Altered Beast

Aaron G sent me rips of his old band Altered Beast's demo thinking I would like it. He was goddamn right about that! It's too good not to post, in fact. Aaron threw down the No Comment and Spazz comparisons, which sums it up well, but I'll go ahead and throw in a "Mankind" era Infest one just to sound like I'm doing something here. By now you know basically what to expect, except for maybe the actual quality that awaits you. Trust me, if you like this genre, don't hesitate. Altered Beast only released this demo and didn't get much exposure outside of Chicago. Download now and tell your friends you've known about these guys forever.

Thanks again, Aaron!

Altered Beast Demo

Sawchuk

It's time for a couple more demos, the first being from Sawchuk-- a young Michigan band that's going strong (with the next featured band, such is not the case...). Matt from the band noted that Sawchuk isn't typical of the bands FE usually features, and in a way he's right, but not completely. I can always appreciate bands that draw inspiration from hardcore's heyday, and this band certainly does so with the "crew" styled backing vocals and old-school-gritty midwest-meets-east-coast barrage. I can discern a small influence from the more modern straight edge bands of recent times, but its subtlety in the mix is certainly an asset to the final impression made (at least to this blogger's ears). The final impression would be that Sawchuk is a solid hardcore band, and regardless of the listless recording quality, the band's power and heart shine through each of their raging tunes. I was a little skeptical when I saw titles like "Rust Belt Pride" and "Stand And Fight," but exploring further I found the lyrics to be quite thoughtful and at times moving. I look forward to these guys getting a decent recording budget and steady line-up, 'cause their next release will probably be a killer!

Check out the Sawchuk Myspace page for another download and show dates.

Sawchuk "Summer 2009 Demo"

August Is Cruelest Month

For my last summer vacation Song Of The Week, I was temped to post Bananarama's "Cruel Summer," but I opted for a band that never put out a weak track. Post Regiment was awesome, enough said. The booty-shaker this week is what I like to call their 'radio hit,' although it's dubious that it ever got any play. It definitely strikes the ears unawares with its sweet, poppy allure after an album-full of snotty-yet-sincere, fuckin' raging hardcore! Don't be surprised if this tune sneaks into your synapses while you're warming up for your morning shower-a capella session-- it's damn infectious! Being a non-Pole, I am not qualified to say that Post Regiment was the best band to ever come out of Poland, but I secretly believe this to be true. Sincerely so.

"Catch Another Train" by Post Regiment (from their self-titled first album).

If that doesn't work, click HERE

On a related side-note, the new El Banda 7" rules!

A Sad Symbol Of The Brotherhood Of Man

Note to the young folks out there: please do NOT name your band Sacrilege! Yes, it sounds badass, but there are already, like 20 out there. The most important one for me and many other fans of crust and thrash would be the UK's Sacrilege! Some nice bootleg operation in or near Andorra collected all the band's demos from '84-'86 on a limited (to 300) CD. There was an LP circulating the distros recently which collects the early demos, but this disk has both of the 1986 ones as well. If you're an obsessive Sacrilege-type, here are the demos ripped at 320. The back cover photo tells you which tracks are from which session.

The Demos Part 1

The Demos Part 2

Back Cover

dead.enewetak.bird

When I have the time, I don't have the motivation, and now that I have less time... The only way to solve this blogging dilemma is to unload a nice, quick EP on you. A good chunk of Enewetak's discography is all over this site, but what is this "Dead Bird" 7"? It's about what one might expect from this band as recorded by Matt Anderson in 1995, ie. it sounds a little more "Gravity" than "King Of The Monsters." The post-Rorschach menace is still worn sleeve-wise, though, and the band's chunky, metallic destiny is clearly visible on the horizon. The actual record's history is a little foggy-- we know that it was released on Revolutionary Powertools Records and came in a sealed envelop-sleeve, but just how many were pressed, I cannot say. Having almost never seen this thing around, I'd venture to say it falls into the rare as fuck category.

Here

Bringing Out The Dead

I managed to rip this modern classic before my needle turned to total shit. The glorious Ambulance LP also marks the return of the sub-sub genre of music this blog specializes in: bleak scandi-crust! (and yes, female vocals... not that it matters... or does it?). Ambulance now has a new line-up, including a different vocalist, but as solid as they are, they have yet to match the brilliance of "The End Of Our Time." It's one of those records that's so dark you want to off yourself, but so awesome and powerful it gives you a reason once again to live. Make a playlist of this, Tragedy, Schifosi, and Jeniger, and you'll be in your own personal twilight bliss.

"The End Of Our Time" by Ambulance (ripped from vinyl @ 320 kbps)

See if you can get a copy from the band.

Cap'n Jazz - Shmap'n Shmazz

Go ahead and laugh. Is Cap'n Jazz a guilty pleasure? Shit yeah. But heck, what other band could with so much ease summon the buried memories of those innocent years when the only worry you had was how to get 50 cents to buy an ice cream from the guy in the truck jingling "Pop Goes The Weasel" (who was probably a pedophile, but this could NEVER occur to you) with charmingly assonant psychobabble like "Dictioncanary can swear she's barely aware of her apparently paralyzing stares?" They will be called pretentious and other epithets of foulness, but I prefer to quote the band again and say that Cap'n Jazz was "a puppy, a balloon, and a happy accident"!

¡Que Suerte!

*This is the second to last in the fun-summer-Song Of The Week series. A week from today, it's back to work for me. I'm also awaiting a new stylus in mail for my turn table, but I still plan on doing some posts, so stay tuned! (I'll have to see what I've got in my CD collection...)

Puro Desmadre Parte Tres

Big thanks to Mike D for giving us the final installment of the Stapled Shut discography: the 5 track "Resin Heaven" demo. There are some exclusives as well as old favorites, the most exciting for me being the other version of my favorite SS track, "Fuck The Bullshit."

Get it here.

Vaya Sin Dios

I get the feeling Sin Dios' last full length, "Odio Al Imperio," was not meant for wide distribution. I didn't see it in too many American distros, and the enormous book(let) is completely in Spanish. Nonetheless, in technical aspects, "Odio" is possibly the band's best release. True, some of the revolutionary fire of their previous albums is missing from the songwriting, but the production and musicianship is certainly at its most mature. Since everything the band did is worth repeat listens, here are some quality CD rips if you missed it the first time, along with some low-budget but very legible pictures of the 100+ page book that accompanied it.

Listen here.

Read here

¡Ruido Anticapitalista!

This and the next post will be an alpha-omega sort of thing for one of my all time favorite bands. For something like 15 years, Sin Dios inflamed crowds with their lively and distinctly Spanish take on anarcho-hardcore. Simultaneously pissed and catchy, each of their records is potent enough to instantly wipe away my dissaffection, no matter the day or circumstances. Ripped for you today is what I believe to be their first release: a split LP with fellow Spaniards, Tarzan. Both bands offer top notch material, and the 'zine-styled booklet covers a lot of info on the early '90's political situation in Spain and Latin America. After their break-up, Sin Dios uploaded their entire discography at their site, but I'm not sure if it's still there (and I don't believe they posted the Tarzan tracks).

Sin Dios/Tarzan Split LP (@ 256 kbps) w/ booklet

This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb

Much of the blog folk hibernate during the summer, and who can blame them? I haven't been posting very much either due to some fun and distracting projects. Case in point: I decided to try my hand at bike building. I think it came out pretty damn well. Some Ramen months lay ahead, since the components add up to a minor fortune; but it was worth it for the learning experience and the badass finished product!



In celebration, it's time for another fun summer Song Of The Week. This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb change the term Folk-Punk from derogatory to complimentary. So here's a song from my favorite of their albums, "Front Seat Solidarity," that covers another activity I've been engaged in a little too often lately.


"Drunk Punk" by This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb

Big Fat Bag O' Splits!

Splits are always a great way to learn about new and obscure bands, but how about a grab-bag full of them? That's what we're dealing in today- a series of split 7"s I've run across recently and wanted to share. You probably haven't heard most of these bands, so unlike a real grab-bag, I offer some descriptions to either dissuade or entice:

The first split in the bag is from a couple of awesome Polish bands. You may recall Stupor from their split with Harum Scarum posted somewhere below. They play more of that thick and intense crust, like a more raw and heavy Post Regiment, while their partners, Verrecke play one long Amebix-meets-Counterblast dirge. It's as good as it sounds.

The name Spider Cunts kept coming up in blurbs about the lineage of Burning Kitchen (one of my favorite punk bands), so it was high time to check them out. What they deliver on this split is four obnoxious songs, mainly about getting wasted. The slamming drums, simple and catchy riffs, harsh vocals... I'm thinking a more obnoxious and punk Sin 34? Sure. Obnoxious is definitely the word here.

Oh, and The Dregs rage hard too. I don't know why I thought I'd dislike them; I actually ended up a fan. Nicely distorted guitars and screamed and wailed vocals that don't get monotonous like some bands' do. The hardcore attack and street punk sensibilities are reminiscent of Filth, but I wouldn't get too carried away with that comparison.

Finally we get to the international pairing of Yokel and Pisspoor. I hadn't heard of Australia's Yokel, and was impressed by their four well-played and vicious crust blasters. The vocals (especially the female member's) are scathing as hell. Granted, nothing originally is going on here, but it won't matter as you scream along, railing against genocide and greed!

Austin's Pisspoor offered some pretty good tracks on the "El Guapo" comp and their split LP, but there's something about these tracks that show a hitting of a stride. A band like this can only be successful if their anger comes across genuine and abundant, and really, that's exactly what this is-- unadulterated rage that's both punishing and cathartic.

Download a sack o' splits

Song Of The Week: "Wednesday Night Church Meeting" (Mingus)

I'm not a church-going man, but years ago when a friend copied "Blues & Roots" for me, the first track conjured an image of a sweltering Southern church packed with lay folk dancing themselves into an ecstatic fever. It was more than satisfying when later I bought the LP and could see the song titles.

"Wednesday Night Church Meeting"

The Steps To Hell

Farcical was yet another virile offshoot of the G-Anx/Elderberry Records tree. Where they fit into the lineage is a little hazy, but based on the recording date of the split below, the band appears to be pre-Counterblast. The first label I wanted to throw onto the 7" pictured above was Counterblast-lite. This is unfair, however, because the songwriting is every bit as engaging, albeit a little less heavy and depressing. I daresay the undistorted picking forays are at times more beautiful than Counterblast's best.



This early Farcical split sees the band hopscotching between the depression and brutality of their early incarnation (G-Anx) and the more mind-bending psychedelia of their more
progressive work. Awesome tracks, but don't ask me to pick a favorite between these two 7"s. As for the B side, I didn't quite "get" their fellow country-folk, Fatal Females, the first time I spun this disk. By the second time, whatever there was to "get" was thoroughly gotten. FF use low-frequency hum and hypnotically steady rhythm to lull you into a pleasing half-slumber of distorted shoegaze noise (post) punk. So simple, yet so good.


Both EPs here.

Oppressing Minorities/For God And Country

No matter how many "Punk Terrorist Anthologies" have been released, it's always nice to find more live Nausea material, especially from the not-often -heard line-up with Neil and Amy on vocals. Recorded in Connecticut in 1988, the three tracks committed to this little piece of wax are crushing and entertaining testimonials of a band hitting its stride on its way to greatness. More please.

Nausea live in Norwalk 1988 (ripped @ 320)

Tracks:
1. New Generation
2. Right To Live
3. Smash Racism