It's Hittin' The Fan Now!

The Bay Area hardcore stuff I've been posting doesn't seem to be getting much download love. Maybe people out there don't realize how good it is! There's nothing like the "Shit Gets Smashed" comp. (East Bay Menace, 1995) to reveal that goodness! On this bastard you'll receive a veritable 40 oz. of dirty and/or crusty hardcore that evokes some serious punk rock inebriation, and which will leave you dizzy by the curbside, wretching your guts out by the end. If you love Grimple, Econochrist, and Filth... then I highly recommend this to you (even though those bands don't actually appear on this thing). I also recommend "SGS" if, like me, you're a sucker for female-fronted dark crust along the lines of Zero Hour, Unhinged, Jeniger, Children of Barren Wasteland, etc.

Synopsis (Band List)

Hot Rod Shopping Cart - Rock'n Roll hardcore. Pretty good... don't know what else they did.

Multi Facet - This band and OJOROJO (see below) shared the same singer. Both bands played awesome dark, crusty hardcore like the bands mentioned above. Some members also played in Grimple, Talk is Poison, El Dopa (1332), etc.

OJOROJO- see above

Mickey and the Big Mouths - Old school hardcore with hints of melody. Really good!

Loaded - Melodic hardcore not unlike early Grimple.

Squat - Very melodic female- fronted hardcore punk. "Misery" is a great song!

El Dopa (aka 1332) - Great dark and menacing hardcore. They had a name change and put out a 7" on Prank Recs and have an early discography CD available on Tee Pee Recs.

Strychnine - Rockin' Poison Idea-core. Two early recordings that would end up on "Dead Rats and Oakland Dogs."

Apeface - Great modern hardcore band. On these early tracks they sound like a mix a Filth and Econochrist. For a more emotive and "mature" Apeface, visit here.

Masterbaiter- Darker hardcore than their name would suggest. Good stuff, not unlike El Dopa, etc.

Smash Some Shit!

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Strychnos Nux Vomica

The last post was an appetizer while I got this 17 track feast ripped. On "Dead Rats and Oakland Dogs," the motliest of East Bay crews, Strychnine, serve up all the tracks from the "Fucked Up Inside" EP (minus the Poison Idea cover) in re-recorded form, plus 13 more high gravity, rocked-out detonations. The production does wonders for the band's thick and gritty attack, as does the fact that these tracks were ripped from a pretty well-preserved piece of wax. Many of the masters recorded for East Bay Menace Records were tossed in the garbage (from what I've heard), so it's possible that this LP won't be released again (but stranger things have happened...)

Listen here!

Purchase some in-print Strychnine releases

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Choose Your Poison

Among the sweet and pristine breezes of Bay Area pop punk, Strychnine was a lung-full of hot, dirty, urban stench. Over the years, the band would gather its soldiers from such great Nor-Cal outfits as Crimpshrine, Econochrist, Capitol Punishment, Filth, etc. Armed with a love of Poison Idea, a love/hate for alcohol, and a bitterness brought on by the years, Strychnine has been sickening thousands for over a decade with their poisonous spew of burly rock-infused hardcore and chant-along choruses. The band's two earliest releases are long out of print, including this great "Fucked Up Inside" 7," released by Reform Records (Denver) around early 1996. Here you'll get 4 doses of the hardcore described above, but with some Crimpshrine-esque bass work, and a cover of Poison Idea's "A.A." If I get motivated enough, I'll post the "Dead Rats and Oakland Dogs" LP later this coming week.

Check it out here

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