Venom and LA Drugs have been refreshed with working links.

FUNERAL ORATION - Demo 7/31/1982

A little chitter chatter about Funeral Oration tonight got me sharing this with some friends.  I don't recall how I came into possession of these tracks, but they are supposedly a demo from 1982.  That pre-dates all Funeral Oration recordings I know of, including their "There's Nothing Left To Laugh About" cassette which came in 1983(?).  These tracks are raw as hell, like a demo should be and surely are my personal favorite stuff from Funeral Oration.  Aside from sounding like a demo, all of the 8 songs therein appear on Nothing Left To Laugh so it looks pretty plausible that this is a demo from around '82.
For the uninitiated, if you love raw punk and also have a soft spot for melody these boys from Holland will take your cake and smash it too.  Not credited enough in my opinion.  Innovative for sure.  Like a blitzkrieg that doesn't change full speed ahead pace for ANY obstacle, the songs are bare bones, fast chord progressions on a 1/1 beat relentlessly... which is fine and dandy in itself.  The shocker comes with vocals.  If there is any melody in a Funeral Oration song it will be solely in the vocals, and it is flaunted.  Don't fret, he can't "sing" for shit.  It's still raw and gross and punk! yet lovely in a way.  The screams completely cover of a narrow pitch range and break into amazing syncopation, flying in a place above the music, almost a song all their own.  "Unique" is the optimal adjective.  As I said earlier tonight "Ugh it's so good!".

FUNERAL ORATION - Demo 7/31/1982

SLIME - Slime I LP

The Red Army Faction (RAF) activity reached it's apex of terrorism in 1977 with the 'German Autumn'.  The RAF was making the second attempt in a decade to upturn the Federal Republic of Germany AKA West Germany.  Not entirely unlike the student movement in 1968 the RAF believed West Germany was a fledgling fascist state.  Unlike the student movement hippie protest of '68 they had an affection for bombs.  Chosing in 1977 a few assassinations while their cohorts, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked a commercial airliner to leverage for the release of 
incarcerated members.  The outcome wasn't what they had hoped.  During all this insanity punk rock was exploding all over the globe, Germany included.  It isn't much a surprise that when Slime released their first LP "Slime I" in 1981 it was somewhat banned.  With a country trying to forget it's fascist past and an extreme left running about killing people and the commies a few feet away you had some options.  The wane of RAF and wax of punk probably had the state scrambling to what head they need to pull out of which ass.  An association between RAF and punks may have been perceived as little more ambiguous than it truly was.  Punks didn't want any political form, they wanted Anarchy.  Shit on fascism, shit on RAF and it's sympathizers. Embrace a little chaos for a change.  That wasn't going to be clear until punks got their act together and stopped adorning themselves with swastikas or RAF patches just because.  No wonder the punks drew heat so quickly.  Slime's star album cover might be a nod to the  RAF, right?  
Slime drew even more attention as the most popular punk band in West Germany.  How big Slime was I can't say.  I imagine what Slime was to West Germany is not far from what Anti-Flag is to the current United States.  I haven't found their name along side Hans A Plast, Kriminalitatsforderungsclub, Stuka Pilots, Male, Mittagpause, The Buttocks, West Germany's first punk band Charley's Girls, any of the numerous industrial and experimental groups that shared gigs with punk bands or any other contemporary underground bands of the late 70's and early 80's.  I use that as my gauge, not seeing them on smaller bills.  Regardless, Slime was high profile for underground rock and roll.  This would prove to be more and more problematic as time passed from their inception in Hamburg in '79.  Against war, militarism, politicians, police, Slime had some great anthemic songs and a message they broadcast loudly and clearly.  They were heard too.  Their harsh defamation of the police would be the step across boundries.  The record was banned and copies were confiscated.  A censored version bleeping out lyrics was made available.  Slime were also not to perform three songs from the album live lest criminal charges would be served.  Slime was now under a watchful eye.  At a Dead Kennedy's and Millions of Dead Cops show in Hamburg when Slime opened in 1983 there were 100 officers present at the show.  The police were there in hopes to arrest Slime when they played any one of the banned songs.  They never played any of those songs and I've heard a quarter of the officers present that night found the ordeal of being at a punk show so unnerving they quit the force.  As Slime continued to catch more of the limelight the fans began to fling accusations of them selling out.  By 1984 Slime felt that screaming a call for an absence of leaders in songs can not be done when the bands popularity is in and of itself making the group an institution.  Some years down the road Slime would reunite.  The punk scene was being increasingly pressed by police and Slime decided to pick up the torch again aiming to add strength to the scene.  This reformation happened in 1990 and I do wonder if there is a direct correlation of the instability in the Eastern Bloc bringing down the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the impending failure of the Iron Curtain to the increased stern policy of the police.

Slime operates through patchwork of sounds on "Slime I".  Flirting with Reggae, some smoother riffs with a little melody that have a great KBD feel.  A few full bore three chords strung together and a couple of good punk anthems.  The three songs that were banned from this album are Deutschland, Bullenschweine and A.C.A.B..  The A.C.A.B. (All Cops Are Bastards) sentiment is prevalent in punk overall.  Over the past few years it appears like it is a trend.  It constantly pops up in my face.  All Cops Are Bastards origins go back long before punk as does the acronym A.C.A.B..  It became popularized in punk by 4 Skins with the song A.C.A.B. on their album "The Good, The Bad And The 4 Skins" released in 1982.  Slime predates that by a year and I wonder if Slime is the first instance of A.C.A.B. in punk.  If you know otherwise, please share.  One last thing, this rip isn't from a censored record.


SLIME <3 Polizei
ELF 30 years later


I feel there is a lot more that could be said, and said more accurately about Slime and West German punk in it's infancy.  Actually I know there is.  Please do some ball busting.  I am lazy and give up here.

UPSTAB - Stabbing The Church e.p.

"That record blows" is the official review of Stabbing The Church from Upstab vocalist/provocateur Chris Erba.  I am willing to bet 95% of everything in the world "blows" to Upstab.  The only hope for the band is landing on a quasi nihilistic philosophy.  They care just enough to antagonize, break shit and be a general thorn in the side of whoever they can.  In Cleveland punk this is keeping up with the Joneses.  If you aren't familiar with the pedigree of jerks this band is a part of, their shenanigans would likely be shocking and send you off like an angry mother whose child just had the crap kicked out of them by the older kid down the street.  Or it would send you home crying and fearful like the kid that got the crap kicked out of him.  Knives, bottles and cleavers turned on the crowd isn't unheard of.  What showmanship!  What is this pedigree of loving souls?  The same old incestuous retard punks in Cleveland.  The men behind the curtain of Windpipe, h100s, No Peace, Ruiners, Gordon Solie Motherfuckers, Wetbrain, I think Puncture Wound and 9 Shocks are in the mix too. Everybody has their chocolate in somebodies peanut butter.
    Stabbing The Church is Upstab's first release and it's a bootleg.  Rumors abound about it's origin.  One part of the story that holds true is these songs were taken from Upstab's demo they had been sending out to clubs.  Some say Upstab bootlegged their own record.  Great way to get people blabbing about your band.  The second story I have heard is that somebody came to an Upstab show and set a box full of Stabbing The Church e.p.s on the stage, proclaimed they 'know nothing about this' then walked off.  A third story is a box of 100 copies were mailed to drummer, Marcus, work.  How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?

 

Kick Your Tits Off!

First generation dub from a cassette.  For being listened to a million times and being 20 years old, this cleaned up really well.  These are .wav files to boot. 
The only other mention of this tape's existence I can find is this cdr that I assume is the same recordings but with two more songs.

GET THEIR 1991 DEMO RIGHT HERE

All at once several of my files were reported for violating copyrights.  My account has not been frozen yet so a lot of what's up here is still available.  Either this is just some mistake or somebody is purposely fucking with this blog.  If any links you want are dead they may be dead or banned.  If it's dead I will refresh it upon request.  Sorry.

CACOFONIA / PUTRID SCUM - Split 7"

Two seconds in to the record the Lollipop Guild welcomes you CACOFONIA land.  Yup, two seconds in to a noise grind  song there is a munchkin voice mocking the guitar riff.  I suppose that is to set the platform for blast beats and dog growling vocals that come next???  This is some of the best grind growl vocals ever.  Completely indecipherable.  I started to think this whole thing was just a joke.  CACOFONIA is nothing more than a parody of grind noise, right?  Farther down the yellow brick road the munchkin voice comes back, sounding like a little man doing a white knuckle job on the shitter this time, while they are playing Darth Vader's theme song (The Imperial March)!  The first mock gindcore/noise band in history, maybe?  A little Google Translate of the lyrics say otherwise.  I think the case is CACOFONIA didn't check their humor at the door while still covering topics of censorship, religion, environment, the human condition and the media portrayal of minority groups needing a good beatdown by authority like police and military.  I have some respect for knowing there is some bad, fucked up shit in the world but not having an unmovable stick up your ass all the time.  CACOFONIA are raging lucha libre fans too, posing as headbanging luchadores on stage.
Forming in Mexico City, CACOFONIA seems to have had two constant members since their inception in 1988, Thrasher and Pancho.  They started as side project by members of ATOXXXICO, HISTERIA, AK-47, MASSACRE 68 and ANARCHUS with various stand ins on vocals at live shows because the singer (pancho) didn't really give a crap about live performances.  The band has remained active since, in 2007 with a big to do about their 19 years together as a band and just this May they were playing out.  Now just sit back and see if they can hit a quarter century of noise making.
On a more serious note, PUTRID SCUM's side is not so comical.  Primitive grindcore and more melodic than their CACOFONIA pals.  There is a lot of gorilla drum abusing.  Beauty is in those minimalist Thonk Thonk Thonk Thonk drum beats.  The first time behind a kit sounds like that for everybody.  Anybody can play that, it's punk as fuck.  Singing lyrics in English, PUTRID SCUM is easier to understand vocally, only if you are following along with the bouncing ball in the lyric sheet.  Even then those grumbling barks are hard to follow.  Two songs are dated topically, "Courage For Peace" and "Post Nuclear" are the last of their kind.  (A quick history lesson for all that didn't experience this first hand.)  At the end of 1989 the Berlin Wall came down,  a few months prior the Tiananmen Square protest had happened, two years later the USSR was completely dissolved and this record came out in 1990.  Communism took a severe beating.  With the Iron Curtain and the USSR gone so were the Cold War, the nuclear arms race did a 180° turn, mutually assured destruction wasn't at the front every persons mind and because I mentioned Star Wars once...  why not slip it in again (wacka wacka)  Then they have a wily stoning of Catholicism, now that's a timeless one.  Toxic waste disposal is lamented and for good reason.  Mexico's brilliant maquiladora idea was jumped on by American companies.  It was a win win for them.  Cheap labor and Mexico's virtually non existent environmental laws made toxic waste disposal a breeze.  Anencephalic babies wasn't a trend anybody wanted.  For good measure they incant Mahatma Gandhi and dedicate their side of the record to him.  Courage for peace man.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on PUTRID SCUM.  They are from Mexico City and I assume they started playing around '88/'89.  They did a demo in 1990 called "New Songs" implying there was previous demo but I can't find any record of one.  There is discography cd, Premonitions Of War, that includes some live tracks.  The most recent activity I can find by the band is they logged into their Myspace page last in 2009.



FIRST WAVE GRRRRR RAAAAH RRRRRRR AAAAAHHHHH




Puro Pinche Ruido records (PPR) in Mexico put this out in 1990.  The cover is printed on some of the thinnest paper.  It's basically tissue paper.  I bet a lot of these copies have the cover just wrecked.  The insert is printed on regular card stock though, go figure.  Roughly translated on CACOPHONIA's side of the insert this record had a pressing error and was junked.  When the new ones came in the center labels were on the wrong sides.  This was released with the labels reversed.  Reading that sooner would have saved me some time putting two and two together and getting 5.  "PUTRID SCUM is all about Gandhi, their side is the Gandhi label...  uhhh wait a minute, something's wrong here."

Two interviews with Thrasher and Pancho

Did another rip of NETJAJEV SS ep.  This one isn't as loud but there is less unwanted distortion.  It sounds clear enough that the pops and crackles stick out even more with less background noise.  Larvae Mammoth's G-Spot is the most noticeable.

EPILEPTIX - Greatest Fits LP

Fumbling through the punk selection at a local shop notorious for selling bootlegs of anything and everything, that from what I understand got them shut down...  Ohh yeah, this is right when this record came out in 1999, and, well, fascist Adolf E. Newman kind of jumps out to your face.  I didn't know who the Epileptix even were.  Flip the record around, do the inspection and not only is this cover awesome (so awesome my cat chewed the corner off) it is local.  Must buy pile it is.
You might be thinking Epi-who? and why do they need a greatest hits lp?  Honest truth, they don't need a "Greatest Fits" and this isn't a compilation of previous material from their EP EP or Self Hate ep or the Druggies split either.  These songs stand on their own with this LP and were released after the Epileptix were wandering the empty corridors of Detroit making snot nosed noise with a finger in the air.  Then there is the burning question of who the hell are the Epileptix?  The members have a reputation for their post Epileptix projects like Clone Defects, Piranhas, Human Eye and Timmy's Organism.  Those names probably ring a bell.  If you desire to get with the maturation process of these songsters this is where you begin.
As you travel backwards from current Timmy Vulgar projects and Piscis Clangor the spectrum of sound narrows as you pinpoint the Epileptix sound. What emerges is some well crafted KBD styled punk with the attitude to match.  I mean they put a live recording of "Bummer Bitch" that fits in like part of the camouflage.  If you have grabbed Timmy's Orgamism's recent LP, Raw Sewage Roq, Timmy channels the punk fury of Epileptix with "Poor And Bored".The track might even be a shelved Epileptix tune.  Jumping back 15 years you get some unbridled juvenile lyrics and angsty vibes.  "Pep Rally Massacre" addresses every young punks favorite establishment gripe, the social hierarchy of high school and it must be brought down.  Frighteningly vivid ultra violence is the tool to destroy the system too.  Murder, rape and cannibalism!  Add another tally to the offensive column.  Suicide is a recurring theme that is paired with
shoveling psychotropic chemistry down your
throat and, a Timmy staple, alien experimentation.  Vulgar is still spewing out these ideas and solutions to this day.  Aliens are all over Human Eye and check out "Brain Zip" for mental and emotional torture that pills will
erase.  Self destructive death wish carries on in
"Wastoid" where they sobered up just long
enough to write down the lyrics.  Blackouts,
puking and fighting.  All that's missing is glue
 huffing for the crowning reckless abandon of
 punk.  Despite all of this destructive hedonism
there is a negative viewpoint of the junkie
lifestyle in "She's A Junkie".  Everything the
Epileptix hate in the punk scene is called out in
"Homo Core Riot Girls".  Everything they are
disillusioned with is damn near everything.  Pop
culture taking abite out of the underground,
hypocritical behavior that is unchecked simply
because it is PC, a lack of enthusiasm from the bored look from emo and straight edge and self righteous trend hoppers without an ounce of integrity.  The year each song was written is in the liner notes.  Maybe it's not that interesting, but I appreciate that addition.
There could be a trademark put on Ian's guitar work.  If you subtract the keyboards from Piranhas' Garbage Can EP the end result is a hop skip and a jump from Epileptix.  The take here is more primitive and punches a little more punk rock attitude.  Quicker tempos and straight forward ballsy riffs and pounding drums add even more furious punk style with the occasional use of a little melody.

SEIZURE

I don't want to cry wolf but a couple years ago Timmy put out a call for people with Epileptix photos flyers to get in touch.  Possible rumblings of a discography.  It's been some time since I have heard any mention of this and is probably on the back burner indefinitely.  Keep your eyes peeled none the less if you like what you hear here.

NETJAJEV SS - Self Titled 7" ep

There was already a history of super charged hardcore from brain child Magnus Lundberg's one man project, Netjajev SS before this ep.  A few too many days alone in a room composing this Rupture esque music started to affect Lundberg's mind I would guess.  NSS was already pretty twisted, but this... this sounds like solitary infused insanity.  Midwestern and rupture style hardcore joined forces with synthesizer injections and samples taking you from Egypt to outer space and back to earth to a mind in it's own little creepazoid world.  Proof positive that you can do something new and fresh with hardcore that is disturbingly gripping.  I just hope I tracked the B side correctly.  It sounds like four songs and even trying to follow the bouncing ball with the lyric sheet I couldn't discern where songs begin and end.

OUTER SPACE HARDCORE
This is an updated vinyl rip that sounds a little better.

RAINBOW OF DEATH - s/t 10"

Heavy duty packaging opens up to a heavy duty printed sleeve with a bird tooting noise not music. The 19 second first track is nothing but noise and screaming. Great start. From there, members of well known French outfits Monarch and Gasmask Terror, give you a tour of their take on fastcore with Rainbow Of Death. Screeching, fuzzed guitars, reminiscent of Confuses’ Nuclear Addicts, pushing short blasts of fury a la fellow patriots, Opstand. Rainbow Of Death opted to cut the halting sludge segments typical to powerviolence, in favor of uptempo pop hardcore. Yes, you read that correctly. And you know what? It works wonderfully. That said, you could draw a line to a Mind Of Asian type catchiness, as well as brutal female vocals. Thirteen rippers in under ten minutes, ranging in length from 19 to 38 seconds, sans the marathon three and half minute closer.

Bayonne, France plays faster

Somehow we are escaping the crack down.

Guess that means it is time to go for some more records again. Still blazing on videos, though.

MIND ERASER

TONS OF NEW VIDEOS UP

Instead of focusing on uping records I have spent the last few days putting around 15 sets up on Youtube. They range from shows 5 years ago to stuff a few months ago. So if videos are your thing go check out GOVERNMENT WARNING, MIDNIGHT, BILL BONDSMEN, PUNCTURE WOUND, IN DEFENCE, THE OUTDOORSMEN and a whole slew of others.

I decided to try my patience and upload a set as .mpg file instead of .mov or whatever else. An annoying four hours later shit was finished. To have that higher quality audio and video with an .mpg file is worth the asinine 4 hours for a top shelf 30 minute set. See and believe.

JFA - Valley Of The Yakes lp

The first time I heard JFA was their Blatant Localism ep released in 1981. At that time, not knowing anything of the band, with the record title of Blatant Localism and the unrelentingly full speed ahead tempo of all but one song I was presumptuous with my initial evaluation. These guys are unabashed SoCal Nardcore skate punks, I thought. This record's gotta be on Mystic right?

Turns out I was a little off. JFA is full throttle hardcore and a bit more than unabashed skate punks. They are more skateboard uber alles or fuck you! Have no doubts about their feelings on this friends. The two sacred requisites to be a JFA band member were 1. You have to skate. and 2. You have to want to play fast. I think years later militant edge and vegan bands took their cue from predecessors like these. Secondly JFA isn't a Nardcore band. They aren't even from California and were not working with the Mystic record label. The only affiliation JFA has ever had with Mystic is one song on Mystic's '83 compilation lp We Got Power. The truth is they are from Phoenix, AZ and mostly released records on Placebo. For the more tedious bunch of you JFA is still active and pretty much all you could want to know can be found via their website.

Valley Of The Yakes picks up right where Blatant Localism dropped off. Releasing again on Placebo Records and outside of the noticeable difference in recording sound the song writing is so similar that you could swap songs from one record to the other and probably get away with it. Despite, I think Valley Of The Yakes songwriting is a tad more mature than their debut ep. Here less than 50% of the songs are under a minute. They obviously put some more thought and work into this release. Even so the lp is still hardcore at hill bombing speed. As much as I love fast as fuck, angry hardcore (as it should be) it is pretty easy to lose focus on full length records. Hardcore is way more compatible with the 7" format. It's tough for faster hardcore bands to grab your attention and keep it for the full course of an album. Throw this on while making a sandwich and it will fade to white noise after two songs for you. But wait just one second. Jodie Foster's Army circumvent that fault here by stepping out on a limb showing they have other interests than just ripping your face off and something I think is an accidental anomaly.

Outside of skating and playing as fast as possible JFA wants you to know they have a penchant for surf rock despite the dry desert land they hail from. They snap out two extremely well done cover songs that stick out like a sore thumb that is some how completely enjoyable.
The A side closes out with the recognizable Walk Don't Run by THE VENTURES. Early into side B they smack you upside the head once again going into Baja by THE ASTRONAUTS. Not only do these covers disrupt the album in a perfect way to keep your Attention Deficit Disorder ass in line they really shine for these Southwest punks. Killing three birds with one stone is quite the feat. You are still paying attention, JFA says they have broad horizons and the musicianship is pretty surprising here. Obviously they aren't limited to the assaulting three chord weapon of choice. As for that anomaly I mentioned, The second track on Valley Of The Yakes titled The Great Equalizer has me dumbfounded. It's a great song and, maybe it's my mid-western Detroit punk rearing, possibly my favorite song out of the album. This song is much meatier and angrier sounding than anything else they have written. Equalizer aligns closer to something an east coast band would have written. If you stand this song up alone I could easily see anybody pigeon holing as some pissed of shit from Boston. That could just be me, who knows? Download the bitch and make your own opinions.


HINCKLEY NEVER FUCKED JODIE FOSTER

CLICK THE PICTURES BELOW AND READ THEM!

DON'T JUST SKIP TO THE DOWNLOAD BECAUSE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE YOU WILL FUCK UP THIS POST FOR EVERYBODY ELSE.







THOU THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED

RENALDO & THE LOAF - Songs for Swinging Larvae lp

Hard to write about something so near and dear to my heart. Words don't fail me as much as trying to pare down the sheer amount of love I could gush about this LP. How do you succinctly write a couple paragraphs about something that changed your parameters about what music was (and wasn't)? (sniff, sniff) DAMMIT! I love you Renaldo and the Loaf.................
I stumbled upon Renaldo and the Loaf (hereafter refered to as RatL) by way of a little set of videos called "The 1 minute movies" released by the RESIDENTS. I was already oddly fascinated by the Residents brand of un-music and eager to lap up anything they, or their record label, RALPH records put out. A friend of a friend made a trip to visit his sister at Parsons (sniffy art school) in NYC and brought back a vhs tape full of what became my obsession with this weird music for years to come. Within the group of losers and outcasts I hung out with at school, this video had become legend, like that of some mythologized snuff film, before most of us ever got a chance to see it. The owner of the said tape, again, a friend of a friend, wasn't willing to show just anyone the video. It got to be built up like he had captured a murder or images of Satan on that tape and not just anyone could see it. Finally, after some convincing, and the pledge to never tell anyone where we'd seen it, the video was played after school one day.

ERASERHEAD was the first thing on the tape and although creepy, I thought at the time, it was about an hour too long. Next were 2 short films made by some students at Parsons, both pretty forgettable (which I did). The last things on the tape were the earlier mentioned, 1 minute movies, by the Residents. WOAH, I was completely blown away. Like I said, I was already a fan, but getting to see moving images of these weirdos made quite an impression. Up to that point, I had only my young, very un-expanded brain to conjure up my own images of what the Residents were. Other than the music, and arresting graphics on their records, not much was know, including the identities, of the "people" that made this strange noise. But, enough about the "Eye Ball Guys" as my son calls them, I'll save my Doctoral thesis on them for another post.

One of the long video montages was titled Renaldo and the Loaf "songs for swinging larvae". I thought maybe this was a Residents"joke" band or the like, as I had never heard of them. For the next 5 minutes and 33 seconds, I was pinned to my chair with the genuinely disturbing images that flashed across the screen. I can honestly say that NOTHING ever made me feel that unsettled before. That video, which I later learned was actually 3 separate songs, was seething with imagery and ideas that society deemed taboo. Check em' out for yourself and prepare to be creeped. The music captured the precise feeling and look of the video (or vice-versa) and I was dumbfounded to find out who Renaldo and the Loaf were.

Two of the songs, along with several others, ended up being released by Ralph records as Songs for Swinging Larvae by the band Renaldo and the Loaf. I was pretty happy to see and actually hold a copy of this, fearing the videos I had seen were some elaborate hoax perpetuated by the Residents. Nope, RatL were actually a real band, from the U.K. and here was their debut LP. The first thing about this LP that smacked me in the face was the deranged art on the cover. Handsome chap courting the sexy insect lady? What the....... I couldn't wait to play this thing, as the artwork and anticipation were killing me. As soon as I could get it on the turntable, I did, and boy was I FLOORED!! Two songs from the video were there, but there was so much more. The songs oozed and squeaked out of my speakers, the next one weirder than the last. I sat, again, dumbfounded by what I was hearing. Even though the Residents had prepared my ears for disparate sounds of the avant garde, this was like hearing an inanimate object speak.These were the sounds of being held captive by a race of miniature people, breathing helium and entertaining you by tapping, tinkling, scraping any object within reach. These sounds were as exhilarating as they were ominous and I was hooked. Were these sounds, indeed, made by normal human being like you and I?

In the pre-internet days, it was sometimes hard to find out about your favorite artists, especially those who were purposely mysterious and this pretty much summed up everything on Ralph records. If you got on their mailing list though, they sent you propaganda about the stuff they were releasing. This was the entry from the spring 1981 catalog about the release of Songs for Swing Larvae: No synthesizers, no political stance, no great philosophies, no created images, just normal, inquisitive people who delve into their own world for inspiration and diversion. This is an album of primitive modernism, energetic, obnoxious noises, manic, high-pitched vocals, and sweet brilliance. Songs for Swinging Larvae is startling. Though if you know anything about Ralph at all, you're liable to realize right of the bat why Renaldo and the Loaf fits into the Ralph family: they're not afraid to be attached to the future. Still. no great amounts of information contained in that, but at least some light had been shed. I came to terms with simply enjoying this LP without knowing much about the band. It was only years later, through a couple of short zine interviews, that I knew anything at all bout these guys. Now in the Google age, I've found out every bit of minutia surrounding these fellows that I could ever possibly want to know.

Doesn't change anything though.....I still feel the same simultaneous pleasure and dread when listening to this as did the first time the secretive video tape was played all those years ago. Looking back, now I understand why the owner of the video tape was so reluctant to show just anyone what it contained. Even now, with our over-stimulated, over-technologized appetite for more, these videos are still pretty risky and taboo.......

Boom Boom Crash Crash

MAINSPRING - August 23 1994 - April 5 1996

I shared this with a friend this morning. So while the fucking download is up I may as well post it here.

I often feel that after the birth of emo and all that revolution summer stuff Detroit had an awesome and progressive emo/screamo scene through the 90's. Maybe one of the best. With all those closet dust collecting 7"s in every town anywhere who knows. This is a fucking weird ass time for emo or whatever and I just know that I was hearing a lot of play off the original bands going in all directions in most reaches of the dirty mitten (michigan).

I could post something more aggressive or screamo like Jihad or some shit (their split with ottawa was reissued recently. Get that shit. ottawa kills on that record.) I could up something more avant garde and experimental like Constatine Sankathi. But I fucking ain't doing it today.

I've been up for far too long doing far too much stuff so this is plain and simple MAINSPRINGs discography as far as I know with some live tracks. Thank you Cass Records.



Fucking, whatever...

CRASS - You're Already Dead 7" single

I figure there isn't a whole lot about CRASS anybody could say that hasn't been said already. With their seemingly love/hate relationship with music fans it is undeniable that CRASS is one of the most influential punk bands of all time. I must admit their sheer ineptitude with instruments is great. It allowed them to cultivate their own unique sound. I am not going to get into the same love / hate with their politics in the post. If anybody wants to duke it out on that subject go for it in the comments.

Now you probably wonder why bother making a CRASS post at all. Everyone and their mom has already heard CRASS. Well for starters this presents the songs in their original format. You're Already Dead in it's original format stands out particularly. As best I recall "Nagasaki Is Yesterdays Dog End" only appears on the CD Best Before... 1984 outside of this single. The song is changed for the Best Before CD. So here you get it in it's original form. The last reason I can think of to bother making posts about CRASS is for the layouts of their original vinyl releases. They are all remarkable in one way or another. Sleeves unfold into panel upon panel of their diatribes and manifestos and the awesome artwork of Gee utilizing every imaginable space. I am particularly fond of full on poster sized Gee collages versus the microscopic crap on all the CD's. So there you have it.


THEY WON'T FUCKING LISTEN

HUMAN EYE - Self Released Tour cd-r

I am sitting here hoping that a fair number of you that follow this blog... wait, does anyone give a shit about this nonsense we post? Yeah, followers or stumblers upon this little upload shop with shitty opinions and stories attached I hope you have at least heard of HUMAN EYE. If you have heard of these freaky humonoids but have yet to really feel the band out don't use this upload as your measuring stick. That would be like reading Cliff's Notes right before the test. This is more for the fanboy company.

In 2008 HUMAN EYE hit the road for a while right around the release time of their second album, Fragments Of The Universe Nurse. Accompanying them on this exploration of time and space was this self released cd-r. It boasts three songs and each cd is hand made so every one is just a little different. Vagobon sounds like they hit the studio for this recording. I haven't heard it anywhere else but this tour cd. Maybe it was a Universe Nurse reject? The very beginning of the song sounds like some They Came From The Sky stuff. That doesn't last long before it just melts into laid back jammy acid tripping experimental no wave. Next up is Serpent Shadow. Probably recorded on a good old 8 track in the basement judging by the sound. Maybe it is just coincidence that They Came From The Sky has song of the same name? Maybe this is the missing link in HUMAN EYE's creative process? All I know is this Serpent Shadow sounds nothing like the one on the album. The only common ground I can find between the two Serpent Shadows is maybe a few lyrics out of this demo version transferred to the LP song. The last number is Universe Nurse recorded live in Denmark. Excellent sound for a live recording. Has a nice HUMAN EYE "freak out" for a few minutes before they break into the song.

It's too bad they only made 50 of these suckers. Maybe they underestimated the supply and demand? If you managed to get your tentacles on one of these it is no doubt a cool release to have for the HUMAN EYE addict. Besides who doesn't like a cd jewel case held shut with duct tape.

SPACE CULTURE

ABUSE - Mordare 7" ep

This is some straight up, good 'ole face pounding raw noisy d-beat hailing from Sweden. The Mordare ep probably isn't going to make your top 20 raw hardcore records of all time list. Bands like this are a dime a dozen but this 7" ranks up there in that "Check this dollar bin destroyer I found!!!!!!!" category.

Naturally ABUSE has that unique Swedish raw d-beat sound going on. There are a few things that are atypical in ABUSE's sound. The guitars are more fuzzed out and noisy than a lot of your other favorite Swedes. Think ANTI-CIMEX Anarkist Attack. They also went to the other end of the spectrum for vocals. They ditch the deeper, guttural vocal and singer Zambone sounds more like Bob from DROPDEAD. Actually they sound identical.

Not to worry all the studs off your leather jacket yet. There is still enough MOTORHEAD inspired rocking d-beat to make you slosh more of that beer in your hand on the floor and your fellow punx than down your gullet as you mosh around like a drunk punk should. I could have skipped all this shitty writing and just said if you like CRUDITY then this is right up your alley. Why not be a pain in the ass though? Even though ABUSE is long gone somebody in the band still keeps an updated Myspace and Facebook page for the band if you care.

Mordare was released by Ben's pre-Armageddon label Crust Records in 1996.

MAKE NOISE NOT MUSIC