DOG CITY, USA

If you pay attention, then you've probably heard that Hattiesburg, Mississippi has been the coolest uncool spot in North America for the last few years. Reports of shows there are almost universally positive, and the vibe from the punks I've met from there is positive to say the least. Also....the bands kill, and that helps. There's something weird and awesome about one conversation with one person moving from CAPITALIST CASUALTIES shows in the '90s to the political climate in Jefferson County, where my mother grew up and the road in front of her house was informally named for her father and her high school was still segregate until after she graduated. But I'm not here to talk about the history of Mississippi, I'm here to talk about EYE JAMMY and DUMSPELL and DEEDEE CATPISS & THE FUZZCOFFINS. Because Hattiesburg punk rules, ok? They rolled deep and they support the hell out of each other and they make you feel like you wish that you lived in a scene that was as tight as theirs...which makes you wonder why you don't work harder to make your own scene like theird. JUDY & THE JERKS, SOFT SPOT, PLEATHER and DISCO LEMONADE round out the mix, and one listen will have this college hamlet on the "must hit" list for your next tour. 

DOG CITY, USA: A Compilation From Hattiesburg, Mississippi

SWEATS

Can we talk about how good this band is? I mean, alternately I can just post a link to the demo (and the band) and you can listen and then we can discuss. Or you can just accept that SWEATS are really fukkn good and we can discuss from there. Up to you. Actually it's not - I'm the one typing. They are good. So yeah...let's talk about hardcore. You like hardcore? Cool. Me too. Turns out we all like SWEATS. I'm still trying to figure out why there's only one demo but hey - I'll take what I can get when it's this fierce. 

SWEATS

DEAN J. GRENIER & HEJ FUND

I don't really need to try to dig deeper here than the obvious, so......guilty immersion, modern electronic club/DJ sounds on this 2015 collaboration. It builds, each cut adding layers and creating moods, and when everything clicks it hits me just fukkn right. If you're looking for guitars....I'll see you tomorrow. 

GRIST

IDLE VISION

Why not spend another day in Texas? The Valley this time, for IDLE VISION's smart 2015 sleeper filled with '80s Rough Trade sensibilities and offered with a shroud of swing that the modern dark/art rehash set seems to be constantly reaching for. BLURT meets EDDY CURRENT at a Valley Girl screening? Ahhhh, never mind the comparisons, if they aren't off target then they are surely pretentious. Just listen as they drop the would be/should be movie soundtrack standout "Soft Girl" right in the middle of five ice cold stunners....yeah, Valley punks are geniuses. 

IDLE VISION

Covered In Blood....

EKSTRAKTION

As mentioned yesterday, I present the 2013 demo from short lived Texas band EKSTRAKTION. Sharp, no bullshit, bombastic DBeat punk from some of the finest heads in the game. Nine songs, one DISCHARGE cover, fifteen minutes, flawless. 

EKSTRAKTION

SAVAGE REPUBLIC

I put off digging into this band for years, knowing that it would be a decision that justifiably required a significant time commitment...and '80s Los Angeles freaks SAVAGE REPUBLIC were worth the wait. File somewhere between Confusion Is Sex, ¡TCHKUNG!, contemporary late '80s SST, early UK anarcho-punk and BEATNIGS for reference, but SAVAGE REPUBLIC exist(ed) on an island of their own making. With a discography every bit as daunting as their sonic legacy, their no rules approach to sound and song is one that defies and befuddles the casual listener. I didn't start with I Married Thurston (by chance and convenience, 1989's Customs earned my first listen), but it's among my favorites in an extensive (to say the least) collection of live and demo recordings released by the band during their run. Settle in and dig deep. 

I MARRIED THURSTON

Today marks one full decade of Terminal Escape. I know that the blog has been a passé method for the dissemination and consumption of music for some time. "Everything is on youtube" or all of the new bands are on bandcamp or "fuck it I'll just listen to whatever is on spotify" - and most of that is true and almost all of that makes sense. Because working for stuff is hard, and it takes more effort, and because you have to know where to look. Sometimes it's clunky, sometimes it's not cool, and sometimes it even sounds like shit...but some of us keep looking. Just shy of 3400 posts and uploads, another 1500 live recordings on Escape Is Terminal, and I still rip everything in house on (for now) a gorgeous 1980s Yamaha TC-520 that I bought for $80. Thanks to everyone who's sent me tapes, thanks to everyone who's left a comment here or there to let me know that people are paying attention. I figured for a while that I would stop posting when I hit the ten year mark because...I mean, that's long enough, right? But I'm looking at shelves of unripped tapes, The NUCLEAR FAMILY Live In Japan mindfuck just taunting me, a really sick CIRCLE JERKS set from '83, the EKSTRAKTION demo that flew under the radar a few years back, that new JAD recording...well, you get the idea. So I'll be back. Tomorrow. Hopefully you get something good out of it.

DOISEU MIMDOISEMA

There's a lot to unpack here. So much that DOISEU MIMDOISEMA almost come off like a piss-take, trying to see if you can swallow all of these pills at the same time. There's irreverent and feisty punk, sounds that would have sounded appropriate in any number of regional micro-scenes in the '90s, and it feels like this is the base camp from which these Brasilians start their excursions. But what about the lazy and comically dreamy "Espatifada," or the psychedelic freestyle funk/rap "Epilético?" These aren't tracks that come off like a band trying to make a joke, they sound like a band who are genuinely all over the damn place - "Chamegro Latrino" is an endearing bass/drum/keyboard track, the smooth 311-demo-by-way-of-the-Caribbean "Entre a Oferta e a Procura" and there's an untitled closer that sounds like an actual teenage garage band from 1995. Which is perhaps exactly what DOISEU MIMDOISEMA were....there were no rules, no internet models to follow, creativity mingled with concepts (however bizarre) and ideas were explored. Nothing was by the book, because we were (all) still writing the book. Maybe things were better then, and hopefully there are always more chapters in the distance. 

DOISEA MIMDOISEMA INVADE CAPÃO CITY