V/A - Squat Or Rot - vol. 3

 

Label: Squat or Rot

Year: 1992

Unfortunately I no longer have the issue of Squat Or Rot that came with this 7", but if you close your eyes and imagine, I bet you can picture it in your minds' eye in all its crusty glory. Or smell it.

Five bands...here's the rundown:

Crawlpappy - this is what you came for, the almighty Crawlpappy doing what they do best, laying down a gnarly, noisy take on hardcore that keeps the tempo to a swagger most of the way, and keeps the riffs at a muffled roar. Great stuff. 

Summers Eve - primitive and essentially a novelty, but five ladies doing what they wanted to do, which I respect. Not good stuff.

Maggot - sounds like a mix of a bunch of old Blackout Records bands (Outburst, Breakdown, and Maximum Penalty most notably) with a dark take on what was going on at Lismer Lounge circa 1989. Good stuff.

War - points for original name, War plays a real crusty metallic version of hardcore with death-adjacent vocals. Pretty good stuff.

Rejuvenate - a (way) lesser known hardcore band that had Tommy Rat (Trip 6 / The Psychos / Warzone) on vocals and the guy from Animal Crackers on bass, playing a very Trip 6-esque rough and tumble version of NYHC. My favorite version, if you were to ask. Good stuff.

DL