CUCSIFAE

I mean, it was the '90s and there were no rules. You could sound however you wanted. DRIVE LIKE JEHU into pop punk? No sweat. Chaotic mind fuck noise rock crashing headfirst into heavy prog with really weird vocals? OK. This reminds me of HICKEY for no logical reason whatsoever - maybe just because it is really good and it sounds like they don't give a fuck if you like it or not. 

CUCSIFAE

UNDERKLANSMEN

Howling and raw kvlt sounds that fall as close to primitive modern metal as they do to abrasive noisy punk. Repetitive riffs droning with a deliberate chaos and a fiercely defiant guitar bashing out reluctant notes while a lonesome anguished vocalist suffers in the background. Perhaps slightly too self indulgent and arguably too self aware, but uncomfortable sounds are still welcome in my earholes, regardless of how calculated their creation might have been. Awkward. 

UNDERKLANSMEN

I'm guessing that the initial run of 44 copies for this tape is long gone. Equivalently disruptive sounds can be acquired from Nostilevo.

VIOLENT CONSPIRACY

This is courtesy of the same dude who said he was the BLASTING AGENTS manager a few weeks back. Ultra low fi and only marginally competent recordings from Oklahoma City circa 1987...perhaps this is for purists and curiosity seekers only, but "Runaway" is a primal scorcher.

VIOLENT CONSPIRACY

MY LAI

One of the many bands unfairly stacked in the dollar bins of the world, saddled with the mystifying "hardcore sucked in the '90s" burden. An entire punk generation gets skipped over so frequently simply because it has the stigma unfairly associated with a particular decade, a decade that was fukkn packed with original and phenomenal bands, not to mention the solidification of the DIY network as we know it today. Chicago's MY LAI released a few EPs and one devastating 12" platter in the middle of that decade, and every one of those releases stands proud when blasted today. This three song teaser features one song each from the 12", the 3.16.68 EP on Divot and the Question Of Image EP on Lengua Armada. Pointed, forceful and pissed, MY LAI pulled of an intensity that could not be faked, nothing here was contrived and the passion was light years away from the manufactured by-the-books recreations of far too many of today's internet darlings (and they were crushing live). Pure, honest hardcore punk that sounds just as good - maybe better - this morning than it did 15 years ago. While I remember the one sided banger from '99 as their finest work, these songs are so damn good I might just spend my entire day buried in that magical lost decade...

MY LAI

THE WILD BUNCH

As went the musical tastes of a large part of the underground in the mid '80s, so went the progression of cassette releases from seminal New York label ROIR and, and so goes the chronological presentation of that label's compilations from last week to today. A far cry from the international hardcore assault that was World Class Punk, this week's contribution features some of the filthiest sleaze metal that 1985 had to offer. SHOK PARIS, ANTIX, JAG PANZER, and AGENT STEEL lead a group of second and third tier metallions that share the comp with well worn leaders of the genre like ANTHRAX, POSSESSED, SLAYER and GRIM REAPER. Standout tracks include BLACKLACE's "I Like To Rock" and TEEZE's anthem-that-never-was "Party Hardy" (their self released 12" of proto-POISON cock rock is a certified banger well worth seeking out). Piercing falsettos, amateurish MAIDEN worship and mandatory headbanging will take up the remainder of your day, you have been warned.

THE WILD BUNCH

PLANNING FOR BURIAL

They call themselves slowcore, I call them experimental shoegazing gloom. Either way New York's PLANNING FOR BURIAL are about to be called one of your favorite bands. If you are not sold by the song title "I Put Red House Painters On A Mixtape For You" then the tear soaked crashes that interrupt the two minute introduction to that track will surely seal the deal. Likely named after the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, Late Twenties Blues features just two songs and two mostly ambient interludes, and I picked it up late last year simply because I was meant to play a show with them in the fall and we kinda bailed. It was out of town and our singer was sick and my van was leaking exhaust fumes and it just seemed like a really bad idea at the time, so we backed out at the last minute. Seeing PLANNING FOR BURIAL? Right now that seems like a really good idea, but we can't always have good ideas.

LATE TWENTIES BLUES

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