RABID DELUSION

 

Raw ass ramshackle hardocre punk? Sure...you got it. That's what you want, right? A fukkn mess? Yeah, you got it. Bass a little too loud (wait, is there even a guitar? yes, there's a solo...carry on) and vocals more like shrieks and the whole fukkn band pierces your skull and ohhhhhhh do I wish I was watching this mania live instead of listening from an office chair but...I don't live in Ohio so I'll take what I can fukkn get. 

RABID DELUSION

GLENN BRANCA

 

You ever listen to something that just kinda makes you cry? GLENN BRANCA's Symphony No.3 will do that if you let it. Get on the internet if you want the history, but know that this was a person pushing boundaries that other people didn't even know existed. He was doing it in another lifetime - a lifetime when (where?) those boundaries were more mysterious. When you could take an concept from inception to realization without external pressure...a time where (when?) ideas were pure and unfettered. And fuck me is this a beautiful creation. It's perfect. 

SYMPHONY NO.3 (GLORIA)

NIGHT PROWLER

 

Absolute USHC of the highest order, NIGHT PROWLER start hard and never let up. Probably more in line with late '80s East Coast (okay....New York specifically) than anything else, the infectious metal tinge of tracks like "Messiah" and "Laughter In The Canyons" are undeniable but the band? Pure fucking in your face hardcore. Like, what else could you fucking want?

CRUCIBLE OF POWER

DICED

 

Fierce ass srart-your-week stomps from the Tulsa's DICED. "Cut Your Teeth" has enough mosh and riff to last you through the weekend on its own, and every track here is pack with GAG-esque 'core fronted by commanding femme vocals....get ready.  

DEMO?

COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT

 

Imagine you're on a walk (because you're young in this imagination, and you don't go on "hikes" yet) in the woods behind your house. Or a friend's house. Or your aunt's house. And you stumble on something that piques your interest. So you move some leaves. Or you dig a little. And maybe you're not alone and your friend (or your cousin) helps you and you're both curious. Not excited yet, but definitely curious. As you scrape and/or dig, you hear...something...and now you are excited so the scraping and/or digging becomes more fervent. Discovering things lost in the woods is a special thing when you're young. A coin, an old beer can, a rotting nudie mag, someone else's mail, a photograph - it all has a story and when you find it, you're the author. But today (or that day, in that imagination), as you scrape and/or dig, you've uncovered a moment. COUNTY CONSERVATION DISTRICT are (in) that moment and you've arrived...uninvited and very welcome. You (and your friend or your cousin) stumbled upon a sound and an experience. And in that moment (this: moment), you cannot imagine ever walking out of the woods to your other home. Or your friend's house. Or you aunt's house. Because you are in this now. You are here. It's okay to be scared...you can have Some Fear, but you are here now. It's okay. Just listen. 

SOME FEAR

BASEMENT RAT

 

BASEMENT RAT are glorious. A lumbering, lurching angst filled collection of disjointed punk stomps delivered with pure honesty...and it's the honesty that becomes the real focus. While "Tristeza" is the standout track for me - an awkward slow start that gives way to a song written to be played just a little faster than the band can successfully muster - every song on Pura Mujer is intense and real.  It doesn't always have to be pretty...but it always has to be honest. How long has it been since you listened to a band that made you think about Surfer Rosa and SPITBOY? It's a shame this recording is all I can find.

PURA MUJER

MONAGUILLOS SIN FRONTERAS

 

When it hits right.....it doesn't matter. Zaragosa's MONAGUILLOS SIN FRONTERAS hit right. A description of their sound would turn me off - slightly-too-slick, SIN DIOS by way of FUN PEOPLE with distinct SoCal '90s melodic punk overtones. But this tape is anthem after anthem and it all hits just right. 

ENTRE EL CERDO Y EL MONO