XTILL I DIEX

Tough, churning metallic hardline bands were not unusual in the '90s, but in Japan they were certainly an oddity. Forged in the EARTH CRISIS mold, XTILL I DIEX rumble through four tunes on this 2000 demo, harsh and primitive low end SXE hardcore. Straight Edge in Japan tends to include smoking, sometimes drinking, and almost always eating meat, but these dudes chose the very straight and very narrow and were even nice enough to include a 'how to' guide. "Staight Edge is a modern rebellion//Straight Edge is the thing that keeps me free."

XTILL I DIEX

PVC H.EX (002)

A collection of bands and misfits (or bands of misfits, if you will) from Grand Rapids, Michigan laying waste to all assortments of genre descriptors. There are a couple of barn burning punk numbers here, but this tape seems to mostly be a home for weirdos, something I can totally get behind. From the opening industrial dirge from AUDIBLE XXY you know this isn't your average comp, and a haunting siren by the name of WAYLON THORNTON really drives that point home a few tracks later. TELEFONES are circa 1979 styled new wave/art punks, WHITE MYSTERY are a raunchy version of the breathy garage that made me flip over fellow Midwesterners STARING PROBLEM, and WICKER BASKET play campfire music from outer space. INVISIBLE MANSION take me back to the heyday of early '90s guitar driven college rock, swirling in my brain like a primitive Shields, while eXXXposre are perfect '80s club jams. There are a few clunkers, to be sure, but this one is all over the map, and the quality level is shockingly high. As a sampler and introduction to the label, consider this one a success...not bad for a bunch of weirdos.

PVC H.EX (002)

Hard working folks who do it for the love of sound (just like all of us at TEHQ), the PVC H.Ex collective is well worth your attention. Find them here.

SFREGIO PERMANENTE

Mandatory '80s Italian hardcore, this is tape version of the split LP from I REFUSE IT! and CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS. CCM crank out 20 tracks in well under half an hour - searing guitars and gravelly vocals snarling their way through an attack that is equal parts GERMS, primitive FLAG and murky European squats. I REFUSE IT! have always (perhaps inexplicably) reminded me of BIG BOYS, but incarnated as relentless thrashers. The irreverence is there and is arguably their principal appeal, but tracks like "Fall Down" and "Contagio" just fukkn swing, and make awkward physical motions often referred to as "dancing" nearly unavoidable. This release and these bands have been well documented, and most internet trollers have probably had these files lurking around their external hard drives nicked off youtube in some fourth generation manifestation two months after they first heard Operation Ivy. But punk evolution (and the evolution of punks) used to be different, and even though I knew about Sfregio Permanente, it was years before I ever heard these sounds. No matter, because "Questo e I'inferno" and "Secret Hate" will blow your mind, regardless of the stage of your punk development.

SFREGIO PERMANENTE

PINK NIGHTMARE

I confess that I snoozed on this one after I picked it up at their SF show last year. Maybe it was an off night, maybe I was still reveling in the glow of the FOREIGN OBJECTS show that had just happened across town, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for PINK NIGHTMARE...but when everyone told me how killer the show was the following night in Oakland, I just didn't quite get it. Giving this tape a listen now (over a year later) trying to purge a few (hundred) unwanted cassettes, I'm fukkn beating myself up for not crossing the bridge to see them in Oakland, and I'm laughing at myself for letting this gem languish on a shelf for all those months. Foolish decisions, but at least I can make up for lost time on the second one - as for seeing them live....I'll just have to hope they hit the west coast again so I can feel redeemed. PINK NIGHTMARE put the punk into UK influenced jams, but these women are rooted in US punk and hardcore, and they can't quite seem to break from history. Members of FOREIGN OBJECTS, RED THREAD, CONVERSIONS, POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT and many others...don't make the same mistake I did.

PINK NIGHTMARE

FACTION

FACTION's You've Got The Fire EP from 1983 was an excellent uptempo anarcho punk record, with shadows of early Siouxsie lurking in the mix. In case you would rather read my words than the writing on the label, this tape has two different mixes of the EP and an eight track demo. The demo appears to be 1983's If They Give You Ruled Paper...Write The Other Way minus "Blinded By The Dark" which the internet tells me appeared on the original version - warbly guitars and timid vocals, and awesome tape. But the first mix of the EP is the real gem here - heavier guitars and less keyboards than the eventual EP version (which is included as the "remix" tracks on this tape), with a psyched out 6:26 version of "Turn Away" that descends into swirling guitar chaos more akin to HAWKWIND than CRASS. The piano that starts off "Drowning" on the EP was initially tacked onto the front end of the intro, and that version starts of the first EP mix here. Members of A-HEADS (Mel joined just before this recording) and SNAILS (criminally under appreciated) made up FACTION, in case you are keeping track....

EP // DEMO // EP

DROPEND

Powerful and relentless chaotic Japanese hardcore - quality of the highest order with searing vocals struggling under an assault of guitar noise. Less than ten minutes of sound, but this one will reaffirm your commitment to living life with two fingers in the air. If you still give a fukk after listening to this, then it's time to hand in your studs and renew your civilian card.

NEVERENDINGNOISE

Hard copies still available from the always excellent Narm Discos and DROPEND can be found here.

STIKKY

As if the 39 songs on STIKKY's 1987 3D & A Half demo weren't quite enough, this one comes with the first two demos slapped onto the beginning. So get ready for 55+ tracks of juvenile spazz core, like if SOCKEYE were blistering thrashers. Legends.

DEMOS 1, 2, 3D 1/2

Oh yeah, there's a practice session from '87 in there as well, so make it 63 tracks. Give a guy a 90 minute tape and what the fukk do you expect?