Thursday, May 29, 2014

Naturecore - With Love... Wish You Were Here! Ep (Repost)

Naturecore was a short lived Southern California anarcho-punk band from the mid 80s.  This 12" Ep was released on No Master's Voice records in 1986, though it was recorded in 1984.  The songs feature strong male/female trade off vocals over proto-crusty HC - somewhere between Dirt and Antischism if you ask me... a bit head of it's time I think.  The lyrics are strongly anarcho influenced, and deal with animal rights, exploitation of Native Americans, etc.  The combination leads me to see Naturecore as a direct influence on the coming peace punk/crust scene in the USA - Antischism, Nausea, Mankind?, etc.  Check it out for yourself...

Naturecore - With Love... Wish You Were Here! 12"

Monday, May 26, 2014

Sleeping Body - Awaken Ep

This time out I've got the sole record from a Texas band called Sleeping Body.  It was released in the early 90s on the Vermin Scum label out of Maryland - home of Moss Icon, The Hated, Universal Order of Armageddon and others with a similar take on the punk/hardcore sound.  Sleeping Body immediately brings Moss Icon to mind with the singer's pained vocals and out of tune yelps (for a while after picking this record up I was convinced that Johnathan Vance from M.I. was the actual vocalist for this band...), as well as the spastic music, lurching towards vicious crescendos.  This band definitely had a Washington DC vibe and sound and this Ep fit right in on the Vermin Scum roster.  Records like this seemed to me to be a heavy influence on the rise of the 90s Gravity records "San Diego sound" and the second wave emo and screamo scenes...
      
Sleeping Body - Awaken Ep

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Inward - Blind Ep

This time out I've got a crushing 7" from Germany's Inward.  Like many other German hardcore bands of the 1990s, Inward's sound was infused with metallic riffs, glass gargling vocals and chaotic rhythms, placing the band squarely in the musical vicinity of fellow Deutsche bands of the period Acme, ABC Diabolo, Corrosive and Golgatha.  Definitely recommended for any fans of the aforementioned bands or of metallic hardcore in general...

Inward - Blind Ep

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Scorched Earth Policy - Tactics of the Lie Lp (Repost)

Scorched Earth Policy is an early group from Jack Control, later of Severed Head of State and World Burns to Death.  This Lp is the second release on his seminal Mind Control label.  Coming from a guy who's fronted D-beat juggernauts like SHoS and WBtD, you probably have a good idea of what this one entails, however, this SEP Lp is one of my favorite releases of his.  These songs are faster with a mean Scandi-core sound that I think his later bands lack.  There are a few "noise" tracks with samples and such that break up the flow a bit - similar to the Antischism Lp, but fortunately they are slight detours quickly followed by raging blasts of hardcore.  A side note, Martin from Los Crudos does vocals on part of one track - interjecting some thoughts in Spanish on Peru's Marxist Shining Path guerrillas.  Another great hardcore record from the 90s.

Scorched Earth Policy - Tactics of the Lie Lp

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Sofa Head - More is Not A Word in Our Vocabulary

Here's another U.K. fave of mine... I've been a huge fan of Sofa Head since a buddy in high school made me a tape of their first Lp soon after the U.S. edition on Profane Existence came out 20 some-odd years ago.  I picked up this live Lp from Blacklist mailorder a year or two after that introduction and though I think it doesn't quite represent the band at the height of their powers, I've always had a soft spot for this recording.  "More..." came out on a very short-lived U.S. label called Shazbat! out of Colorado and appeared shortly after the release of their third and final album.  It documents a gig recorded several months prior and consequently there's a good mixture of songs from their entire repertoire, including decent versions of songs from their final record (Acres of Geeses), a record that I always thought suffered from a muddy mix in the studio.  Anyways, the great Boss Tuneage reissued the first two Sofa Head albums on CD a while back and I've heard rumors that they are in the process of revamping the final album for reissue as well.  Fingers crossed.  Regardless, enjoy this glimpse into their live presence...

Sofa Head - More is Not A Word in Our Vocabulary

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Kismet HC

I'll stay in the U.K. for another post... this time out I've got two records from long running political punkers Kismet Hardcore.  Kismet HC formed in the late 80s and sporadically released records throughout the 90s and 2000s, and as recently 2011.  Included here are two of their most prominent releases - their 2001 full length "Our Message Is Of Anger...Our Voices Are Of Pain" and their self titled 10" from 2005.  The band plays fast hardcore punk which features Zanee's strong female vocals, often trading off with guitarist Scragg's gruff shouts.  The dynamic puts the band squarely in the 1990s U.K. HC sound, with the influence of older groups like Dirt apparent, along with some of their contemporaries like Disaffect or One by One.  I can also hear the incorporation of some of the U.S. crusty hardcore sound - bands such as Resist, early Defiance or even Aus Rotten.  Overall a fairly overlooked U.K. outfit who deserve a listen if any of the aforementioned groups mean anything to you.

Kismet HC - "Our Message Is Of Anger...Our Voices Are Of Pain" and self-titled 10"