PURLING HISS

 

This is some of the most glorious damage I've ever come across - timeless freaked out Kraut-esque mostly instrumental jams with a funky monotony that's impossible to describe. There's a moment in "Crocodile Tears" where I start to wonder if Philadelphia's PURLING HISS are doing a little too much until they cross an intention threshold and make it clear that they are going all in.....and then clearly I'm right there with them. You know the music that you put on and think you kinda forget about and then you notice that it hasn't been in the background at all? You notice that you are a part of it? That's the power of Meandering Noodle, and it's formidable. 

MEANDERING NOODLE

NEGATIVE DEGREE

 

Every time I blast NEGATIVE DEGREE I'm left dumbfounded - why wasn't this band blowing every punk's mind when they were kicking? It says something that their only two vinyl releases are from non-US labels, and I've already suggested the possible geographical explanations for the punk radar blipping right over these Colorado ragers....but fukkn listen to this tape from 2011 and you'll understand why I'm flummoxed. "Dead-Void" is in line with (early) FUCKED UP, DS-13, REGULATIONS...you know, the heavyweights. And there are six other burners here...all of 'em fukkn are legit. Every last one. "One Horse Town" on repeat every damn day - this is frustration. This is punk.

NEGATIVE DEGREE

WRENCH

 

No frills, no bullshit, no information. Just a few doses of mouth breathing hardcore to drink beer and smash shit to. Might I suggest the smashing start with your expectations, and then move on to your hopes? 

WRENCH

FEAR OF NOISE

 

Fear Of Noise always seemed like they had everything fukkn dialed. Their fests were compact and not overwhelming, trading quantity and pretense for quality and efficiency - get in, have fun, connect with your people, have a good night, do it again tomorrow. Also, the lineups were fucking deadly, as evidenced by this cassette that replaced the ill fated 2020 edition. A veritable 'must listen' list of West Coast hitters at the turn of the decade with predictably heavy San Diego representation. SCREAMING FIST and PROVOKE lock arms with LÖCKHEED (Portland), AGONISTA and VIOLENCIA (Tijuana), SYRGAS (Sweden) and locals VILE REALITY, BLINDING GLOW, DISCOVERY, NEGATIVE BLAST, a true freak cut from D.WREX and loads more. Twenty six slammers in all, courtesy of Speed Creamer and the nicest fest I've been asked to play. 

FEAR OF NOISE 2020

THE CLASS

 

Perhaps "I Just Wanna Be Alone" is the summer anthem that we all need in 2024, or perhaps it's just me. But 2019's Pulang Demonyo tape is absolutely the dose of Pinoy street punk I needed on this fukkn Thursday. All praise to the folks at Struggle Records in Naga for dropping this burner in my lap, now go crank "Resist To Exist" knowing that this the fire that street punk is supposed to bring. 

PULANG DEMONYO

HANGYAKU

 

So I posted another one of these Hangyaku tapes a couple of years ago and I'm officially on the lookout for as many volumes as I can get my filthy hands on. That tape featured three upstate NY bands, while this one captures the DIY touring '90s in a nutshell - Boston mutants FAT DAY on one side and Pueblo, Colorado maniacs FANATICS on the flip. They were both in the studio at the same time, and these are shows that just.....they don't happen like this any more. Maybe the internet killed these combinations, maybe there are just more options now, maybe I'm just too old and tired to notice today's magic - all I know is that I miss this shit. FAT DAY rips through twenty four tracks of their inimitable freakness in as many minutes and wrap up with a rare interview clip that reminds me how uniquely original and important they were. Flip the tape over and you get FANATICS laying pure waste to WRPI studios over the course of thirty seven minutes...pure and unhinged high desert speed crust with a ten minute interview to set the stage. The '90s were a time - we got stranded at FAT DAY's house and they fed us after they got home from work and school every day for a week. We went to FANATICS' house dead set on doing piles of drugs. And succeeded. Then they came to our house and did the same. And now a lifetime later I'm a middle aged man in the midst of upheaval and....and here are my memories captured on a college radio station in Troy, New York. So yeah, I'm looking for those other Hangyaku tapes. 

HANGYAKU Vol.3

GULLIVER

 

It would be easy to dismiss this band based simply on the title of their 1995 cassette, but I implore you to listen. GULLIVER opens with "I Don't Belong To You" and those nasal vocals that defined an era of melodic punk, and then the song kicks in and you hear '80s SoCal oozing out of the chords....and you know something is different. I hear '77 NYC on "I Don't Belong" and then they just settle into a groove that is, admittedly: Simple, Fast and Melodic!. It's also a groove that is really fukkn good.  "Country Man" is a would-be anthem for a generation of small town working class (pop) punk kids (they were from Barretos, the capital of Brasilian rodeo) while "Cog Of Gear" is lightning fast and conjures ROUSE vibes - hell, even the damn BEATLES cover (almost) works. None of the nine tracks touch the two minute marks while that simple, fast and melodic groove just keeps churning. These are the nuggets that will (always) keep me digging. 

SIMPLE, FAST AND MELODIC!