Cringer - I Take My Desires for Reality...

Today is the 4 year anniversary of Lance Hahn's death.... Lance was the driving force behind Cringer and J Church, two bands I can unequivocally say influenced who I am today.  His bands introduced me to the more melodic side of punk and HC, as well as Kronstadt, the Situationists and Baader Meinhof.  "I Take My Desires for Reality Because I Believe in the Reality of My Desires" was one of the first Cringer records I bought and contains some of their best material. 

A collection of singles and compilation tracks, this 12" was issued for their U.K. tour in 1991.  Cringer's sound was decidedly melodic, ranging from quick HC songs to tracks which bordered on "pop-punk" (before that was a dead genre).  There's a definite U.K. punk influence, which along with the lyrics leaned them towards anarcho-punk in my opinion.  Lyrically, this record starts off with an ode to the revolutionary sailors of Petrograd (Kronstadt) who challenged the Bolsheviks in Russia, several Situationist inspired musings, a ballad to the Baader Meinhof gang and a couple staunchly pro-feminist songs.  All very influential to me when I was young... it's safe to say that this record helped me get through college the first time around.

Cinger's discography isn't in print anymore but I looked around and the CDs are still fairly readily available online.  Their first LP "Tikki Tikki Tembo..." was reissued on CD with their early Eps and another CD was pressed called "Greatest Hits Vol. 1" which contained all the tracks from this record with the rest of their Eps and compilation tracks.  Still, this collection 12" remains on of my favorite records 20 years on, despite having all their stuff on CD.  Hopefully you'll get a fraction of the inspiration I've gotten from it..... R.I.P. Lance Hahn.

Cringer - I Take My Desires for Reality Because I Believe in the Reality of My Desires 

V/A War Compilation

Building on my last post and the excellent one recently done by Marc at Fugitive Equilibrium focusing on Dirt, Mankind? and Final Warning, here is the War Compilation.  Released by Tribal War Asia, the Japanese branch of the label, this one features two of Neil's bands - Warning and Jesus Chrust.  Also included are some great Japanese bands of the time - T.D.F., Battle of Disarm, G.J.P.B., Crocodileskink and a couple more.  Along with Japan, the New York/New Jersey area is represented with Neil's bands, Rorschach, Merel, Hell No, Bugout Society and the underrated Huasipungo.  Sweden's Warcollapse are the only non-Japan or US based band I think. 

Anyways, most of the bands lean to the crusty side of things, particularly the Japanese groups.  "Can You Smell the Dead" might be my favorite T.D.F. track - great metal-punk that pre-dates the glut of those bands that are out there today.  Battle of Disarm, Warcollapse and Rorschach are their usual brilliant selves.  The Warning and Jesus Chrust songs are among both bands' best.  Huasipungo, Bugout Society, Merel, G.J.P.B., Urgesnake, The Denied and Crocodileskink all contribute strong tracks.

One band I was really interested to hear when I picked up this comp. was Hell No.  They featured two folks from Citizens Arrest so I had to hear the new group.  Unfortunately they were a huge let-down.  The music had decent parts but the vocals were way over-the-top.  They made me think of Life of Agony or something.  Their song on this record is one of their better tunes, however.  I bought their first album based on the better parts of this track but that record totally ended my interest in them.  Download and check it out for yourself...

V/A War Compilation

Warning - Protest and Still They Die Ep

 Here's a classic 7" from short lived NYC hardcore/crust band Warning.  Their one and only Ep, this band featured Neil of Tribal War Records and former vocalist for Nausea and Jesus Chrust.  This record has a definite early Discharge feel to it, down to the title and cover art.  A bit derivative maybe, and not quite the power of the early Nausea recordings, but still a solid Ep.  Neil went on to form Final Warning, probably his best post-Nausea project and a more evolved take on the Discharge sound.  Still, Neil's vocals are very distinctive and this Warning Ep showcases them perfectly.  Worth a listen for sure. 

Warning - Protest and Still They Die Ep

Terminus - Going Nowhere Fast

 Well, judging from the download statistics, last week's Terminus post was fairly popular and since it was requested I will go ahead and post the band's first Lp.  Still not sure if Boss Tuneage is working on the CD reissue of these records or not but I have faith the folks who download these versions would still want to purchase the re-mastered and re-packaged collection when/if it is released.

Anyway, this 12" also came out on Words of Warning records, back in 1990.  It collects songs from various recording sessions in different periods of the band, so the sound is a little uneven, recording quality-wise.  This record features a mix of styles - faster numbers similar to the 2nd Lp, mid-tempo rockin' punk tracks and some more somber, anarcho-punk type songs.  One of my favorites is "Hey Little Girl," a bouncy punk track with venomous lyrics aimed towards apathetic fashion punks.  As with their other material, the lyrics are overtly political and thought provoking.  While I don't enjoy this one quite as much as "Back Among the Blind," it's still a great record from a band that really did no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

Terminus - Going Nowhere Fast Lp

Terminus - Back Among the Blind

Here's another UK Hardcore fave of mine... Terminus lasted most of the 80s and into the early 90s.  "Back Among the Blind" was their second and last Lp.  Their sound was very punk based, with rocking guitars and speedy drums, interspersed with slow, moody numbers.  Released on Words of Warning Records in 1992, this record is their finest as far as I'm concerned.  It showcases the best of their sound.... fast, rocking HC numbers and great lyrics.  For reference, think Motorhead meets Political Asylum. 

The entire Terminus discography is great.  Boss Tuneage did a CD of all their singles which is certainly worth picking up, though it appears to be out of print.  I'm sure there are some copies floating around in distros somewhere.  BT are supposedly working on a CD collection of the two Lps, but I've not heard an update on that recently.  If that's not forthcoming, I may post the first Lp later since it's a awesome record in it's own right... still "Back Among the Blind" is my go-to Terminus album and one of my favorite UK HC records.

Terminus - Back Among the Blind Lp

V/A A History of Compassion and Justice? Ep

Here's a compilation 7" from the mid-90s, released on Lengua Armada recs.  This one featured a few bands who would go on to be considered classic US HC from this time - Los Crudos, Ottawa, Dead and Gone and Universal Order of Armageddon.  Additionally there were tracks from John Henry West, Manumission and Naked Aggression.  I must say that the N.A. track is one of my favorites, mostly for the absolutely silly lyrics.  The song is called "Stop the Hate" but in every line Kristen Patches rails against people she hates!  Unintentionally hilarious, I'm sure.  The Los Crudos tracks is of course a classic and on their discography record.  The same for Ottawa and U.O.A.  Dead and Gone's track ended up on the CD version of their first record, but this track and the first 7" are their best material to me.  A cool collection and a glimpse back some awesome bands in their prime.  Check it out.

V/A A History of Compassion and Justice? Ep

Shitfit/Human Greed Split Lp

Sorry for the long delay between posts.... I've been a bit under the weather and scrambling to catch up on work that I'd missed whilst ill.  Anyways, the post this week is split Lp of Canadian crust/grind bands which was unleashed in 1993.  Shitfit played fast paced crustcore with very distinctive vocals.  Musically they come from the Doom or Hiatus side of things but the vocals are very unique and bit hard to describe... they aren't growled in typical crust fashion, but aren't "clean" by any means.  Human Greed's side of the split is more typical crust influenced grindcore from the time.  Definite anarcho lyircs, pointed samples and crappy production should bring to mind early Disrupt or Drop Dead.  Overall a good split, especially for the uniqueness of the Shitfit tracks.  Each band had a few other releases - Eps and split Eps before calling it quits.  I need to track down the other Shitfit material.  Human Greed did have a discography CD which appeared some time in the 90s, though I don't think Shitfit ever had such a collection.  Both bands were part of the burgeoning Quebec HC scene of the 90s that spawned other greats like Immoral Squad, Seized and Dahmer.

Shitfit/Human Greed split Lp