Signifying Nothing

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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Reviews For The Week of July 18th

By admin on Jul. 18, 2011.

Talk Is Poison…one of the best bands of the past 15 years…

State of Alert
No Policy Bootleg LP

This is a pretty complete bootleg LP with all of State of Alert’s recorded material. The No Policy 7” on Dischord, the tracks from Flex Your Head, two demos, and a live set. I’ve heard all of this before, but completeists will dig having all of this in one place. Why hasn’t Dischord done a discography for them already?

Various Artists
Brutal Supremacy Compilation Double 7″
Painkiller Records

The long awaited debut compilation from Painkiller Records does not let down. Mind Eraser and Scapegoat continue to plow through their always excellent careers with a nice handful of unreleased versions of songs from each band. Hatred Surge seem to have had some lineup changes, but I am still reminded of His Hero Is Gone when listening to them. Iron Lung are a band I had heard about for awhile, but never really heard before. They remind me of some late eighties Touch & Go bands like Shellac, Butthole Surfers, etc and some of the nineties Gravity Records emo bands. Pretty decent stuff. All bands are worth your time.

No Hope For The Kids
Angels of Destruction b/w Cold Touch of Death 7”
Backwards Masking Records

This is definitely my favorite NHFTK record. The A side is a heavy, melodic song that reminds me of the Adolescents a lot. The B side is a faster song with some riffs pretty reminiscent of The Misfits. A two song single is about all I can handle from this band. I did not like their LP.

Christian Mistress
Mother of Mercy b/w The Hereafter 7″
Nasjonal Records

Fantastic Venom soaked metal from this Portland band. Great riffs and changes without become boring or tedious, which a lot of metal gets for me very quickly. A lot of people think the vocals sound like the singer of The Gits, and I can definitely see that.

Free Spirit
Free Yourself 7″
Triple B Records

One of the few impressive youth crew records of the past…oh, let’s say, 15 years or so, combine “second tier” bands like Confront and Hard Stance with a bit of Token Entry to put out a great seven inch. I think there is a lot of potential here, unlike most of the junk coming out of this genre.

The Rival Mob
Hardcore 4 Hardcore 7″
Six Feet Under Records

Members of bands like No Tolerance and Mind Eraser (including one of the illest dudes I know, DFJ…his tweets during the Royal Wedding should be taught in schools) playing hardcore somewhere between good Madball and good Ringworm. I love how noisy Doug’s bass is on this record. This sounds modern without all the stupid chugga chugga or tough guy poses.

Supertouch
WNYU LP
Horror Hotel Records

What more can you say about this? The Supertouch NYU set is, by far, the definitive recording of the band. You probably already have this from the tape trading circuit (my rip was the one frequently passed around for years it seemed), so this LP isn’t super essential. It’s a nice idea to get definitive copies of NYU sets. I’d love to see a label do a series of them.

Soul Swallower
Devour LP
Painkiller Records

Back after a multiple year hiatus, Soul Swallower follow up on their debut seven inch with more ugly hardcore in the vein of Citizens Arrest, Napalm Death, and Rorschach. There is a sense of progression here towards a more noisy, ugly, sound. Some of these songs had been on demos recorded around 2006 (one recorded with a member of DropDead), but there are new ones here too. A candidate for record of the year.

California Love
Reaping The Whirlwind LP

Members of Look Back & Laugh playing power violence in the style of No Comment, Neanderthal, and other California bands. This is pretty good, but I rarely listen to it. If you’re a big fan of this style, I would still check it out because I bet you’d like it.

Reveal The Truth
Courage 7”

Pretty generic thrashy youth crew style hardcore from this Florida band. This reminds me a lot of many of the bands on the old Voice of 1000′s compilation. If you can’t get enough of this style, you’re love this band.

School Jerks
Control 7″
Cowabunga Records

Serious early Black Flag worship from this Toronto band. Think Jealous Again era Flag. This band has been progressing quite nicely as each release goes by. I would highly recommend checking this band out.

Maggot Minded
Tape Compilation

A tape compilation with primarily west coast bands. Most bands play decent modern hardcore with the highlight being HIV (ex-members of the excellent band Cold Sweat).

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Signifying Nothing Episode 04×02

By admin on Mar. 15, 2011.

Taste of Fear-Pro Life=No Mind (Split With Disrupt)
Madball-We Should Care (Ball of Destruction)
Agnostic Front-Crucial Changes (United Blood)

Obliteration-Fascist System (Self Titled)
Capital Scum-Final Nail In My Coffin (Clutch The Flag)
Cop Out-Burned Down (Self Titled)

Mind Eraser-Withdrawal Symptoms (The Prodigal Son Brings Death)
His Hero Is Gone-Leash (Fifteen Counts of Arson)
The Proletariat-Bread & Circus (Soma Holiday)

Government Warning-Arrested (Arrested)
Trauma-Policy of War (Demo)
Political Asylum-Flight of Fancy (Solitary)

Fear of God-Two Sides of the Coin (As Statues Fall)
War Cry-The New Age (Not So Distant Future)
Messiah Force-Silent Tyrant (Female Fronted Heavy Metal 1976-1989 Disc Two)

Off!-I Don’t Belong
Dag Nasty-Circles (With Shawn)
Mauser-Social Lobotomy (Summer Tour Record)

Corrosion of Conformity-Prayer (Animosity)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Rival Mob-Demo

By admin on Sep. 21, 2010.

The Rival Mob
Bitter Rivals Demo 2007

Members of XFilesX, Mind Eraser, and others come together to combine the best parts of early Madball and Ringworm into some brutal contemporary hardcore. Very heavy riffs and great mosh parts. This band has run a bit under my rader, but I am looking into more by them for sure.

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Top 100 1990′s

By admin on Apr. 12, 2010.

1. 1.6 Band, Self Titled LP, USA, 1992
2. Acme, Self Titled 7″, Belgium, 1994
3. All Chrome, Flounders Flyers College & Canada LP, USA, 1999
4. Arms Reach, Self Titled 7″, Australia, 1998
5. Assuck, State To State 7″, USA, 1993
6. Aus-Rotten, Fuck Nazi Sympathy, USA, 1994
7. Bastard, Wind Of Pain LP, Japan, 1990
8. Bikini Kill, The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation 7″, USA, 1995
9. Born Against, Industrial Relations Department 7″, USA, 1990
10. Breakdown, Blacklisted LP, USA, 1997
11. Burn, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
12. By The Grace Of God, For The Love Of Indie Rock 7″, USA, 1996
13. Charles Bronson, Youth Attack LP, USA, 1997
14. Citizens Arrest, A Light In The Darkness 7″, USA, 1990
15. Chopping Block, Grizzly Fetish 7″, USA, 1991
16. Cop Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1993
17. Crossed Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
18. Crown Of Thornz, Train Yard Blues 12″, USA, 1995
19. Dead Nation, Face The Nation 7″, USA, 1998
20. Deadguy, Work Ethic 7″, USA, 1994
21. Death Side, Bet On The Possibility LP, Japan, 1991
22. Devoid Of Faith, Purpose: Lost 10″, USA, 1999
23. Disclose-Tragedy LP, Japan, 1994
24. Down But Not Out, Demo, USA, 1998
25. DropDead, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1992
26. Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics LP, England, 1996
27. Eyeball, Talkin’ Straight 7″, Germany, 1998
28. Eyehategod, In The Name Of Suffering LP, USA, 1992
29. Face Value, Coming Of Age 7″, USA, 1990
30. Fastbreak, Where It Lies 7″, USA, 1997
31. Fit For Abuse, Mindless Violence 7″, USA, 1995
32. Floor, Dove LP, USA, 1994
33. Floorpunch, Goal Line Stand Demo, USA, 1995
34. Four One One, This Isn’t Me LP, USA, 1991
35. Fu Manchu, The Action Is Go LP, USA, 1997
36. Full Speed Ahead, Demo, USA, 1998
37. Gauze, Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi LP, Japan, 1997
38. Get High, Demo, USA, 1996
39. Gordon Solie Mother Fuckers, Chairshot Politics 7″, USA, 1998
40. H-100’s, Distort Cleveland 7″, USA, 1995
41. Hatchetface, Volume Two LP, USA, 1995
42. Haywire, Private Hell LP, USA, 1990
43. Heroin, Paper Bag 7″, USA, 1992
44. His Hero Is Gone, Fifteen Counts Of Arson LP, USA, 1997
45. Huggy Bear, Don’t Die 7″, England, 1993
46. Human Remains, Using Sickness As A Hero CD, USA, 1996
47. The Icemen, Rest In Peace 7″, USA, 1991
48. In My Eyes, Demo, USA, 1997
49. Infest, Mankind 7″, USA, 1991
50. Inmates, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1995
51. Integrity, Humanity Is The Devil 10″, USA, 1996
52. Into Another, Ignaurus LP, USA, 1994
53. Jello Biafra With DOA, Last Screams Of The Missing Neighbors LP, USA/Canada, 1990
54. Judge, The Storm 7″, USA, 1991
55. Kiss It Goodbye, She Loves Me…She Loves Me Not LP, USA, 1997
56. Laughing Hyenas, Crawl 7″, USA, 1992
57. Leeway, Desperate Measures LP, USA, 1991
58. Los Crudos/Spitboy, Split LP, USA, 1994
59. Madball, Dropping Many Suckers 7″, USA, 1992
60. Mainstrike, Times Still Here 7″, Netherlands, 1995
61. Man Is The Bastard, Sum Of The Men 12″, USA, 1992
62. Man Lifting Banner, Ten Inches That Shock The World LP, Netherlands, 1992
63. Mouthpiece, What Was Said LP, USA, 1994
64. Mukilteo Fairies, Closet Check 7″, USA, 1993
65. Neanderthal, Fighting Music 7″, USA, 1990
66. Neurosis, The Word As Law LP, USA, 1990
67. No Comment, Downsided 7″, USA, 1992
68. No Escape, Demo, USA, 1990
69. Out Cold, Self Titled LP, USA, 1994
70. Paintbox, Screaming Shouting Crying LP, Japan, 1999
71. Poison Idea, Feel The Darkness LP, USA, 1990
72. Puncture Wound, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1999
73. Quicksand, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
74. Ringworm, Demo, USA, 1991
75. Ripping Corpse, Dreaming With The Dead LP, USA, 1991
76. Rollins Band, The End Of Silence LP, USA, 1992
77. Rorschach, Protestant LP, USA, 1992
78. Rupture, Righteous Fuck 7″, Australia, 1991
79. S.D.S., Scum System Kill 7″, Japan, 1996
80. S.O.D., Speak Swedish Or Die 7″, Sweden, 1990
81. Saint Vitus, Die Healing LP, USA, 1995
82. Selfish, System Kills 7″, Finland, 1993
83. Septic Death, Theme From Ozobozo LP, USA, 1992
84. Skewbald/Grand Union, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
85. Sleater Kinney, Dig Me Out LP, USA, 1997
86. Sleep, Sleep’s Holy Mountain LP, USA, 1993
87. Spazz/Black Army Jacket, Split 7″, USA, 1997
88. Speak 714, The Scum Also Rises 7″, USA, 1999
89. Sportswear, It Runs Deep 7″, Norway, 1998
90. Supertouch, The Earth Is Flat LP, USA, 1990
91. Talk Is Poison, Straight To Hell 7″, USA, 1998
92. Team Dresch, Personal Best LP, USA, 1995
93. True Blue, Demo, Germany, 1998
94. Turning Point, It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn LP, USA, 1991
95. Verbal Assault, On 12″, USA, 1990
96. Voorhees, Spilling Blood Without Reason LP, England, 1994
97. Warhead, Cry Of Truth LP, Japan, 1991
98. Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! – The Record, Compilation 7″, International, 1991
99. Forever, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991
100. Rebuilding, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991

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