Monday, July 19, 2010

In/Humanity - Your Future Lies Smoldering At The Feet Of The Robots


Label: Coalition
Year: 1997

Here's the European version of this 7" (also released by Prank and Stereonucleosis [the band's own label]) which has an extra song the domestic versions don't.
If you lived in the South (that being the southern part of the United States of America, not Namibia or Tasmania, or Uruguay [Uruguay? No, you're a gay!], you know..."the South") during the early and mid 1990's and you found yourself on the business end of a house show or two, chances are In/Humanity rocked your face in. Furthermore, you probably thought of singer Chris Bickel as Jello Biafra reincarnated, reanimated, and (re)updated for the coming millennium, due to his searing wit, confrontational approach, and wild gesticulations. The guy really was a showman par excellence, and the bizarre grinding, throbbing band behind him only accentuating his oddities. Not a lot of bands could mix up the styles In/Humanity did (shit, they coined the "emo-violence" tag) and still come out with a signature sound that raised their craft above the tuneless screamers populating every basement and warehouse within 200 nautical miles of a college. No, In/Humanity carved out quite a legacy, and maybe they were bigger outside of "The South" than I'm giving them credit for, but they seemed to be overlooked in the more fashionable parts of the hardcore world circa 1996, so I thought it'd be time to give you a taste.
Ask Chris Bickel about the rumor that he had both his nipple piercings torn out simultaneously by an overzealous "fan" as he was stripping (as in, in a strip club). Ask him for real, cause I don't know if that one was a true story. Get back to me on that will you?

4 comments:

James Joyce said...

As far as this type of music goes, In/Humanity is hands down my favorite, and I remember that same story about Chris's nipple rings. I believe Chris told me the story once when we asked him about his stripper past. I even bought all the Guyana Punchline albums due to my proxy love for In/Humanity, although I never liked them as much. One other I/H story that sticks out in my mind was during one of the times they played the Driverdome and there was a kid that liked to get naked in the pit, and Chris decided to kick it up a notch by putting the kid's penis in his mouth during an extra frenzied moment. If you are going to get naked at an In/Humanity show, you have to be prepared for stuff like that.

The Thing That Should Not Be said...

I was lucky enough to play a show with In/Humanity when they toured the UK, back in the mists of time, and BOY were they GREAT. I'm gonna try to rip my vinyl copy of 'The Nutty Antichrist' at some point soon, since it doesn't appear to be up anywhere online.

convertido said...

i still have my "I Hate Hank Williams Jr., and I'm Gay" bumper sticker Chris Bickle gave me. Great band and better guys!

Anonymous said...

http://www0.epinions.com/review/musc_mu-357259/content_23230647940

^^^^^^ funny fucking story (true or not)


chris bickel does a karaoke thing now, Mr. B's Goodtime Karaoke or something like that. i remember seeing the drummer, Ben, at one point on a visit to SC. if he wasn't homeless, he was close to it and he smelled awful. Paul was one of the best guitarists ever when he didn't feel like flailing around. Will, their bass player at one point, was a pretty rad dude and i always got a kick out of his being a straight edge vegan dude in this band. never knew what became of him. maybe selling cars now?

i saw them at age 14 or so. they opened for Green Day at Rockafella's. their first drummer, Marty, had an insane drum kit and was metal as fuck. double kick drums, ice bells, long curly locks, the whole nine yards.

the nutty antichrist is a good record. probably the only one i'd sit through at this point. some of those earlier seven inches are pretty rad. i believe i still have them and will gladly rip them for SGM to post, if anyone is interested.

 
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