V/A - Jabberjaw - Good To The Last Drop

Year: 1994

Label: Mammoth

Originally this was a series of benefit 7"s to raise money for the Los Angeles venue/coffeehouse Jabberjaw featuring unreleased material from bands who had taken the tiny stage. The lineup is pretty impressive:

Girls Against Boys

Unwound

Hole

Hammerhead

Beck

Teenage Fanclub

Slug

Chokebore

Mule

Helmet

Southern Culture On The Skids

Karp

Jawbox

Surgery

Unsane

Seaweed

Inch

That Dog

Further

Plus, "Broken E Strings" might be the best Unwound song ever, and that's saying something. AND "Cleaning Woman" might be the best Hammerhead song ever, which is also saying something.

*originally posted 09-05-08, reposted 07-07-15, posted for the final time 04-20-22

DL

Nurse - II

 

Label: Scavenger Of Death

Year: 2017

Imagine if a death rock sort of band decided to speed up and play a blistering hardcore? That would be cool, right? 

Dead And Gone is an apt comparison to Atlanta's Nurse. They both have the same jet-black-everything approach to a 45 Grave meets Discharge combo. Bullet belts and black candles. I love it. I think it's an invigorating shot of misanthropic buzz, and if I didn't think that you would like it, I wouldn't have put it here. But here it is, and there you are, so...do what the good lord intended and get with it. 

DL

V/A - Erase Yer Head no. 5

 

Label: Pandemonium

Year: 1997

Not certain if this was ever posted before, so I looked for a second, didn't see it, was satisfied that my due diligence sufficed, and moved on. Even if we did, I'm sure it's long gone by now.

The Erase Yer Head series was a 9 volume (I think) 7" run by French label Pandemonium that paired European bands on one side of the record and non-European bands on the other. Novel, I guess?

We wanted the record because Unsane was on the A-side, and that's about all we needed to know. They give two songs, and as to be expected, they are both bulldozers. One is a version of "Committed", which would appear later the same year on their 'Occupational Hazard' lp, but here it is called "Bommitted" for whatever reasons, and is a rawer version than what ended up on the full length. The other track is "No Soul" which is the only studio version of the song out there. There's a live version on the Mans Ruin 'AmRep Christmas' album, but this version pummels in a way more satisfying manner. Very worth it.

The flip side has French band Hint, who some at you with one song divided (for some reason) into three movements. It's a slow build moody piece that works more on a nagging sense of dread than anything else. It's cool, I think you'll like it.

DL

Blownapart Bastards - We Are All Cobra Clutched By The State - Live on WFMU - 01.08.93

 

Label: Positive Farce (self released)

Year: 1993

When talking about the best crusty hardcore to ever emerge from the great state of North Carolina, then obviously you're talking about Corrosion Of Conformity. Obviously. And you're also going to be talking about Bloodmobile, and Stillborn Christians, and No Labels, and Subculture, and the other fantastic 1980's bands that haunted the Brewery and the Milestone and Friday's and whatever backyard party or VFW hall might have been available. 

But, if you hadn't gotten old and calcified by the turn of the decade, and you had still been keeping score, you would be talking about Blownapart Bastards and their ripping version of plants-over-people, anti-corporation, pro-fun hardcore. Cause they delivered the goods. Plus, you had Brian Tipa, ex-Naked Angel in the fold, and anything Tipa does is going to be gold. Pure gold.

DL

764-HERO - Get Here And Stay

Label: Up
Year: 1998

If you can deliver well crafted, tuneful indie rock that has some darkness around the edges, and doesn't fall back on the crutches of "fey", "sassy", or "quaint", then I'm your target demographic. I mean, yeah, sure, I'm 100% Grade A American Beef(cake)...all man, but dang dudes, even Sears had a softer side at one point (before they filed for bankruptcy?). A man can get in touch with his feelings, right?
Or maybe it's just fun to be able to sing along sometimes.
Regardless, I'm a fan of this band's Built To Spill meets Castor meets Heatmiser slow burns, they "get me"...right in my big ole Sears sized heart (vagina). Try the song "Ottawa Dropout" if you need convincing, and don't believe my lady parts.

*originally posted 01.24.18, reposted 04.02.22

DL

Walking Concert - Run To Be Born

Label: Some
Year: 2004

All hail Wally Biscuits!
You wanna have a "British Invasion Period"? Great. No problem here. In fact, the more Kinks-rock you want to knock out, I'm cool with it. Pop hit after pop hit of sunny, creaky, catchy blissed out fun? What's not to love?
Walter Schreifels does no wrong. I don't care if he punches my daughter square in the larynx, he does no wrong. And with Walking Concert he indulges the most Rubber Soul tendencies exhibited in Rival Schools, and let's them shine through unencumbered by distortion or two finger points. Shouldn't come as a surprise, as the through-line in his discography has been a knack for burrowing earworm melodies into hardcore, post hardcore, psych rock, or whatever else he lends his songwriting to.
Please note though (I'm talking to myself now), that Walking Concert is a true band, and not a solo project, or a collection of hired guns to back up the singer-songwriter. Drew Thomas (Youth Of Today, Bold, Crippled Youth, Dead Heavens, Into Another, etc, etc.) is on drums, Ryan Stratton (Hedge, Ouisa) is on bass, and Jeffery Johnson (of what I have no idea) is on second guitar.

Go outside for a few minutes, it'll do you some good.

*originally posted 06.21.18, reposted 04.01.22

DL