JÄZZUS

Get ready to have your face melted, because these Brazilian maniacs will slow down for absolutely no one. Their affinity for Dutch thrashers LÄRM is shameless, and JÄZZUS pull off the same chaotic attack - playing fast and then faster and then blurring by with mind numbing speed, decimating riffs that might have been discernible when they were written. The guitar is out of tune just enough to make you feel a little nauseous, and the vocals spurt forth at rather erratic intervals, making the whole assault seem even more disjointed and crazed. There's only one song that tops the 60 second mark, and JÄZZUS blast their way through 15 songs in well under ten minutes, creating a disorienting hum in me ears when quietness settles in. WHN? played with these dudes in Vila Velha back in 2002, and I assure you that the live attack was every bit as insane as this demo (plus, Allan's mom makes a mean fukkn feast!), and they were some of the best folks we hung out with on the whole tour. You like chaos? You like noise? You like fast? You like JÄZZUS. 

DEMO ENSAIO

LIFE ON EARTH

This compilation from Suspect Device is as close to a straightforward punk rock post as you might ever see on The Escape. Life On Earth delivers 60 glorious minutes of pogo worthy catchy late 1980s UK punk from: THE SECT (great vocal melodies and classic three chord presentation); FIVE STAR ROCK AND ROLL PATROL (who sound like a second tier SLAUGHTER); REFUGEES (Chiswick Records styled classic punk, the singer sounds like JONA LEWIE, which is a great thing); ROUT INC (the raunchiest tunes on the tape, akin to that dreaded mid '80s era when the great punk bands started going cock rock...they were still good but you could tell they were about to stink); GUITAR GANGSTERS (to the person in this band who decided to sound like RAMONES mixed with COCKSPARRER: you were a genius); CULTURE SHOCK (the punk/dub/ska band sticks out here, two tracks from their available releases); THE ABS (in modern times this might be commercial punk rock, but in this context it's just insanely catchy); FOREIGN LEGION (gothy guitars, a reverb heavy mix and an off kilter recording makes this band the winner on the tape, though I doubt that this is the Welsh FOREIGN LEGION posted here last year); IDENTITY (leather and studs, meat and potatoes UK punk); THE PARK (cheap mid tempo UK punk, their lone song is kinda mediocre); RED LONDON (generous helpings of BIG STAR and CHEAP TRICK make this politically charged track a total winner); GUITAR GANGSTERS (how can you go wrong with a song called "Everybody Wants To Be My Friend"?); THE MAGNIFICENT (it's like STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-lite, and it's pretty sweet); and things wrap up with THE FOUR GUNS (the singer reminds me of FRIJID PINK, and the guitar solos sound like THE BLOOD...that combination works frighteningly well). Not one single song here will change your life, but virtually all of them are winners, and I can't think of a better way to spend an overcast Friday morning that cranking some catchy UK punk as I start my day...I suggest you do the same.

LIFE ON EARTH

FREE CLINIC

Terminal Escape minions seem to enjoy the noisier and more fukkd side of punk, and it is in that spirit that I offer Pittsburgh's FREE CLINIC. These songs are damaged art sludge with vocals worthy of MELT BANANA comparisons, guitars that conjure up Ginn on PCP, and a vibe that makes me understand why people like FLIPPER so damn much. Seven torturous dirges...you will start to question music by the end of "Mouth," but the simplicity of the approach and the expertise of its delivery is unquestionable.

FREE CLINIC

MINDROT

There's probably not really that much still to be said about Southern California's MINDROT. Listening to these songs now, there is no doubt that they are metal, but I first heard of them as a punk band, and I imagine that is how they are still associated by most people. This tape came from Devon's collection (there will likely be more gems from his stash going up in the coming months), and along with the tape came the tale of Devon going to San Jose with Rick Ta Life (careful, the link is loud) to check out MINDROT with PLUTOCRACY and EXHUMED - I can only imagine that trip was....a trip. Mid tempo, booming, proto-anarcho-death-metal from pre-DYSTOPIA members.

MINDROT 1990 DEMO

KROMOZOM4

Hardcore circa 1984 from France's KROMOZOM4. Their only appearances on wax came with two splits, in '86 and '87, both with countrymen HEIMAT-LOS (who does a split EP and LP with the same band? that kinda rules...), but they dumped a slew of cassettes on us, starting with this gem. Ripping slap happy hardcore that keeps reminding me of the straight ahead attack of Poland's SIEKIERA (especially the 6th song, which sounds like a SIEKIERA out take), but more fun loving and carefree. Here's the bible page for them, you can look at pictures while you listen to the jams.

14  TRACKS HARDCORE FUN

NIGHTGAUN

Last week I put up the M.O.A.B. demo as a testimony to the droves of killer raw noise punk that comes from places other than Portland and Japan, and today I do the same thing. While Southern California might not be that unusual considering their punk history, how about Tempe fucking Arizona? NIGHTGAUN's attack is so brilliant, so over the top, and so packed with energy that Midnight Howls makes me pound my head on the table wishing that there were more than these three short blasts of power. All the elements are here - the one clean/one destroyed guitar assault, more high end than any mix should have, a snare drum that sounds like a hollow bucket, vocals that are echoed into oblivion...and it's fukkn great. I hope that there is more soon, because 6 minutes just ain't enough.

MIDNIGHT HOWLS

ANARKA AND POPPY

These two gigs were recorded a few days apart in 1983, the sets are exactly the same, as is the recording quality, so whether or not you really need both of them is up to you. ANARKA AND POPPY languish in the world of the cassette only doldrums, I can only imagine how much more recognisable their name would be had their recorded but never released EP on All The Madmen ever seen the light. Classic female fronted anarcho punk, this time with no bass (I gather that the singer and guitarist plowed through a slew of rhythm sections during their short existence. Three of these songs also appear on the 1982 All That Is Shattered demo, but everything here is decidedly more laid back, less fierce, and presented in pure unadulterated live quality. 

 20/8/83 Liverpool

23/8/83 Manchester