Signifying Nothing

November 2011 Reviews

By admin on Nov. 25, 2011.

Sick Fucking O
Demo

Members of Voorhees are back with a new band that sounds like…Voorhees. Obviously, not as classic as Spilling Blood Without Reason, but good angry 82 era hardcore that will be enjoyed by fans of Voorhees for sure. Cool Devo cover at the end.

Defile
Demo 2010

Fast, angry, hardcore somewhere between midwestern style and power violence. I bet live you can hear a bit of Rorschach in their sound too. I’d like to hear more.

Slowburn
Demo

Members of a variety of NJHC bands including Spirit, Vision, and Floorpunch playing melodic, Turning Point, style hardcore. This isn’t too bad, but it’s not something I would listen to that often. The members of this band have done much better before.

Beware
Demo

Members of Stick Together and a few other PA bands doing pretty bland Chain of Strength style hardcore that has all of the flaws most 1980′s “melodic,” nearing emo, hardcore bands have. The generic 88 styling of Stick Together are way better. I’m shocked by how many people are so into this.

Bloody Hammer
Demo 2010

Moderately generic Oi! trying to sound like all of the classics. This isn’t a bad effort at sounding like Four Skins, one of my favorites, but isn’t something I will listen to much. I don’t dabble too deeply in this genre during modern times, but check this one out if you love this stuff.

Good Times
Demo

This was handed to me on the way out of a show. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be serious, but the music moves between 88 style hardcore to chugga chugga idiot metal. Add in some pretty misogynistic lyrics and this is pretty shitty.

Hatred Surge
Deconstruct LP
Rescued From Life Records

Taking cues from bands like His Hero Is Gone, Neurosis, and Mind Eraser come this LP by Hatred Surge. Brutal hardcore with alternating male/female vocals. This is one of my favorites of the past few years.

Rorschach
Remain Sedate Reissue LP
Gern Blandsten Records

While I like Protestant a lot more than this one, the first Rorschach LP is an essential part of the evolution of post youth crew hardcore in the nineties. The influence of late eighties bands like Breakdown can still be heard from their very early sound, but so can the incoming influence of bands like Bl’ast!, Voi-void, and Die Kreuzen as well. As with Protestant, the resisue is greatly aided by remastered sound.

Miles Davis
Bitches Brew Live CD

I highly doubt this is a legit release, but worth checking out. The liner notes are hilarious though: the writer acts like NO ONE has ever heard live material of Davis from this era. Tape traders have avidly passed around shows from his electronic years from a damn long time. Ignoring that is comical. There are better shows out there.

Young Republicans
Sabatoge Your Cookout 7″
More Than A Witness Records

One of the great holy grails of the tape trading circuit when I was a teenager was the Young Republicans demo. As you probably know, members of, and songs, from this tape moved to New York City and did a slightly more well known band called Youth Of Today. This demo is pretty generic early eighties hardcore that isn’t bad, but doesn’t really stand out. Worth noting is the songs that did move over to Youth of Today and eventually Project X as well, which is an interesting historical note. Just for that, I strongly suggest picking this up.

Waste Management
Get Your Mind Right 7″
Painkiller Records

Wow!!!! Serious SSD worship from this Massachusetts band. The music is more in the vein of early NYHC bands like The Abused or Agnostic Front, but the pleading, sick, Springa style vocals are unbelievable. I hear a little bit of Crucifix too (SSD meets Crucifix? Fuck.). This would have fit in nicely alongside records on XClaim! or Rat Cage. Nice cover of “Fight,” out of nowhere, in the middle of the record too.

New Lows
Self Titled 7″
Lockin Out Records

Somewhere amongst Word As Law era Neurosis and Humanity Is The Devil era Integrity comes The New Lows’ debut single on Lockin Out. this is a style can be fall apart quick because of too much chugga chugga or experimental bullshit, but The New Lows keep it together. My only complaint is a few too many kickbox style mosh parts. That shit is so corny; however, the band can’t be punished for the idiotic way a crowd way react to them.

DropDead/Converge
Split 7″

DropDead did a split with…Converge? Okay. The DropDead side of this split is pretty good, up to their usual good standards. Converge are just not a band who have ever interested me. Post hardcores love that shit.

Wasted Time
Futility 12″
Grave Mistake Records

Wasted Time come back with an excellent followup to their debut 7″, this time heavily soaked in Kings of Punk era Poison Idea and Oi! bands like Blitz and 4-Skins. Wasted Time is able to tread between an authentic old style and more modern production and stylistic values. This is one of the best records of the decade.

Innumerable Forms
Dark Worship 7″
Hell Massacre Records

Justin Detore’s death metal project is exactly as awesome as it sounds. Serious old school death metal which really stands out in a genre I don’t dive too deeply into outside of most of the classics. A lot of the newer Mind Eraser (Justin’s day job) material in somewhat in this vein, or at least heavily influenced by it. Excellent and worth tracking down.

Gasmask Terror
Black Sun Fake Gold LP
Solar Funeral Records

Gasmask Terror are an interesting band whose sound falls somewhere between UK82 and D-Beat styles. I think this LP drags a little bit, but I think I have a general distaste for longer records in this style from most bands outside of the heavyweights like Discharge. This is definitely worth checking out.

Waste Management
Power Abuse 7″
Painkiller Records

Yes!!! Brutal SSD style hardcore from members of Mind Eraser. This record takes the best of early Boston and New York with some seriously raging lyrics (especially “Too Much Unity”). A definite contender for record of the year.

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Reviews For The Week Of August 1st

By admin on Aug. 1, 2011.

Full Speed Ahead at their reunion show a few months ago. I didn’t even know this happened until I saw the video on YouTube…

Boston Strangler
Demo

Somewhere between Impact Unit and SSD (aka sounds like Fit For Abuse!) comes Boston Strangler. A quick five track demo of ugly 82 hardcore. More soon?

Gone But Not Forgotten
Seattle Crew Demo

Hey, this is pretty good! Somewhere near Confront and Floorpunch, this demo is good Straight Edge hardcore complete with hooded edgeman on the cover.

Negative Approach
Friends Of No One 7″
Taang Records

What is with the cover? A cartoonish drawing of what a hardcore show apparently looks like really takes away from the overall package here. I’m not surprised there is more unreleased Negative Approach (apparently there is even more), but I am surprised that the final lineup put these songs onto record. Recorded late in the band’s career, this record includes very raw recordings of some of the gnarly live songs they were playing near the end like Kiss Me Kill Me and Genocide. The versions on the Total Recall CD are some of the most incredible, ugly, music ever played (Dave Flynn: They sound like a hyena killing its prey) and these versions aren’t as harsh, but still worth checking out.

Force Fed
Self Titled 7″
Painkiller Records

Fast hardcore in the vein of Infest. I guess the term “power violence” applies here. Great stuff. Worth checking out.

Government Issue
Boycott Stabb Sessions CD
Dischord Records

Continuing Dischord’s series of reissues complete the complete sessions for GI’s Boycott Stabb record. I’ve never been a huge GI fan, alternating between finding them somewhat boring and pretty decent, but this session is good. I like some of the versions of older songs from their seven inches better on this version. This isn’t really essential, but worth picking up if you’re a fan.

Dusted Angel
Self Titled 7″
Corruption Records

Boring rock/stoner rock from former members of Bl’ast!. I need to listen to Power of Expression for the rest of the afternoon after this crap.

Our Gang
Uprising LP
Jack Roy Records

Collection of this late eighties NYHC band’s demos and other recordings. I love their tracks on the New Breed compilation, but a lot of their other material is lacking. The basic premise here is a mixture of Youth of Today and Breakdown, but some tracks work better than others. Their later, more rock/melodic songs are not interesting at all. Members of this band went on to be in Citizens Arrest and Born Against.

True Colors
Consider It Done 7″
Control Records

Not the New York band, but a band from Europe. Decent Gorilla Biscuits style hardcore that gets heavier on the melody as the record goes on. Not really my thing.

Career Suicide
Cherry Beach 7″
Sewercide Records

I have always liked Career Suicide a lot and this record is no exception. Snotty, early eighties style hardcore from Canada that never seems to bore me or let down. I think a few songs on here are covers.

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Reviews For The Week Of July 25th

By admin on Jul. 25, 2011.

Mind Eraser at some Scion sponsored gig. I giggled at how DFJ bums out the bouncers.

Blessed Offal
Self Titled Tape

Death metal coming highly recommended by friends who dig this stuff. While a few songs go on forever, Blessed Offal keeps them interesting with enough changes of pace to not lose me. This is pretty good.

United Youth
Demo

Decent 88 style hardcore that goes by in the blink of an eye. I see a lot of potential for an ep. Keep going.

Vaccine
Crimes In Blood 5″
Painkiller Records

I am glad this is a 5″ because there is about three minutes of music here. I don’t think a single song goes over 30 seconds. Vaccine fit somewhere in between Infest and No Comment, playing blazing fast hardcore with some changes within those brief songs. This is excellent.

Black Flag
Live At The On Broadway CD

Huh, this is totally weird. I’ve had pieces of both of these sets (the debut of the “My War Demos” lineup) for about 13 years, but only parts put together to make one set. Even weirder: It was labeled “Los Angeles 1983,” not even the right city/year. This obvious bootleg (hello, poser alert, on the wrong song titles) puts out very nice soundboards of two Flag shows from 1982 at the On Broadway in San Francisco. My Rules and I’ve Got To Run are brand new songs, and some of the My War songs are played as well. Obviously, this is essential material from Black Flag, but I’m not sure if you want to support the bootleggers.

Bl’asting Concept
Self Titled LP
It’s Alive Records

Our old friend Fred Hammer put this one out on his long dormant It’s Alive label. Not surprisingly, because of their name, this band must be big fans of Bl’ast!, Fu Manchu, and Annihilation Time. Heading more towards the rockier sound of the latter two bands, I lost a bit of interest when listening to this one. I think there is a big audience for a band like this right now, so I’m sure you will check it out for yourself.

War Hungry
Self Titled LP
Six Feet Under Records

Somewhere between Iron Age and…Life Of Agony (? Seriously? People like that crap?) comes the new record from PA’s War Hungry. This is pretty metal and would have fit in with all the Roadrunner Records bands the kids in my high school who were into “hawd” bands dug. I’m glad I stuck to Floorpunch and Voorhees. This is definitely not for me.

Mauser
End Of The Line 7″
Vinyl Rites Records

Burly Discharge/Anti Cimex inspired hardcore from the cess pool of Florida. This is a genre filled with lots of garbage, but this stands out as an essential modern piece of d-beat hardcore.

Whirl
Distressor Tape
Bridgetown Records

As if D-Beat and youth crew hardcore being genres filled with garbage was annoying enough, shoegazer is another genre where the good is heavily outweighed by the bad and vastly overrated. A friend told me Whirl were very much in the vein of Slowdive, so I checked this out. “Sounds like Slowdive” indeed! This is beautiful, dream like, shoegazer ala Slowdive. After a soundbite from Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Whirl slam into some fantastic music. Seven songs is a perfect length for this, leaving the tape at its ending before any hint of boredom, a big problem with this genre, ensues.

The Rival Mob
Raw Life 12″
Lockin’ Out Records

The Rival Mob are one of the best bands out there today. Somewhere between Madball, youth crew hardcore, and Ringworm, they sound fresh and interesting without anything silly or outside the realm of hardcore. Great stuff.

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Ferret’s Review: Outlast-Take Control

By admin on Apr. 2, 2011.

Outlast
Take Control 7″
Bottled Up Records

A Straight Edge band from New Jersey that sounds like Youth of Today- what is this, 1997?  Despite the sarcasm, this is not at all bad.  They remind me more of Committed or Ten Yard Fight than Floorpunch.  Gang style backups, nice breakdowns, and posi lyrics throughout.  Just wish they were more creative with their song titles; they sound a bit generic.  For what they do, they do it well. Favorite track = “Power for Change”.

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Ferret’s Review: Not Sorry-Our Choices

By admin on Mar. 28, 2011.

Not Sorry
Our Choices 7″
React! Records

First thing to mind- sick album art!  Five songs of old school Straight Edge hardcore.  Sounds a bit like Floorpunch meets XChorusX and a bit (yes, yes- a very tiny bit) of Absolution for good measure. Think gang style back-ups, lot’s of “Busts!”, and some hard mosh. I don’t hear the Youth of Today influence that people have thrown around with this band. Big points for them going with this style and not sounding overly generic. The lyrics are actually quite good- introspective and well planned out. They sound like a promising live band…hmmm…. east coast tour sounds nice.

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