SHORT CHANGED…We Will Bury You

•September 8, 2012 • Leave a Comment

SHORT CHANGED – We Will Bury You LP

 

SHORT CHANGED has been holding down Bay Area Punk Rock for some time now.  With numerous releases under their belts this is their second for long running label Rodent Popsicle.  While we are on that subject, let’s give a shout out to Bill from RP for keeping it real for so many years!  Cheers!  The band’s second for RP, but their first release to feature new vocalist Hekka Bekka.  Maybe the change in singers called forth a greater effort from everyone because this is by far SHORT CHANGED’s finest release.  It sees the band being less spastic and more on their game.  And their game is serious, ass kicking hardcore punk with a fine layer of crust.  The band seems to have really gelled and everyone seems to really fit into their role well.  I have never seen the band live but have met about everyone in the band on my travels to the Haz Mat (RIP) warehouse in Oakland.  Although most of us really love the chaos and spontaneity of Punk Rock, there is nothing that compares to a band that keeps that alive but has the tightness of a well-oiled, yet seasoned unit.  SHORT CHANGED has made the move from scrappy local band to contenders on the national and even international scenes.  Having a release this solid demands that they venture inland and say good-bye to the coast for a few weeks to give some of us land lubbers a piece of their action.  What I am saying is they need to get in the van and bring their punk to some of their interior states.  Fuck yeah!  The song ‘Punk With an X’ seems to be a reworked version of ‘X Marks the Spark’, the song by this band that originally caught my attention years back on their Myspace page.  And…Hold on to your mohawks…They do a fucken’ A primo cover of SEPULTURA’s ‘Refuse/Resist’ that had me headbanging and stomping around mosh mad crazy!  \m/  Lets end this review with a shout out Jeff Leppard (RIP) who was behind the controls for the recording of this slab of Punk FUCKEN’ Rock!   (Josh Mosh)

http://www.facebook.com/xShortChangedx

http://www.rodentpopsicle.com/

http://www.myspace.com/goatpowerrec

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The Lesser of 2 Evils is Still Evil…

•September 7, 2012 • Leave a Comment

 

 

 

This was on a friends Facebook page.  I thought it was well written and informative so I asked his permission to reprint it.  I’d like to add that most of the “Anarchist Violence” at these political rallies is the work of agent provocateurs.  This is a tactic of the establishment that goes as far back as time used to blemish and criminalize anarchist theory and belief.  While, most often, anarchists practice peaceful protest these intruders try to stir up the shit so to speak.  I included a video at the bottom that ousts a few of these cowards at a protest in 2009   –  Josh Mosh

 

 

GET OFF YOUR KNEES – by Vodka

 

 

A little political rant before I go eat tea and biscuits. Dear CNNand Fox News and the idiots that listen and buy their propaganda bullshit. I am an Anarchist and it quite offends me how your networks like to use Anarchism in your sensationalism of news stories. Particularly when you have no actual clue as to what an Anarchist theory is or what Anarchist believe in. You probably didn’t know that when the Republican party first organized there were quite a number of Anarchists and Communists in its original ranks.

Yes, when the Republican Party was founded, it had a strong leftwing influence. You had the “Free Soilers”, who were both anti-slavery and pro-labor, whose slogan was, “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men!” You also had the “Red ’48ers” — European, mostly German, immigrants who had fled after the failures of the democratic revolutions of 1848.

Within the German communities that flocked to the Republican Party, you also had former members of the Communist League. On the one hand, you had the surviving members of the American Communities (akin to Locals) of the League, and on the other hand, you had the post-1848 exiles, such as Weydemeyer, Willich, Sorge, Schurz and Sigel (all of whom played key roles during the American Civil War).

Within the Republican Party, two self-described communist organizations operated. The first, the American Workers League, was formed in 1852 by Weydemeyer and Sorge, and pre-dated the Republican Party. It maintained an “inside-outside” approach to the Party. In 1858, the Club of Communists was formed by “Red Republicans”, including the remaining members of the AWL inside the party, to further the influence of revolutionary ideas among Republicans. The CofC went on to include in its ranks a number of well-known people of their time: Wendell Phillips, Horace Greeley, U.S. Senators Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade, etc. After the Civil War, the CofC became the first U.S. affiliate of the International Working Men’s Association.

It wasn’t until the early 1870s that the last of the communists and socialists withdrew from the Republican Party, working mostly in the American Labor Union and localized pro-labor parties. It was not until 1876 that the first independent workers’ political party appeared on the scene: the Workingmen’s Party of the U.S. A year (and a Great Strike and short-lived workers’ government) later, the WPUS changed its name to the Socialistic Labor Party (shortened a couple years after that to just “Socialist Labor Party”).

Little how so-called Republicans know about their own party.

But I regress, the current state of American politics in the eyes of most Anarchists is reminiscent of a dog chasing its tail. Except that when the dog catches his tail he’s smart enough to let go. The current status quo is literally quite content to devour itself. I don’t speak for all Anarchists but I believe those sentiments comes pretty close to a general feeling among those that would describe themselves as Anarchist.

And though the platforms of both the Republican and Democratic parties are repulsive to Anarchist thought on ethical principle alone the thought of engaging in a process that demands to pick the lesser of two evils is beyond moralistic comprehension to say the very least. What the hell is wrong with choosing a path that is just and fair for everybody? What the fuck is wrong with just deciding to do what the fuck is right and not what we supposedly free-willed Humans are forced to accept? Why the fuck is that so goddamn hard for the majority of not only America but the World to see?

I don’t know either. I still believe in what I wrote about 7 years ago that the majority of people respond to politics the way most people respond to an abusive partner or a bad relationship. And that’s by loving it more as though all the problems were their fault and that if they just submit more everything will be fine. America get the fuck off your knees you deserve better so speak up and demand it already. We’re not a fucking third world country but if you don’t rise we will be. No matter what party you keep putting in office. Because at the end of the day you’re settling for evil. It may be a lesser evil but goddamn it’s still fucking evil.

So no in the end Anarchists agenda is not going to RNC or DNC to disrupt it with violence. Why would it be? Why would Anarchist thought be to cause a small disturbance when the American political status quo is crumbling upon itself before our very eyes. And there is not a thing either party can do about because the issues are bigger than both. The Republican Party talks about Abortion and Gay Marriages as if that’s American’s number one priority right now and the biggest goal they’ve had for the last for years was not helping do anything that would move the country forward but their priority was getting Obama out of office by any means necessary. Not what they were voted by you to do. They play games while the world is burning. Anarchists for the most part are more content to political systems fail. Not prop them up or give them the illusion that they are actually god forbid needed.

It’s almost to laughable this assertion of “Anarchist violence” at RNC. Let’s face it the police have been brought in only for intimidation purposes to instill fear into peaceful protesters and obey the process. Meanwhile it politics as usual and more of the same for the next four years regardless of party affiliation in the White House. However time and time again police infiltrators have been “outed” at several high profile protest in recent years as the ones actually instigating violence. But so far it seems the only violence being recorded is by Republican convention goers themselves.

Sorry pal but there are a lot better things to do then cause an insignificant ruckus at RNC that will be forgotten by the general public by the time the next episode of ‘Dancing With The Stars’ is aired. So keep to the facts that you actually know and that should cut your airtime down to about 30 minutes a day. Because you know shite.

 

During the G20 summit held in Pittsburgh on Sept 24-26, several agent provocateurs of unknown sponsorship blended in among legitimate non-violent protestors. These hired thugs committed concerted efforts to provoke the police by damaging property and by lunging projectiles at public servants. As clearly shown in this video, three agents of unknown origin were quickly denounced by the legitimate stream of protestors.

 

 

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Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian…ADOLESCENTS!

•August 28, 2012 • Leave a Comment

 

 

 

 

ADOLESCENTS – DEMOCRACY

Is this what you call democracy?

They’re killing us, and you’re killing me

Now I know better, now I can see

That I don’t wanna be in democracy

Now is the time for us to strike

Do we know what we’re doing, have we set things right?

They’re leading us into World War III

And this what you call democracy

It’s a cry for no government, a cry to be free

And I don’t see freedom in democracy

Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian

Do you really care what party you’re in?

Did you really think you could make it big

Living among these nuclear pigs

If you didn’t know you’ll never see

We’re too far gone for democracy
Look whats it’s done to you and me

Democracy is not for me

Democracy is not for me

Democracy is not for me, it’s not for me

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WAR//PLAGUE – ON A DARKER DAWN LP

•August 21, 2012 • Leave a Comment

 

WAR//PLAGUE – On A Darker Dawn

This album almost perfectly captures everything I love about metallic crust.  The riffs are infectious and the double kick drum rumbles like my guts after a late night bean burrito.  The way I see it crust kind of falls into three categories these days.  You got your TRAGEDY melodic, dark hardcore bands that build and build and create epics soundscapes.  I often get lost in much of this style and it doesn’t really stick with me.  Then you got your BOLTHROWER worship bands that just crush but often forget about the hooks and just keep pummeling you with their war hammers until you are nothing but a bag of meat.  Then you’ve got the bands that can find a way to make catchy crust that gets your head banging, your fist in the air and…YOU CAN SING ALONG!    All my favorite bands are here in spirit and influence with this release.  AMEBIX, MISERY, AXEGRINDER and a lot of EXTINCTION of MANKIND.  Hell, there is even hint of NEUROSIS in there at times as well as a tip of the hat to SDS.  WAR//PLAGUE make the doom and gloom fun, they bring a smile to your face because they are so SICK and keep you thrashing because they are so…SICK!  WAR//PLAGUE provides the kind of experience where you just feel like you’re in the know and on to something special as you let the record spin, I love it when a record is able to capture that feeling.  On some of the earlier releases it felt like the lyrics offered some hope to this madness but I don’t really find that this time around.  The lyrics are grizzly and offer vivid depictions of a darker dawn.  I was just listening to the new TESTAMENT album on the way home today and I came to the realization that the riffs on this record are sick enough for a full blown thrash metal titan like TESTAMENT.   I mean that as a compliment of the highest regards…that  the caliber of the riffs on this record would certainly get the approval of heavy weights like the guitar duo of Peterson and Skolnick.  The production is perfect for this type of music.  It’s clean enough that the instruments don’t get buried in fuzzy mud but it is also dirty enough to create a thick crust.  This album hasn’t left my turn table in about two weeks and I came to such high off this record that yesterday I was asking Leffer (guitar) for a backpatch.  He pointed me to Nightgaunt graphics and such an item quickly procured.  (Josh Mosh)

www.profaneexistence.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/WarPlague/140542517067

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MISERY…an interview with this amazing band…

•August 19, 2012 • Leave a Comment

This interview originally was posted on http://www.thrashhead.com  I did the interview and thought it was worth re-broadcasting and sharing again.  MISERY is one of my favorite bands and their latest album is phenomenal…. Read on crusties….

 

MISERY have been a mainstay of the crust-punk scene for over 20 years.  Formed in the late 80’s they brought a sound to US punk that borrowed from bands like the ENGLISH DOGS, AMEBIX and AXEGRINDER pushing US punk to extremes it had not really explored before.  My introduction to the band was the ‘Born Fed Slaughtered’ 7” that I traded a NOFX 7” for in about 1991.  Recently the band has released what can be called their best album entitled ‘From Where the Sun Never Shines’.  To celebrate this epic slab of apocalyptic crust I knew I had to get an interview with the band to share with everyone in the ThrashPunx universe.  I conducted the interview via email with Jon Misery.  Enjoy! (JoshMosh)

 

ThrashPunx:  Why, when, how did MISERY form?
MISERY:  The forming of the band  was kind of a long complicated story that started in Minneapolis in 1986. The band actually didn’t form as Misery until 1987. The reason we started out was because we saw a big void in the Mpls music scene and thought that we could put something together that had a whole lot more meaning behind it than what most of the so called “PUNK” bands were doing around this city. There were a few that were mixing some politics into their stuff at that time, but we were going for something a little more extreme and thought provoking. Not to mention that the sounds that we were making at that point in time were something that no one around here was doing. It was kind of the beginning of a whole new Mpls sound, one that most of the locals didn’t want any part of or just plain didn’t understand. We in some sort of odd way planted a seed here that seemed to grow far beyond any of our expectations.

ThrashPunx:  What was the scene like in Minneapolis at the time?   Was it anything of the punk mecca that it became?
MISERY: Back in the 80’s Minneapolis had a fucking incredibly large population of the punk sort. When bands like GBH came to town, the shows were sold out and some of the biggest parties that you could ever imagine. Looked a lot like one of those postcards you saw as a kid and just thought to yourself, Fucking cool mom, I want to be one of those people. In the late 80’s, when we started putting Misery together, The Anarchist Gathering came to town bringing a fuckload of folks from all over. It in a way helped to build the conduit that connected a lot of like minded people and in the end, increased the population of politically minded underground punks in this city as a lot of people started relocating here from around the country. These were pre internet times and connecting with people was pretty much a shot in the dark, so the gathering really fertilized the tree of change that was growing here. In the 90’s there were so many bands forming here and so many touring bands dropping in that it was nothing short of Chaos. But oddly enough, in that time of chaos is when it really began to become more organized. The Back Room @ Book Store was doing shows, a lot of people were starting to get nice basement spaces for shows and soon spaces dedicated to underground punk shows were put together. A lot of people in Mpls busted their asses putting this whole thing together and they still do today. Havoc, PE and Extreme Noise Records are some of the long standing examples of that. Back then it was hard for bands like us to get a show in an established club/bar, so everyone got together and made our own places. It’s still happening today besides the fact that there are now Punk owned and operated bars/clubs, there are still many house shows and a few spaces that do some of the best shows. So many bands come and go now days that it is almost impossible to keep up with what is going on.

 

ThrashPunx:  How has the scene in Minneapolis changed over the years?

MISERY:  It has grown and matured into something to be proud of.

ThrashPunx:  Is it still a mecca for all things punk or have things died down a little?

MISERY:  Things have definitely not died down, it is a pretty strong burning fire that seems to keep gathering fuel from the younger folks that keep it burning strong. There are so many bands and shows now that it is really hard to keep track of it all.
ThrashPunx:  What or who were MISERY’s early influences?

MISERY:  Our surroundings had the most influence on us, as they still do. As far as musical influences go. Back when we started, not unlike today, you could be sitting for a drink with us and hear everything from the Bangles, MEEBEES  and Tommy James, to Crass, Conflict and Motley Crue mixed in with some old Delta Blues, Broken Bones, GBH and Marley. We, as a band have so many different musical tastes that I don’t think you could really nail it down. Probably just DEVO.

 

ThrashPunx:  As the band formed and started to establish itself what topics or issues were important to the band?  How important are these same issues to the band today?

MISERY:  We never have really sat down together and said, ” Hey, let’s write a song about this or that” or ” we as a band stand for this or that”. We’ve always had the same symbol of anarchy, peace, and autonomy. although we are not a real anarchist band, anarchy couldn’t work in the world as it is today, but with the other two ideologies included, it would.   As far as the subject matter in our lyrics goes, we have stayed on the same track from day one. To sum up where most of our lyrics come from are 2 simple questions. What The Fuck Are We Doing This For? and What The Fuck Is Wrong With Us? we and us meaning the human race. All political, social and personal issues are easily included when it comes down to that.

ThrashPunx:   What was your personal introduction to punk?  What about it attracted you to it?
MISERY:  As we only do interviews as a whole, this question is a bit hard to answer. Maybe Punk is what that guy from Men At Works’ eye was looking at. Not knowing what that was is what may have attracted us to this world. Maybe that is better left unknown. Who Fucking knows.

 

ThrashPunx:  Considering these were the pre-internet days how did MISERY get it’s name out there?  How did you network with like-minded bands/people across the country and even the globe?

MISERY:  Back before this cyber networking thing came about, there was a fuckload of letter writing going on. Playing shows in different towns and word of mouth is how we ended up meeting a lot of like-minded people. When Book You Own Fucking Life came out it was the new address book for bands like ours, very helpful and made it much easier to find places to play in other cities.

ThrashPunx:  At what point did Al decide to leave the band?

MISERY:  Not too long after we returned from our first trip to the east coast, 1988.

 

ThrashPunx:  What were Al’s reasons for leaving?

MISERY:  Just a lot of personal things going on in his life at that time and he basically just needed to get away from everything he’d known for far too long. Not unlike most people, he was searching for something else in life.

ThrashPunx:  Did he already have the Nausea gig lined-up?

MISERY:  Nothing solid when he left Misery, but it was in the works and it worked out wonderfully for all of us. We, as a band, didn’t miss a beat as what we were set on doing what we were doing, and he went on to do some of the most amazing things one could do. We certainly felt bad about the parting, but after so many years it just seems that that is what should have happened. Fuck, he was the biggest Nausea fan in the world and having the chance to join, perfect. Much better than what Ripper did to Judas Priest. Ha

ThrashPunx:  You recently did a show with him again; what was that like?

MISERY:  Rumors are so funny. We have been working with him on a recording project and it’s been more fun than you could believe. More time is spent telling stories of the old times than anything, but we are making some progress and it’s coming along pretty well. It may be a record in time.

ThrashPunx:  I believe other than Al leaving, the band has kept the same line-up since the late 80’s…Is that correct?  That is very uncommon.  How have you been able to pull that off?

MISERY:  Yes that is true, we have had the same members since then. We are people that just seem to get along very well and love writing and playing together. It seems that a lot of bands don’t have a connection like we do. Maybe Guns n Roses and Van Halen, but that’s pretty much it.

 

ThrashPunx:  Mankind has almost always perceived that it is on the cusp of disaster and imminent doom as part of our belief that we live on the edge of time.  Do you think that this truer today?

MISERY:  Humans are a very arrogant species and sometimes it seems that the disaster is our existence, but like a mutating virus, we will continue to exist as all life forms seem to be designed to survive. As far as being doomed goes, That just seems to be people acting like they know what is really going on when no one really does. Maybe the fear of the unknown or the fear of the end of the only thing we know holds more power than anything we know in this life we have. That fear itself is timeless.

ThrashPunx:  Are we really closer to global annihilation?

MISERY:  Not really sure if we are any closer than we have always been. Growing up during the cold war years it was implanted in us that we were just waiting for the sirens to sound and that would be the beginning of the end. That has yet to happen and now with the newest threat called terrorism, which is basically religious fundamentalism; we are facing a whole new chapter in human foolishness and arrogance. It’s amazing how destructive mankind can be, can’t we just look around at the beautiful world that we have and treat it and all of the living beings with the respect they deserve? Guess that is a bit too hard for most.

ThrashPunx:  Why after 20+ years do you think there is such a strong interest in MISERY?

MISERY:  We don’t think there has ever been a strong interest in Misery, but by sticking with it and saying the same things we have been saying for so many years, it may show that we are and we not growing up to go away. We have never been a band that has written songs to sell or to become more popular from nor are we entertainers that put on some circuslike show that will blow your mind. Maybe we still have attention from people because we are the no bullshit real people, something that people like us can relate to.

ThrashPunx:  You have a world-wide following with very limited touring.  How have you been able to cross such spans?

MISERY:  When you think about it, it’s a pretty small world. The underground punk world has a very great power of networking and communicating. Unlike the music in the mainstream, this shit is not crammed up every ones asses, punks search for music and bands that say what they would say and sound like what they want to hear. In the underground, people search for bands, bands don’t really search for people. Sure you have to put it out there for people to find with the help of labels/ distros but those are the places people will be looking for it. We could never call it a following or fanbase because it’s more like just gathering more friends in the end. Fuck do we have some great friends.

ThrashPunx:  The new LP was several year process.  Can you describe how the writing and recording for the new LP came together?

MISERY:  In the beginning we really were not planning on using that stuff for a release, but after laying a few songs down in our basement studio we decided that that was the only way it would work and it seemed to sound much more like us than anything we’ve done in any studio, so we moved forward with it. The writing process was kind of a cluster fuck as we all work on odd schedules so most of it was done by a couple of members and the others added their tracks when they could get the time. A pretty long drawn out process. After about a million hours of mixing and what not it became what it is. Pure, basement DIY recordings of us. Just the way it is supposed to be.

 

ThrashPunx:  What is your favorite song on the new album and why?

MISERY:  Because we wrote them all ( besides the Covers) and put our everything into the whole project it would be hard to answer that.

ThrashPunx:  What are some of the bands in Minneapolis that people should be looking out for?

MISERY:  There are so many great bands from here right now that a list would be hard to put together, but to name a few.. War//Plague are really good band and In Defence are probably one of the best bands to see live as they are true entertainers, in the same class as D4. It’s really hard to keep up with all of the bands around here.

ThrashPunx:  How has punk shaped your life aside from the music?  What does it mean to you in your daily life?

MISERY:  It has helped us to see through a lot of the bullshit in this world. It kind of gives you the go ahead to speak out when dealing with the racist, sexist, homophobic assholes that seem to be around every corner.

ThrashPunx:  Is punk rock the Fountain of Youth?

MISERY:  Did Ponce de León have a mohawk? Some of the life styles associated with punk rock are thee exact opposite, but then again there is always Charlie Harper, maybe he would be a better man to ask about that.

ThrashPunx:  What were the last couple of records you bought? Which one is your favorite and why?

 

MISERY:  Arctic Flowers, Murderess, Police Bastard/ War//Plague split, Sonic Mass, Frustration, Morne.  They all kick ass!

ThrashPunx:  In closing what do want people know about you and / or MISERY?

MISERY:  We more than appreciate the interest that some people have in us as a band, it means a lot to us ,without you we would just be doing this for ourselves.

 

http://youtu.be/0yMQ-xoewHE

 

MISERY on FB

 

 

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new CLUSTERFUX lp and PROFANE bundle!

•August 16, 2012 • Leave a Comment

New CLUSTERFUX “Abandon Your Gods” 
LP Bundle Available Now

 

The Clusterfux LP bundle will get you the NEW Clusterfux LP “Abandon Your Gods” plus your choice of 2 other Profane Existence LP’s. We just got a small handful of these records. Get one before they are gone!!! You will not be disappointed.

 

“CLUSTERFUX was active from 1995 until March of 2011 and features long time Profane Existence columnist Josh Mosh on vocals. They recently reformed and released the new hard hitting LP “Abandon Your Gods”. CLUSTERFUX are Denver’s longest running punk band and over their years had completed several tours, released a pile of records, and played with everyone from CONFLICT, the EXPLOITED, SUBHUMANS, and DRI, to STORMCROW, DROPDEAD, PHOBIA and plenty more. The band fused thrash and crust in a unique punk rock molotov-cocktail. The artwork was done by Brain D’Agosta who has also done some recent stuff for MISERY, POLICE BASTARD and WAR//PLAGUE.” – Thrashhead.com

ORDER HERE!

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More Wax! More Rex! Val sums it up…

•August 16, 2012 • Leave a Comment

So here are a few more platters that deserve a note that I have picked up recently…

WHITEHORSE

Totally gnarly sludge metal from these nice Australian chaps.  Super slow and heavy and absolutely seething with pent up frustration.  Uber-guttural vocals and dirty sounding guitars pounding out slow gloom and doom with an underlying noisey-ness that makes this seem even more intense.  Done with intent and purpose.  Not my usual thing but they were so good at Chaos in Tejas this year that I had to pick one up.

(At A Loss Recordings)

BLOODY PHOENIX / QUESTION – Split Ep

BLOODY PHOENIX play some super speedy crusty grindcore hammered out with fervor and passion.  Definitely brings DISRUPT or even more accurately, EXCREMENT OF WAR to mind and with only 3 songs, I was wanting more. BLOODY PHOENIX hails from L.A. and has members that came out of EXCRUCIATING TERROR.

QUESTION have more of a 90’s crust punk sort of sound.  NAUSEA is an obvious comparison but DETESTATION also comes to mind (which makes sense cause this is the same girl on vox.  But this has a more raucous sound to it.  More chaotic, crazy and violent.  Sounds like punks trashing a Minneapolis house party (in a good way).  Great split where the two sides compliment each other without sounding too similar.

(Six Weeks)

V/A – COMPLETE AURAL TURMOIL EP

3 way split with MAUSER, D-CLONE and FOLKEIIS that give a taste of the 2012 tour of Japan they all undertook together.  MAUSER always satisfies and the 2 tracks they provide are just as rampaging as you would expect from these d-beat masters.  D-CLONE erupt with their own version of noisy Japanese d-beat that cranks everything up to eleven.  Distorted and lo-fi with a bass sound that is so threatening as almost be criminal.  Absolutely killer in its savage simplicity. But its Japan’s FOLKEIIS that really gets me going on this one.  Fully-blown out sound like you might expect but this has really cool metallic riffing and a song structure that really draws you in.  Totally Bitchen.  Get this.

(Hardcore Survives)

MASSGRAVE – S/T 12”

Oh Boy!!!  One of my fave bands is at it again.  Vicious and savage crust-core that brings back DISRUPT and ENT. I really like the diversity of subjects that their songs address: Debt Slavery, Forced Insecurity, Post-Traumatic stress, and Western Privilege.  Just what you would expect from these Vancouver dudes only tighter and gnarlier.  Dirty and raw but with a clear production sound.  Highly Recommended to all.  Cool Orange vinyl and super size poster.

(Haunted Hotel)

ZYANOSE – Noise Philia 2005 -2011

This was a special “Chaos in Tejas” edition complete with obi strip that compiles the ZYANOSE output of DISORDER inspired noise core so far.  Demo tracks, 7” tracks and comp tracks.  Japanese noise punks rampaging their way thru over blown out chaotic hardcore punk.  This is the kind of thing that I prefer in smaller doses, like on a compilation, instead of an LP’s worth of noisy material at once.  Though I gotta say that they were pretty rad when seeing them live.

(Zyanose self-released)

EFFLUXUS – Life Destruktion 12” EP

San-Francisco has a long history of great bands and now we can add EFFLUXUS to that roster.  Gnarly and fast. Lots of reverb on the vox. It definitely has a 1985 UK hardcore vibe that I really go for and is just noisy enough.  Makes me think of AOA but with a more blown out sound.  But this has strong songs that hold it all up and make you just want to keep listening.  The lyrics are super simplistic but this thrashes enough to make up for it.

(Rust and Machine)

NU-KLE-ER BLAST SUNTAN – The Wheel Of Fate Is Turning 7” EP

HOLY SHIT!!! – This is so rad!!!  The basslines are so fast that they make this whole recording swirl and blur kinda like those few moments when you are so drunk that everything starts to spin and you know you are gonna puke.  Disorienting in a way but not in a sloppy way nor does it distract from the point.  These songs are really interesting and pulsate with a noisy chaotic core that gives it all of its (almost psychedelic) power.  Its got a lot of notes without being “technical” just super intense.  Gnarled vocals and crazed guitars all wailing on top of one another.  I fuckin love this one.  Top ten material for me this year.  Can’t wait to hear more.  Also has a cool cover with some slathering hounds of Hades just to add to the already over the top release.

(SPHC)

Val

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PHOBIA – Remnants of Filth…THIS RULES!

•August 3, 2012 • Leave a Comment

 

PHOBIA  – Remnants of Filth

There is MOTORHEAD, AC/DC, SLAYER, etc…You know what you are going to get when you buy an album from these artists.  They don’t stray very far from the formula and some of the albums are better than others, while occasionally they capture sheer genius.  Unfortunately for these bands it seems the years of genius are far behind.  Whereas a band like KREATOR has just released what is arguably their best album ever  SLAYERs finest moment was decades ago with ‘Seasons in the Abyss’ and it is doubtful they will ever recapture the magic they found with that album.

PHOBIA is one of those bands that don’t stray the course, if it’s not broken don’t fuck with it!  But like KREATOR they are still moving forward and have maybe only recently captured their finest moment with ‘Remnants of Filth’.

Shane and co. are always great at keeping grindcore interesting and adding enough hardcore, punk, and straight up metal to create and exciting listening experience.  The energy on this album is through the fucking roof!  The drums pound you into a bloody mess and while the guitars riff and shred whatever is left of your pathetic hide.

In a recent issue of Decibel Shane explains that although he still wrote much of the music for the album it is the first time he didn’t play any of the music on the recording.  This is also the first recording to introduce CeCe Loessin on guitar.  As mentioned above her playing on this album is fucking ace and is what really propels this album to the forefront of PHOBIA’s extensive library of grind.

Fuck yeah.

(Josh Mosh)

 

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HUMAN a punk’s reflection of of his humanity…or lack of…

•July 28, 2012 • 2 Comments

 

HUMAN

By Nickolaus Gehrig

In the days after the massacre at the Aurora Century 16 theater…I cannot help but to look inside myself and wonder, “What went wrong?” and “why?”

James Holmes has been painted as an introverted intellectual who became a monster. Much focus has been placed on his dyed red hair, and odd sexual personality. Everything I see in the media is how bad of a guy he is. I certainly agree that he became a horrible monster, an unimaginably hellish creature. And then, I start to think about other things I saw, especially some of the interviews with people in the days after the shooting. One interview in particular has stood out among the many, and made me feel guilty, and remorseful, and utterly stupid. This interview was with a young man, who seemed all too proud that he refused James Holmes any acknowledgement or friendship. He talked about how Holmes had often smiled, and waved at him….and he seemed quite proud that he had distanced himself from a man who would someday become one of the most infamous people in recent history. And I felt like a piece of trash. How many times had I refused to befriend a person who had reached out to me? How many times had I refused to acknowledge someone as a human being, as a person who deserves the greatest right of mankind, the right to be loved?

When I think of the interview I wonder…”who is the real monster, James Holmes…or…..is it me?”  Is it the guy who proudly refused James Holmes’ smiles and friendship? If the shooter had a real friend, would he have shot? The more I learn about James Holmes the more it becomes clear that one thing was missing from his life, that could have saved 12 lives and prevented the nightmares of many. Love was missing. Compassion and friendship was missing. It seems only perfectly natural, that a person, who no one wanted to reach out to, would become desensitized enough to shoot 70 people or more. He did not see people as human beings. Is it because he may have never experienced compassion and love from others, except for his parents? If he had known love and experienced brotherhood and compassion, I doubt he would have found it very easy to shoot even one person.

So who is the real monster? Is it James Holmes…or is it “us”? Is James Holmes really a single monster, bent on destroying the lives of as many people as he could? Or is he merely a manifestation of the monster that we all are guilty of being?

For many years I have been very angry about the shooting at Columbine High School. Klebold and Harris are the only people considered guilty of the crime, but I feel differently. How many times had students harassed and teased them? How many times had a staff member allowed it, or even joined the pack of hyenas for a feast of the human soul? When there was nothing left to feast on, the hunted became predators…and they were starving.

The shooters at Columbine were monsters, created by monsters. If those who constantly tormented those two, had instead, offered friendship and compassion…I think it is likely that no school shooting would have ever happened…and perhaps there would only be long forgotten yearbook pictures of smiling high school graduates, Klebold and Harris, best friends looking at a brighter future. And perhaps many other mass shootings would have never been inspired. All too often, the blame is placed elsewhere…guns, video games, violent movies, etc…No one talks about how the lack of love, compassion, and understanding, may have led to the level of insensitivity that manifested itself ultimately into extreme violence. We live in a world, where it is “hip to hate’. On every reality show, the ratings depend on people treating each other like trash. The news thrives on violence and destruction, and the tv shows hinge on violent action and themes of inhumanity to pull in the ratings. Even in our social cliques, it is almost always cliche, to hate on people who have different tastes and lifestyles. We segregate ourselves and each other, and package ourselves into a fashion and type of music. Seldom it is, that a person refers to themselves or others, as human beings. It’s always, I am
this, and they are that, and bla bla bla, “they’ suck”. “They” are not this or that, they are HUMAN BEINGS. You are a HUMAN BEING, I am a HUMAN BEING. The Rastafarian term for we, is “I and I”. It is a recognition that we are all a part of the same place, the same consciousness. An understanding that to harm another, is to harm oneself. I and I is a term of love, an idea that loving another is also loving oneself. I am not a Rastafarian, but this lesson that they have given, through their language, more than, ever, resounds in my head louder than a thousand war drums. We are each other, and a tragedy like this is not the fault of one or two deranged people…it is the fault of ‘I and I’. It is a failure of humanity and compassion for others, manifested into a single person, who is also ‘I and I’. I do not feel like this tragedy is James Holmes’ fault. I feel like it is mine.

The American Dream is centered around a new car and a big house, a nice company job, and a future in college for our children. James Holmes was a product of this dream. A brilliant mind, an outstanding student, and a product of his parents’ incredibly hard work and love. But…was that big house too empty? Were his parents too busy or too calculated, or calculating, to provide their own examples of love and compassion? Were they more motivated by their desire to be wealthy, or for their son to be wealthy, to sit and learn about their own sons heart? Was his desire to be a free person with crazy hair and a penchant for casual fun repressed by the American Dream? Perhaps when he had obtained the freedom to do this, it was already too late for him to know how to enjoy it. He had already long been isolated and repressed, perhaps even long desensitized. His world wasn’t a world of love and friendship and fun. His world was the world of many
brilliant intellectuals, a world reduced to common denominators and perfect calculations. It was a simple world, a world, that, when reduced to its lowest denominator, was merely a mathematical place, largely devoid of love and compassion. It was obviously not a world of complex emotions, of pain, of love, of happiness, of sadness, etc…It is very possible to me, that an intellectual who was not welcomed into our world of human emotion, could not possibly comprehend the true nature and effect of his crime. He was sick, he was wrong, and he was wronged. He was not invited to be a human with us, to be friends with us, to love with us. Instead, he was isolated, he was made into a machine, a human computer, barely more than a highly sophisticated calculator. A human computer infected with a deadly virus. The hate virus. When I think about the tragedy, I accept the responsibility and guilt of a human failure. I have snubbed people, out casted people, and wronged people. I am guilty of crimes against humanity for which no charges and laws can be created. I am guilty of refusing love and compassion, so I am guilty also, of massacres and wars and hate crimes. After all, I am ‘I and I’. Until humanity finally learns the greatest lesson of all, these tragedies will only increase and continue. The School of Humanity has begun a new semester. The course must be passed and will be repeated as many times as we fail. Class is in session. The lesson is LOVE.

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ITS FOR A COP – Double Baco-Cheeseburger CD

•July 26, 2012 • 1 Comment

 

So this one time, the most bitchen band ever, EXTREME NOISE TERROR, got all fucked up on speed and weed and watched Super Troopers, then wrote their next Ep and was is the result.  No, of course that’s not really true but it certainly gives you an appropriate reference point for this release from Denver Colorado’s IT’S FOR A COP.  I threw this CD into the player in my truck and was instantly raging along with its perfectly raw musical intensity.  Super tight fast core that flirts at times with grindcore without becoming boring and at other times edging close to mincing power-violence, all to powerful effect.  My copy came without a cover or any artwork, just a handwritten tracklist that I hadn’t really looked at too carefully so it took me a few tracks to realize that these guys really love some tongue-in-cheek humor and for them none is better than the aforementioned comedy masterpiece – Super Troopers.  Every song references the movie in some way as far as I can tell.  Now usually I don’t really appreciate my punk/grind/metal etc with too much humor in it.  Typically it comes off as cheesy and stupid, kinda like M.O.D. or something.  If the band can’t take anything seriously, then I have a hard time taking them seriously, on any level.  Of course there are exceptions to that and this is most definitely one cause the sound of this is not in any way compromised by the humor that they have injected.  Hyper-thrashy with interesting riffs, rock solid drumming, and vocals that again evoke Retrobution-era E.N.T. mixed with DYSTOPIA.  There is a lot of variety in the textures of the different vocalists and the riffs are super punchy too, both of which keep this from ever sounding at all repetitive.  The guitars are way up front in the mix and that sounds rad but you can tell there is more going on with the drums than you can effectively hear but it still works out in the end.  There are samples-a-plenty too which, even though they are funny, don’t detract from the sheer brutality of this.  Balance perfectly achieved.

Eleven songs that clock in at just around 12 minutes total means that these guys never wander and plod along aimlessly.  They are here to fucking shred and thats just what they do.  I think that Captain O’Hagan would be proud of these troopers.

(val)

 

http://www.facebook.com/itsfor.cop

 

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