Thursday, December 1, 2011

NC HARDCORE HOLIDAY SHOWS 2011/12

FRIDAY DEC 2, 2011: Eddie Brock // Lapse. ALL AGES. $5 donation show. 7:30PM. (DIY Wilmington)
Link: FB EVENTListen to the Eddie Brock / Lapse split out on TO LIVE A LIE RECORDS:
Address: Wilmington Street Art House 
229 Sunset Ave. 
Wilmington NC 28401




SATURDAY DEC 3, 2011: Priapus // Old Painless // Born Hollow // Violent Ends // Pain & Panic. ALL AGES. $5. 8PM. Arrive early, no punk time. BRING A PILLOW (really). Cancer benefit show.

Link: FB EVENT
Address: Glenwood Coffee And Books
1310 Glenwood Ave
Greensboro NC



MONDAY DEC 5, 2011: INQUISITION // DOUBLE NEGATIVE // OLD PAINLESS (Last minute show!): ALL AGES. $5. 9PM.
Link: FB Event, INQUISITION (legendary black metal from South America), DOUBLE NEGATIVE (Knife on a String- Live at Stolen Sleeves Collective) 
 Address: SIX FORKS PUB
7361 Six Forks Rd. Raleigh, NC



FRIDAY DEC 9, 2011: Angry Youth // Southern Hostility // Rocket Cottage // Wasted Effort. 21+. $5. 9PM. PUNK. (Corporate Zombie)
Address: Slim's Downtown
217 S. Wilmington St. Raleigh, NC

SATURDAY DEC 10, 2011: Mutilation Rites // No Tomorrow // Old Painless. ALL AGES. $5 firm. Arrive @ 6, Show @ 6:30; SHOW CAN'T BE LATE; NO PUNK TIME.
Email: vilediscourse@gmail.com for the address. MxOxRxGxAxNxHxAxUxS

SUNDAY DEC 11, 2011: Mauser // No Tomorrow // D.I.S. // Sunlight Alumni. ALL AGES. $5. 8PM SHARP.
255 North Front Street, Wilmington, NC

WEDNESDAY DEC 14, 2011: Manipulation // PC Worship // Whatever Brains // Logic Problem. 21+. $5. 9PM sharp.
Address: Slim's Downtown
217 S. Wilmington St. Raleigh, NC

FRIDAY DEC 16, 2011: No Power // Born Hollow // Narratives // Mad Dog. ALL AGES. $5. 8PM sharp.
Link: FB EVENTNÖ PÖWER DEMO (this shit fucking rules. DBeat HC PUNK)MAD DOG DEMO (new Raleigh powerviolence hardcore)BORN HOLLOW 
Address: Six Forks Pub
 7361 Six Forks Rd
Raleigh, NC

SUNDAY DEC 18, 2011: Double-/-Negative // Bukkake Boys // Manic // Atrophix. All ages. $8/$10. 7PM sharp
LinkFB EVENT, SORRY STATE RECORDS-/-DOUBLE NEGATIVE totally killing it liveBUKKAKE BOYS- live footage (murderous hardcore punk)BUKKAKE BOYS 2nd EP: Review // DownloadATROPHIX demo 

Address: Kings Barcade
14 W. Martin St. Raleigh, NC


MONDAY JAN 9, 2012: Coke Bust // Poison Planet // Tenement // Disciples of Christ // Lung Matter: All ages. $10. 7pm sharp.
Link: COKE BUST LIVE IN PHILLY 2011, COKE BUST- Degradation EP (Grave Mistake Records)POISON PLANET blogTENEMENT blogDOC live at my old house 2011LUNG MATTER- live behind a warehouse with outlets. (best band to come out of Raleigh in years. They sound like Die Kreuzen or the h100's)
Address: Kings Barcade
14 W. Martin St. Raleigh, NC  






SUNDAY JAN 15, 2012: Curmudgeon // Torch Runner // Mad Dog // Abuse // Pure Scum. All ages. $5. Doors 4pm, Show @4:30pm

Monday, November 7, 2011

Destino Final - Atrapados LP


Artist: Destino Final
Album: Atrapados LP
Year: 2009
Label: La Vida Es Un Mus Discos


Tracks:
1. ¿Donde Estan?
2. ¿Qué Vas A Hacer?
3. Atrapados
4. Laberinto I
5. Laberinto II
6. Ahogate
7. Este Dolor
8. Cuenta Atras
9. Volver A Empezar

This LP came out a couple years ago, but I just recently re-discovered how great it is.  Destino Final hails from Spain and, from what I've gathered, was formed by former members of renown Spanish hardcore band Invasión.  Like some other Spanish hardcore bands I've heard, this band has a d-beat vibe, but at the same time they sort of don't. There is some definite Discharge influence, but the band's sound is in no way any sort of crust-rehash.  

From the first screech of feedback, this record is totally intense and pulverizing all the way through.  Where I would say Destino Final differs from their contemporaries is that they sometimes deviate from the high-speed, rocked-out d-beat parts in exchange for a brutish, slow pulse that is SUPER tough.  The vocals that soar over-top this straightforward wall of sound are overly reverbed out, providing this washy ambiance over the whole mix.  The difference between the music and the vocals provides a really interesting contrast.  Another reason why this record is so great from start to finish is because of the flow of the tracks. In particular the tracks that sort of run together like Laberinto I and Laberinto II, where part 1 is one of the faster songs on the record and part 2 is this long, drawn out mid-tempo chant that closes the first side of the LP.

I've heard that Destino Final is currently working on a new LP for next year and I'll be excited to see if they can top this one.  But for now, I highly recommend checking this record out.  Also, if you want to get the LP, I'm pretty sure the label still has copies, and also Sorry State still has some in their distro.


-Jeff

Friday, October 28, 2011

Out Cold- Planned Accidents EP

My favorite hardcore band of all time hits one out of the ballpark with this infectious and quick EP. This band defines all that is just a straight up, bullshit-less hardcore punk band. No fashion, no gimmicks, and no fucking politics. Mark Sheehan delivers vocals like a punch in the face, and scripts lyrical message that's not too far from the 80's hardcore style, yet it's genuinely pissed off. Every time I throw this record on the turn table I want to smash everything in sight.

The track "Golden Age of Psychobabble" slides right in and out, makes a point, thrusts hard as shit and ends in less than a minute. Flip the record over to hear "People Like You", and after the first pause, you might feel like putting a hole in a wall. This is by far one of my favorite releases by Out Cold. Other ones to look out for are "Will Attacked If Provoked" and "Goodbye Cruel World", both of which will probably get posted on this website sooner or later.

I love this band because in the 90's and early 00's, no one gave a fuck about hardcore, and they just kept playing it. Other 80's hc bands went on to do more experimental projects or sell out, etc. This band just kept playing genuinely pissed off hardcore punk, and never swayed apart from that in the two decades that they were a band.

RIP Mark Sheehan

Download Here
Acme Records (put out this record)
Kangaroo Records (put out all of their other shit)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

FOOTAGE: Despise You, Magrudergrind, Stripmines, Sick/Tired, Man Will Destroy Himself, Wall

Much thanks to BRIAN LUTZ for doing this. Check out his youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/BrianXBurma
he has a LOT of really great stuff on there!

Despise You:


Magrudergrind:


Stripmines:


Sick/Tired:


Man Will Destroy Himself:


Wall (unbelievable performance!):


Thanks for watching!
IRA

Raleigh HC shows UPDATE

Hey guys, back at you again to give you an update of what's been going on. Sorry to all the folks who follow this blog for the past 4 weeks and have seen no posts. I JUST NOW had a spare moment to fix my laptop, so I can finally take it with me, get jacked up on coffee, and book shows again. There have been a few shows in September... mainly to note the DESPISE YOU, MAGRUDERGRIND, STRIPMINES, SICK/TIRED, MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF, WALL gig at King's. That show was really great. If you went to that show without moaning about a guest list spot, thanks a whole lot. If you were on the guest list for promoting, video, or photography, fucking MEGA thanks to you for doing that (Brian Lutz). Seth Beard booked a show last week with two Australian bands, and really did a great job. But note this my man, the main master of the PA never should go past like 5, ever. But fucking A, he booked a show that I have no idea how to handle, and excelled at it. More people need to do this.

Last night Double Negative and Whatever Brains played at The Union Tavern (327 W. Davie St. Raleigh, NC). Sort of a last minute show, and again, the Union has to do their live music shows AFTER 10pm due to the Italian restaurant next door, but still it was a great turnout. Seriously, if there is ever a day DN or WB are playing and I just sit at home instead of watching these two great bands play right down the street, someone just go ahead and kill me.

So anyways, to the point, I'm working on a line-up of shows and starting to write a new zine entitled "HOW TO BOOK YOUR OWN F**KING SHOW". The title is meant to be frustrated yet humorous and just discontent in general. Long story short, I had someone tell me, "hey Ira, have you ever thought about booking something other than a hardcore show? You should really expand your horizons." I responded, "Hey asswipe, have you ever thought about booking a show, period?"

Lots of smart ass humor, yet I'll keep the zine informative and I want to see a lot of people just learn how to book SOMETHING they enjoy, I don't give a fuck what it sounds like. Included will be a poster sized map that will have every location possible for flyering, all ages venues, and places with house show history. This zine should be expected to be black and white and given out for as cheap as possible. Buy me a coffee or give me some quarters for it, I just want you to book a god damn show. If there were 5 people in Raleigh booking punk/hc shows only once or twice a month, there would be hardcore shows happening ALL THE TIME. THINK ABOUT THAT DUDES.

Anyways. The list of shows, and TBA's. More to be announced soon, and sorry that Jeff and I have been way too busy with work and school to post in the past month. My laptop just got fixed, so I'll probably be posting on here about twice a week.

SAT OCT 8- Extension Cord Hardcore #2 with NEUTRON RATS, LUNG MATTER, MAD DOG-- CONNOR AND ACE ARE BOOKING A SHOW.

MON OCT 1- THOU, MAKE, PROSTELYTE @ King's 14 W. Martin St. Raleigh (Ryan Moore is booking this)

SAT OCT 15- (Richmond VA) GOVERNMENT WARNING'S LAST SHOW w/ NIGHT BIRDS, CLOAK/DAGGER, DRY SPELL @ STRANGE MATTER


MON OCT 17- CREAMERS (TX) @ DREGGS GROTTO PART DEUX (Need locals!!) TYSON IS BOOKING THIS- I WILL BE OUT OF TOWN.


FRI OCT 21- CHUCK DUKOWSKI SEXTET, ROCKET COTTAGE @ TBA


THURS OCT 27-  // WARCRY (pdx) // RIPPER (pdx) // SIREN (rva) @ STRANGE MATTER


WED NOV 2- BIG EYES @ TBA


MON NOV 28- BROWN SUGAR, CRUDDY @ TBA


SUN DEC 18- BUKKAKE BOYS (GA), DOUBLE NEGATIVE, MANIC (GA) probably at King's. I find out today-ish.


Thanks!
IRA

Lung Matter - Demo 2011



Artist: Lung Matter
Album: First Demo
Year: 2011
Label: Self-released


Tracks:
1. No More
2. Wrong Turn
3. Rebuttal
4. War Crimes
5. Pollution
6. Bar Junkies
7. Drug Fashion


First release from this brand new Raleigh band.  Lung Matter plays a brand of hardcore that is somewhat straight ahead, but also relies fairly heavily on sort of tough, but not over-the-top, breakdowns and mid-tempo parts.  While the ethic and message of the band isn't overly focused or explicit, there is some definite influence of straight edge hardcore.

This demo was apparently recorded live all in one session in late September of this year.  Not bad considering a couple of the members are still in high school!   Very cool stuff. Check it out.

At the time of this posting, the band still has copies of the cassette available.  It will probably be in distros later on. 

Contact Lung Matter directly: mikedeloatch@gmail.com




-Jeff

Friday, September 2, 2011

EXTENSION CORD HARDCORE SHOW #1

if you want to google map directions check out this address, with the x's removed. I'm doing this so algorithms won't catch the addy

Click the images to check out exactly where we are doing the show...

Look for a sign with a spraypainted "IAN" behind the LAST warehouse in the parking lot.

1x5x0x5 CxAxPxIxTxAxL BxLxVxDx.
Raleigh, NC

Monday, August 1, 2011

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Upcoming shows this summer UPDATED

All of these shows are all ages.

THURS JUNE 23- Mad World, Dry Spell, Oddczar @ Sewercide Mansion, Charlotte NC

TUES JUNE 28- Fucked Up, Jeff the Brotherhood, Double Negative @ King's Barcade, Raleigh NC

MON JULY 4- Night Fever (Denmark), Double Negative, Unholy Thoughts (RVA), Slugz (RVA) @ King's Barcade, Raleigh NC

TUES JULY 12- Longpigs @ TBA

THURS JULY 14- Curmudgeon @ TBA

SAT JULY 16- Hardcore Hank's Birthday- W/T, B/B, C/F, L/P, A/W (you figure it out) @ DGII (ask a punk)

SAT JULY 23- Fuck the Facts (ask Ryan Moore)

SUN JULY 31- Gowl, Stone Titan @ TBA

MON AUGUST 1- Rational Animals, Stripmines, more

TUES AUGUST 16- Leather

TUES AUGUST 23- Canadian Rifle, Shaved Christ

WED SEPT 14- D.Y. // MG. // more (take a guess)

some will fall through in Raleigh, so if you are looking at this blog, please contact me at iraramone@aim.com, vilediscourse@gmail.com, or facebook.com/iraramone. IF you see a show that has @ TBA, please contact me if you are interested in booking their gig in NC.

Thanks!
IRA ROGERS

Monday, June 6, 2011

THIEVES (Last show ever), WHITE LUNG, NU SENSAE, THE LONERS, FUSS

TUESDAY JUNE 14
KINGS BARCADE
14 W. Martin St.
Raleigh, NC













Doors at 8:30PM, Show at 9:00PM
$5 advanced tix- http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1494891&cobrand=white
-or-
$7 at the door!

ALL AGES HARDCORE

THIEVES [Last show ever]
WHITE LUNG (Vancouver, Canada)
THE LONERS
NU SENSAE (Vancouver, Canada)
THE FUSS

White Lung
WHITE LUNG (Vancouver, Canada) returns to Raleigh one year and two days after last year’s fantastic hardcore punk show with Pollution and Double Negative. They adapt noisily artistic guitar riffing amongst punchy bass-lines, rudimentary yet powerful drumming fronted by Mish’s smart, sexy vocalizing full of natural angst. Their records have been raiding all over underground vinyl distros, and for this tour they will be graduating from 7” releases and presenting their first full-length LP/CD entitled “It’s the Evil”. They are one of the best of underground punk bands, and by all means avoid recycled ideas. (Deranged Records)
http://vimeo.com/10881622



NU SENSAE is a grunge/punk duo also hailing from Vancouver, BC. They are easily described as instrumentally solid, low-end driven like a rusty 4-stringed saw. The menacing and screeching vocals carry over this noise-mongering force that is this band. This sounds like something that you would find in someone’s really cool and underground mixtape collection back in the early 90’s. (Nominal Records / Fast Weapons)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmHMvcGKQwg

F.U.S.S.


Also playing this show will be Raleigh, NC’s two piece garage punk legends THE LONERS, the most pissed kids from Greensboro FUSS and the final performance ever by the raging hardcore quartet THIEVES. Assortments of DIY punk/hardcore will come together this night at the almighty King’s Barcade!

THIEVES



















THIEVES literally are going to “play hardcore like it’s the last thing they’ll ever do” on this night. Don’t miss it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfFArb-MY18

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

UPCOMING SHOWS THIS SUMMER

Some of these shows are waiting to confirm with locations and locals, so if any of you have great ideas for them, please email me at iraramone@aim.com or facebook.com/iraramone . If there are any of them that you would like to help with, just request so, and we'll have a really awesome summertime in Raleigh!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUNDAY MAY 1- STRIPMINES / SHOPPERS / PANZRAM / BURMA @ King's Barcade
ALL AGES HARDCORE SHOW
Doors at 8PM, Show starts promptly at 9:00PM
$6 at the door ($8 under 21)
SHOPPERS (Syracuse, NY)- Infectious girlfriend punk fused with the cut-throat decibal charged guitar styles of VOID and SONIC YOUTH. Probably the best indie-punk trio around nowadays. If any of you caught their gig last year at the almighty DREGG'S GROTTO, then it should be clear that these ladies don't fuck around.
http://shoppers.tumblr.com/
PANZRAM (Fort Mill, FL)- Hardcore/Noise literally coming out of hell. Since MERKIT slowed down, these dudes started a new full time band that sounds twice as intense as their old band. This demo absolutely blows me away. This band an absolute force, reigning the canned up destructive sounds of HEROIN mixed with Double Negative's SATURATION TANK, and the aggressive blasting of DARKTHRONE. I've literally never heard anything like this in my life.
http://humancrushrecordings.blogspot.com/2009/06/panzram-demo-cassette-hcr004.html



SUNDAY MAY 8- MUNICIPAL WASTE / MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF / SALVACION @ King's Barcade
Doors at 9PM
Show at 9:30PM
ALL AGES
$10 at the door
MUNICIPAL WASTE- Richmond's almighty punk/thrash quartet put on a totally insane live show. From The WASTE 'EM ALL 12" from Six Weeks Records all the way to 3 solid releases on Earache Records such as HAZARDOUS MUTATION 12" and THE ART OF PARTYING 12", this band has consistently held together a strong formula that will make you stage dive over and over until you end up in a hospital. Definitely not a show to be missed.
MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF- Raleigh's most burly hardcore band bring it for the first time at the new King's Barcade. These vets fucking kill it, and their new stuff is an absolute massive force...
SALVACION- From Wilmington, NC. Maiden shirts, and flawless instrumental sections with a vocalist who runs all over the place and actually uses the microphone stand. This band plays no bullshit old-school metal before metal.



FRIDAY MAY 13- DEATHRATS / THE FUSS @ TBA
(Deathrats are a furious hardcore band from DC; most of you from Raleigh will remember them from the insane D/R shows in 2010)

MONDAY JUNE 6- CHAROGNE STONE @ TBA
(killer power-violence from France, TLAL records)

TUESDAY JUNE 14- WHITE LUNG / NU SENSEI / DOUBLE NEGATIVE @ TBA
noise/punk/grunge

FRIDAY JUNE 17- EZTORBO / GORILLA PUSSY @ TBA
fastcore/hxc/powerviolence

THURSDAY JUNE 23- MAD WORLD / DRY SPELL @ TBA
richmond hardcore

TUESDAY JUNE 28- ZERO PROGRESS @ TBA
hxc punk

MONDAY JULY 4- NIGHT FEVER / SECRET POLICE @ TBA
fast hxc punk from denmark and new jersey

THURSDAY JULY 14- CURMUDGEON @ TBA
doom metal/sludge

SATURDAY JULY 16- COUGHING FIT @ TBA
hardcore

SUNDAY JULY 31- GOWL / STONE TITAN @ TBA
grind hardcore pv / sludge

TUESDAY AUGUST 16- LEATHER
punk/grunge

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Crazy Spirit Record Release- Live in Brooklyn, NYC

I filmed this while on tour over the summer. Fuck this show ruled so hard! I'll have the other bands posted up soon.

CRAZY SPIRIT- RECORD RELEASE 8/5/2011 NYC from Ira Rogers on Vimeo.


-IRA

THIEVES @ KING'S BARCADE, RALEIGH, NC 3-25-2011

This show was really cool! The bands we played with were sick. That band Årabrot was terrifying and far different from the bands I usually get a hold of. They remind me of that Unsane, Hammerhead, Melvins type stuff except But holy shit, Wizard Rifle was totally insane. I think everyone was surprised by that band, being they are fairly new, and it was their first tour ever. Devour killed it as always, and those new songs they are writing are keeping that band fresh, and seeing them live never gets old. Thieves, I'm not going to talk about Thieves because I'm in that band, but instead I am just going to post the video from the show. Thank you Brian Lutz (Burma) for filming this show, and thanks Paul from King's for helping me set this show up.



--IRA

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Socialcide- Sick of the Pressure EP 7"

Year: 2005
Artist: Socialcide
Album: Sick of the Pressure EP
Label: Self-released
What the fuck!! Talk about the definition of "this record fucking rips" all put into 7inches of thrusting hardcore punk angst. When I first heard this record, I could not believe what I was hearing. This is straight up HARDCORE. It's got this pen sketch cover that just says the name and title in bold lettering with a picture of a house in a field. I have no idea how this works, but it sure looks like a hardcore record.

Hailing from Richmond, VA's almighty hardcore scene of the late 2000's, this band is an essential piece of that puzzle. I've seen them live about 5 times, and it's always a wall of noise pounding me against the wall. These kids really know hardcore.

 I can be fairly brief about this one, because telling you anything beyond, "holy shit you have to hear this fucking record" would probably be past the point. This is some of the tightest hardcore punk around nowadays. It's got the punchy riffs of bands like Government Warning except this is way faster, almost powerviolence speed, but paced well enough to be "perfect". It avoids sounding metal by all means, making it even more awesome. This captures the bands energy at their finest, and this is their best release ever.

Also, I told him I would get the word out. Since I'm blogging about SOCIALCIDE, the singer of this band, Zach, is actually moving to Raleigh this summer. If you're looking for a rad roommate, you should hit him up.


IRA

Skitkids // Nightmare Split 7" EP

Artists: Skitkids (a-side) & Nightmare (b-side)
Year: 2007
Label: Hate Records
Tracks
A-side
1- Skitkids- Äckliga jävlar
2- Skitkids- Inskränkt Å trygg
3- Nightmare- Ruin on Parade & Light the Darkness


When Seth Beard was broke out of money, I feel like I totally intruded his record collectionby snagging this record from him for a few bucks. Before I owned it, I would go to his house and look for this record in particular just because I knew he had it. When he did catch up, I did eventually give him his Bastard 12" bootleg back, but I hid this one in the depths of my room and almost put a machine gun turret next to it because I never want to lose this record.



The A-side begins with Sweden's SKITKIDS; a lukewarm bass tone creeps in laying out the concrete for the massive amount of guitar and drum traffic that will rampage this piece of wax. The drums come in at a gruesome pace and a high volume production. Then rhythm guitar invades, which all leads you to believe that this is how loud this record's about to be. Suddenly, like a nuclear blast, your speakers will face an enormous threat that is the next part of the song where every instrument explodes, and this pissed off Swedish dude begins yelling like no one I've ever heard before. So much can be said about the intro to this record, but the best that can be said about the entire thing, start to finish, is that it absolutely does not leave any room to breathe and suffocates you entirely with frantic hardcore energy, and does not once slow down or calm down at all. Prepare to face the assault that is this entire record. When the guitar solo comes in, it also feels like that might be the max volume you'll hear of it, but then after a couple of stops and a punchy re-intro, you hear a massive burst of energy from the guitars, just slamming in unison. At the end of the first song, it gives you less than half a second to think about what you just heard, and then kicks back in with the drum roll into the next song which is just as hellish as the first. This is definitely the best thing ever recorded by SKITKIDS... two songs in four minutes.

Then flip to the b-side, and scramble your brain with a disturbing rumble. The NIGHTMARE side of this record is a complete frenzy. The instrument recordings are very blown out and the drumming is tight where it needs to be and get's real loose during the breaks, and flows up and down from both, defining evolved Japanese hardcore at it's best. This is hard as fuck, that's all that really needs to be said. Imagine drumming that makes GAUZE seem technical, NAPALM DEATH's bass tone, and a sinister and throat slicing guitar tone that will make you trash your room and break things. You can throw your death metal CDs in the trash can now, because NIGHTMARE makes that shit look like Bruce Springsteen or something. I highly recommend not listening to a rip of this record if you are driving down a highway; you would become the most frantic driver ever.

Download here

IRA

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Out Cold - Two Broken Hearts Are Better Than One




Artist: Out Cold
Album: Two Broken Hearts Are Better Than One
Year: 1999
Label: Kangaroo


Tracks:
1. High Maintenance
2. Energy Vampire
3. A Is For Asshole
4. You'll Never Learn
5. Skinned Alive
6. Dangerously Unstable
7. Nailgun Murder
8. Schizo
9. One Trick Pony
10. Crawlspace
11. Restraining Order
12. It Went Bang
13. Deviant
14. Spaceshot

Starting in a town a few miles outside of Boston in 1989, Out Cold went against the trend of the time and would uncompromisingly stay true to their formula of tried-and-true 80’s style hardcore for another 20 years.  This record came out in 1999 or 2000, preceding the explosion of 80s hardcore obsession that would flood the US a few years later.  This is not necessarily to say that the band is responsible for a sudden rise in hardcore’s popularity; however, a lot of their influence, while maybe not alluded to, is fairly obvious.  After 20 years, Out Cold’s body of work has become large and significant, and I feel they are severely underrated. 

While they’ve had a ton of releases over the years, Two Broken Hearts Are Better Than One is definitely my favorite full-length they’ve ever put out.  This record seems to get less attention then some of the others for whatever reason.  There is no real good quality rip of this record anywhere else online, which is a shame because sonically, the songs on this record hit you like a ton of bricks with in-the-pocket rhythmic intensity. That being said, to me the stand-out quality of Out Cold’s sound is that while the songwriting is pure, unadulterated, and straightforward, it is also somehow extremely catchy at the same time.  This is due to the genius of Mark Sheehan, who handled vocal duties for the latter era of the band.  He is another one of my favorite all-time hardcore vocalists, delivering some of the most throat-callusing growls I’ve ever heard, always with serious attitude and lyrical content centered around either personal frustration or sadistic methods of murder.  Even so, no matter how menacing the riffing and lyrics are in a song, he always manages to create some-sort of vocal hook to grab onto.  This is no more apparent than in my favorite song on this record, “Deviant,” with a riff that, while simple, is one the most unrelenting and sinister opening riffs ever, still managing to get stuck in your head. 

On a side note, while I had always planned to post this record on the blog, I recently found out by an eerie coincidence that Mark Sheehan died unexpectedly at the age 41 in early October of last year.  This was obviously devastating for me to hear, Out Cold being one of my favorite bands in the last few years.  I never got a chance to see them live, but this record, and the other slue of great records Out Cold left behind are testament to how great Mark really was.  He will definitely be missed.  RIP.


-Jeff
 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Beastie Boys- Aglio E Olio EP


Artist: Beastie Boys
Album: Aglio E Olio
Label: Grand Royal
Year: 1995

Tracks:
1. Brand New
2. Deal With It
3. Believe Me
4. Nervous Assistant
5. Square Wave in Union
6. You Catch a Bad One
7. I Can't Think Straight
8. I Want Some
9. Soba Violence (CD bonus track)

Written in 1995 during their successful rap career and released only in Australia and Japan, the Beastie Boys keep to the "Aglio E Olio" (that's Garlic and Oil in Italian) formula of their original hardcore punk influence with this release. This EP in particular is often overlooked for obvious reasons, mainly because their more popular hip-hop and instrumental material kinda rules hard, and this EP is real tricky to find. Nowadays, the most accessible way to get some of these tracks in physical format would be from their 3-disc "Beastie Boys Anthology", which is a mix between everything they've ever done, from the "Polly Wog Stew" sessions, to catchy tunes form "Hello Nasty" and "Ill Communication", all the way up to everything preceding "To the 5 Boroughs"; it includes about 4 tracks from this EP on it.

This record is a NYHC trophy in my opinion. It's got the punchy bass guitar style that sounds like Adam Yauct is worshipping the Bad Brains. The guitar sounds like it was plugged into some pawn shop gear, and replicates the playing of New York's Kraut with the tone and snarl of JFA or Reagan Youth. Mike Diamond's drumming shines in this recording, with his jazzy fluctuations, mathematical and punctual formulas, tight stops synced next to the bass guitar, and perfect analog sounds. He also does the all of the vocals on this record, and he still keeps that teenage angsty vocal delivery, much better than performed on their "Polly Wog Stew" record from the 80's. As a drummer myself, I take a lot of influence from this EP and other early NYHC that sounds anything like this. It's got a lot of weird instrumental breakdowns, that tap into tracks from "In Sounds From the Way Out" (their instrumental record), and their stomper "Sabotage". This EP is a staple of NYHC, especially for the era of the mid-90's when the NY scene was overrun by doofus shit bands like 25 ta' Life, Crown of Thornz, Hatebreed, and other bullshit that sounds like that. The reason I say that is because I imagine the Beastie Boys hearing about the scene at the time, and saying "oh fuck all that", and wrote this EP which is rudimentary, still raw punk, and blows all of that other shit away in a quick 11 minutes. Check out quick tracks like "Believe Me" and "Nervous Assistant" for a real raging fast, and aggro sounding hardcore, and tracks like "Square Wave in Union" and "I Can't Think Straight" for their more technical song structures. Especially on "Square Wave in Union", the intro has this mathematical open-handed drum tricks which is a rare find, because it's really hard to pull off.

Imagine all the Beastie Boys' fans who line up at their show and then see them pull out a Minor Threat cover in the middle of it... I think that's really fucking cool... See THIS VIDEO to find them covering "Screaming at a Wall" by Minor Threat. Other videos can be found of the Beastie Boys performing their Aglio E Olio material live, and I will provide the links here: NERVOUS ASSISTANT LIVE; I WANT SOME LIVE; BRAND NEW LIVE; BELIEVE ME LIVE; TOUGH GUY (from Ill Communication) LIVE. I would have really liked to have been there, except at the time I was like 10 years old, and this footage is from them playing somewhere in Australia, so there's no way in hell for me to have seen that.

Overall, if you haven't heard this record, you're really missing out. That's why I'm uploading this. CDEP released in Japan and Australia, and double 7" released in Australia. If anyone finds a 2x7" copy of this, I'll trade you a really sick record in my collection for it. The CD-EP's can be found rarely in some used bookstores, but all of this is out of print. This would make a really sick bootleg.


--IRA

Monday, January 31, 2011

Herätys - Helvettiin Ja Takaisin EP



Artist: Herätys
Album: Helvettiin Ja Takaisin EP
Year: 2010
Label: La Familia

Tracks:

1. Äääh
2. Hieman Hajallaan
3. Turhuuden Tulva
4. Sokeat Seurjaarat
5. Ei Diagnoosia
6. Tämä Todellisuus

If any of you have talked to me about Swedish hardcore, or hardcore in general for that matter, you’ve probably heard me rave about this band. Herätys released their debut LP early last year. The LP was interesting because the two sides of the record were divided amongst two different recordings of the band: the A-side being much more raw and lo-fi like early Finnish hardcore, and the B-side much more polished, sounding literally like it could have been taken from the last Totalitär record. I loved the LP as soon as I heard it, and this EP is an awesome follow-up.

While this EP is much more akin to the B-side of the LP, I think Herätys really found their own sound on this record, delivering their brand of hardcore with a style and attitude that is distinctly their own. There is still a fair amount of Totalitär influence in the riffing and drumming, but with a lot more differentiation in tempo than the LP, toppled with slogan style lyrical delivery in vein of Discharge in the choruses. Never being a huge fan of the vocal-styling of early Totalitär, Herätys’ Janne is probably one of my favorite hardcore vocalists in a long time. While the band is from Sweden, the lyrics are actually sung in Finnish, lending the vocals to a much more snarling quality. I personally think the vocals were probably better and clearer on the LP, but the vocals on this EP are still raging and so fucking PISSED. Though they may not be one of the fastest or most complicated bands, Herätys and their style of hardcore is a surge of brutal power and pure intensity. You drop the needle on the record and it just explodes out of the speakers! If I ever saw this band live I would probably murder people in the crowd. Just saying. Definitely one of my favorite bands I discovered last year.

You can order this record directly from the label overseas, but Daniel at Sorry State also has them in his distro.


-Jeff

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

In case you are wondering how to download our posted .RAR files

http://www.win-rar.com/download.html  EASY SHIT!!!

Be sure to get a quick download from win-rar in order to extract any sort of files you will find on this blog, as well as many many many other blogs out there. It's a super fast download, and totally worth it. Plus it will allow you to compress your own files and perhaps mediafire or email them, just like we are doing.

WinRAR will take the .rar files we have posted on the mediafire links and re-encrypt them back into .wav formats in which you will be able to listen to via itunes or Windows Media player. Everything sounds way better in .wav format than it does in mp3 or whatever the fuck that shit is.
--IRA

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Extortion- Terminal Cancer 7" EP

Short Fuse Records / Way Back When Records
I can't find any website for Short Fuse. Hopefully this guy has like 500 of them sitting under his bed or something, because this EP can be kind of hard to get a hold of.
http://www.waybackwhenrecords.com/ (I suggest signing up for the mailing list so you can get info on the distro and wholesale information. WBW Recs still put out new stuff, so keep in touch with them if you're interested in preorders and cool shit like that)



Track List:
A-SIDE
1- Worthless Life
2- Just A Matter of Time
3- Cut Short
4- Who Cares
5- Monstrosity
6- Cornered
B-SIDE
7- Libidinous Grandmother
8- Isolated
9- Control
10- Unknown Track
11- Trainwreck


I'm going to start my range of record rants and blogging with one of the most powerful 7inches in my collection. From Melbourne, Australia, Extortion's Terminal Cancer EP is by far the definition of everything I've ever wanted to hear in a no-bullshit-hardcore record. If any of you have ever toured through Raleigh, or any of you locals have come over to my house to listen to records with me, the chances of me having already showed you this record is very likely. On the insert it shows all of the frantically pissed off lyrics, which are surprisingly clear in the mud mix of this record. By "mud mix", I definitely mean to point out that this record was recorded on a simple tape recorder. As it reads on the insert "Recorded on a Yamaha MT3X in a room-- RAW AS PISS", and shows a picture of the recorder with two microphones laying next to it. That's the coolest fucking way to record anything, period, and probably took nearly no time at all.

The lyrics laid out are very straight-forward, with a large vent of frustrations, and are all belted out with immense youth-like force. Tight guitar riffing and simultaneous bass guitar, with some of the most abrasive patterns known in all of hardcore. The drum sound on this recording is completely uncompressed and giant. A ton of natural and unedited reverb gives it way to totally explode all over your fucking stereo system. The style of the drums and the riffs are taken from simple formats, yet are performed faster than hell at perfection. The breakdowns are slowed down to a crawl, and when switched back and forth with the opposite fast parts, if you decide to headbang to it, you would definitely break your neck, with the unpredictable transitions and firm stops. Every riff feels like it was cut in half during the writing process, giving leeway to fit the blistering 11 songs on this EP. Not one single fuck up, not one weak link, and not one piece of disappointment exist on this record, that is, if you are searching for an instant abrasive power-violence hardcore classic. It's SO not metal, and that might be why I feel so much more inclined to flip it over and over again.

This record is often overlooked and underestimated, which is exactly why I'm posting it first out of all of my upcoming write ups. It's that fucking great. This summer, I get to see Extortion live at Chaos in Tejas, and they are, in my opinion, one of the strongest lings on that bill. Other bands on the fest that I'm stoked on are Low Threat Profile, Youth of Today, Kriegshog, Larm, Doom and even fucking Crazy Spirit. I'm going to freak out when I see Extortion live. It'd be fucking great to see this band play Raleigh some day; everyone needs to hear this fucking record.

-IRA

Download Here