twenty punk minutes on the SKATEBOARD side...well, sometimes the shit is life affirming even if there isn't a story attached to it. This time though, there is. Kinda. 

SKATEBOARD & THE PUNKS

FLEXITD

 

FLEXITD blew the fukkn windows out of my apartment and wrecked my earholes. It's like a crasher crust LP played at 45rpm....but faster. The bass that opens "Stabilized Destruction." The midtempo part near the end of "Only Death" (that's only midtempo because everything else is so fukkn fast). The piercing distortion that opens "Killing Nation" and gives way to the face melting cacophony. The complete lack of low end anywhere in the mix creates a void that the vocals fill with crushing efficacy. Everything. I'm telling you.....this is an eleven minute masterclass. Readers remotely interested in noise punk, bombastic DBeat, FRAMTID-worship and/or anything close to any of those things...you've found it. It is FLEXITD.

MASSIVE SUFFERING OF THE EMPTY WORLD VERSES