Going Through the Motions

Podcast 6/22/08

2008-06-22T17:56:00.004-05:00

The quality of the rips isn't great on some of these, but I'm pretty stoked on the mix. Progressive instrument surf rock (Man...Or Astroman?) into 80s Finnish hardcore from a 7" that some call the best hardcore 7" of all time (Terveet Kadet). There's also some oooold 80s punk from the likes of the Vidiots, Black Flag (rare demo!) and Crisis, with some newer stuff in the mix of different styles. Legion are heavy as fuck and Spunk, from Japan, have more of a garage feel. DCOi! are thrashy punk from SoCal. I also threw in some kick ass 90s hardcore (MK Ultra, Anodyne), and old rockabilly comedy track from Bob Peck, and a couple British Oi! numbers to balance it out.

Man...Or Astroman?-Interstellar Hardrive
Terveet Kadet-Ei Enää Koskaan Sotaa

Vidiots-Laurie's Lament
MK Ultra-Worker Vs. Parasite
The Spunks-Russian Roulette
Bob Peck-Sweet 16

Hail Mary-In Motion
Cock Sparrer-Watch Your Back
Legion-Mindfuck

Anodyne-Crop Circle
Crisis-Holocaust
DCOi!-Agony of Defeat

Black Flag-My War (demo)
Close Shave-Rather Be Down the Pub

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Battle of the Beers 6/14/08

2008-06-18T10:14:00.002-05:00

This is a first draft

We convened on June 14th, 2008. It was the day before Father’s Day, and we had serious business to attend to. The Plainfield, IL location of Binny’s Beverage Depot was hosting their first annual “Battle of The Beers”. Row upon row of beers sat, waiting for consumption. 25 domestics, 25 imports, all of the wheat variety. Admission was free, samples were plentiful and no one refused you when you went back for a second opinion. I approached the scene with a broken sense of caution, because there was only one thing for certain, and that was that was that I was going to be leaving Binny’s stinking drunk.

Wheat beers have never been my forte, but I knew there had to be something, buried inside the haystack, that would stick to my palette and instill in me the rich feeling of discovering a beer that is uniquely mine. Beer snobs all have their certain go-tos. Sure, we enjoy sitting down with the samples and picking apart the bodies, cleanliness, and clarity of any beer and brewery we come across, that’s what these events are all about. But, in the end, beer snobbery can cloud your vision and there will always be times when we just want something to drink simply because we enjoy it and want to enjoy it over and over again.

Keeping so many beers straight in your head is not an easy task. The 25 imports featured were mostly German brews with names that end up all running together after the first 15 beers or so. There were great stand-outs from both sides, but the Americans fell drastically short in this battle. There were some great contributions from the Americans, including Flying Dog’s (Colorado) “In-Heat Wheat”, Rogue’s (Oregon) “Half-E-Weizen”, and my personal favorite, “Uber Sun” from the always great Southern Tier brewery in New York. “Uber Sun” was a much hoppier, bitter styled beer that tasted more like an IPA than a wheat beer, which is right up my alley.

There were a number of American beers that left a lot to be desired, some were almost tasteless. The contributions from the Point Brewery in Wisconsin were dismal. Their “Horizon” was decent enough, sort of a relaxed take on the classic wheat beer style but with no distinguishing characteristics, and their “Nude Beach” and “White Ox” (which is brewed in the Point Brewery but under the James Page moniker) were both completely unnecessary, they were basically bland light beers with a small edge packaged in fancy bottles, as was North Coast’s (California) “Blue Star Wheat”. The Shiner Brewery out of Texas had their Hefeweizen available, which had a citrus taste that was so overpowering there almost no beer to be found in the drink. The “1809 Berliner” weisse from the Weihen brewery in Germany was done in the same style, but much better executed, with a tangy tinge, but not overpowering.

The Europeans were not without their faults, but the vast majority of the international beers for sampling were quality brews. Erdinger (Germany) made two great contributions, their regular weissbier, which was bitter with a bit of a citrus edge, and their dunkle (dark) was superb. The crowd favorite of the day was Hoegaarden’s (Belgium) weisse which was a beautifully thin beer that packed a much bigger flavor punch than you would ever imagine such a light beer being able to get away with. My personal favorite find was from the Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn Brewery (Germany), who put in three beers that were all great, but their “Aventinus” was the stand out in my opionion. The first little bit was hard to get through, but after letting it sit for a minute and get the aftertaste, the rest went down easy. It was definitely the surprise of the day for me, that beer I’d been looking for.

I admit, with great shame, that I did not get through all 50 beers. I made it to 47 in our three hour window. But there was a lot more there than just the beer. It was the conversations, the mutual respect of fellow beer drinkers, discussing all the subtleties of the craft that goes over most people’s heads. In three hours we had tried and examined more beers than most passive drinkers will try in the course of their lives. Basic economics tells you that in a recession, the alcohol industry is one that will soar. But it’s not about getting drunk, it’s about appreciating something that someone puts their whole life-force into to make right. Whether they’re a European Brewery who has been using the same recipe for 400 years or they’re a new American upstart who just got their foot in the door and is trying to forge new ground, there is a community to seek out their product and appreciate it. It’s just like any other obsession that is rooted in a mere hobby, just like those of us who collect obscure vinyl records or B horror movies. We drink because we can, because it’s one of the few privileges that the state hasn’t found a way to take away from us. It was Bukowski who said “When you drank, the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn’t have you by the throat,” and we don't need to be lifetime drunks to appreciate that (so FUCK YOU Alabama!).

Public Serpents-The Feeding of the Fortune 5000 (Tent City)

2008-06-05T13:25:00.008-05:00

This is the new band from some dude that was in ~~Leftover Crack~~ Choking Victim (this was a complete error on my part, this band has nothing to do with Leftover Crack and I don't know why I wrote that and then didn't catch when I proofread this. Sorry for any confusion). They're self-proclaimed "Crack Rock Steady", which is a label I've never really understood because to me it just sounds a lot like Rancid without the snappy bass lines. I could spend all day talking about the cheesy artwork on this record, predictable (and cheesy) lyrics, and the boring arrangements, but I've decided to take the high road and try to approach this record with an open mind.

There are some cool riffs on this record, like in the song "Dummy" that's got a poppy third-wave type sound with some funny background vocals and a chorus that reminds of the Freeze stuff from the 90s. If the whole album was as high-energy as that song, I could actually see myself sitting around listening to this. The song cuts out in just over a minute (the shortest song here, they need to follow that mode more), the record goes into a bland streetpunk beat and proceeds to alternate between that streetpunk sound and a "1/1" time ska beat for most of the record. To add to that, the song arrangements are typically way too long (majority of the songs clock in at over 2 and a half minutes, which is an eternity with as little variety as they have to offer). A lot of the vocal melodies fall tired quickly and are really too poppy for my tastes, to the point of being generic. For some reason, the band felt the need to balance out this record with some weird electronic music and bland rapping that sounds like the Insane Clown Posse circa 1991 (is it bad to be able to distinguish different eras of the Insane Clown Posse? I find it sort of embarrassing).

There are some cool moments on this record, but mostly just pieces of songs ("Effigies of Life" has potential to be really cool without all the stupid electronic shit). I could honestly see this record being released as an EP with some of the crap cut out and shorter versions of a lot of these songs, and turning out alright. But these dudes tried way too hard to put this out as a full length, and fell victim to their own ambition. Or drugs.

Public Serpents on MySpace
Buy It On Interpunk

Legion-Savior 7" (Wake Up and Live)

2008-05-31T18:34:00.004-05:00

I'm really happy about Legion. They're one of two Birmingham bands right now (the other is Now I Have a Machine Gun) that I feel are representing the best of what Birmingham has to offer as far as the musicians in the band, and are making the effort to tour and prove that Birmingham has a lot more to it than rednecks or Christian hardcore kids. I finally got to see this band for the first time a little over a week ago when I visited Birmingham for the first time in a while. They played a house show and the crowd was pretty nuts considering the close quarters and Alabama heat. Their show last night in Chicago (w/their tourmates Die Young, Ceremony, Life Long Tragedy, the Muzzler, and Sabertooth Zombie) was top-notch. Their van had just broken down and were behind to the tune of a grand on tour, but they went out played just as loud and fast and you could hope for.

I got their new 7" on Wake Up and Live Records the morning of the show (that's a fucking epic story I'll save for later). Matt Whitson, who does a great job recording a lot of local bands, recorded the 7" at their practice space instead of his basement studio, which adds a great raw element to the production, which definitely benefits the sound. The band switches between slow, sludgy metal parts to break-neck speed powerviolence style seamlessly and the vocals are an indistinguishable mess of anger and resentment. All the tracks are tight as hell, which isn't surprising to me considering how awesome some of the previous bands these guys were in have been (JAWZ!). A good comparison for this would be His Hero Is Gone, but they don't sound like a band who would point to them as influence because I'd hate to pigeonhole them like that. I hear some more metal elements and some of the slow parts remind me of Iron Monkey or even Anodyne. A lot of the fast parts, especially with all the starts and stops, seem to pull a lot from Japanese bands from the 90s.

This is a fucking sick record.

Legion (GO SEE 'EM ON TOUR)
Wake Up and Live Records (ORDER IT THERE, FOOL!)

Podcast 5/17/08

2008-05-17T22:16:00.002-05:00

Currently drinking: Moylan's IPA. A spectacular IPA for the price ($3.50 for a bomber). A great American style IPA, full of hop but pretty even, without the bitter taste IPAs are typically known for. Reccomended!

This episode is a little heavy on the Midwest (especially Chicago!) bands with a classic track by the Quincy Punx from Minneapolis, and new ones from Rager, the Sidewalk Cracks, and Sweet Cobra, all Chicago bands. The Midwest stand out here is from the State, who are legends in the Michigan scene due to their classic 7" from back in '84. The track on the show is BRAND NEW from a record that just came out and smokes their old material. I don't leave out classic American hardcore, though, as proven by the stellar Siege track from the Dropdead demo in 1984 from Boston, and there are even some international bands thrown for good measure. L.S.D. and Stanhansen are both Japanese (the L.S.D. track dates back to a rare 7" from '86!), Marching Orders are heading up the current Austrailian Oi! scene, Unkind are a heavy and melodic Finnish punk band, and Enola Gay were kings in the Danish scene back in the 80s. This is also the most straight-forward hardcore episode I've done to date. Pretty much everything on this is heavy, even the Demented Are Go track! Enjoy!

Tracklist:

Quincy Punx-Tina
L.S.D.-Jast Last

Unkind-Arjen Juhlaa
Siege-Conform
Demented Are Go-Body Bag
Sidewalk Cracks-Lower Wacker

Marching Orders-Back on the Streets
Enola Gay-Destructive Hjerner
Sweet Cobra-Ruin
Stanhansen-Truth and Generalization

Rager-Save It For the Axe
State-Spiesburger
Rentokiller-The Erotic Principle

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Naked Raygun-Throb Throb LP (Haunted Town)

2008-05-17T11:54:00.003-05:00

Throb Throb is one of the top 10 best 80s USHC records of all time, and it's absolutely the best Naked Raygun record in my opinion. I have a CD version of this that that was sort of a rush job done in the 90s, which is what I've always listened to. There was NO mastering, it was like they just plugged in the record to a DAT and cut out some pops. The tinny, thin production lent something to the recording, it made it sound dated and, in some ways, even more "hardcore", but it wasn't the way this record was meant to be heard. Haunted Town has done a great job putting this version of the record together. The artwork is perfectly re-created and there's a complete lack of over-sized label logos and contact info (which is sadly almost the norm now in high-profile reissues). The mastering job is huge. When you drop the needle and "Rat Patrol" comes in with just the one guitar, it's a long few seconds waiting to really hear how it's going to sound, and when the band kicks into full gear, the sound is all over the place and it's just so huge and pummeling and you know that this is what Naked Raygun, in their infinite punk-wisdom, were going for.

Of course, there's almost no point in talking about the record because you either know it or you don't and if you don't, you probably do know that there's something missing in your life. Everything from the sing-alongs in "Rat Patrol" to the slow, driving beat of "Roller Queen" to the too-short-notice "No" (bonus track not included on the original) is to-the-point and, above all, strictly Naked Raygun. Raygun were never ones to bullshit or beat around the bush, and they never recorded a track they didn't absolutely need to, which is what makes their material so vital. They were one of the few bands in the 80s that managed to carve out their own niche in hardcore punk and create a sound that was like nobody else in the world. This album is essential.

There are 800 of these on gold vinyl and 550 on oxblood. I've got the oxblood version, which is like a dark purple with a black haze, and looks awesome.

Buy It on Interpunk

L.S.D.-Discography LP (Schizophrenic)

2008-05-16T23:40:00.003-05:00

I slept on this record for a looooong time. I honestly avoid a lot of Japanese releases because they're pretty trendy. This is a case where I have humble myself and just admit that I missed the fuck out.

L.S.D. were one of the early Japanese hardcore punk bands and this their entire recorded output, spanning 1984-1986 and culled from five separate sessions. The A side is really what you're after here, which includes all the original recordings of their songs. There is a recording that was originally released as a flexi in 1984 (flexis seemed to be really popular among Japanese groups), a 7" they recorded in '86 called Jast Last, a song from a comp. LP and one song from a demo later in their career. All the music is excellent, a good mix of mid-tempo punk and faster thrash style hardcore that is pretty fucking heavy all the way through. The coolest thing about the whole side of the record is that the different sessions don't offer a huge contrast. Releases like this tend to be a little hard to listen to because of the differences in quality or production, and this flows really well, I'm amazed there are no mastering credits and all these songs just happened to flow this well. Fans of any early Japanese hardcore (Gauze, Stalin, etc) will go nuts over this and will obviously love the price-tag, a mere 13 bucks, compared to the hundreds the originals would set you back.

The B side of the record is a live set from '84. The recording quality is really good and the set is top-notch. It's a great addition, especially considering the fact that only a couple of the songs are repeated and the rest of the set is made up of previously unreleased songs. Schizophrenic Records really set the standard with this one.

Buy It On Interpunk

SSD To Tour This Summer

2008-05-14T19:56:00.001-05:00

You may or may not have heard about the SSD "reunion" happening this summer. This is all you need to know:

"There is absolutely no truth to any speculation that SSD will be performing this summer. The fact is original vocalist David Spring "Springa" is assembling a band of hired guns to tour and rip off the public playing under the name SSD. Due to his selfish actions David Spring has officially been terminated from ALL association with the band SSD. His attempt to recreate SSD in 2008 will utterly fail and I hope the public will not attend his performances and if they do they make it as miserable as possible for him to remain on stage safely. I know I personally will make every attempt to make him pay for his corrupt, cheating selfish actions. SSD will always be a team with integrity. It's unfortunate that a fat overweight "has been" and "nobody" will try to fool the public under the mighty moniker SSD.

His overall contribution to what made SSD such a special band is so far under the radar and almost next to zero. Anybody intimately involved and close to the band understands his contribution. The real fact is that the band had to go out of its way to compensate for his talent, work ethic and criminal behavior.

I feel bad for those fans who have been waiting for a chance to see the band but attending this Dave Springa performance is a travesty and borderline criminal. He is a terrible human being and I'm not just saying this now. He is basically the reason the band dissolved. Our relationship has been civil since we stopped playing but clearly after then band dissolved his musical and organizational ability pretty much guaranteed his ability to get to get zero accomplished. He couldn't write a song if it fell in his lap. Having said that, I have been monitoring this potential SSD ripoff roadshow for sometime and I have done my best to discourage it through various legal and illegal tactics. I have actually held off some royalties and payments to hold over his head and help him make the right decision.

He is basically following the business model laid out by Cliff from the Freeze, Chris Doherty from Gang Green, Choke from Slapshot. I can only speculate but I believe their motives are clear. I hate to throw anybody under the bus but I'm sure this support system of 40 year olds living in the past has helped David Spring organize the tour.

Motives

1) Rip off the public as 40 plus year-olds playing music made by kids and capitalize on American Hardcore Movie.

2) Make enough money to buy their alcohol, drugs and coke and whatever else.

3) Pounce on as many foreign chicks who think these American punk rock stars are special and give them 20 year old pussies. Hopefully they will give them something else as well.

4) Escape their miserable lives and US wifes and girlfriends to pursue their sexual fantisies.

5) Hopefully come back to US with enough money so they can collect unemployment and continue their life avoiding a disciplined work schedule in which you wake up and go to work. They will repeat the cycle every two years.

If it wasn't for my efforts, Springa would have justified this plan and pulled this shit sooner. It seems like he might pull it off this time but I am a fucking fighter and I don't take well to people ripping me off and tarnishing the name of my band. I am assemblng a network of supporters who will help do everything possible to make him uncomfortable and fearful for his safety at each show. If he gets close to the Boston or New York area then I will execute the plan. My goal is to make the tour fall apart due to poor attendance, hopefully get the promotors to back off after my legal representative serve papers. I would also appeal to the general public to understand when they are getting ripped off and for them to NOT BELIEVE that this lineup is SSD. It's just a fat overweight scumbag breaking ranks from the band. He must be stopped.

Please share this letter to anybody or any punk rock news outlet. It's time to put a stop to these rogue motherfuckers who have no integrity. Anyone who can help make David Spring's life miserable will be on my list of close friends who I will be entirely indebted to and hopefully I can repay the favor somehow.

Thanks

Alan Barile
Leader SSD"

Podcast 5/04/08

2008-05-04T10:54:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm back. Work is still crazy and my shifts are being moved around, but I had some time and wanted to put this together. This episode is a little NYHC heavy (Token Entry, Stimulators, H2O), but it also hits Finland for some awesome progressive metal/hardcore, and pulls a couple other great selections from Europe with Mad Sin and the 4Skins. The obscurist points are here as well, with a great number from Agness Bernelle and a lost Freddie and the Freeloaders track recorded at the legendary Sun Studios back in '65. While I was not doing these, I forgot how boring this shit gets when I drink too much and ramble on forever about some bands. Sorry, it won't be so bad next time.

The Process-Svidande Kritik
Naked Raygun-Rat Patrol

Cut the Shit-No Integrity
Agnes Bernelle-Chansonette

Mad Sin-Wicked Witch
Stimulators-Loud Fast Rules!
Token Entry-The Bright Side
4Skins-Plastic Gangster

H2O-EZ.2.B.Anti
Freddie and the Freeloaders-The Octopus Song
Gorgonized Dorks-Cycle of Depravity
Tom Waits-Green Grass

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Where Have I Been?

2008-04-06T17:54:00.004-05:00

Currently drinking: Eye of the Hawk Select Ale (Mendocino Brewing Company, Saratoga Springs, NY)

So, for the readers here who don't know me personally, this is what's going on for me right now. March 25th was my 21st birthday. March 24th, I got laid off at my job. I walked into a very labor intensive job that required a lot of studying and putting in a lot of hours. It fucking sucks, and it turns out, I'm not making ANY money (actually coming close to losing money) because it turns out I'm no good at sales because I'm not nearly as big of an asshole as I used to think I was. So, I'm back to square one. It's hard finding good work that actually pays your bills when you're young, married with children, have no marketable skills, and live in a large metropolitan area (Chicago). Hell, I even tried to join the Navy because they send dudes to school for journalism, and they don't even want me because I've got asthma. I'm gonna' wait two months and then lie about it though, so I can spend the rest of my days in a submarine, clacking away on a keyboard while we go all over the world. Considering the amount of drinking I do, I'd almost be Hunter S. Thompson, and that, my friends, would be a good life.

Anyway, that's why there haven't been any updates, and there won't be any updates until I can find steady work and then have leisure time to do this. I have a lot of other things on my plate I want to get done as well. I'm working on my first novel, which is an even better writing outlet. I think, more than anything, the novel is something that I need to write right now rather than just to have something to write to pass some time after a crappy day at work. I'll want proofreaders for it that have more to say than "It sucks!" or "It's awesome!", so if you want to read parts of it before it's finished, hit me up. It's pretty dark, as people should expect from me. Think Chuck Palahniuk with some David Ambrose-esque sort of psychology shit in there, set to a soundtrack of Anodyne's A Lifetime of Grey Skies. Man, you didn't know I read fuckin' books, did you? I'm also playing bass in Government for Hire in Chicago now, and am wanting to do a paper version of Going Through the Motions, which is something I've always wanted to do but have never had the time or motivation tofor. If other people are willing to work with me on it, I could totally see it happening. There are tons of zines coming out of Chicago right now, some are fucking great, some are not so great, and a lot are in Spanish and I can't read a fuckin' work of them after "Hola!", but there aren't many zines being consisistently published and while the Hispanic (Pilsen/Little Village) area in Chicago has a lot of participation and coverage (and rightly so, because the scene is huge and full of great dudes and good bands), the Southside skinhead scene has nothing to show for it. I want to get all the little Southside scenes represented, and fuck the Northside 'cause that shit ain't fuckin' punk!

See you later.

V/A-I Thrash, Therefore I Am (Schizophrenic) review

2008-03-26T17:38:00.006-05:00

Finally, parts of the legendary Borderless Countries Tapes are seeing a proper vinyl release. I Thrash, Therefore I Am was volume 18 in the series, and arguably the most famous and best. To my knowledge, this isn't the collection in it's entirety, but just the best that could fit onto on LP, so it will suffice. I wish every one of the tapes would be remastered and reissued in this format, but they would probably be waaaay too expensive for anyone to actually put together.

Mob 47 provide a perfect introductions to this record for old and new hardcore fans alike. They belt out 9 tracks of top-notch Swedish hardcore that set the standad for all to follow. Product Assar offer up two tracks of lo-fi, relentless punk rock. All pretty straight forward and doesn't break any barriers. Sounds like standard 80s style thrashcore. Honestly, I could take or leave these two songs, as they aren't bad, but are definitely the worst on here. The next set is Moderat Likvidation. The quality on their songs are actually pretty good. It's low budget, but the mix is done well. The guitar playing is surprisingly good (actually all the playing on these tracks are way ahead of a lot of low-budget 80s punk, with some awesome bass soloing!). The vocals are super pissed. I have no idea what this dude is yelling on about, but he sure does fucking hate it. The intro on "Dodeus Barn" reminds me of "Last Rockers" by Vice Squad (which actually isn't a bad over-all comparison, though these dudes have a definite metal influence). These tracks are fucking awesome, maybe even better than the Mob 47 contributions.

Side B kicks off with Existenz, who play tight, fast, punk rock and their tracks are GREAT quality. The vocals are short bursts of syllables, and the English parts I can pick are pro-active (song titles like "Burning Bones of War" and "Fight for Freedom" speak for themselves). Their songs are well put together in a really awkward fashion, the guitars and bass change up rhythm while the drums keep playing pretty much the same straight ahead punk rock beat the whole time. They actually make this sound interesting, which is really cool. They also do some cool breakdowns, though. "Fight For Freedom" breaks into a slow part with a little shuffle to the drums for about five seconds before blasting back full speed for the end. These dudes are fast as hell, but still sound punk as opposed to some of the heavier hardcore on this record. Their last track, "Anger Burning in My Head" sounds like late 70s/early 80s UK punk with a lot more bite to it. Akutt Innleggelse start their set with "De Dode Vakner", and the main riff on that one is pretty much "Bloodstains" by Agent Orange, but all trebly and obviously recorded in some dude's basement on a crappy old tape deck, so it sounds raw as all hell. The guitars are feeding back pretty much any time they let up for an instant during both of their tracks, and the vocals are a tortured mess. This is beautiful. Anti-Cimex are the only other band besides Mob 47 I'd actually listened to before this. The vocals are loud and angry as hell, but unfortunately they're pushed too far back in the mix to really jump out at you. Other than that, these songs are spectacular, and should be standard listening for any 80s hardcore punk newcomer. This is pretty gloomy stuff, with song titles like "Dead Struggle in a Burning Hell". The album closes out with Enola Gay, who sort of remind me of an old crust band called ATV. They're hardcore, but they rock out, too. Their songs are slower than the other bands and some have a little more character, but they can still play fast. Hell, listen to the drums on "Syndebuk"! And then the fucking atomic bomb feedback that goes into insanely fast hardcore on the song "Enola Gay"! Fuck!

The insert in this record is a good interview with the guy who put together all the original BCT comps, who is pretty verbose. The interview is great, with some good history on the series, but the best part is the end, where he's talking about being 53 years old still being as punk as he was in his 20s. It's great, anyone who ever talked about burning out needs to read this. You grow up, but you don't grow out. The color vinyl is pretty sweet as well. Now that this record is available to the masses, I expect to hear these songs actually covered and/or blatantly ripped off at shows on a regular basis.

Buy It On Interpunk! (30 songs for 10 bucks!)

Tom Lehrer-That Was the Year That Was LP Download

2008-03-22T15:25:00.003-05:00

In the never-ending quest to educate (or piss off) the "punk rock" crowd that regularly reads this blog, I now give you this. Tom Lehrer's That Was the Year That Was is a brilliantly crafted work of satire originally released in 1965 (re-released on CD? Possibly, I don't know, and don't care, this is just fine). His songwriting style is well honed, as he can still sound like himself no matter what style he's copping at the time.

Part of this remind me a lot of Phil Ochs, not only in his voice and playing, but in his sarcasm and his sense of humor towards his subjects, but his sincerity towards the topics he addresses. Lehrer is not a revolutionary, and wasn't trying to change society, or any one's opinions at all, and apparently wrote music because he just couldn't sit still.

Some of these songs could have been written yesterday and they'd still be relevant. "National Brotherhood Week" is still spot-on, even for today, and other's, like "Who's Next?" are on topics (nuclear arms becoming widespread) that, while specific to their time period, are still heavy today. Obviously, since this material is 43 years old, some of the songs are dated, but that doesn't make them any less good, it just means you might have to brush up on some history to fully appreciate it. The liner notes on the back sleeve are possibly even funnier than the songs, and contain the disclaimer: "Any ideas expressed on this record should not be taken as representing Mr. Lehrer's true convictions, for indeed he has none. 'If anyone objects to any statement I make,' he has said, 'I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever made it.'"

This was his last album before he went on hiatus for a long time. There's a very good Wikipedia article on him.

Download That Was the Year That Was

Alternate Action/Marching Orders

2008-03-19T19:10:00.003-05:00

I got two awesome records in this week that I decided not to separate into two posts.

Alternate Action are from Canada and play Oi!. Not hardcore, not "street" punk, it's Oi!. I haven't heard a band nail UK Oi! like this since...well, since the first time I heard old UK Oi!. It's incredible. To all the people who hold bands in this genre to the impossibly high standard of Shock Troops, this is your new favorite band. There are four songs on this 7" that are all varying degrees of awesome. Extra points for being on the coolest looking slab of color vinyl I've seen in a looooong time.

Buy it on Interpunk

I also got a split with Alternate Action, which is a little bit more hardcore tinged than the 7", but still good. The band on the B side, Marching Orders, may actually be better. The sound like Oxblood, but more melodic. And still menacing. Like...Menace, remember them? Or Major Accident. Holy shit, this record fucking rules.

Buy it on Interpunk

Alternate Action on MySpace
Marching Orders on MySpace

Black Flag-Complete 1982 Demos download

2008-03-15T16:59:00.005-05:00

First off, I got this from Mike Parsons, who posted it on the Best of Times messageboard (a Birmingham hardcore board that I still read ocassionally). I am doing nothing more than sharing it with the people who read this blog, and am not taking credit for compiling, ripping, or even finding this gem. I have a vinyl copy of this called 1983 Demo's (misplaced apostrophe in tact) that was bootlegged in the UK by a label called Hardcore Archives.

"In 1982, legally restricted from releasing new records, Black Flag secretly recorded a demo, mainly consisting of songs that would later be used on their albums My War and Slip It In. Tracks 1-10 were taken from these sessions, although some sources indicate that these 10 selections are not in fact the complete 1982 demos.

On July 11, 1984,[1] shortly after Kira Roessler joined the band, Black Flag recorded a few tracks live at Radio Tokyo studio in Los Angeles, including a short interview. Tracks 11-14 are taken from these sessions. Some sources indicate that this recording session was for a radio show of some kind, but, despite its name, Radio Tokyo was (and still is) a conventional recording studio, not a radio station.

The 1982 demo sessions are notable for being the only recorded Black Flag material featuring Chuck Biscuits on drums (his tenure in the band was fairly short-lived). Some Black Flag fans cite this lineup as the best in the band's history, and some consider these recordings to be among the band's best. Due to the secretive nature of the sessions, these demos have also developed a somewhat legendary reputation in punk circles. Also notable is the inclusion of "What Can You Believe" and "Yes, I Know," songs which did not appear on any official Black Flag releases in any form (although Dez Cadena would go on to record them with his post-Black Flag band, DC3).

The Radio Tokyo sessions are also highly regarded by Black Flag fans, due mainly to the "hotter" or more "up-front" sound of the live mix, and Henry Rollins's intense vocal performance."

Download Complete 1982 Demos

An Albatross-Freedom Summer Live download

2008-03-15T16:34:00.003-05:00

Holy shit, this recording is perfect. Everything is clear, but it sounds live and raw as hell, it's a live recording that actually warrants being bootlegged and listened to over and over again. The songs are all pretty clear and the groove sections play out well. The recording is good, but the set is what really makes it. These guys are really a great live act.

Even if you never really listened to An Albatross (I was never really familiar with their whole catalog or anything), this is a good listen. It actually works as an introduction to the band instead of just being something only die hard fans would ever appreciate. It was recorded April 20th 20065 in New York City. One again, I decided to rip this as two files, side a and side b. There are actually visible groove gaps to distinguish the songs, but there are no gaps in the audio and I didn't feel like there was a point in taking the time to try and separate the tracks.

Picture is courtesy of indieworkshop.com. My copy is black ink screen printed on a black sleeve and does NOT show up in a picture, and I don't have a way to scan LPs. My version is on grey vinyl and is hand numbered "11/136".

Set list:

SIDE A
WRGGGGGGGRKYYYYYYY!!!
Triumph Intro
Let's Get On With It
Trust the Sun
Manifesto of the Divine Children
Triumph of the Lazer Viking
Profane Illumination 1/2/3
Ch. 96
Vitally Important Pelvic Thrust
I Will Swim Into the Lazer Eye

SIDE B
I Am the Lazer Viking
Tussin
Hairobics
Ballad of the Electric Coyote
Unkle Funky Pants
Man Eating Pig of Madidi
Get Faster Cry for Happy
Pa Inferno
Mothers' Day
Featgiver
Electric Suits and Cowboy Boots
Revolutionary Politics Of Dance
Triumph Outro

Download Freedom Summer Live

Godstomper/Gorgonized Dorks split 10" (Agromosh) review

2008-03-12T20:17:00.008-05:00

I got this a few weeks ago because Godstomper was on it; I had never heard of Gorgonized Dorks even though they apparantly have a million releases. I didn't really got a chance to sit down and listen to it until last night, and I'm glad I waited.

The Gorgonized Dorks side of this record is spectacular. I haven't had this much fun sitting down with a hardcore record and reading through all the lyrics as the songs play in a really, really long time. Actually, this record is a fitting introduction to the band for me personally because this is same feeling I got while listening to some of the first records I heard by Godstomper. The music isn't groundbreaking, it's the same short bursts of grind you can hear on tons of records nowadays (26 songs on one side of the 10"!!!). The recording quality is kind of on the low side of things, and the vocals are all one level, just sort loud talking with a bit of screech and the high end turned all the way up. There's no way to really explain how cool it is. A lot of what I love are is the lyrics. They have that great "cut-and-paste" style of writing that is so to-the-point and no-bullshit you can tell the songs are fucking punk without even listening to the music. For example, "Rip Off":

I sent your records, did you recieve them?
I never got your parcel
RIP OFF RIP OFF RIP OFF
I sent you e-mails, did you recieve them?
I never got your reply
RIP OFF RIP OFF RIP OFF
Why not follow your word, you agreed to trade
Why not follow your word, to promises made
RIP OFF RIP OFF RIP OFF

Godstomper deliver 8 songs of the bass heavy, heavily distorted grind they're famous for. Top notch as always, a great record for old and new fans alike. I got bummed out when I found out their side was recorded live on a radio broadcast because I figured the quality would be shit, but it's surprisingly well balanced, and the fact that it's a full set adds a good level of continuity to the recording. This is one of my favorite records right now.

There are 1,000 of these, I think. 100 on black with a cover variation and 900 on marbled pink.

Gorgonized Dorks on MySpace
Godstomper on MySpace

Podcast 3/11/08

2008-03-11T21:26:00.003-05:00

Sorry this is late. Still busy, no post. Enjoi!

Imperial Leather-Busting My Seams
Straight Faced-Course for Destruction

Positive Reinforcement-Get What You Want
God and the State-Art for Spastics
Unseen Force-Push Back
3-D Invisibles-Beach Party Massacre

Murderer's Row-Broken Bones
Mischief Brew-All About the Class War
Patriots-The Guilty Walk Free
Kakka-Hatta 77-Sirpa Ja Make

Youth of Today-I Have Faith
The Trouble-Self Destruct

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Slumlords-Involuntary Skinhead 7" download

2008-03-02T10:53:00.003-06:00

This is one of my records that turned up while I was cleaning out our spare room, and I'm really happy about it because it's out of print and, like most of the Slumlords singles, almost impossible to find.

Everything the Slumlords did was top notch. I seriously can't think of one bad song on anything they did. They put out a whole lot of singles that I wish I could get my hands on and two solid LPs before they broke up about a year ago. I love how they were able to move between really serious observations on hardcore and life in general and funny joke songs without any sort of hiccups. Their first demo has recently been pressed onto a 7", but I haven't heard it yet. The A side of this is record available on their second LP, On the Stremph!, same recording, same everything (so it will sound better than my rip from vinyl). The real gem here is the B side, which is a cover of the Scorpions' "Wind of Change". It's a horrible introduction to the band, so if you've never heard them, go get their LPs, which are both still readily available (and I don't seem them going out of print anytime soon) before you listen to this. If you're already into the band, this is a hilarious addition to the rest of their catalog. The cover is not tongue-in-cheek, but the Scorpions they are not, so it makes for a pretty strange rendition of the song.

It's probably also a good idea to include the lyrics for "Involuntary Skinhead" for those of you that don't know anything about these guys.

"Everyday I lost more hair
Down the drain to I don't know where
It's growing thin, you can see some skin
I guess I gotta' take it on the chin

Everyday-I lose more hair
Everyday-INVOLUNTARY SKINHEAD
Down the drain to I don't know where
Look at me!-INVOLUNTARY SKINHEAD

Don't know how I got in this funkle
All the hot chicks are calling me their uncle
I can't really solve this enigma
I've got less hair than Vinnie Stigma

Bought some Rogaine with the last of my cash
Me scalp got red and broke out in a rash"

Involuntary Skinhead
Wind of Change

Some stuff

2008-03-01T17:12:00.002-06:00

So I'm cleaning out my computer/record room. I've finally got my records organized and together instead of strewn around the room, and it feels so great. I also found all the records I'd misplaced, which will result in a couple of awesome downloads later this week.

ALSO, if you haven't heard (I hadn't until just the other day, how did I miss this?!?!?), Combat Rock Industry have released the LAMA live LP! Lama put out some of the really early, super influential, Finnish hardcore. I've ordered mine from Koi Records and can't wait for it!

Buy it on Interpunk

Band 101 Chapter 3-Songwriting

2008-02-27T20:33:00.005-06:00

Read Chapter 1-Forming a band
Read Chapter 2-Practice, Practice, Practice

The obvious next step after an article about the importance of practice would be about getting shows, but you shouldn't get ahead of yourself. Rushing into shows is a bad idea, especially if you're a younger band and don't really know what it feels like when you "gel". For this reason, I want to cover songwriting first. You might argue that songwriting is a totally subjective field and no one can tell you how to write songs, and you'd be right. No one can teach you how to write, not like John Lennon wrote, that comes with talent, but there is a method to the madness. I'm going to cover this in two sections, music and lyrics. I could write an entire book on the subject, but if you really need an entire book about writing songs, you shouldn't even bother.

Your first few songs should be easy to force out. You just put a few chords together for a verse, and then some more for a chorus, maybe a bridge, and you've got it. However, this only gets you so far, and soon enough most of your songs will all blend together into some musical grey area and they'll just be generic. That's where paying attention to the character of the songs comes into play. Like I said before, I could write a book about this, and several people already have, but there's nothing any all of the pages in any of those books that falls outside the one simple rule about writing songs, and that is to make every song better than your last. That's it. Sure, your first few songs will probably suck, but you learn from them and write better songs. If you ever write something that's just not quite up-to-snuff with your other material, either re-write it or trash it completely.

On the same token, if you start to build up material that's substantially better than your early stuff, don't feel bad about dumping the old songs. If you have an emotional attachment to them, you can always record them for your own personal record, or re-work so they sound better. There's a major plus to dumping them, though, and that's recycling. If there was one really cool riff you came up with that ended up in a song that turned out lousy, just dump the old song and use the good riff in a new song.

Now, lyrics. A lot of bands get away with writing really awful lyrics, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Just because you listen to a lot of bands that sing about stupid things or can't write for shit doesn't mean that you should, too. I've found that the most effective method for writing lyrics is to always write the song twice (at least). You need one draft to get down the idea, which is really just the subject matter put into a basic candor with a little bit of an idea about the rhythm. After you get the words down onto the paper, you're able to really see what you're doing and fill things out with a rhyme scheme and allow it to flow. If you try to just write things in one take because you're "inspired", you'll usually end up with 4-6 lines of solid gold and the rest will be total shit. I also suggest that you read a lot. I know, it's not punk rock to read (or something), but if you don't know of anything and can't get any good suggestions, just go to the library and pick out books to read at random. It helps with your vocabulary, it helps your phrasing, and it can open your eyes up to a lot of subjects that you never would have thought about otherwise. I've known so many inarticulate guys singing for bands that sit and write horrible songs because they never read anything except what they were forced to in junior high, and they don't have anything to compare their stuff to, so they think it's amazing by the standards of all the other inarticulate assholes who were never able to see how their socio-political commentary pales in comparison to Orwell, or how their jaded but carefree attitude set to heavy rock sounded like pre-pubescent whine next to Bukowski's brilliant Factotum.

I read one of those songwriting books once. I didn't think it would do me any good, but I went into it with an open mind because I think anyone can stand to learn, no matter what it is they're learning or where they learn it. It was awful. It had page after page explaining song structures, which are useless and intended to stupefy your listener (I'm not arguing against organization, but you should write something in a way that flows, not a way that's formulated to the radio). It talked about establishing an "emotional connection with your audience" (telling them what you think they want to hear as opposed to what you really want to say), and it even advocated pulling song titles and "catch phrases" from already commercial items. The guy admitted that he would go into Hallmark and browse gift cards looking for song ideas. This is a guy who won Grammy's for writing pop-country songs. This is how much of a fucking joke the record industry is.

Sorry for the rant. Hopefully this helps. Next time I'll cover booking shows.

Spazz/25 Ta Life-A Love Story...Of Hate 7" (Edison) review

2008-02-25T19:38:00.004-06:00

This record has apparantly been sitting on shelves for 8 years. It was set for release and the place that was printing the covers went out of business and took all the money. If that's the case, they could have issued them without covers? I don't know, whatever. Also, because this was sitting around so long, all of the songs on this record have their way onto other collections for each band, this is really more for a collector or someone who has never heard either band than anything else.

I still think this is an odd pairing. If there is some sort connection between these two bands that I don't know about, please clue me in. The 25 Ta Life tracks sound exactly like all the other 25 Ta Life songs they recorded. I guess if you're into the style it's good, and while it's certainly better than a lot of the generic "NYHC" mosh stuff, it's almost completely uninteresting to me.

The Spazz material is excellent, but everyone knows I love powerviolence. It makes me want to go out and steal a Hummer for the sole purpose of running over Yuppies. They should call this "Run-Over-Fucking-Yuppies-Core".

Worth it for the Spazz stuff if you don't have it elsewhere.

Buy It on Interpunk

Fuck This/State split 7" (Punks Before Profits) review

2008-02-25T19:24:00.002-06:00

I was wary of this record. State were a cool band from way back when who put out a great 7", that's amazingly still in print. I had heard they did a few reunion shows last year that were really good, but I still just have a hard time believing all these reunions are legit. However, I was delightfully surprised with their side of this split. It's raw and angry, they haven't lost any of their bite over the years, and they're an example of how vets can actually put out new stuff without sounding stale. If you never heard them the first time around but you're a fan of early Touch and Go Records stuff, you should love this.

Fuck This is a new Michigan band featuring Ryan, the former bassist of I Object! splitting vocal duties with a girl. It's good stuff, fast hardcore that doesn't break any barriers musically (also reminds me of early Touch and Go), and honestly loses a little in the recording. The lyrics remind me a lot of I Object!, both in delivery and subject matter, very pro-active and anti herd mentality. Solid release in all.

Buy It on Interpunk

Podcast 2/23/08

2008-02-23T12:46:00.003-06:00

I decided that instead of skipping an episode, I'd just re-scatter the schedule. There might be some issues with this one, I'm trying a new way to sequence the show and have some kinks to work out, so bear with me. I like the playlist a lot, though, so get into it.

(Intro) Tragedy-"The Intolerable Weight"

Converge-"No Heroes"
Dalek:Engam/The Blackstones-"The Bag I'm In"
Dead Boys-"Sonic Reducer"
Conniption-"Hopeless at 21"

Whoppers Taste Good-"Cheap Beer"
Wendy Rene-"After Laughter (Comes Tears)"
Thought Criminals-"Display/Response: Action"

The Dicks-"Rich Daddy"
Eddie Fontaine-"Nothin' Shaking"
Scream-"Who Knows-Who Cares?"

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Bloody Sods/This is the Life

2008-02-22T21:35:00.003-06:00

I upped these really quickly the other night for a message board and thought I might as well cross-post them here, sans the usual long, boring text with them. I've had a shitty fucking week and don't really feel like doing much else.

V/A-This is the Life Volume Six

25 track comp. of Japanese thrash and hardcore. The legendary MCR Company put this out (MCR are the longest running DIY punk label in the world). If people get into this and I get the time/patience in the next couple of weeks, I'll rip my copy of Six Weeks Omnibus Volume 2, which is another amazing Japanese hardcore comp that I don't think was ever put out on CD.

Download it

The Bloody Sods-Get Outta My Head

One of the fastest, most intense Southeastern hardcore bands ever. Think Minor Threat influenced by thrash metal with split vocals by a bunch of rednecks. I saw these guys a few times, and made a show with like 10 kids feel packed and they could start a mosh pit in a church. Sadly, one of their singers died in a motorcycle crash a few years ago (I want to say three or four, it wasn't too long before I moved to Chicago). The best song is "Blackout", which has guest vocals of Frank of the infamous TERMINUS CITY, and there's an SOD cover on this record.

This was never released in the US, and was put out by Madskull Records in Europe.

Download it

If you are a tattoo artist and you're more about politics, drama, playing games, and "making connections" than you are about putting out good work and being a decent dude, you need to have your hands broken. If you're a misogynist and don't want to apprentice and/or hire a girl because you don't want her invading the "boys club", then you should just skip getting your hands broken and go ahead and hang yourself from a ceiling fan.

Scream-Still Screaming LP

2008-02-21T21:20:00.003-06:00

The sad thing about Scream is that they'll always be remembered as "that band that Dave Grohl used to be in". The fact is that the band was amazing and Dave Grohl didn't play drums on this record, anyway.

This record fits right into the early Dischord aesthetic. There was a pretty distinct vocal style going around DC in the early 80s, and you can usually call out the bands from that scene based on vocals alone. These guys went so far past that, though. They weren't as insane as Minor Threat, but they approached hardcore punk with the same carefree style that allowed the evolve within the scene, but by their own standards. There's a melodic element to this record that was almost non-existent in the rest of the East Coast bands at the time, the songs were markedly slower than other DC bands, but they retain the urgency of the scene.

I'd say that this is one the most under-rated early Dischord Records. Maybe even the most under-rated (the only one that might be above it, in my opinion, is the SOA single). Everybody knows Minor Threat were amazing, and Government Issue, while under-rated, still get due props. There was some over rated stuff, like the Teen Idles (sorry, but that single is 70% crap), and of course, Iron Cross (who I used to love, and I still own the Live For Now collection, but the older I get, the more of their catalog becomes unlistenable).

Dischord finally decided to re-issue this on vinyl. It's spot on, everything is reproduced just as the original, in the Dischord style. You have to love them.

Buy It On Interpunk