Hiatus (Not the Band)

It's time to take a little vacation from blogging. With all the things going on right now, I would hate for this blog to become a chore. If it isn't fun anymore, why keep at it? I think you see my point. After two or four weeks, I hope to be re-energized and back to finding hidden musical treasures under unassuming rocks and ripping the shit out of them! Meantime, I look forward to getting caught up on a ton of other stuff and listening to music for no other reason than the sheer pleasure of it! I've recently received a flurry of e-mails; some from nice people sharing music or saying thanks, as well as those hoping for a review/post. To the former, I say thanks! and to the latter... I haven't forgotten about you-- please be patient. If any old links are down, let me know; I'll be checking comments here and there.



To send you on your way properly, I present the Half Man/Kisses & Hugs split 7". Roman, a long time/sporadic FE visitor/friend, was blown away by the small-town angst and violence of Kisses & Hugs' 12" and suggested I post this mean little split. This one's for him and anyone else who dug that piece (all of whom are probably laid up with a sore asshole from the experience). X's & O's were definitely a singular monster, and what Half Man might lack in originality and insanity, is made up for by their sincerity and power on the two tracks here. Made up of ex-members of Campaign and future members of Countdown to Putsch, HM took old school grit and "modern" smarts (I'm look at you Born Against) and made plain, good hardcore punk! They released a couple of EPs, some comp tracks and an LP that sounded like a completely different band. Check with the Mountain Collective for related bands and straggling artifacts.

The Half Man/Kisses & Hugs Split 7"

X's & O's

Continuing on the trope of bands with curious names creating wonderfully fucked up music, here we have an almost-discography from Kisses and Hugs. Another overlap with the last band posted is Kisses And Hugs' soft-spot for insane distortion, blast-beats, and humorous song titles. Not to mention there's a totally jacked-up cover song ("Kiss Me, Kill Me" by Negative Approach). Titles like "Civ Lied" and "Genital Ben," make me really wish they had supplied a lyric sheet, but we'll just have to use our imagination instead (the crazed vocals certainly don't provide an in, either). So who were Kisses And Hugs? They were three rural Pennsylvania/New Jersey youths who look like the kind of kids who got their asses kicked a lot in elementary school (a compliment is a weird kind of way) but who shredded out some insanely fast and chaotic hardcore and unbosomed their angst with quirky and funny words (presumably). I first came to know the bands from the "Education" comp (Mountain Coop) and their split with Halfman (the former tracks appear on this LP). The album posted today is mainly material from 1994 when faster hardcore was only beginning to adopt its clique-y posturing, so it's free from all that. The LP itself only reached the pressing and circulation phase in 2001/2002, and only 500 were pressed. That's about all I know. If you need the split, just leave a comment and I'll get on it.

Kisses & Hugs LP