REFUGEES

The A side of the tape that brought you the LAST RITES and POST MORTEM recordings features a 30 minute rehearsal recording from the dual female fronted REFUGEES. Dual female vocals will draw you in, but the guitar will hook you (pun intended) with mid tempo riffing that bridges a gap between UK anarcho and '80s Midwest hardcore ("Shrink" features a simple lick that is a dead ringer for HÜSKER DÜ's "Target," and is my favorite song on the tape). Ex-HEALTH HAZZARD, for those keeping track. Fukkn great, for those who just want to rock.

REFUGEES Rehearsal 28 February 1984

NUCLEAR II

Blasting and chaotic noise core mayhem, presented in two live sets - one 6:22 and one 3:51 in duration. The noise seems almost nonsensical, though I suspect NUCLEAR II are quite deliberate...power electronics, meet non stop mechanical grind. This one will weed out the wimps for sure.

POPULATION DECIMATION // LIVE AT RADIOACTIVE RECORDS

Detroit (Hamtramck, technically speaking, where the falafels are other worldly) ruled last night - greater Cincinnati metropolitan area get ready for tonight.

VEUVE SS

Bleak and discordant raw metal/punk from France, VEUVE SS appear to have spent as much time packaging these tapes as they did recording them (this is not a slight on the recording, rather a kudos on the package). They seem to like replacing 'u's with 'v's which leads me to believe that VEUVE SS are seeking classification under the kvlt umbrella, but instead my ears perk up at harsh and angry punk sounds. The kind of dirty and hoarse vocals that make GEHENNA (the punk band) so appealing, with primitive noise intros and a pace that is more flailing than relenting. This is dark stuff, to be sure, though there must be an element of comedy involved when a band dishes up a song called "Ironique Movstache" - even if it is the finest song on the tape - and many of these songs could easily be re-presented as youth crew jams, they are just given the "evil" treatment and reworked for a black clad audience. This tape will suck you in with raw guitars, and keep you hooked on their metal tip for all the reasons you started liking punk in the first place...and it gets better with each listen.

VEUVE SS

L'ORAAGJE

I listened to this tape dozens of times before I even got around to ripping it, I kept getting drawn in by the  often unsuccessful attempts at anarcho/post punk, and found that L'ORAAGJE were often more successful when they failed. 1983's It's All Utopia was the only release from this Dutch outfit, and it's a full hour of experimental avant punk noise with guitars and occasional synth very reminiscent of early '80s CURE tracks and an approach to punk that owes as much to THROBBING GRISTLE (check out the 10+ minute "Destroy") as to primitive punks. I asked Jos about L'ORAAGJE, since he is old and Dutch, and it was no surprise to me when he just sent me to former member Jan. Jan told me that members went on to form the decidedly more goth FREISCHWEBENDE INTELLIGENZ while he continued with POST MORTEM (not the UK band obviously) and CONTACT T.B.D., and continues making noise that can be found here. Get into this - TRANSFORM MUSIK.

IT'S ALL UTOPIA

POPULATION

I know that trends cycle every couple of decades, but I am still bewildered at the droves of kids rehashing the dreary synth driven new wave music that served as the soundtrack for most of my adolescence. Quite pleased, but confused nonetheless. POPULATION might be a little weak in the vocals department, but it gives them an inadvertent edginess that polished goth bands lack. The guitars are perfect in an early SISTERS way while the tempo gives off a perfectly pompous P.I.L. vibe - I'm sold, I just wish they had included contact information so they could sell you a copy of your very own...

POPULATION

COLLAPSE SOCIETY

COLLAPSE SOCIETY have been mangling this chaotic noisy hardcore punk for nearly two decades, get into it.

COLLAPSE SOCIETY

CRINGER

It's ironic that it took me until I was an adult to appreciate the eternal teenage enthusiasm and energy of Lance Hahn's music. It was never angry enough for me, it never made me want to break stuff, so I dismissed it as sappy bullshit. Then, sometime after I passed 30, it just clicked. The music wasn't sappy - it was just honest - and I started devouring J CHURCH and Lance's band that came before them, CRINGER. Knowing the man certainly helped, the pure and youthful energy that was always present in the songs (even, or especially, the sad ones) was always front and center with Lance, and you could feel it from the moment you met him. The guitar and the heart can indeed be worn proudly on the sleeve, and Lance proved it over twenty years of writing, playing and recording. Oh yeah, he also started (and almost completed) the definitive book on UK anarcho bands - just in case you felt like dismissing him as a pop punk hack (like I did). This isn't an anniversary or a special day or anything, I just came across this tape and spent my afternoon listening to CRINGER and J CHURCH, and I wish that Lance was still around. This demo is from 1986, just after CRINGER relocated to Los Angeles from Hawaii, and I think that I'll just lift a phrase from the first sentence to describe it: eternal teenage enthusiasm. Something to strive for, I suppose.

WE'RE ALL A-OK