Oh, The In/Humanity!

I was putting off doing this post, hoping to find a cheap copy of In/Humanity's split with Bonescratch first. Nope. Not happening. If anyone has a copy they want to sell me, the e-mail address is to the right. To my knowledge, In/Humanity did only three other splits, the diversity of their split-mates providing testimony as to how difficult it is to pinpoint and categorize In/Humanity's sound.

The first offering is, I believe, chronologically first as well. It's their split with fellow southerners, and modern sludge masters, Damad. Although I'm not the biggest fan of most early Damad, the songs herein are two of their most evil! It's great to hear such early material from these boys and girl, even though, as you can imagine, the production could be better (especially in the vocals). The track "Tinnitus" is an exclusive(?) and "Slow Heal II" is a variation on a theme the band would continue with on the "Rise and Fall" LP. Flip it over, and this time around, In/Humanity offer a very primitive version of their rackety and sardonic madness. Two noise tracks, two "music" tracks... definitely a sign of what was to come...

Back Cover

(Scroll down for download link)

In/Humanity shares this next split with fellow South Caroliners, Premonition. I picked this up when I saw In/Humanity in SD (with Huasipungo) around 1996, so the cover art and insert are a little different than some versions. Premonition play emotive, yet upbeat punk rock, sharing stylistic kinship with the more energetic moments of Car vs Driver, Policy of 3 and Still Life. I actually enjoy their approach to this style, but unfortunately their track on the Inchworm Food Not Bombs benefit comp is the only other output I know from this band. Leave a comment if you know where else to find Premonition stuff.

When I first heard the In/Humanity side, I wasn't sure at what speed to play these two tracks. Sure enough, the insert was no help; the band encourages us to play them at whatever speed we will! In keeping with this assertion, I have ripped them at both speeds. Believe it or not, they actually do sound fine either way! (Which means you get 3 versions of the song "Bud(d) Dwyer Superstar" in one download!)

Here's the (literally) cut and past insert In/Humanity included for this version of the EP. It was created from an actual '70's rock album sleeve. A little help in identifying the band would be much appreciated.

(Keep scrolling for download link)

Finally, as if you're ears and patience haven't been tested enough, here's the final installment: The In/Humanity/Half Life split. Half Life are from Japan, and play metal that fuses the better aspects of two different coasts (Japanese metal and NYC moshy stuff). Although not my usual cup 'o Joe, there's some pretty righteous metal picking going on here with traditional Japanese vocals. Only one song from Half Life on this one, unfortunately.

In/Humanity offer an original with an outstanding title, "Kill the Cop Inside," and a re-recorded version of "Budd Dwyer Superstar." Nice tracks, but still not as good as the band's later work.

Back Cover

Congratulations on making it this far. I didn't realize that these EP's (ripped at 320) would make for such a big file. This one's for the fans, though. It's near 100 MBs, so get your favorite beverage, put on your favorite In/Humanity or Damad LP, and....

Download all three eps.

Born Under The Shit Sign

In anticipation of the In/Humanity reissues, it's time for a post of some of their out of print (and now permanently deleted?) material. The "Your Future Lies Smoldering at the Feet of the Robots" 7" is a good place to start, showcasing three "mature" and fairly well recorded tracks. For those unfamiliar with the band, they were a difficult animal to classify. Gasp, GOB, and Born Against are good starting reference points, with special emphasis on the snide humor of the latter two bands. The true origins of course, date back to the primordial soup of the early Gravity/Ebullition Records sound which blew the chaotic and creative possibilities of hardcore wide open. There's a fair amount of chaos on these tracks, but the band knows exactly what it's doing. The lyrics are brilliant critiques of our decaying world, but unfortunately the printing is too small to reproduce easily in this post. As most people know, the singer went on to form The Guyana Punchline.

As mentioned before, Prank Records is repressing In/Humanity's second full length "The History Behind the Mystery," and reissuing their long out of print first LP "The Nutty Anti-Christ" (Passive Fist Records) this fall. He will apparently not be repressing the singles collection, so in partial consolation I'll be posting three of In/Humanity's four split EPs in the next post (tomorrow?).

Download

Old Promo Poster

Have You Received The Void Today?

If you consider yourself a fan of Damad or Kylesa, but haven't heard Karst, you'd be wise to download the folder below. Karst were a post-Damad band that never achieved rock-star status like that certain other "K" band. Some may agree with me that Karst deserved it more! They continued with the singular, eerie progressive sludge Damad played, but took it to a new level of twistedness and dynamic song-writing. Totally brilliant!

This EP, "Receive the Void," was released as a two song 7" and a three song CD. The CD doesn't list the "mystery" track, but it's there after some wait, and it's called "Selfstruck." I have taken the liberty of uploading the CD at 320 kbps, deleting the extra space between the last two tracks, and tagging them all accordingly. Enjoy. And if you haven't checked out Karst's great full length CD, you can get it here.


You may now Receive the Void

Overwhelmed By Empathy

Here are four more doses of dark and crusty hardcore from the Bay Area. Multi Facet were a sadly short-lived band with Jenean from Ojorojo on vocals. The bass work is noticeably "Econochristian" as are some of the discordant, higher end guitar parts. If you enjoyed Ojorojo, you'll find this disc much to your liking as well. I've been informed that the band also released a split 7", but hell if I can find a copy anywhere. They did record two songs for the "Shit Gets Smashed" comp, which you can download here.

The well is drying up as far as bands like this go. If anyone knows of any other "unknown" bands of this sort, do comment. For fans of Zero Hour, Unhinged, Daymare, Schifosi, Jeniger, Lost World, Antischism, Initial State, etc...

download

Choking On What's Real

As some of you may know, dark crust-core with witchy female vocals is my kryptonite. I'm positively weak-kneed over that shit. Throw on some Zero Hour, Unhinged, Jeniger, Dearborn SS, or Initial State and I'm a docile zombie, ready to do your bidding (or that of the vocalist). Which brings me to today's overlooked and completely awesome band, OJOROJO. Those of you wise enough to have downloaded the "Shit Gets Smashed" comp a while back have read the prologue to this band's dark tale. The above description and comparisons pretty much tell the rest, but you should also know that members previously/currently play(ed) in Grimple, Econochrist, Talk is Poison, and Brainoil, and the incredible vocals-woman screamed for a similarly great band called Multi Facet (also on the "Shit Gets Smashed" comp... Post on their 7" coming soon). As far as this sub-sub genre of hardcore goes, OJOROJO deserve to be regarded as one of the best. The band only released one full length, "Can You Keep Your Sanity," (East Bay Menace Recs.) consisting of 14 scathing crust blasts. I think you'll like... (click on the song in the singingbox for a preview).

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As a bonus, in the folder below you'll also find OJOROJO's split with Wisconsin band, Inflicted. Unfortunately, OJO recorded these two tracks without Jenean on vocals, but they are still good and it's nice to hear these guys working out their sound. Inflicted were a great choice to share this split. They resemble the Bay Area bands OJO rose up around (El Dopa, etc.) and completely shred (perhaps better than OJO on this record)! If anyone has info about Inflicted, you know what to do...

Download these 2 records

A Whale's Vagina

vs.

Okay, now that I have your attention... since the inception of the FE blog one year ago today, I've been wanting to do a San Diego mixtape. The purpose? To prove to myself that San Diego doesn't (completely) suck. It does, but as a music lover I have to do something to make existence in this musically/culturally retarded part of the world tolerable (until I make my escape...). The most appropriate analogy for the music produced in this town is a geographically accurate one: It's a desert. But, as you make your way across it, you're bound to find some oases which are all the sweeter for being so rare. As much as I complain, some of the most important music (at least in my life) was born of this land of dire scarcity.

So what does this mixtape hold for the brave few who venture to download it? Not an easy answer. There's a little something for everyone... I've included Tijuana as part of the San Diego area in order to include the crusty bestias, Bümbklaatt and Coäccion, you'll get plenty of speed and brutality from the likes of Crossed out and The Neighbors, some of that often maligned chaos of the Gravity Records crew from Heroin and Clikatat Ikatowi, a whole heap of the idiosyncratic and sometimes downright nutty rock experimentations from Creedle, Drive Like Jehu, Last of the Juanitas, Tarantula Hawk, and lots more noise besides. I was going to assemble two volumes: hardcore and rock. But that wouldn't do much to open up musical boundaries. So here it is. It's a mess, but it's teeming with genius at many points. Hopefully you'll discover some new favorites.

25 tracks, 21 bands

The Bands:

Battalion of Saints, Drive Like Jehu, Crossed Out, Bümbklaatt, Three Mile Pilot, The Neighbors, Spanakorzo, Heroin, aMiniature, Find Him and Kill Him, Last of the Juanitas, Second Story Window, Coäccion, Hot Snakes, Gehenna, Swing Kids, Tarantula Hawk, Run For Your Fucking Life, Clikatat Ikatowi, Spring Break, Creedle.

Link has been removed.

No new posts for about a week. I'll be traveling around Oregon (a place to which I may one day make my escape), but don't let that stop you from leaving a comment. I had to exclude a lot of bands from this mix in consideration of file size and low attention spans. I just wanted a good representation of talent and diversity, both new and old (and plenty of personal favorites). Feel free to bitch and complain that I didn't include your favorite SD band, or offer suggestions, stories, new favorites...

One Nation Under GOB

This double post concludes the GOB series (for now). The download link below conveniently combines two classic, rare, noisy compilations, starting with "Mandatory Marathon" (Amendment Records, 1999?). A comp. that boasts multiple tracks from Charles Bronson, Capitalist Casualties, The Gaia, Palatka, GOB, and Laceration should require no encouragement for download. Two warnings though: 1. The sound quality is rather ass-like 2. There are several "joke" or "experimental" bands/projects on this one that are less than entertaining. Regardless, there's some rare noise here that you need.

Back Cover: Try not to go blind reading the track list








Also featured in the folder below is this Food Not Bombs benefit comp. Six Weeks Records put out in the late nineties. There's some good to great Reno bands, and some other semi-well-known bands like The Dread and Bristle. There's also a decent amount of variety (all within the boundaries of punk and hardcore) and you may find yourself liking the bands you haven't heard of. Nice little record!

Back Cover:

Download these comps HERE

GOB Is My Co-pilot

The cover of the "Autopsy Mayhem: Hard Sound Part One" comp. is so butt-ugly (and damaged in addition) that I decided just to post a photo of GOB from the insert. This is a mainly grind/sludge comp with several household names and a few one-hit wonders. The CD is billed as a "Trainwreck Complication" because the tracks were recorded at Trainwreck Studios, and I guess we can assume that's the label's name as well. There are eleven bands and ten tracks (wait, how is that possible?), and they all come from the brutal side of the tracks. Heavy stuff!

Bands:

1. GOB
2. Noothgrush
3. Bros. Jibb
4. Jenny Piccolo
5. Billy Clyde
6. Shedwellaz
7. Agents of Satan
8. Benumb
9. deadbodieseverywhere
10. Utter Bastard
11. Makara

Listen

Agobophobia: The Fear of GOB

And fear them you should! GOB are here to destroy everything you've ever held dear, including what you call "music." We continue this series dedicated to all things GOB with an incredible split by two amazing bands: Agoraphobic Nosebleed and, well, GOB. ANB have collected some pretty impressive credentials during their veteranship in the fast-as-hell grind/powerviolence saga. They mix the fast with the heavy is such a way as to produce pure whoop-ass! I also really enjoy their terse, axiomatic, nihilistic lyrical spew-- and I do quote from "Computer Lethargy" --"Aspire to reduce your world to a monitor screen. Finger fuck a keyboard into ecstasy. Fat nuts, dumpy butt-- Dilbert fleshed into being." You need these seven tracks badly!

This time we get three tracks from the nebulous and surreal monster that is GOB. There's one about a guy who's really hard to kill, another about white meat, and finally one about... GOB! I would say this is the band at its best, but I've never heard them otherwise!

Preview: I have handful of comps with GOB on them coming up... soon.


Get your punishment here

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You Can't Run Away From GOB

I've recently run across some GOB paraphernalia, so it's time for a series of posts! For more info and links regarding this noisy, subversive ensemble, visit an earlier post on their great LP. The first split for today is one I've had for a while, and was my first exposure to the band. Somehow these blaspheming corrupters-of-the-youth roped in God-fearing ex-game show host, Wink Martindale to do a split with them. Holy Shit, indeed! If anyone knows any info about how or why this scheme was cooked up, PLEASE comment. On GOB's side of the insert, the band puts on the sheep's clothing and claims to be a Christian rock band. They're pretty convincing until the end when they command "SAY YOU LOVE SATAN!" (well, then there's the large image of a little devil jack-hammering a guy's head...). To say that the band has a wicked sense of humor is a major understatement. The GOB track, "Soft Bodied" completely shreds, and the Martindale tracks, well, you be the judge.

I believe only 600 of these were ever pressed by the once mighty Slap-A-Ham Records. My copy's a little scratched to Hell, but here it is (and another GOB split will be coming up later today, hopefully).

Your Salvation here

Get their split with Spazz here

Get a live track here

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No(w You MUST Leave A) Comment

Along with Crossed Out and Infest, No Comment comprised the unholy trinity of early modern So-Cal powerviolence (or fastcore, etc... honorable mention goes to a bunch of bands like Neanderthal... ). I mean, these bands pretty much wrote the manual on how it's done, and no band has yet to eclipse their greatness in the genre. As the title of No Comment's discography LP/CD, "87-93," suggests, the band tore shit up during the same period that Infest reigned. Having only released EPs and Comp tracks, they've remained relatively neglected over the years (although I'm sure there's a legion or two of devoted fans out there). The CD I've ripped for today's post contains all of NC's studio output (including their demo which was later released as an EP), as well as a ton of live material. The LP version was released by Deep Six Records and is sold out, and the CD version (presumably sold out?) was released, I believe, by the vocals man, Andy (later, vocalist for Man is the Bastard). Until someone decides to make this material available again, here are some 256 kbps rips. It's a big file, but this is both a big chunk of history, and 100 mb's of ear-blistering awesomeness!


Here

Another Round of Saké

I picked up this "Emergency Broadcast System Vol. 4" 7" comp. mainly because of the Saké track ("Skinner"- I believe this is the only release on which this song appears). After many listens... that's still the main reason it remains "post-worthy." If you haven't checked out Saké yet, you're missing out! They were a creative and talented band from Eureka, California that sometimes used a violin to complement their amazing crusty, metallic, rocked out "progressive hardcore." I just re-ripped their 7" and 10" with cleaner sound quality and higher bit rate, so if you're interested just go to the original post to download. Also, members went on to form an excellent sludge-rock band called The Hitch.

The EBS comp series was released by Allied Recordings (Music for the Proletariat!), which was also responsible for releasing such classics as Nausea's "Cybergod" 7" and Antischism's "Still Life" LP. The other three bands on this volume play either emoish rock (Nevertheless) or poppy punk (Crease and Marry Me). They're good for what they are, but I'm still all about the Saké!!!

Download EBS 4

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The Backwards Slide of Mass Genocide

It's time to take a break from the crusty stuff. Why would I want to do that? Good point, but sometimes good punk rock melodies are the just the call of the day. I can't think of a better fix than the three EPs by Portland's The Observers. This band came on the scene in the mid 2000's, dropped some jaws, released one full length, were touted as one of the best things to happen to punk in a long while, then abruptly fell off the face of the earth. Not really, as some key members are carrying on in a very similar band, The Red Dons. Both bands play punk rock/post punk with a bittersweet undercurrent to the music, and fairly dark themes to the lyrics. I hear a little Youth Brigade (LA), and some influence from The Wipers, but the bands are doing their own thing, and it's excellent! There's energy, intelligence, and infectious melodies popping out of every pore of these songs, and once in a while the drummer even treats us to great little drum solos. In 20 years, I can see myself complaining that they just don't make records like this anymore...

These seven inchers seem to be sold out everywhere, except Deranged Records has limited clear vinyl versions of "Lead Pill" for 8 bucks!... and some other stragglers may be found here.

Get These EPs here

Tracks:

Lead Pill EP

1. "Lead Pill"

2. "Can't Be Sad"

3. "Short Day"

4. "Normally Normal"

Walk Alone EP

1. "Walk Alone"

2. "The Void"

3. "Slipping Away"

Where I Stay EP

1. "Where I Stay"

2. "Manipulator"