Saturday, January 9, 2010

Dogs, Cats, and the Grievousness of Actuality

I never know when that hankering for Japanese punk will come up slithering between the feet. Well, it came this morning, and bit me right on the ol' keester. It didn't take long rolodexing through my "to be posted box" of seven inches (yes, I have one...) to find a perfect pair of EPs as antidote. Reality Crisis are one of contemporary Japan's best along with Clown, Blowback, Slang, etc. (although Slang's been around for over 20 years now!). Like most 7"s on MCR Japan, "Deformed Society" is pretty rare. So if you missed out, here's your chance to enjoy RC in one of their most raw forms. The vocals, like a strange mix of early Hiatus and Paul Bearer (Sheer Terror) had me marveling at how Daisuke could go five tracks without giving himself a hernia. Lyrically the band follows the Shikabane path, penning various ways of dealing with our inevitable despair, but then finishing with a rant against irresponsible pet owners (!). The lower-end, chunky metallic guitars compliment all this to form a truly crust-tacular experience.


I know I've seen the "Who Is Your Messiah" 7" posted elsewhere, but I figured I'd offer my rips anyway. Here the band pokes its head out of the gloomier mire of the previous EP, and lets fly a more energetic flurry of riffs. To enliven their sound further, they've added a vocalist, credited as providing "Insane Vocals." Indeed. If you like this one, you'll find similar goods on the band's two LPs.

"Deformed Society" and "Who Is Your Messiah"

4 comments:

7inchcrust said...

its so simple:Reality Crisis fuckin rulzzz. both records are great
thanks :)

Papst Benedikt XVI said...

good pick sir!

as you mentioned BLOWBACK: in case you haven't checked it yet may I direct your attention on the DEMENTED ANTHEM HC ASSEMBLAGE comp. that feat. BLOWBACK, NO VALUE, CRUDE and tons of others plus the 1st officially released NIGHTBRINGER track.

justin said...

Just kind of stumbled back over here not expecting you to be back in action. Bam, here you are again and nobody told me. :-) Slammin post you have here, never heard of these guys. First thought, I love how the bass just pounds away out front, not hidden in the shadows. Most of all I'm just glad you're back in action Mr. Batguano.

Batguano said...

Well, Billy, I think you nailed it pretty nicely with that!

No Pope, I haven't heard that one, but it sounds worth tracking down. Thanks for the tip...

Justin! It's equally great seeing you here. I was starting to make the blog rounds but I slowed down due to starting work again. So yeah, I haven't commented much in too many places (although I have been reading here and there, including some MR posts...). I should be more active with comments soon.

But yes, Reality Crisis are pretty burly. I definitely hear that heavy bass you mentioned on "Deformed Society". Brings me back to the old Hiatus days...