Cheap Tragedies - Volume 1: Souvenirs and Evidence

 

Label: Mad At The World

Year: 2009

National treasure Tony Erba never fails to deliver the goods when he steps up to the plate (wait, is that a baseball analogy? Pardon me.). After Face Value, H100s, 9 Shocks Terror, the Gordon Solie Motherfuckers,  Amps II Eleven, (and if you could have seen into the future, Fuck You Pay Me), you should be prepared for the Motorhead-ish dirtcore of Cheap Tragedies. Straight ahead, no bullshit, leather strap match type stuff. Punk rock from the back of disreputable roadhouse kind of place. 

DL

Iceburn - Hephaestus

Label: Revelation
Year: 1993

Ambition on ambition on ambition. Iceburn decides to follow up their alienating debut lp with a concept record split into four sections across 28 songs based on the Greek god of fire. Why not? I mean, the hoodie-and-cut off camo pants crowd were now completely confused by the band, and nobody outside of that small hardcore circle had ever even heard of them. So, what's to lose? Why not go full prog/jazz/sludge?
Turns out that Iceburn would actually go further down the rabbit hole, further flummoxing those who were still following their weird trajectory. Not that folks don't need to be flummoxed on occasion...I think they (we) should.
Heavy and crazed the way Craw were heavy and crazed.
Members from, or went on to, Rival Schools, Institute, Eagle Twin, Ascend, How To Kill, and Insight.

*originally posted 06.05.16, reposted 07.10.22

DL

Blood On The Wall - Liferz

Label: The Social Registry
Year: 2008

Watched Manchester United drop points this weekend against Everton. Did you?
How the fuck you going to win games if you can't control the midfield?
How the fuck you going to win games if you lose every second touch? Motherfuckers couldn't string together more than three passes before...whoops...turnover.
How the fuck you spend that many millions of dollars on transfers and ain't got a fucking back line? David De Gea is the only person working on their half of the field.
How the fuck you sub in goddamn Fellaini with less than five minutes to go and that asshole gives away a fucking penalty kick? Get a fucking haircut you ridiculous loser.
How is Rooney the captain of the team riding the goddamn pine?
How does Mourinho not even break his dead-eyed glower when Ibra scores?
How the fuck can you squander a talent like Pogba?
How the fuck is Ryan Giggs not the manager of this team?

Five dollars says Blood On The Wall could not pick Giggsy out of a lineup.

Hey, at least that fucking pussy stain Aguero got a four game suspension for that bullshit he pulled on Saturday against Chelsea. And P.S., now you got me pulling for Chelsea?! For once in my life I was rooting for Diego Costa to release the Kraken and run through the entire City lineup, just one-timing those pieces of shit. That's how bad United is! I'm over here hoping to see thugs beat the shit out of City, literally. Sorry shit.

Blood On The Wall are helping a little, but I'm still pissed.
Garagey loose rock with some punk, some noisy post punk, a hint of slacker haze, and whatever Jesus and Mary Chain is considered. Some of that too. Punchy, but not in a Diego Costa kind of way, in a feel-good-bounce-around kind of way.

*originally posted 12.05.16, reposted 05.23.22

DL

Birth Order - Farewell, Square Horse

 

Label: The Ghost Is Clear

Year: 2022

From the fertile crescent of the Mississippi River (no, not that part of the river...further north), nestled in the ample bosoms of the Twin Cities comes Birth Order and their particularly acerbic update on the Minneapolis' noise rock template. Which is to say, very loud, very abrasive, very ornery.

Birth Order know how to hurt you, whether that be the menacing slow burn bass pulse of opener "Sweet Pea", or the blast furnace attack of "The All-Consuming Child" that immediately follows. This band deals a continually raw hand, but it's what you need. I think. At least, if you're here, then I think so.

Look for this one on end of year "Best of 2022" lists.

DL

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