THE GENERICS

Fred pulled this out of the free bin at Thrillhouse, rescuing it from the depths of the unknown. If you think that you don't need any more unknown mid-'80s new wave/pop jams in your life then you can move might along...and the rest of you? You are my real friends. And you can now add "Love's A Hit" to your next crucial jams mix tape.

THE GENERICS

radio's been telling me that love...ooooh, love is in

DANIEL HIGGS

DANIEL HIGGS draws his inspiration from an entirely different place. This cassette features sixty minutes of musical improvisations, stream of consciousness aural manipulations and mind bending sounds cut and pasted together with seeming abandon. The first side is minimal; childlike audio excursions placed end to end with great care, a banjo wandering in drunken bursts between emotions often returning to variations of one refrain. The second side is more lively, minimal percussion sometimes urging the banjo onward into droning electronics, the banjo sometimes meandering with only a hint of purpose towards field recordings and casual cacophonies, with an infectious two and a half minute uptempo organ romp in the middle of the side. Vocals are almost nonexistent (save a one minute reprise of "Holy Bible Time" that closes the first side), but while the voice is so often a focal point of HIGGS' recordings, this time they are wholly unnecessary. This might be a lot to digest for the uninitiated, but your efforts will be rewarded.

ULTRATERRESTRIAL HARVEST HYMNS

VAGRANTS

Only one vinyl release from this late '80s Bay Area outfit (I think the EP came out in 1990?), which is perhaps why they are so often overlooked, but both demos are in today's download so you can spend your day playing catchup. Fast melodic punk with guitars ripped out of a searing hardcore outfit and melancholic vocals that lament as much as they sing. A Disappointment sounds hesitant and awkward, aside from the guitars, and the result is endearing from the very first note. Lost is certainly a stronger and more mature release, the guitars are reigned in to focus on melody, the vocals are more confident and lilting, and the songs are more dynamic - hard to say which I like better though (part of the reason I just threw 'em both up here). This music comes from before my time in the Bay Area, but I can imagine that if there had been any connection whatsoever between FILTH and JAWBREAKER (I don't think that there was) then it would have sounded like this. 

A DISAPPOINTMENT // LOST

SIGNAL LOST

I don't know exactly how to describe this band, but Austin's SIGNAL LOST brought something to early '00s punk that was important and lacking. The influences might have been drawn from older punk sounds, but the manifestation was urgent from the very start. As great as this 2003 demo is, it is just a taste of the two superb full length records that this band left us with before they parted ways (2007's Prosthetic Screams is undoubtedly one of the most overlooked DIY records of that decade). These songs eventually made it onto Children Of The Wasteland in a more mature form, though there's a purity to these versions that I still endorse. Members now play in CRIATURAS and ARCTIC FLOWERS, in case you need extra incentive.

SIGNAL LOST

SLAUGHTERED GRACE

New Jersey....wow. This is absolutely primal death/thrash metal from Lodi, NJ circa 1989, six tracks of face melting shred of the highest caliber. All of the necessary elements are presented for your enjoyment: rampaging, forceful drums seemingly just a hair ahead of the beat, screaming (and dueling) guitar solos, sporadic breakdowns with ominous gang vocals and a singer trying desperately to cram all of his wisdom into each verse. Equal parts (early) DRI and SLAYER with a thankfully subtle element of cheese, these maniacs dished out a slab that holds up perfectly today - in fact it makes me want to wreck shit. After this demo and one single SLAUGHTERED GRACE called it quits...I can only imagine how good they would have gotten had they kept going.

CALL THIS PLANET...SLAUGHTERED GRACE

STRUCK

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? played with these dudes and they absolutely killed it, then I scooped the demo when I went back to Japan the following year. Crucial hardcore sounds from Tokyo - riffs that nod equally to early '80s USA and Japan and an energy that is unmistakably early '00s, I can assure you that as well as this demo holds up today, my memories of their live show are even better. Remember when you first heard TOTAL FURY and the whole game just changed? Yeah, well that's about to happen to you again.

STRUCK IS HARD CORE PUNK ROCKER!!!

BOG BRUSHES

Absolute nonsensical noise punk taken to new heights before it was even a desirable subgebre, these BOG BRUSHES fools embody accidental no wave and childish punk. Idiotic keyboards, primitive drum machines and a completely moronic take on what was then the new wave, this tape takes some serious context to properly digest. So...yeah: noise fans? Good luck.

PRODUCTS OF A FUCKED NATION