KANGRENA

I was super excited to get a friendly tip about the two KANGRENA cassette releases unearthed and available from Solo Para Punks (they still have copies, kids) - I ordered immediately and now you reap the bounty of my actions. File this under classic Spanish punk, abrasive but catchy and full of verve, released in 1985 near the end of their run. Rules.

EL CUBO DE LA BASURA

BROWN SUGAR

After dropping one of 2011's sneakiest full length platters, it should come as no surprise to my ears that Buffalo's BROWN SUGAR had even more genius up their sleeves. "Birds" alone is a psych-punk masterpiece of time changes and drum fills that have no business in punk, and then they launch into a laid back jam that makes it sound like they should be on the coast in San Pedro, not on the shores of Lake Erie. One of the best kept secrets in the country, this band just kills...and they do so quite casually.

SONGS ABOUT BIRDS

EXTERMINACION

Just when you started to think that the US had cornered the market on foreign raw punk, enter Colombia's EXTERMINACION. Ramshackle bass, tortured guitars, ugly and nasty delivery rooted in '80s Finncore and primitive early South American glue sniffin' madness. Exactly what you need.

DEMO II

WASTED LOVE // D/CEREGHINI

Total fukkd sounds from Eastern Canada. My guess is that this was made in the winter when there was truly nothing else to do. Hamburger Tapes delivers...again.

WASTED LOVE // D//CEREGHINI split

BÜLD

More information about this band (or this release) would be welcomed. It came to me courtesy of a 25+ year old mix tape with nothing more than the band name and these four songs (other Danish gems were on the tape too, including killer pieces of L.U.L.L. and KALASHNIKOV sets shared on Escape Is Terminal) that likely made up an EP that I cannot seem to find any information about. Glorious and forceful post punk rooted in UK anarcho almost teetering on the edge of more mainstream sounds. Brilliant stuff.

BÜLD

Footage of BÜLD covering THE MOB in 1986 is here, the entire set is included as individual songs if you want to dig deeper. I especially dig the dichotomy of the spiky belt punk singer leading a band of sweater wearing dweebs...I really need more from this band.

WORLD CLASS PUNK

Jakke handed this gem off to me when I was in New York a few weeks back, a brilliant picture of international early '80s hardcore and punk. Compiled by Mykel Board and released by ROIR in 1984, World Class Punk gave a peek into scenes in corners of the world often overlooked, especially in the pre-interweb infancy of punk. COPULATION (Switzerland) dish out a dark post punk dirge that might steal the whole tape for me,  POP GUNS (South Africa) sound like JOE JACKSON - just brilliant pop, WARRIORS OF THE LAST DAYS (Columbia) slog through a wholly inept number with a determination that cannot be faked - though France's NÉVROSE make a case for being even more brilliantly chaotic while CCM (Italy), BASTARDS (Finland), BGK (Holland), RATOS DE PORÃO (Brasil), PURRKUR PILLNIKK (Iceland), DEZERTER (Poland) dish out the kind of quality they are famous for. Sweden's DANSA SKIRKER blew me away and Spain's SLIPS Y SPERMA are raw hardcore brilliance. File this one in the mandatory column, and read Mykel's liner notes here or buy yourself a copy here.

WORLD CLASS PUNK

BRAINSTORM

Killer metallic crust punk from Belgrade (now Serbia, then Yugoslavia) most known internationally for their 1993 split with Japan's BATTLE OF DISARM. A churning assault with low throaty vocals and a crisp drum attack rooted in early thrash metal, delivered in 1989 when their country was on the precipice of a brutal and divisive civil war. Regardless of the social and political surroundings (or content) tracks like "Fucked National Conflict" and "Checking Points" are legit burners, charging forth with a raw intensity. The first seven tracks are from the Only The Dead See The End Of War demo (a disturbingly appropriate title) while the following 12 songs are rawer garage specimens. Killer.

ONLY THE DEAD SEE THE END OF WAR