Hostile Midwestern hardcore street punk steeped in the classics. You’re gonna hear ’80s RAMONES (“Stuck in the Middle”), gruff Oi! (“Hostile Instincts”), pit-opening hardcore (“Broken Cross,” “Cryptic Times”), and some straight sub-60-second burners (“Scenario”). Sometimes you need someone else to take a fresh crack at something you already know and love, and that’s exactly what FALSE NEGATIVE has done here.
Two cuts from LOST LEGION and three from FALSE NEGATIVE, both of whom hail from the great state of Illinois. LOST LEGION kicks things off with a speedy hardcore number that exhibits some tastefully flashy guitar work. The second song switches up the formula with a ’77-style anthem with a gruff but melodic verse that almost sounds like STIFF LITTLE FINGERS. FALSE NEGATIVE seem like the real mouthbreathers here, smashing through their three selections with reckless disregard for harmony or nuance. Halfway between NEGATIVE FX and NEGATIVE APPROACH, you get FALSE NEGATIVE. Their track “Salt the Earth” is my favorite of the bunch with its shout-along chorus. Altogether, a solid outing on both accounts, living up to the rad cover art of a fire-breathing skinhead decimating a cornfield.
Thirteen songs of fast, nasty, unapologetic early ’80s hardcore aping all within a mere eleven minutes. As much as the band’s logo looks remarkably similar to that of NEGATIVE FX, the vocalist at times sounds almost exactly like Choke, so you’ve got a rough idea of what you’re in for with this tape. Driving songs with shouted vocals, barked gang vocals on many choruses, and catchy breakdowns. This is nasty Midwest hardcore at its finest, regardless of what decade it came out.
