Zeni Geva - Disgraceland 7"

Label: Alternative Tentacles
Year: 1993

Precision mechanics, maximum overdrive, unflinching dedication to pain administration. That's the Zeni Geva doctrine.
Only two songs, but it's more than most bands could handle delivering. Not for those with heart conditions or weak constitutions.
This version of Zeni Geva has Tabata from Boredoms and Acid Mothers Temple, alongside drummer Noro, and Zeni Geva mainman K.K. Null. Brutal.

DL

Vaz - Hey One Cell b/w No Leaf Clover 7"

Label: Reptillian
Year: 1998

Here's where we heard Vaz come out of the gates for the first time. The debut performance. Which is to say, the metaphorical gates of the loved and lost Hammerhead legacy.
At the time it sounded like a pretty linear transition from the nervy Hammerhead hardcore to the two man champagne jam of Vaz. They kept the twitchy propellant of their former endeavor and on this record merely streamlined the delivery.
No frills, but no frills needed, nor should any frill even be entertained at this juncture. Vaz comes straight at you frill-free and at deliberate pace. And while once they reach you, they might have broken into a sort of Ian Curtis-esque jittery dance to disarm you, you'll still wind up missing a tooth, or at the very least with a patch of hair missing.
Only two songs, and they blow by pretty quick, but an essential record nonetheless. Vaz has developed a fairly extensive discography since this record, and with it a sound of their own, but for this 7" you hear the band just emerging from the shadow of their previous mistress, still reeking of her perfume.

DL

The Tards - Rubber Room 7"

Label: Man's Ruin
Year: 1996

Who could be responsible for a moniker as unsavory and unscrupulous as "The Tards"? What type of monsters would do such a thing? Laughing at the misfortune of overs? How dare they?! Who on earth would do such a....oh....wait.
The Tards are Boyd Rice and Adam Parfrey. Boyd Rice of Non and sorta a professional dick of the "provocateur" variety, and Adam Parfrey, the man behind Feral House Publishing who have documented everything weird, sorta gross, and sometimes questionable.
And to make matters worse, they have employed Poison Idea as their backing band just to up the "eeeew" factor.

The band made a short career of covering songs that a group like this shouldn't be legally allowed to cover, and on this two song 7" they degrade a Porter Wagoner country and western gem, and a traditional (although I've never heard of it) folk song (guessing). Neither would be recognizable to their origins, but that's most likely the point.

Plenty strange.

DL

The Kill Van Kull - Human Bomb

Label: Handi-Kraft
Year: 1998

This is a really good one. I've been meaning to post it for years, but it took me forever to get around to digitizing, and then when I did, I fucked up the tracks, so I did it again and that time I fucked up the levels, and then...you know.
So if this sounds "off" in any way, let me know and in a few years I'll fix it and repost it. Ok? Deal?

This band served as a bridge between New York City's post hardcore world of frenetic grooving heaviness and the city's noise rock world. It's got the intensity and raw power of a band who came up in hardcore, but the scratchy, off-kilter attack of a band who gets uncomfortable playing it straight. So, like, a big fan of Burn playing Drive Like Jehu covers. Right?

The closest comparison sonically would be to JJ Paradise Players Club, which not coincidentally, James Paradise plays drums in The Kill Van Kull. Guitarist Cooper was also in JJ Paradise Players Club, just to add to it. But, the point being, a lot of what The Kill Van Kull was doing; mixing some post hardcore, a little emo (and you know what I mean, the Hoover style), and some straight to the throat hardcore bluster, JJ Paradise Players Club would amplify and make heavier a couple years later.

The personnel that made this record are all top tier dudes, no slouches. You got former and future members of (the aforementioned) JJ Paradise Players Club, Hell No, Citizen's Arrest, The Brought Low, Pigs, Animal Crackers, Manacled, Fresh Kills, Made Out Of Babies, Die 116, and something I'm forgetting. I'll remember it in a minute.

Sweet Diesel! That was it.

File this under "Lost Classics". Essential.

DL

V/A - Our Voice, Pro-Choice

Label: Hands On
Year: 1993

This was an oddly structured compilation. It has four bands, one song a piece. Nothing weird there. It was a benefit for Utah Pro-Choice Coalition, which, again, isn't inherently odd.
What was weird was that it has a "Utah side" and a "non-Utah side", and I'm sure you can gather what differentiates them. Side A, the Utah side, has two...wait for it...bands from Utah, and you would fully expect a record benefitting a Utah charity would in fact feature artists from The Beehive State. Makes perfect sense. Right? But then then you're left to decipher what constitutes "non-Utah". I mean, shit, that could be pretty much anything, anywhere, ever. The mind boggles at the possibilities...could it be "bands that are left handed"? "bands from the Lesser Antilles"? "bands with STDs"? How would you ever know?!
I'll tell you.
In the case of this record, whoever put it together must have had the bright idea to balance out the Utah (aka "who?") bands with bands that people have actually heard of and seem to really like. Not a bad idea. And as far as curating a couple bands that people had heard of and seemed to like, they did pretty well culling Born Against and Heroin. That's two bands that will get you to shell out your hard earned Taco Bell money (you're welcome Utah Pro-Choice Coalition).
So there you go; four bands, four songs, you've heard of two, you've never heard of the other two. Born Against covers Life's Blood, so that's sort of a double bonus. Heroin does a really great fractured noisy ripper. Anger Overload (you know, from Utah) sound like a hardcore band covering Soundgarden, kind of. It's actually a good song. N.S.C. (you know, from Utah) are pretty forgettable male/female vocal punky hardcore. Nothing offensive, just nothing all that exciting either.

DL

Enemymine / Vaz - Split 7"

Label: Thin The Herd
Year: 1999

Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years
Rocking my peers, puttin' suckers in fear
Makin' the tears rain down like a monsoon, listen to the bass go boom

Explosions, overpowerin', and over the competition I'm towerin'
Wrecking shop when I write these lyrics that'll make you call the cops
Don't you dare stare, you better move, don't ever compare
Me to the rest that'll all get sliced and diced, competition's payin' the price
I'm gonna knock you out
Mama said knock you out
(x4)
Don't you call this a regular jam, I'm gonna rock this land
I'm gonna take this itty-bitty world by storm, and I'm just gettin' warm
Just like Muhammed Ali they called him Cassius, Watch me bash this
Beat like a skull, that you know I've beef with, Why do you riff with
Me, the maniac psycho, and when I pull out my jammy
Get ready cause I might go "bla-ow", how you like me now? The rhythm will not allow
You to get with Mr. Swift don't riff, listen to my gears shift
I'm blasting, I'm blasting, kind of like shaft, so you can say I'm shafting
Olde English filled my mind, and I came up with a funky rhyme
I'm gonna knock you out
Mama said knock you out
(x4)
Shadow boxing when I heard you on the ra-di-o, uh, I just don't know
What made you forget that I was raw, but now I gotta new toy
I'm going insane, startin' the hurricane, releasin' pain
Lettin' you know, You can't gain or maintain
Unless you say my name
Rippin', killin', diggin' and drillin' a hole
Pass the Old Gold
I'm gonna knock you out
Mama said knock you out
(x4)
Shotgun blasts are heard, when I rip, and kill at will
The man of the hour, tower of power, I'll devour
I'm gonna tie you up and let you understand that I'm not your average man
When I gotta jammy in my hand...Damn!
Oooooo! Listen to the way I slay, your crew
Damage! Damage! Destruction, terror, and mayhem
Pass me a sissy soul sucker I'll slay him
Farmers (what?!)
Farmers (what?!)
I'm ready (we're ready!)
I think I'm gonna bomb a town, get down
Don't you never, ever pull my lever
Cause I explode, and my nine is easy to load
I gotta thank god, 'cause he gave me the strength to rock hard
Knock you out
Mama said knock you out
(x4)

Wasn't sure if I could dictate the lyrics to "Mama Said Knock You Out" from memory....but then I could. Sort of unexpected, but not.

DL

Throes - To Dust

Label: self released.
Year: 2015

Seething stranglehold of overpowering dark menace.
Total bulldozer.
Revenge fantasies and customer complaints run through a busted Rat pedal, a Sunn amp, and two 4x12 cabinets.
Everything rumbles.
Has a sort of Gaza/Cult Leader feel to it. You know? Like, guys who liked Cursed a lot, but also like to slow it to a mid-tempo lurch? Them dudes.

DL
http://throestodust.bandcamp.com/album/to-dust

Hell Mach Four - Time Elapse Of Human Transformation And Sound Transition

Label: Moodswing
Year: 1996

Haven't posted any Richmond, Virginia post hardcore noisiness lately, and that's pretty dumb, and I thought we prided ourselves on not being dumb. Right?
Added bonus; this record (sometimes referred to as simply the "self titled ep") was released by our buddies here in Atlanta, Moodswing Records.
This four piece (hence the Four portion of their moniker) channeled that abrasive racket Richmond was honing to finely pointed blade round about that time. The bands like Hose.Got.Cable. who were riffing off the more antagonistic D.C. bands (Circus Lupus) and pulling in ghosts of Richmond's past musical hardcore scene (Breadwinner) to craft an angular, arty, attacking brand of bombast. We were big fans then and now.
Hell Mach Four relocated to Atlanta but crapped out after a split 7" with Stinking Lizavetta and an lp (both good records to track down). Come to think of it, there's a little bit of Atlanta band Freemasonry echoing around in Hell Mach Four...which I hadn't thought of before. Huh. You learn something new everyday. See, I told you we aren't dumb!

DL

Drain - Pick Up Heaven

Label: Trance Syndicate
Year: 1992

Hey, look who's still alive?
Blog's been a bit quiet as of late on account of me starting a new j-o-b that doesn't allow as much d-I-c-k-I-n-g-a-r-o-u-n-d as my previous employ. Good for me, bad for blogging.
But, on the other hand, you old buddy Ipecac is rumored to be among the living again, so maybe if you speak his name into the mirror three times, or rub a magic lantern, or get down on your knees and pray real real hard, he might show up and start posting again. Maybe.
In the meantime, here's an album from Drain. It's super fucking weird. The high spots are really high, and the low spots are...super fucking weird.
I also just noticed that this was posted here before, years ago. I'm pretty sure the link is dead, or at least not very healthy, so here it is again.

DL