Impact Solo Odio LP
Another very hot recent Italian hardcore release. Gnarly, well-produced political thrash, intense vocals—good all the way around. Get it!
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Another very hot recent Italian hardcore release. Gnarly, well-produced political thrash, intense vocals—good all the way around. Get it!
A rippin’ little tape. Full of sharp lyrics, tuneful-as-hell thrash, and an upbeat attitude. Another fine band out of Canada with a good debut.
Unlike a lot of contemporary Japanese HC bands, this group delivers some very powerful HC without resorting to metal influences. Really well done recording and come distinctive touches add up to one hot release.
Totally mindblowing madness here from Japan. Raging speedcore thrusts out pile-driving chaotic leads and maniac raspy vocals, whose style is unique and adds character to the GASTUNK sound. Fast, maniac slices with some interspeed variations make this one of the hottest Japanese LPs since GISM.
Actually, this is a four-song 6″ that comes in a 10″ jacket. Don’t ask me why! Musically, it’s slowed-down punk and noise, somewhat like FLIPPER (garage-y) but more tonal. Decent, but not exciting.
The second tasty release from Holland’s FUNERAL ORATION. This one features guitarist extraordinaire Tos N., who adds some distinctive frills and textures to the band’s already shredding sound. Most of the material here combines HÜSKER DÜ-style instrumental density and vocals with the traditionally powerful Dutch thrash approach, and the results are stunning. Add to that a couple of plaintive ’60s-tinged cuts (like “Dayfall”), and you’ve got an LP that will be on your turntable a lot.
Right up there with all the best English power-thrash bands. Repetitive speed riffs and howling vocals, hot production and no-let-up pace all add up to a great four-track debut.
The four excellent straightforward thrashers here will all be appearing on Pushead’s EXECUTE/INFERNO split 12″ really soon, so you’ll get to check this one out or yourself. Good one.
This album features the addition of Graham (ex-DESTRUCTORS) to guitar duties, whose work is sharp and noticeable. But when the ENGLISH DOGS changed singers and did the classic To the Ends of the Earth 12″, I expected a churning explosion of insanity on this one. Instead, I got half of that. Bummed, but trying to be fair, this has more approaches to mainstream metal than speedmetal, which is well-executed and craveable for all you fanatics. The speed stuff is great, storms with power and exertion.
Despite the RAMONES influences in the title, these tunes are much more on the pop side of R’n’R. Which is not to say that the music is poor, but power-pop is not what I was expecting. OK for what it is.
Well, maybe this is another case of wanting to like something more than you eventually do. Basically, a heavy, somber, dark thrash band with elements of metal hare and there. I don’t speak Italian, but it seems as though they’re flirting with Satanic overtones. Not incredible, but interesting.
This live recording documents DEZERTER at a 1984 rock festival in Jarocin, Poland before an audience of 20,000 (!) people. While the production doesn’t do justice to this first-rate outfit, the excitement comes through; 17 songs here, most of them very good, and a few really excellent.
“This one is for TOM VERLAINE… We hate him!” Geddit…? “Idiot Box”…? Never mind, what we have here are a couple of mid-period DAMNED live tracks that have fairly good production and performance. On the flip, they announce their musical progression, due to the fact that they use more than three chords. Great sleeve.
Pretty repetitive metalish hardcore at a medium- to fast-clipped pace. Not as offensive as some, but doesn’t do anything for the emotions or intellect. Okay vocals.
The first of many Oi! releases to be put out by Roddy of the OPPRESSED (a label looking to non-racist Oi! music. Incidentally, he’s looking for US Oi! bands for a UK Oi! comp LP of this nature.). Decent Oi!, and a project worth supporting.
This great new English band punks forth some outrageous harmonies with nice musical compositions and crafty guitar work. Male and female vocals add nice touches with the changing paces. So much like the original INSTIGATORS, it’s uncanny. Fab stuff!!
Tricky cover (doesn’t state the band’s name anywhere on the outside), but straightforward, driving punk inside. There will always be a place for well-done ’77 grunge.
This Italian band describes themselves as “pro-Soviet,” and the LP rocks a bit more and harder than their EP, and shows a lot of diversity in the slower, mid-tempo punk songs. They seem to take a little bit more time and work to develop a sound that makes a statement that you don’t necessarily need to know Italian to understand.
Jeez, could they be Mods? Yes, but not very stimulated ones. Four songs, decent pop rockers, but not ravers at all.
All four tracks here are instrumentals, as I assume all the tracks are on their LP as well. If you’re into ’50s rockin’ tracks like “Tomahawk, “Rumble,” etc., you’ll jump for this. Modern spaghetti western rock ’n’ roll from Sweden.
Another fine release from this great, fuzzy Aussie garage band. Although some of their stuff Is really comparable to KILLING JOKE, BIRTHDAY PARTY, and even FLIPPER, a lot of people might find them a little derivative, but I think they’re a whole mess of fun. Makes you feel dirty just slapping them on the turntable.
AKOB walks a thin line between nasty, powerful thrash (“Officer Friendly Blues”) and metal punk (“Explosion Blues”), so my feelings toward this EP are ambiguous. There’s a fresh, flexible guitar sound to please everyone, plus some interesting lyrics. Still, these guys would be great if they stopped listening to those BROKEN BONES records.
WE THE LIVING incorporate goofy lyrics I can’t quite make out into a messy thrash format, with lots of cymbals and out-of-control vocals. I liked the spirit of this five song EP, though I was left rather unmoved by the material.
Sun-baked punk, thrash, Egypto-crypto-weirdness. Sound quality is shaky at times, but fans of Southwest psycho blues will love it.
The ’60s reissues continue to pour out: #18 is Colorado, a mixed bag but with cool stuff from MOONRAKERS. #19 covers Michigan (Pt. 3), with a pre-STOOGES track of Iggy with the IGUANAS. #20 is LA (Pt. 4), and might well be the best of the new lot with classics from the MUGWUMPS, LAST WORDS, and others. #21 covers Ohio (Pt. 2) with average material. Finally, #22, and the South (Pt. 2), with a lot of folk rock stuff and a classic by DICK WATSON 5 extolling the virtues of intellectualism!
Did somebody slip a GBH record inside this jacket? Metalcore to the max by SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and their homeboy buddies BEOWULF, LOS CYCOS, NO MERCY, and EXCEL. Somehow, between the metal sound, song titles, and artwork, I don’t think this project goes too far in convincing me that Mike Muir really is down on the macho, violent gang mentality he professed in MRR.
Although sometimes of garage production standards, there’s more than enough hot material to warrant this Annapolis-area comp. SPASTIC RATS, FIT OF RAGE, STRICTLY PROHIBITED, CHRIST ON A CRUTCH, SICK CHILDREN, HATED, PURGATORY, ROADSIDE PETZ, and the RUDE thrash their way into your geographical memory.
Hot garage punk record from the Bay Area. Rumor had it that these guys were glam-rock revivalists, but glam rock never sounded this raunchy. The SPEED QUEENS offer a slower lament to the platform geeks of yore (“All the Young Dudes Are Dead”), a fast punker (“I Wish I Had a Big Cock Like Iggy Pop”), and a blasting two-guitar mld-tempo number Á la HEARTBREAKERS (“Underground Music Queen”). With ridiculous and humorous themes like these, they should open for GG ALLIN or, for that matter, serve as his back-up band.
Somehow this unknown HC hand from Buffalo, NY made its way to Italy and released a five-song 7″ (I believe it will come out in the US eventually). And I’m glad they did, cuz the results are hot! High-quality production and top-flight melodic all-out thrash with excellent lyrics to boot. Get it.
Aggressiveness and a knack for original power riffs buoy the three songs on this EP over some of their competition. SOREX utilize a mid- to fast-tempo thrash formula, and while the song structures are somewhat longer than the norm, the band sustains the energy well. A solid and promising debut.
Recorded live in ’83, both sides of this disc rip. While not my absolute fave type of sound, this no-wave-meets-hardcore group attacks with noise and energy, and this release is as good a demonstration of their efforts as any.
These zanies from Alaska have unleashed a surprise with this one. SKATE DEATH throws 20 songs at us, mostly falling into a mid-tempo punkish groove not unlike the BURNT. The lyrics are hilarious, boasting titles like “Food Is Good” and “Life Is Such a Boring Job,” but the individual tracks vary considerably in catchiness. Recommended.
Let me put it this way—if you liked PSYCHEDELIC FURS’ first LP or two, you’ll be heavily into this. The likeness is uncanny.
I think this is the band that went to Guyana to bring HC to the “natives,” but instead brought back the “natives” to us. Really, though, this is a sloppy noisefest of thrash, much like many of the European thrashers. Great lyrics, totally pissed and flailing about. Enjoyable anxiety attack.
Recorded in ’83, these four tunes are all previously unreleased and all rip. Great covers of “If the Kids Are United” and “These Boots are Made for Walking.” Available only as a 7 SECONDS Fan Club promo, so send $5 to Positive Force.
Eight ripping, catchy thrashers—tight, powerful, and melodic thrash ’n’ punk. Yep, it’s yet another class act on the scene. God, it makes me mad how little exposure or credit bands like this get.
The first release on Spot’s new label, this all-female combo hits hard with quirky punk. There are funk influences in their post-punk rhythms, traces of PATTI SMITH, POISON GIRLS, and more illustrious predecessors. A well-executed variety pack.
Committed lyrics add a measure of punch to this five-tracker, which features high-velocity thrash with an unfortunate excess of annoying, squiggly guitar leads. Too bad the guitar wanking attenuates their appeal for me; PIG CHILDREN are potentially a powerhouse combo.
I believe this comes under the general heading of “generic thrash”—well done, fast-as-hell, pissed political lyrics, and as of yet an “undistinctive” style. Give ’em time, though, because they’ve got all the ingredients except the time to grow.
You’ll be hearing more from these guys on vinyl soon (a couple comps and perhaps their own release), but for now you’ll have to settle for this raging seven-song demo, a slightly more metalish version of DIE KREUZEN. Good start.
Actually, I’m not sure which is the band’s name and which is the title, but this seems to be the likely set-up. Very unmelodic, short outbursts, driven by mostly snare drum (bass and bass drum aren’t audible) and fuzzy, gnarly guitar. Mixture of speed-metal and straight thrash. Very fast stuff.
First off, this is not the Swedish NOMADS, but a US garage band from the ’60s. Secondly, it’d have to be an awesomely great band to warrant a whole LP’s worth of rough demos, and this combo from North Carolina is not of that calibre. Lots of covers, but the title track is hot.
You can tell it’s a good record when it ends all too fast (or else it’s way short, but in this case you get 16 songs). Rippin’ punk/thrash/skate music with bits of funk, but all really well delivered. Theme-wise, skating and “fun” songs predominate, but there’s some serious stuff too, such as “C.I.A.A.I.D.S.,” which insinuates there’s a CIA conspiracy behind the AIDS epidemic. Hot record!
LUDICHRIST definitely flies for quickness on this 12-songer; has all those thrashing turbulent punches that you love to hear with similarities to great DC bands or to CAUSE FOR ALARM or ANTIDOTE. Wild, chaotic, intense, and full of different variations, LUDICHRIST charges outward with a superb sonic flailing.
Despite the garagy recording, this young DC-area band shows they’ve got something to say, and a zippy way of doing it. Straight-edge Á la MINOR THREAT. Will be good.
More in the current wave of “positive” HC bands owing most to 7 SECONDS and MINOR THREAT. And, as the title implies, the impetus is to think before acting, set to a driving mid-to-fast tempo. Good effort.
This is a rockabilly band playing mostly originals, and features ex-members of SADO-NATION, LOCKJAW, and the RATS. Although the production is thin, they have their rockin’ moments. Probably more fun to see live.
There’s a bunch of rip-roaring, stripped-down thrash here, powerful as hell and with great lyrics! Then, too, there’s more to this band as they display a fair amount of experimentation on a couple of tracks, and don’t lose a bit in the process. TH’INBRED are a band to watch.
Hard to believe. The Pope giving blow jobs, a circle-jerk party, necrophilism leading to AIDS, and fucking someone’s dad are the themes covered here. Hard to believe.
The IGUANAS specialize in respectable guitar rock. While both songs here are good, I’m quite partial to the impassioned flip, with its boisterous energy and instrumental changes of pace. Good record.
