FWY!

I cannot imagine how many times I have listened to 2012's San Clemente, and last year's Any Exit was a welcome follow up. Unspeakably perfect driving music (unspeakably perfect living music), when FWY! plays, whether in mind or in body, you just....you just go. A band whose output is themed around metropolitan Los Angeles roadways is novel beyond description, but these instrumental tracks brilliantly manifest the feeling of seeing those motorways in the dead of night with nothing in your hands but the wheel and nothing clouding your mind except thoughts of life itself. Rarely has a band or artist so effectively captured and presented a time, a place, an emotion...this is it. Parts of Any Exit approach new territory - there's the NEW ORDER-esque vibe of "710 Again" and the primitive synth outro "Pink Dust," but the mood set here is wholly familiar. Comfortable. Real. And dare I say...perfect.

ANY EXIT

Once again, Moon Glyph is responsible...

OUT OF TOUCH

The band should be nothing new to most of you, so you will not be surprised at the 22 track assault that awaits you from one of Nagoya's finest. Manic Japanese thrashcore with high strained vocals, OUT OF TOUCH are fiercely DIY and punk as shit with occasional touches of US influence (on tracks like "Selfish," for example), and these sounds hold up brilliantly. As the title suggests, this is a collection of tracks spanning nearly two decades that was put to tape by Malaysia's Black Konflik back in the '00s.

PUNK IS REBEL MUSIC

ATENTADO

Not the current crust band from Portugal or the current punk band from Spain, this ATENTADO comes from 1990s Argentina. Spanish language (and influenced) hardcore punk with a healthy dose of (early) SICK OF IT ALL and the kind of hardcore that stopped being even remotely cool in North America at least 20 years ago. Yeah...it's a pretty awesome listen.

ATENTADO

IN CONTROL

It's weird how punk generations work . I would swear that these dudes were fukkn kids the only time I saw them, but in reality they were probably just a few years younger than I was at the time (and probably a decade or more older than some of my current bandmates). If Nardcore meets third wave 'crew in the form of addictive fresh faced hardcore is your jam, then you probably have already devoured everything that IN CONTROL has dished out...but in case you haven't and that description appeals to you, then here you go. And if Hometown Pride '99 sounds like it might be just a little to "clean" for you, perhaps not edgy enough? Well then perhaps you need to open you mind a bit, because this shit holds up quite nicely and manages to sound insanely refreshing to these ears.

HOMETOWN PRIDE '99

NO SEX 'TIL BALTIMORE

I realize I've kinda gotten away from the Friday mix tape thing, but this gem is exactly why I need to get back on track. There is a really cool record store in Baltimore called Celebrated Summer. I bought some records there and I hope to do so again. A few blocks away from Celebrated Summer, around the corner from an Indian/Italian take out joint that offers a fierce (but over priced) Chana Masala, is a less cool record store packed with average rock and jazz records. But this record store (I cannot remember the name) is also rammed with genuinely interesting cassette oddities and a shitload of reggae/dub, outsider and jazz records that made me wish I had way more time to investigate. I only had a few minutes to power browse...and I think I did a pretty good job. No Sex 'til Baltimore is pretty much the embodiment of the beauty of the mix tape, both in design and execution.

FOUND SONGS COMPILED FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE

HOMO ERADICUS

It would be easy for me to overanalyze this tape and try to put it in the context of powerviolence, the late '90s collision between screamo and heavy introspective (but often overindulgent) hardcore and the bubbling cesspool of fastcore mania....but when I heard this tape I just thought it was awesome. Perhaps in retrospect I loved it because I listened to BORN AGAINST and CAVE IN, but I loved it nonetheless. Seattle's HOMO ERADICUS added a stellar EP to my collection before moving on to other bands that you probably already like....but I'll still take these six minutes of magic.

HOMO ERADICUS

CRUCIAL JUSTICE

I played in Southern California a lot in the late '90s, different shows in different scenes with bands from all over the spectrum...but damn do I wish I gotten to see these maniacs. An urgency that cannot be faked, and an intensity that is rarely equalled. Rapid fire hardcore punk with a drummer who was probably into metal (or NOFX, based on his gratuitous double kick drum) and vocals spit forth with pure fury - I want to teleport to 1998 and see these dudes rip the shit out of a backyard party in South Central. Screaming and honest can be a brutal combination...

CASUALTY