Cause & Effect - s/t Ep (Repost)

After last week's Légitime Défonce post I remembered that I never re-uploaded one of my favorite French melodic hardcore Eps - Cause & Effect's self-titled 7" on Panx records.  This group popped up in the mid-1990s and released only this one 7" and a few compilation tracks.  This Ep does remind me a bit of the first Légitime Défonce LP as well as some British and American groups of the same time-period; H.D.Q., Cowboy Killers, Pegboy, etc.  Newer bands like La Fraction or Inner Conflict, minus the female vocals, are good reference points also.

Cause & Effect - s/t Ep

Légitime Défonce

Alright, while I'm posting a spate of more melodic bands, here is a great French group from the 1990s, Légitime Défonce.  These guys played fast and catchy as hell punk with a strong U.S. hardcore influence.  To my ears, these guys remind me a bit of the U.K. wave of bands in the late 1980s that took their cue from 7 Seconds, SNFU and the like - groups like H.D.Q., Exit Condition, Snuff, early Leatherface, etc.  Légitime Défonce are not quite as classic as those bands but I think they are within the same realm.  This post collects their first two LPs, both on the great French label Panx.  The first LP, self-titled, was an instant favorite when it came out - fast and melodic with enough aggression to satisfy my more HC tastes.  The second LP, Ya Basta!, is a bit more 90s pop-punk sounding and with muddier production so it doesn't quite stand up to the first... still, its not a bad record per se, just not as good as the first.  Légitime Défonce had a few EPs and another LP that came out in the late 90s that I've not gotten around to tracking down yet, though I should have obtained those early 7"ers a long time ago... too many records, not enough time or money tho!

Légitime Défonce - self-titled LP and "Ya Basta!" LP

Tunstin Gat - s/t Ep

More 1990's melodic punk here and another short-lived band.  Tunstin Gat hailed from Berkeley, California in the mid-90s so I suppose you can guess what they sounded like...  when I first heard these guys I remember describing them to a friend as sounding like a "poppy Econochrist" and I think that description holds.  Gruff vocals and prominent bass lines like the aforementioned hardcore punks but married with a Jawbreaker-esque pop-punk sound.... the result is not unlike the more melodic tracks by Grimple or the early stuff from Jawbreaker.  This was their only release, a 5 song 7" Ep on 702 Records out of Nevada. 

Tunstin Gat - s/t Ep

Vanbuilderass - s/t Ep

OK, this is one of my guilty pleasures, perhaps a dirty little secret - I love really well done pop-punk.  It's got to be fast and catchy as hell and this 7" certainly fits that criteria.  Vanbuilderass hailed from Gainesville, Florida circa the mid-1990s and only released about 10 songs in total - this 7" Ep plus a split Ep and a few compilation tracks.  Though short-lived, members of this band have been stalwarts in the G-ville scene and several folks from Vanbuilderass went on to form Bitchin', a good band that plays a more mature version of this sound.  Anyways, to my ears this 7" has four of the most perfect pop-punk tracks there are - super quick with tons of hooks and great female-led vocals.  Cool lyrics (especially "Choices") round out the package.  Oddly enough this Ep came out on a small record label run by Steve Heritage of grindcore legends Assück... guess I'm not alone in this guilty pleasure.

Vanbuilderass - s/t Ep