SWEET POISON VICTIM

 

I was talking to a friendly civilian at work last week and they said something nostalgic about cassettes being "in the past" and I mentioned that they are very (very) much in the present and they seemed completely floored that the medium still existed, much less still had relevance. I hesitated for a moment, because when the circles of work world and real world overlap it can be weird, but it felt like an appropriate moment to share and soon I was talking to a normal ass woman in her 50s about the nuances of DBeat and crust and how HNW can share as much with quiet ambient as with electronic experimentation and how there are still bands who dub copies of their recordings in their bedrooms to give to friends. I talked to her about Pat and told her about the Copy Wright tapes (trying to connect the tape and punk worlds to the work world in which the two of us coexist) and I told her about '80s UK punk unknowns and powerviolence and '70s Bay Area new age shit.....and then I realized her eyes had kinda glazed over because I had just been rambling on about tapes. Which, to her, was equivalent to rambling on about nothing whatsoever. I didn't bother trying to recover though, because I had genuinely enjoyed my ramble.  Anyway - SWEET POISON VICTIM is (was?) an Afro-Beat band from Indianapolis. They released this tape in 2015 and it's really fukkn good. 

LOWLIFE // EZULI

ENVIRONMENTS

 

Without entering some long winded and partially informed narrative about Irv Tiebel and his Syntonic Research Inc. label, but I'll spare you. I do suggest listening to Altered Nixon Speech and I think it sounds perfect listening simultaneously with Sailboat. The Environments series exemplifies how pervasive honest and pure experimentation was in the 1970s, and demonstrates how perfect even the simplest recordings can be. Sailboat is exactly as it presents, and it's exactly what I need. 

THE MAGIC OF PSYCHO-ACOUSTIC SOUND: SAILBOAT

FORM RANK

 

You've heard sounds like this before, but the beauty of punk is this: You've never heard these sounds. Addictive and anthemic Los Angeles street punk, doing to kids today what CRIMINAL DAMAGE did to us twenty years ago. We had heard sounds like that before too...you see what I mean?

FORM RANK

KJELD DOKNER

 

I'd like to tell myself that I have words that meet the moment, but really I have nothing. Still and again I have nothing at all. We are just so fukkn bad - collectively we, like Thee Royal We, we are just so bad. It doesn't mean The Other is good (far from it) but our pomp is just so transparently false. As if The Emperor didn't even bother to pretend getting dressed before he announced that he was wearing clothes. It's a farce. WE are a farce. It's a false narrative and it's complete bullshit and this timeline is terrifying. To anyone reading this who ever thought we were better than any of the people they told us were bad - we aren't any better. We are the same. It's just a different narrative. Can you imagine what could happen if all of the "others" got on the same page? But alas, this is what they want. THIS is what they want. Fuck this. FUCKAMERICANS.

FUCKAMERICANS

MOTHERFUCKER TERESA

 

Fierce. Dissonant. Shrill. Lumbering. Passionate. Intense.

...I almost feel like a single word sentences could accurately describe Denver's MOTHERFUCKER TERESA,  but then it would start a debate about hyphenated compounds like "Anti-Cop" and acronyms like "PC" because both are essential components to their composition and sound. Nine dual-vocal hardcore songs that sound like they were banged out in someone's mom's garage - and I mean that in the best possible way. Choice cuts include the damaged "Me & Mitch McConnell In A Dark Alley" and their brilliant interpretation of BODY COUNT's most famous track....you know the one, right? This is Covid-era hardcore that feels absolutely timeless. 

OLD NEWS IS STILL NEWS

GJ COPPOLA

 

Listen to the opening (title) track and tell me you're not going to try to fukk with GJ COPPOLA. You do that and I'll tell you to lkisten again....because there are few things like this in our sonic world. BAD SEEDS deconstructed to Moss Side Story vibes - if you know, you know - if you don't know, please learn - you're listening to a story with no words here, and the plot is entirely up to you. It's a gorgeous collection of sounds, grim and hopeful at the some time in part because the artist seems determined to commit to absolutely nothing. It's a slow (s-l-o-w) burn, culminating with "Say My Name" which could be (arguably?) sped up to create the perfect dark/goth/indie track that no one thought they needed. You needed it though...and you needed it like this. Exactly like this. 

BENGHAZI NIGHTS

AUFLAGE 100

 

What a.....what a sweet collection of songs. You could really stop listening after the opening track from GHOST AMBULANCE and feel satisfied - one of the most innocent and sincere love songs I can remember hearing. What follows is a perfectly curated mix of '90s proto-shoegaze and harmlessly mellow indie cuts from TRAUMA GLOW, MANIC YOUTH, COMBAT BEACH, LAUNDROMAT CHICKS, a surprisingly addictive groover by SWELLE and an airy epic from SAKURA.....basically a grip of modern Austrian bands I would never have crossed paths with if I didn't have a well connected pal who likes to meets for burritos on occasion. He says "you're welcome."

AUFLAGE 100

WHO WILL BE NEXT

 

Yeah....more Indonesian hardcore. This shit sounds like it was ripped out of the early '00s "old school meets emotional melodic hardcore riffs" subgenre. Like, you're gonna know what I mean when you hear the shit, I swear you will. Dan Gatewood would (probably) love this shit, I can see him rocking back and forth patting an open hand on his chest and smiling until he thrust a fist in the air and mouthed the chorus to the title track "Straight Edge Today." I miss that dude, but I miss a lot of things and alas I digress..... First half of Dari Sini Kita Mulai was recorded in 2014 but the other three tracks were recorded seven years earlier and are a touch more on the Y2K tip. It's just twelve minutes all in, but the shit takes you on a fukkn journey and I am (still) here for it. 

DARI SINI KITA MULAI

PRE-MARITAL SEX

 

I'll say it again: DIY punk in the '90s was fucking special. The utter disregard for convention and rules from a generation of punks who had a solid decade (plus) of punk innovators and trend-setters to draw from and who also didn't give half a shit about what they were supposed to do or how they were supposed to sound....? Shit was special. These Central (CA) Coast geniuses sound like a road trip from '80s Orange County to early '90s SF, but broken down with nothing to listen to but a Dangerhouse comp and a few Crass Records 45s. Like I said....shit was special. I posted another PMS tape last month and there's another right around the corner, all are recommended. 

SCRUT

THE JODIE MIKULA ORCHESTRA

 

You know I love this shit. The completely random artifacts rescued from the Forgotten Bins in second hand and charity shops across the country (and other countries). Sometimes I pick up a tape and examine it and think that if I don't listen to it at least once then perhaps no one will ever hear the sounds it contains. No one. Ever. And sometimes the sounds are....well, they're forgettable even if the are important, but sometimes the sounds bring my joy. If I can be honest for a moment here: I desperately need joy. So in that spirit, I present the pride of Ennis, Texas: THE JODIE MIKULA ORCHESTRA. Jodie founded the group in the late '60s to bring traditional Czech polkas to the masses (I say "masses" and obviously I jest because I am realistic) and the band carried his mission after his passing in 1989. This 1991 tribute was their first physical release without their band leader, and it captures the casual, comfortable, confident spirit that Jodie embodied - I know I do raw crust and harsh noise here, but "Dark Knight (Waltz)" kinda made me a little misty. And that's why we keep digging, young punks; you never know what you'll find. You might find a place to "forget your troubles for a while" - that's a good thing.  

A TRIBUTE TO JODIE

LITTLE ANGELS

 

File under: Bands I might have seen if my life were different. I bet they were fukkn great in a basement; nasty, writhing North American punk with some of the fiercest  (and destroyed) vocals in recent memory. Check the pick slides on "Clock In" and the urgent ramshackle drums throughout. It's really just a perfect example of what hardcore with honest attitude is supposed to sound like. Apparently there are more cassette releases from LITTLE ANGELS, please send them to me. Slide into my DMs or whatever kids use to request communication these days. I don't know; I am old and irrelevant. 

LITTLE ANGELS

SCUMMY AND THE SCUMS

 

How many Covid projects were there.....? Rhetorical question of course, because there were countless Covid projects across all genres that achieved various levels of realization before things returned to whatever "normal" was in 2022 (or so). SCUMMY AND THE SCUMS fit the bill - a deceptively named project since the entire band seems to be composed of someone called Mr. Scummy. T(he)y produced five glorious minutes of politically charged and relevant (in a "time-and-place" sense) hardcore and offered it to the world in 2021. The rest of us motherfuckers should have listened to "Where's Joe?" but then again...it wouldn't have made a difference. Aside from the people dying, Covid times were some of the best months of my adult life. The future was uncertain but we had the moment. 

SCUMMY AND THE SCUMS

MAX NORDILE

 

God/s this is beautiful. You've heard me talk about Max and his compulsions on these pages over the years, and these comments are no different.......it's that this one hits just right as I type these words. Free jazz mixed with boundary-free experimentation and ambient bliss. (Pharoah) Sanders, (Shane) Embury and (Genesis) P'Orridge embodied in sonic freak skin. There's really nothing like Sir Nordile in the current realm. 

THE VIVID HISTORY OF THE CAPITOL EGGS

NULA

 

It's hard to communicate and/or quantify our connection to this...thing. Yesterday a dude I work with talked about a tour in the '90s when he was stuck in the Lower 48 with The Merchandise while The Band (he was touring with) played a few shows in Canada and he snuck in a CRUDOS show in Boston while he was waiting for them to come back. Then tonight I was listening to Numero Group's Miracle Year record and feeling sorry for myself for never getting to see The Best Band Ever even though I have been lucky enough to see some really fukkn important bands. 

Anyway, NULA are so far outside of the above mentioned realms that it's not even worth discussing. Furious, raging '90s DIY punk from another world - listen to "Žrtve" and "Demokracija" and tell me the shit isn't important....just like CRUDOS and DÜ. Listen to "Anarhija" and tell me punk doesn't rule everything. There you go. That's it. Punk rules. 

POBJEDIMO LAŽ

NINJA HATORRY

 

Full throttle metallic thrashcore from Jakarta.....there's not much analysis required here because 2021's Fase is more akin to a beating than a listening experience. Twenty three exercises in grind mania with a conscious eye towards Y2KThrash - shit sounds like fukkn magic to my ears. It's great from start to finish, but "Youth" into "Me & My Holiday" gives me exactly what I needed this morning. Sometimes, my friends.....faster really is better.

FASE

COLIN LANGENUS

 

One Side: A multi-instrumental freak out captured live in 2007.

Another Side: A collection of improvisations collected by Colin Langenus between 2005 and 2008 and manipulated to create.....this.

SON OF BEETHOVEN // HIGH AS HELL

HIGH AS HELL

OSCAR WILDE

 

Been sitting on this one for a minute because I pledged to read the 1890 novel before I posted the 1980 book-on-tape. But alas.....here's the novel in audio form, perhaps we can all enjoy together. Enjoy the tale of a young and beautiful man who chose to trade his soul for continued youth and beauty while his sins and his years were cast upon a portrait. A bizarre concept (especially considering the time) and Wilde's only novel....I really wish I could share an educated and/or intelligent analysis here, unfortunately I can only say that I recognize its importance. 

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
Read By: Peter Egan

REFLECTIONS OF INTERNAL RAIN

 

Y'all remember that melodic metallic European screamo from the 2000s, right? The sensitive side of stadium crust? REFLECTIONS OF INTERNAL RAIN don't have to remember it...because they embodied it. Enjoy your week.

ANSWERS

MATERIAL

 

Pretty sure there are a few MISSION OF BURMA records spinning in their collective minds. WIPERS too. Although, instead of hip-shot comparisons, I should have encouraged you to focus on the guitar, on the earnest vocals straining through a throatful of gravel. Then again, for the second time in a month I'm going to say that this makes me feel like I felt the first time I heard NEON PISS....and that's a high fucking bar. 

MATERIAL

THE CHOSEN ONE

This one is problematic, but here we are listening to some twenty year old Indonesian punk. The title track "Anarchy Sunrise" is perfect melodic punk and there's a very clear '90s East Bay influence (specifically talking Kerplunk and Let's Go! here) on tracks like "Otoritas" and "Someone Gonna Die," while there are punk ska/reggae bits to keep you guessing and give you a breather ("Stereo" is the choice jam) and a brilliant would-be street busking classic called "Government." And then there's one rampant violently homophobic track what the actual fukk kids?! Sigh....this is why it's so hard to have nice things. Anyway....maybe I should have just skipped this one, but also maybe listening out of context and off of the radar can shed a light on how conflicted, conflicting and challenging everything was. And can still be. 

ANARCHY SUNRISE

EVALUATE WHAT YOU TOLERATE

 

At the risk of repeating myself, the early '10s in the Bay Area were truly special time (much like the early '00s if we're being honest). There are bands here who formed the foundation for some truly great gigs (ACRYLICS, MOZART, MASS ARREST), bands I had never heard of before listening to this comp (MARRAIGE + CANCER, REVOLUTION BUMMER, HIGH ANXIETY, WARP), bands I was familiar with but who were outside of my general orbit (SPACE TOILET, PREENING, BUTANNA). Throw in MONSTER SQUAD, STREET EATERS and NOPES, all of whom are still active a decade (plus) later and you have a magical time capsule that is very clearly about so much fucking more than a few killer songs. But speaking of killer songs, DID IS DEAD, FATTYCAKES & THE PUFF PASTRIES and MABS deliver three of the killerest cuts you're going to hear today. 

EVALUATE WHAT YOU TOLERATE VOLUME 2

LIFESAVERS

 

Several years ago a dude gifted me a stack of tapes in Eugene, Oregon. It was more interesting than most random stacks, and he had a story to accompany each one. Do I remember the stories? Nope. But if I recall correctly his gateway genre was contemporary christian alternative rock which was....well, it was a new one for me. I have posted a few of the other tapes previously but this one got half buried in a forgotten box until a couple of weeks ago. If you're looking for a game changer then you should probably move along, but I'll be (gad)damned if this isn't a pleasant late morning listen with a cat lounging in a sliver of sun and a cup of coffee in hand. Think PSYCHEDELIC FURS, MODERN ENGLISH, DRAMARAMA, THE ALARM....you know the drill. Enjoy your coffee, maybe get saved in the process.

A KISS OF LIFE