SINK

A 1988 Peel Session from this STUPIDS offshoot, recorded off of the radio with plenty of commentary from Mr. Peel himself. Four tracks (including a bad edit in the middle of "Baby" that I cleaned up as best I could) of high energy melodic late '80s punk, the UK answer to Minneapolis or DC post-hardcore. Versions of three tunes are available on SINK vinyl releases (of which there are several), but I can't seem to find "Rebegin" anywhere else...suitable that it's the best track then, eh? As for why Pete Rose is on the cover? Your guess is as good as mine.

SINK

NISSES NÖTTER

Malaysia's Black Konflik threw several killer cassette reissues into the pot last year, and while it's great to have SVART PARAD and DISORDER tapes blasting out of the boombox, but this 12 song banger from 1984 is probably my favorite reissue of last year from any label. These pre-teens from Göteborg were an absolute force - hyper fast blow out hardcore, unhinged and full of the kind of energy that I've come to believe that adults simply cannot conjure. The drums are a textbook example of hardcore punk drumming, and that element of NISSES NÖTTER is where I keep turning my ear, even while the rest of the band is raging beyond belief and the singer is wailing in pre-pubescent frustration. A full LP/CD re-issue came out a few years ago with live and rehearsal tracks, while this release is simply the Knäckta Nötter demo in all its fury. It blows my mind to think that I am basically the same age as these dudes, and that when they were making these sounds, I was listening to QUIET RIOT and THE CARS. 

KNÄCKTA NÖTTER

NUCLEAR AGE

I got a stack of demos from killer new DC bands at our show there in December - all of them are good, and most of them are really good, but NUCLEAR AGE is just off the fukkn charts. This is hardcore punk, and it leaves me wanting nothing...except more. "Power Of Youth" is as close to perfect as I could ever hope for and, even though it might take longer to read these words than it will to digest these three songs, NUCLEAR AGE is about to kick you day in its ass.

NUCLEAR AGE

DINO & NIC

My introduction to DINO & NIC was 2010's Plays Theme From Dino & Nic, a piece of carefully controlled minimal ambience, but this two track gem unravels that control in the first 60 seconds. The opening minute of At The Arc Of Nic & Dino is SUICIDE-esque synth heavy mania, but the duo quickly descends into space age psychedelic weirdness. Only slightly less minimal, the approach to electronic sound on this tape is subtly menacing, foreshadowing for a crescendo that never comes..even though the second side spends much of its seven minutes threatening. Instead, DINO & NIC just trail off into the rest of the day...

AT THE ARC OF NIC & DINO

MUCKSPREADER

The first ARTIMUS PYLE tour in 1998 was with these Bristol maniacs. A quick trip to the Northwest that included a hallucinogen laced weekend in Tenino, Washington, the undeniably dark combination of methamphetamine and a lightbulb, and a show in a marina community center in Eureka, California. What can I say, we knew how so show foreigners a good time. MUCKSPREADER's style was probably a little much for late '90s West Coast, especially with the ex-AMEBIX billing (they shared a drummer) that brought out miniscule hoards of proto-oogles simply yearning for Arise in the flesh. What they got instead was a group of true freaks bashing out mid tempo aural dystopia. Disjointed and manic and vaguely metallic mid tempo dirges interrupted by bursts of demented hardcore ("Original Sin" is the standout in this category) and samples. The band was real, even if this country wasn't ready for them. I'm ready now.

MUCKSPREADER

SOCIAL DECAY

Absolutely fierce '80s hardcore from New Jersey. Noise freaks note the guitar, thrash fiends dig the relentless all out attack, and hardcore maniacs get pumped on the breakdowns. So far ahead of their time (but somehow still a few years too late, no?), 1987 has never sounded so good. I'm serious, kids, this shit will turn you out. You think you are pissed? Get into "Kill Or Die," "Taste My Gun," "Fuck Your Mind Again" or the title track...you aren't alone. Six demo tracks and nine live stunners, mandatory listening for thrashers, punks and bangers.

SICK SOCIETY

ENNUI TRUST

I'm not really sure how to compartmentalize these kids, but I snagged the demo a few months ago and I keep coming back to it when I need something different. It might help to start by mentioning that they are from the college town of Davis (between San Francisco and Sacramento, and somehow isolated from the perceived coolness of one and the defining narcotics of both), though a simple point on a map does not even begin to capture the vibe set by this tape.  ENNUI TRUST play what is essentially noise rock, rooted in the guitar driven bands of the late '80s (I'm talking Homestead, Blast First and later SST), tweaked in just the right way (maybe they didn't stay away from those drugs after all) and the singer's snarl is absolutely legit, like a hardcore guy who got asked to sing for some dudes who loved FLIPPER but are trying to get all adult but the singer guy keeps dragging them into the dirt and enveloping them in their own roots. There's plenty of lumbering guitar antics, but it's all weird instead of pretentious, as if DETENTION or CRUCIFUCKS took over the first SCRATCH ACID record. Standout tracks are "Patrol" and "Human Baggage," but then "It's Official" dishes awkward hooks that bring to mind a filthy incarnation of EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING, and I wonder if maybe that is what they are going for? If nothing else, I am intrigued.

ENNUI TRUST