JAMS 2

 

A coninuation of the excellent Jams (And Other Erotic Daydreams) mix that appeared in these pages last year, Jams 2 is a blistering collection of early century international punk. This is essentially the mix I would have cranked out in 2005, but instead it was cranked out by a pre-Music Not Noize Badenhop (still worth scouring the posts on that long defunct blog, by the way) with a finger on the pulse and an ear to the past.  GAUZE to AMDI PETERSENS ARME...TERVEET KADET to LA FRACTION...TZN XENNA to BORN DEAD ICONS...RUDIMENTARY PENI to SKITKIDS. This is the tape that would have melted the brains of a teenage starter punk then and a tape that lights a fire under my middle aged ass today. The embodiment of the All Killer, No Filler ethos, I can only hope that there's a third volume lurking...somewhere.  

JAMS 2

LA MERMA

 

These sounds so permeated the '90s that a millennial punk would be excused for not delving into the nuances that distinguish the first FACE TO FACE record from SCREECHING WEASEL and GRIMPLE's Up Your Ass. Of course the three are worlds apart, but...I'm just saying. FUCKFACE played a really weird show in Nogales in 1996 - massive stage so tall that attendees had to stand thirty feet back just to see the bands. One four channel vocal PA to power guitars, vocals and a wholly unnecessary snare drum mic. Don't remember who played (hell, it might have been LA MERMA), but I traded one of our shirts with a neighborhood dude on the street for the shirt off his back - a weird skull and the name of the town twisted into a crude Metallica logo that read NOGALES - Where Shit Happens. We didn't get into any shit that night, but I wore that shirt for fukkn years. Anyway...file LA MERMA alongside aggressive and melodic late '90s hardcore and punk bands, not entirely unlike the ones I mentioned earlier, and know that they came from a place where shit happened. 

CIUDAD FRONTERIZA

SOLARIZED

Expect forty minutes of dark, tense hardcore with understated nods to JESUS LIZARD and BL'AST (though there's nothing understated about the band). The sound is advanced, developed, intentional...and powerful. To listen to "Work Without Weapons" is to listen to the result of the process without having to think about the process itself. Whether it's an official designation or not, I'm filing SOLARIZED under 'adult hardcore' until someone invents a better descriptor. Descriptors tamp expectations though, so perhaps you should just use the volume knob* and reach your own conclusions? 

A GHOST ACROSS HELL FROM ME

 * I realize that most modern devices utilize either volume buttons or finger swipes on touch screens, but neither hits the same in the context of thew written word...so you get a knob.

CONSUME

 

The effect this music has on me is visceral and it's surprising...even to me, and even today. Analytically, CONSUME were a by-the-numbers DBeat influenced North American crust/punk band - which is not to say that they weren't special, just that they were doing a thing that a lot of bands were doing at the time. You'd be right to file them alongside BORN/DEAD and many other bands who clung to clenched fist filthy hardcore instead of bowing to the more melodic stadium crust trend that would eventually take over the decade, and surely CONSUME belong in that camp. But CONSUME are different...this shit is anxious and damaged - they sound drunk...like angry drunk. Mad at everything at taking it out on themselves. To hear "Logical Limits Exceeded" is to hear a song written out of sheer spite. CONSUME simply sound like they had no fucking choice.  

CONSUME

G.R.O.S.S.

 

A killer high end extravaganza from G.R.O.S.S., further cementing my belief that the Maritime Provinces have been home to some of the best DIY punk bands in the world for the last few years (check the recent CELL DETH demo, also from Sewercide). Hard to describe how much the sonic presentation does for the tracks here - great, snappy punk chops (the longest is "Rift," clocking in at a whopping 1:10) turned into piercing shots by trebled out garage hardcore guitars and a muffled, raspy sweet croon where you might expect rough and tumble snarls. Comes off like a loud, sweaty basement show where everyone is moving...do they have basements in Nova Scotia? I need to find out. 

G.R.O.S.S.

AE EPIASOL

 

I spent a couple of hours this morning listening to the What Is Music? comp that Sound Noise Music put out in 1992 and....just made me really appreciate different aspects of and approaches to sound presentation, whether musical or not. And it made me really appreciate this Albuquerque gem I picked up last week on recommendation from the Longhair folks. Tripped out sample laden ambiance with subtle hints of damaged hip hop...one of the rare releases that sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. And that's why I was listening to What Is Music? earlier...because I wanted to remember what else was possible. The answer is simple.....anything.

XYLEM AND PHLOEM CACOPHONIES OF BLACK BOTANISTS AND ARBORISTS

PLUME

 

Hopelessly addictive twee punk with heavy guitars from the TRY THE PIE / PRIMAL RITE family tree. Think Simple Machines by way of PRIMITIVES....but those guitars are like a teletransporter and they just take me away. It's so simple, really, and apparently so good that PLUME decided this one cassette was enough. I disagree, yet I'm grateful nonetheless. 

PLUME