Signifying Nothing

Smash & Grab

By admin on Mar. 4, 2009.

Pictures courtesy of Start Today Fanzine

(Nice Hardware Fanzine shirt on me)

This show was hyped up for awhile as I recall. Smash & Grab was the new band for three members of Floorpunch together with members of Shark Attack and American Nightmare. Yeah, we were pretty curious. Bane and No Warning also played along with a couple others. I think I headed to this show with Jay Fisher and maybe Jim Lundy and a few other friends of ours. Smash & Grab had shirts for sale before they played and I got a chance to catch up with a bunch of friends who I had not seen in awhile. Around this time period (early 2002) I think I kind of vanished from shows at different points.

I recall the band Embrace Today covering Guilty Of Being White. Uh huh. There was some drama at the time about them covering it at a show with some white power skins attending too I think. They also covered an Anthrax (not the excellent UK band, the shitty metal one) song or intro or something.

All of us packed up front for Smash & Grab’s set. I made a point of packing my micro recorder so that I could tape their set. This turn out to be smart as they never played another show.

Smash & Grab took the stage and busted into their intro. A few people moved around, I think I might dove and landed on my ass awkwardly, but most people just watched in anticipation. Their sound was a bit different from Floorpunch reminding me at times of Murphy’s Law, and Burn in one song. After a short set, and no covers strangely enough, they were done.

Some of these songs would end up on the Anger Regiment record on Bridge 9. There are interesting bits in some of the songs, but I don’t think I have listened to it since it came out.

In other news, Intro/Changes is the best Straight Edge song ever.

So here is a zip file of their set from that night. The vocals are pretty low, but you get the idea. I think it is a interesting piece of NJHC ephemera.

Download!

Another note: No Warning also played this show…at the time, I was working out a big tape trade with one of their band members (Matt Delong I think?) and it had hit a couple of snags. I was palling around with a friend of theirs in this time period, who I seem to have totally lost track of, so I talked to them about it and got everything settled. Man, I am so happy with the way things go today. People just send zip files back and forth and it is over.

I’m not really a fan, but I packed up front to check them out. No Warning get ready and bust into the Outburst intro. Yes! That got the place moving. They played a decent set, which ended with a Raw Deal cover…I think?  Like I said, I’m not really a fan but they sounded good and people totally went off.

We left before Bane played. I don’t think it was anything against them, but we checked out and headed back to the shore.

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Signifying Nothing Episode Thirteen

By admin on Aug. 25, 2006.

Signifying Nothing Episode Thirteen

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Playlist
Egghunt-We All Fall Down
Flag Of Democracy-Baby Sitter

Hail Of Rage-The Feeling’s Mutual
God Forgot-Sex Is A Weapon
Neanderthal-Built For Brutality

Outburst-The Hard Way
Raw Deal-Backtrack
Raw Deal-Brightside
Life’s Blood-Counting On
Breakdown-Dissed & Dismissed

Maximum Penalty-Hate
Uppercut-Am I Clear?
Sheer Terror-Not Giving Up

Deadline-No End
Hot Snakes-Suicide Invoice
His Hero Is Gone-Unleash
Chopping Block-213
Honeywell-Mesh Control

108-Scandal

Government Warning-See The Truth
Career Suicide-No Bullshit
Iron Boots-Crashing Down

Get Down-Get Down
Spazz-Mad At The World

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Newz U Can Uze

By admin on Nov. 15, 2005.

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Riff Raff-Demo

By admin on Nov. 14, 2005.

Riff Raff
Demo
Parts Unknown Records

I am not into this one at all. Average NYHC style stuff that I am sure, with the right audience, could be very popular. Musically I would place them nearest to YDL or Outburst. There just is not much here that interests me. I am going to pass on this one, but if you dig 1988 style NYHC check it out and decide for yourself.

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Parade Brigade #3

By admin on Aug. 30, 2005.

Parade Brigade #3 was thrown together in about 72 hours and it shows. John and I were driving to school on a Wednesday morning and I suddenly just had to have it out for a show that Friday evening. Both interviews in this issue (Fit For Abuse + Shark Attack) were done sometime that week and most of it was haphazardly laid out the night before at about 3am by me. I think John did not even get his page to me until right before we left for the copy place. We just totally sucked at this at that time.

This would be the end for Parade Brigade Fanzine. A variety of personal and interpersonal problems would cause this zine to cease to exist. I remember Bob Shedd asking me at a show sometime in the summer if the next issue was ready yet and John turned to him and said something like “we still do that zine?” Doh.

John and I did most of the work this time around. Our friend Ryan did some reviews and helped me with layout and copying. At this point Justin was pretty much out of “the scene,” so he bailed on helping this time around. I wish I had gotten him more involved, now more than ever. These days having someone like Ferret to do a fanzine with would be a fucking honor.

John’s “confession” about breaking edge drew a bit of criticism and a few letters. None of them was overly negative, but it was still amusing.

We never interviewed Out Cold and Voices Forming Weapons broke up before we could get to them. I did interview The Nerve Agents but it remains unreleased to this day. John did an interview with Carry On that would also have been included.

On Parade…

Only four months between issues? Could it really happen? Yeah, welcome back to The Parade Brigade Fanzine. With the recent rise in shows and good bands popping up we will be doing this zine on a more consistent basis I think. It is very frustrating when there is no one to read your zine and even more frustrating when there are no bands you really want to be associated with. This zine has always been about supporting hardcore punk and always will be. It’s hard to put out a zine when you think most of the kids and bands around you are completely full of shit. It is even harder to put out a zine when those same kids spend an enormous amount of time dissing you and trying to pull freshman Psych 101 shit with your mind. That said, why should I let a bunch of little shit-heads ruin it for me? The ones who talk the biggest game always fall the hardest. Fuck em all man, who needs them. The big space of time between issues one and two was spent growing up a lot. I know myself I went through a lot of changes and I know the rest of The Parade Brigade staff did the same. I think we are a lot more focused and way stronger right now. Nothing has changed other than the length of each issue really. We have stripped down the bullshit and each issue will now be ten pulse-pounding pages. This format is much easier for us to navigate so you will see a lot more of us in the future. I would also like us to be more socially conscious in the future, which will become a lot more apparent starting next issue. Please consider going vegetarian if you haven’t already and please vote pro choice. Fuck the moral majority that is creeping back into hardcore.

Bill Wend
3/24/01

The Winter 00-01 Playlist

Youth of Today-All
Ignition-Complete Services
Outburst-Miles To Go
Gang Starr-Full Clip
Killing Flame-Another Breath
Cro Mags-Demo + Age of Quarrel
Faith-Side of split
Fit For Abuse-Mindless Violence
Shark Attack-Blood In The Water
Champion-Demo
Verbal Assault-Trial
No For An Answer-Hawker Show Tape
Pagan Babies-Next
SSD-Get It Away
Speak 714-Knee Deep In Guilt
Kristin Hersh-Strings
Pearl Jam-Ten
Mouthpiece-What Was Said
DYS-Brotherhood

Big thanks to Christina Garcia for the pictures! Thanks to Charlie Fogel for the cover art.

Look for Parade Brigade #4 in June with Out Cold, The Nerve Agents, and Voices Forming Weapons.

————————————————————————————————————

Some of the worst written and most pointless things I have ever read are the personal writings that appear in so many fanzines. Not that every single personal article I have ever read has been awful, but these writings usually tend to be horribly written and utterly pointless. As for myself, I cannot think of anything that I loathe more than having to write about my personal life. Unfortunately, on this occasion, I have recognized the necessity that I talk about something that has recently happened in my life, namely, the fact that I am no longer straight edge. It is not out of a need to defend myself against those who might look down on me, nor a compulsion to justify my actions that I write this, but merely for the sake of reflection. Whether you think that breaking the edge is a trivial occurrence or a turning point (the irony of using this phrase is not lost on me) when you have been straight edge for a great part of your youth as I have, it’s hard adapting to life without the edge.

I guess for other people it’s easy to move on after they have fallen off the edge, but not for me. I think it’s because straight edge was never just a trend that I followed or a label that just stuck. As cliché and corny as it may sound, straight edge was for me a way of life. It was something that I could always count on so that adjustment is pretty hard. Then there is always the matter of how will people treat you now that you’re not straight edge anymore, especially the people you know who are still straight edge. Will they treat you the same or will they think you’re a hypocrite? Will they treat you like a pariah now or accept you for who you are? It’s definitely weird telling people that you’re no longer straight edge. You try to gauge their reactions, but the way some people respond is very surprising. I expected to lose respect from a lot of my friends or at least get the cold shoulder from some people. Most of my friends have been pretty understanding and I’m thankful for that.

I have dealt with the social ramifications of not being straight edge anymore, but there are other issues that remain. Most important among those issues is how does one approach the philosophical dilemma left in the wake. After spending almost six years of my life abstaining from those chemicals and speaking out against them, one feels like a goddamn hypocrite. Still, you can’t live your life feeling guilty or even regretful. So what happens next? Well, I’ve decided to give up on metaphysics. I thought straight edge was the one rock solid foundation in my life, and if you can’t depend on the one thing that you counted on the most then you’re in deep shit. But even more, you realize that as life goes on and gets more complicated, there’s no such thing as a firm foothold in this world… not even straight edge. The only thing you can really depend on is yourself and your ability to choose. Straight edge is probably the healthiest way to live your life, but it’s just an idea. It’s a good start, but it cannot function as a moral code. So to place straight edge above everything else is ridiculous. I’ll remain true till death, but only if that means staying true to myself and not some ideology.

John Piorkowski

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