Wyatt...The Unbeatable High

I've mentioned it before, but Bob at Sound Idea has a neat little podcast going. Every week he posts about 15 punk and hardcore tunes, along with copious notes on each band. He's got an all-Finnish show up right now! Thing is, he doesn't archive them in any way. When the new one goes up, the old ones come down, and disapear into the ether forever. It's like those Budhist monks that spend days making elaborate artworks from sand, then let the wind blow them away. So I decided to preserve some of this stuff on the web, which Bob agreed was a good idea. These four podcasts (about 20-25 minutes each) are the ones Bob put together as a primer to the world of hardcore for the uninitiated.

Now, Bob's taste in hardcore is more extreme than mine, but in short, 20-minute bursts it works quite well. All the big names of the genre are here (Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Misfits, Minor Threat), along with tons of obscure bands from around the world. There are some of my all-time favorites (including Bad Brains' "We Will Not" and Toxic Reasons' "Destroyer"), a few that I don't really get (I'll never understand how MDC manage to get any attention), and some really amazing tunes I'd never heard before, especially those by Italy's Raw Power, Japan's Confuse and the D.C. band Void, whom I was vaguely familiar with but had never bothered to listen to.

Oh, one more thing...like I say, Bob has pretty extreme taste in hardcore. I like listening to this stuff in 20-minute bursts, but I can't really see listening to the whole 90 minutes in one sitting, so might I suggest the "Bad Brains Solution"--load all 4 into an iTunes playlist, and stick one or two reggae songs between each. It'll go down a lot easier. Below are the podcasts, and Bob's liner notes. I edited out some of the references to other websites and YouTube videos, because I didn't have the links.

Part 1

Regular listeners may note that the content
of this particular broadcast is not as
esoteric as the other shows. In other words,
this one has some "name brand" bands like
Black Flag, Minor Threat and the Misfits that
you probably already know. The
reason goes back quite a few years (1998 or
1999?) to a young lad named Wyatt who
was a frequent visitor to my record shop.
Wyatt was a nice kid but had the absolute
lamest taste in music. He was rather smitten
by the current wave of screamo bands with
pretentious names like, "The Septemer
Journal," and "Last Night I Bled Red
Blood While You Played Scrabble With Your
Sister" and all of that bullshit. I kept
suggesting bands for him to check out but he
never took the plunge. "Wyatt," I told
him, "Come back in a week and I will give
you a tape of bands that do not suck baboon
feces," or something like that. I might have
said, "gopher turds." It was a long
time ago, I don't remember exactly. A week
later, I presented him with what I called, "The
Wyatt Tape (aka "Hardcore Is Not Pretty")."
I still have the WYATT file on
my computer. The 15 songs in this
broadcast are the first 15 songs from that
tape, in order, taken from the original tape.
Well, Wyatt never fully embraced hardcore
but
that set me on a mission. I began making
mix tapes for all of the young kids in town
who thought that NOFX was the ultimate
punk band. I filled the tapes with big
name bands like Dead Kennedys and
almost-completely-unknown bands like
Herpes Distress. Eventually I had something
like 9 or 10 mastertapes and every time I
met
a kid who needed some schooling, I ran him
off a tape or two. I did this for several years,
gave away probably a couple hundred tapes.
Sometimes the tapes had no effect
at all. Sometimes kids would come back
and ask for bands they heard on the tape. I
don't know what the "success" rate was, but I
figured the more tapes I could get out
there, the more chances kids would have.
Eventually my buddy Scott Bentz converted
all of the original master tapes to CD and I
started handing out CD-R copies
instead of tapes for the same reasons and
with the same results. Then about 12 weeks
ago I got the idea to take it to the next level,
internet radio. I figured with the net
radio show I could also reach people in other
parts of the world. At this point, I think the
tapes and CD-Rs have reached more people
than the net radio show, but my
hope is that one day the radio show will have
a big following. Anyhow, this is the longest
show intro I've ever written but it tells you
why I'm doing this, so I hope it
wasn't a waste of your time. I hope you
enjoy this show and I hope you come back
every week for the new one. Where's Wyatt
now? I don't know but you're here and
that's cool. Hit the play link and crank the
volume.

SHOW #12 (SAT NOV 24)


01 Toxic Reasons "Destroyer" (OH)


Smashing, smashing song from the second
Toxic Reasons album, "Kill By Remote
Control." I once read that Toxic Reasons
started their band in 1979 after being
inspired by seeing D.O.A. The D.O.A.
influence is quite obvious on the first TR
album, "Independence," but "Kill By Remote
Control" has a flavor all its own. There's
an American version of "Kill By" and a UK
version. The UK pressing has two extra
songs and different cover art, so look for that
if you can. Here are the stats:
released on Sixth International Records
(U.S.) in 1984 and by Alternative Tentacles
UK in 1984. "Kill By Remote control" is
currently out of print but I heard someone
is working on a reissue with extra songs. I
can't wait to find out what the extra songs
are. I think the fact that I chose to open the
Wyatt Tape with Toxic Reasons tells
you just how much I love this band! Do you
want to be friends with Toxic Reasons? The
go to their My space
page if that's your bag.
02 Jerry's Kids "Uncontrollable" (MA)


My pick for the best Jerry's Kids song and
the best song on the compilation album,
"This Is Boston Not L.A.," released by
Modern Method Records in 1982. Great
comp that is with Gang Green, Freeze,
Proletariat, Groinoids, FUs and Decadence.
Modern Method was a label started up by the
Newbury Comics store. All of the
bands on "This Is Boston Not L.A." recorded
in the same studio with the same producers.
A few left over tracks were later released on
the mini-follow up, "Unsafe At
Any Speed" 7". (I almost named this radio
show Unsafe At Any Speed and designed a
logo and everything, but in the end I decided
just to call it Sound Idea Net Radio.)
So, anyhow... Jerry's Kids also made a great
album called, "Is This My World" (Xclaim
Records, 1983) and a kind of forgetable
album called, "Kill, Kill, Kill" in 1989.
Xclaim Records was run by Al "Lethal"
Barile, the guitarist of SSD. Here's an Xclaim web
page run by Al. There's not a lot
of info, but there are a few MP3s.




03 Raw Power "Fuck Authority" (Italy)


04 Terveet Kadet "Outo Maa" (Finland)


You regular listeners know of my love for
Italian and Finnish hardcore. Here are the
big boys from those countries, taken from
the stellar, "Welcome To 1984" LP
released by Maximum Rocknroll in 1984. I
think this is the third week in a row that we've
had tracks from "Welcome To 1984." It's my
favorite compilation ever and it
has been a real eye-opener to a lot of people
who think that punk rock is just from the U.S.
and England.




05 Die Kreuzen "Fuckups" (WI)


Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggh! Can you believe that
voice is human? Can you believe this band's
symbiotic tightness? Die Kreuzen truly had
something special when they
made their self titled album in 1984. The
predecessor, the "Cows And Beer" 7",
released in 1982, is very good, but the album
is fucking pheonominal! Why this band
never reached A-list status boggles my mind.
Touch & Go still sells the first album on CD,
paired with the very different (and some say
"sucky") second album,
"October File." BUT the CD is packaged so
that it looks like all you get is "October File."
You have to buy it, open it and start playing
it before you discover that the
first album is there, too. Note to the
marketing department at Touch & Go:
redesign the packaging to emphasize the
album people want to hear, not the one that
makes
people cringe. A legit reissue of the "Cows
And Beer" 7" should be available very soon
and for a fair price. Look out for it!




06 Negative Gain "No Life At All" (Canada)


Pusmort Records (the label run by artist
Pushead) released the Negative Gain "Back
From The Dead" LP in 1986. I didn't run
across a copy until 1994 when I was
browsing through a record store in Boston. I
picked it up for $5. Later that day I was in
another record store and found two more
copies. Huh? Three sightings in an
hour? And I never saw another one after
that. I don't know much about the band, but
this is probably the best track on the album.
One drummer I met said that when
he started playing, his goal was to sound like
Negative Gain's drummer. Hey, here is a band
bio on Kill From The Heart.




07 Anarchus "Flowers to The Pigs" (Mexico)


Oh, that drummer that I was just talking
about -- the one who wanted to play like
Negative Gain -- he ran a label in Tampa
called Rigid Records. One of his releases
was
this, the Anarchus "Final Fall of the Gods" 7"
released in 1990. This is the record I put on
when I want to chase old ladies out of my
store on Sunday afternoons.
Barbaric, isn't it? The song was recorded in
Mexico City and mastered in Tampa by the
famous producer Scott Burns. Why not
pay a visit to the official Anarchus web page?




08 Capitol Punishment "Ballad Of A Broken
Home" (CA)


The definition of hardcore has been badly,
badly bastardized by jocks and metal louts
for many years. But when I think of
hardcore, one of the first bands that pops in
my head is Capitol Punishment. If there
were any justice in this toliet bowl world, you
could look up, "Hardcore" in the dictionary
and there would be a picture of Capitol
Punishment. But for now, you'll have to click
HERE to see a picture of them.
And here is a crushing live video on You Tube.
"Ballad Of A Broken Home" is from the
flawless "When Putsch Comes To
Shove" LP put out by Stage Dive Records in
1985.




09 Minor Threat "Filler" (Washington, DC)


You probably know all about Minor Threat,
but if you don't they were one of the best
bands ever. Maybe THE best. It's really
hard to pick, but they are way up there. I
recently had dinner with Jello Biafra and for
some reason Minor Threat came up. Jello,
who is well known for dismissing nostalgia,
actually got a far-away look in his
eyes and said dreamily, "They were a
REALLY good band." A rather obvious
statement, but one that seemed to come
straight from his heart. Minor Threat played
a
few shows in Florida in 1982. That was
about a year before I got into hardcore, so I
never even knew about it. But friends who
were there claim it was jawdropping. My
first experience with Minor Threat was when I
was in 9th or 10th grade and the #1 punk in
my school let me borrow a few records and
tapes. One of those records was
the first Minor Threat LP (composed of the
first two 7"s) with the red cover. I took it
home, put on the headphones and it just
killed me. I gobbled the words off the lyric
sheet and felt like the whole album was
made just for me. It was an immediate and
very strong connection that I still have to this
day. Fortunately Dischord Records is
very successful and has kept Minor Threat in
print. I suggest getting the CD with
everything on it. I also suggest getting any
Minor Threat bootleg you can get your
hands on as they are all good. This track is
from 1981.




10 Black Flag "Police Story" (CA)


It's no secret that I love Black Flag. I still
listen to this band on a regular basis and
probably never will stop. Picking a favorite
Black Flag song would be IMPOSSIBLE
for me, but I feel that "Police Story" is one of
the greats. This version of "Police Story" is
from the "Damaged" album released in
December 1981 on SST Records. That
record was a brain twister for me and for
many others I suspect. Volumes and
volumes can and will be written about this
hardcore leviathan. A lot of people hate the
Henry-era of Black Flag. A lot of people say
Henry ruined Black Flag. I have to say,
"FUCK YOU!" I love all of the
Black Flag singers but Henry sang
on "Damaged," one of the best hardcore
albums ever made. I have four copies of this
album: two on vinyl, one on CD and one on
cassette. Henry delivered the goods.
How can you fault him? Just listen... Hey,
there are a lot of cool Black Flag videos out
there for you to discover. I just found this
screamer from the Damaged Tour on
You Tube. Awesome!




11 7 Seconds "We're Gonna Fight" (NV)


This song is taken from the first 7 Seconds
record, the cult-fave "Skins, Brains and Guts"
7" released by Alternative Tentacles in 1982.
In recent years, some people
have poked fun at the lyrical simplicity,
rudimentary playing and primitive recording
quality of this record. But that's exactly why I
love it so much. For me this record
IS what hardcore is all about. This is
another one that I still play all the time. How
I got my copy is kind of a funny story. My
high school friend Dan let me borrow the
Circle Jerks "Group Sex" album. After
listening to it, I joked that I didn't want to give
it back. Dan didn't realize I was joking and
freaked out. I kept the ball rolling,
telling him I wanted to keep it. Dan offered
me a copy of the first MDC album and the 7
Seconds 7" if I would just give back his
Circle Jerks album! Of course, I would
have given it back anyway but... A couple of
years later 7 Seconds became more
proficient on their instruments, got better
production and became one of the biggest
bands of the mid to late 1980s. The next
couple of records after "Skins" were good,
too, but I still favor the scrappiness of their
debut e.p.




12 Discharge "Realities of War" (England)


These days there are many bands doing the
Discharge sound. So many in fact, that just
thinking about them makes me very sleepy.
But when this was recorded in late
1979 there was nothing like it. Think about
that for a second -- 1979? What other punk
bands were there in 1979? Ramones, Clash,
Black Flag, Pagans, Middle Class.
All great bands, but none as chaotic,
distorted and out of control as Discharge.
When the "Realities Of War" 7" hit the
streets in early 1980, many punks were
completely confused. Public opinion was
divided: You either loved it or hated it.
Discharge apparently drove many of the old
punks out of the picture all together. So,
yes, this is a landmark record. The first of
it's kind. Eventually Discharge would
influence bands across Europe, Scandinavia,
South America and Asia. As far as I can
tell, Discharge wasn't a huge influence on
American hardcore bands until perhaps the
late 1980s. In fact I can think of a few early
American HC bands who derided
Discharge. I even have a video interview
with John Brannon of Negative Approach
making a sarcastic comment about
Discharge. My first listening experience with
Discharge was not positive. Of course I had
heard of Discharge, so the first time I saw
one of their records, I snapped it up.
Unfortunately, the record I snapped up was
the disappointing "Ignorance/Propaganda"
12" single from the "Grave New World"
album (1983). "Grave New World" marked a
departure for Discharge. The music
got a little more metal, but the truly horrible
thing was that singer Cal Morris adopted a
wretched, high-pitched, rock wail. So, when
I put on my new Discharge record, I
thought, "Wow, this sucks. They sound like
Ratt" and it was many years before I saw
another Discharge record. The NEXT one I
saw was the "1980-86" LP, a
discography of their singles, including
"Realities Of War" and all the good stuff.
"OK," I thought, "NOW I see why people like
this band!" A few years later I bought
an original copy of the "Realities Of War" 7"
from a heroin addict in Philadelphia for $8.
In any case, this was released on Clay
Records in 1980 and stands the test of
time.




13 Negative Approach "Tied Down" (MI)


Like Discharge, Negative Approach has
become the template for many recent bands.
Negative Approach probably gets more press
in zines these days than in their own
time. NA took the fury of early DC hardcore
and mixed it with the catchiness of of Brit
punk/Oi! bands like Blitz. The outcome was
precise, brutal and very memorable.
This is the title track from their 1984 LP on
Touch & Go. Check out the "Total Recall"
discography CD for lots more skull-cracking
hardcore action.




14 Void "Time To Die" (Washington, DC)


I once saw this hilarious Kids In The Hall skit
about "Becoming a Doors Fan." (I couldn't
find the original skit on You Tube, but this is pretty close. )
That skit inspired me to write an article about
becoming a Void fan. People who
know Void usually have the Faith/Void LP
(Dischord Records, 1982). When I first
picked up that album, I didn't "get" Void. It
was too unstructured and weird for me.
I favored the Faith side of the LP as their
take on hardcore was quite similar to Minor
Threat. Years later I realized how brilliant
the Void stuff is. These guys sound
like they are barely in control and that's what
makes them great. In 1984, Void recorded
an album called "Potion Of Bad Dreams" that
was slated to be released by
Touch & Go Records, but the project was
shelved. When I finally located a tape of
"Potion," I could see why. All of the frenzy
was gone. Void had become a fairly
standard hard rock band. Touch & Go has
made periodic attempts to get "Potion" into
circulation, but the band has denied
permission. Perhaps it is for the best.




15 Misfits "Horror Business" (NJ)


You probably know the Misfits. If you don't,
you have a lot of homework to do. Like
Black Flag, picking a favorite song would be
very hard. I could narrow it down to
perhaps a dozen. More Misfits trivia than
anyone could possibly care about is on Misfit
s Central. Want to know what
Glenn Danzig had for breakfast on December
19, 1982? What color are Robo's eyes?
You know where to look! "Horror Business"
was released June 26, 1979. Guess
where I found that info? All kidding aside,
Misfits Central is a great source of info and
the best place to go to verify any Misfits
records and memoribilia you come
across. I once used the site to place a date
on a Fiend Club mailing envelope I found
inside a record I bought. I'd love to see
reference sites like this for a lot of other
bands and labels. Let me know if you find
any good ones.




Thanks for checking out the show. Tune in
next week as we take on the next 15 songs of
the Wyatt Tape.
Part 2

01 B.G.K. "Rules" (Holland)
Probably the best known of the Dutch hardcore bands, B.G.K. made two albums, "Jonestown Aloha" (1983) and "Nothing Can Go Wrogn" (1986). But between albums they put out what I think was their best effort, the "White Male Dumbinance" 7". That record came out on the band's own label, Vogelspin Records, in 1984. "Rules" is my favorite B.G.K. song, so here it is. In the mid-1990s, there were two bootlegs of "White Male Dumbinance," which are probably cheaper and easier to find than an original. And you can always check out the discography CD on Alternative Tentacles. B.G.K. toured the U.S. a couple of times. The singer ended up staying in the U.S. and married Ruth Schwartz of Mordam Records.



02 Rattus "Sodan Tragedia" (Finland)
You regulars know of my penchant for Finnish hardcore and Rattus is perhaps the best of them all. Rattus started playing in the late 1970s, broke up around 1986 and reformed in the early 2000s with all original members. In 2004, I brought them to the U.S. for their first and only American tour. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that they are the best band I have ever seen, period. Every set was a jaw-dropper. These guys are the tightest band on earth and some of the coolest people I've ever met. Rattus released many, many records in their long career. Most have been reissued. "Sodan Tragedia" can be found on the "Rajoitettu Ydinsota" 7" put out by Neg FX Records in 1981. This record is surprisingly easy to find and not too expensive as far as really old foreign hardcore records go. You can also hear this song and 31 others on the "Levytykset 1981-1984 Recorded Works" CD on Poko Records. Rattus recently toured Brazil. (For some reason, Finnish hardcore is very popular in Brazil.) Several killer videos from the Brazilian tour can be found on You Tube.

03 Necros "IQ 32" (OH)
In my opinion, the second Necros record, the "IQ 32" 7", is their calling card. The super rare "Sex Drive" 7" isn't that great and the "Conquest For Death" LP doesn't have the same excitement as this. Unfortunately, all Necros material remains out of print due to an inner-band dispute. A few Necros bootlegs have popped up over the years, on CD and vinyl, so you may have to look for them. "IQ 32" was co-relesaed by Dischord and Touch & Go Records in 1982. The common version has a cool profile photo of singer Barry Hensler. A rarer version has a photograph of a skatepark and was given away at a record release party at a skatepark.

04 Dead Kennedys "Hyperactive Child" (CA)
A nice and thrashy track from the Dead Kenendys "In God We Trust, Inc" 12" released by Alternative Tentacles in 1981. This record was a bit of a departure from the DK's usual sound and some people hated it. It's different, but it's great. Hell, all of the DK stuff is great. Get it all. "In God We Trust, Inc" was inspired by the budding D.C. hardcore scene, which the DK's witnessed on an early tour. The band was so taken by D.C.'s energy and enthusiasm that they paid tribute with an album of speedy hardcore. Of course some people criticized the DKs as trying to ride a trend. Whatever. It's a great record and I'm glad they made it. Not a tough one to find. Oh, yeah. One of the really cool things about the DK's is the great cover art by Winston Smith. Check out his web page.

05 D.R.I. "Busted" (TX to CA)
D.R.I., or the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, began in Houston, TX in 1982 but soon moved to San Francisco. (Originally the band was called U.S. D.R.I.) The band's first effort was the ground breaking 22 song "Dirty Rotten" 7" record. Twenty-two songs on a 7" was an unprecedented feat in 1982. Even today, few bands can squeeze that many songs on a small piece of plastic. Legend has it that when Minor Threat played in Houston, someone from D.R.I. tried to sell Ian MacKaye a copy of the 22 song 7". MacKaye refused, saying that a 7" with that many songs couldn't be any good! Actually, Ian was sort of right. That much music on such a small record results in an overall low volume and tinny sound quality. I have a copy of the 22 song 7" and I have only played it once or twice as the sound is really rather poor. D.R.I. realized this and the 22 songs were repressed as a 12" record, with improved sound. You'll pay a small fortune for the 22 song 7", but a good number of the LPs were made and you can still find them for a modest price now and then. The Dirty Rotten" 7" was put out on the band's own Rotten Records in 1983. The LP version was co-released by Dirty Rotten Records and R. Radical in 1983. Today you can get all the songs on a CD released by Beer City Records. A woman who lives in Tampa tells me that she was D.R.I. guitarist Spike Cassidy's first wife and that she personally assembled most of the 22-song 7"s herself. She also tells me that she has a test pressing of the record, which I ask her about every time I see her. Maybe one of these days she'll sell it to me.

06 D.O.A. " The Prisioner" (Canada)
How much do I love D.O.A.? So much so that two years ago, a couple of Sound Idea employees and I formed a D.O.A. tribute band called, "Fucked Up Baby." We only played one show, but it was great fun. We learned a dozen of the best D.O.A. songs and put together a convincing wardrobe. I played the part of drummer Chuck Biscuits. Pete was our Joey Shithead and brother Sam made a very respectable Randy Rampage. Let me tell you, Chuck Biscuits is one hell of a drummer. I didn't even come close to his brilliant fills. I faked it the best I could. Anyhow, "The Prisoner" is from my favorite D.O.A. record, the "Something Better Change" LP released by Friends Records in 1980. Most people favor "Hardcore '81," a superb album, but for me, "Something Better Change" is tops. Both albums and many more are still available through Joey Shithead's Sudden Death Records.

07 Bad Brains "We Will Not" (NY)
Sure, I could have gone with "Pay To Cum," a fantastic song, but I picked this one. "We Will Not" is from the "Rock For Light" LP put out by PVC Records in 1983. Let's back it up a bit to "Pay To Cum." That was the first Bad Brains song I ever heard and it killed me. Has anyone ever listened to "Pay To Cum" without saying, "Wow!" I don't think so. It was the fastest, tighetest, coolest thing I ever heard. It's still one of the greatest songs ever written. My friend George Hurchalla said that his older brother went to see the Bad Brains in West Palm Beach on their first-ever tour. Bob Hurchalla didn't know who the Bad Brains were, never heard their music, but the buzz was, "DO NOT MISS THE BAD BRAINS!" A local radio station, WCEZ, reportedly said over the air, "There's a band called the Bad Brains playing tonight. We don't have any of their records, but we hear they're the hottest band on earth." I would guess that this was no hyberbole. Anyhow, Bob Hurchalla went to see the Bad Brains in West Palm Beach and after the show he sped home, woke up his brother and frenetically told him every detail about the most awesome night of his young life. His big brother told him about, "one song that was so fast nobody could believe it." The song was "Pay To Cum." Wow. And yet, for some reason, I chose to play "We Will Not." Why? I don't know. I just always loved this song and wanted to hear it. The first time I heard "We Will Not," I was riding around in my friend Terry The Toad's beat up punker-mobile. It killed me. Still does. Wow. Most of the Bad Brains stuff is still in print. Most of the original Bad Brains records are not that hard to find. If you don't have them, go get 'em. If you are a fan of the Bad Brains and/or Leonard Nimoy, you MUST, MUST, MUST watch this!

08 Neos "Racetrack" (Canada)
Maybe 12 years ago, I bought a large record collection from an older guy who got out of punk. I got tons of cool stuff. Some of it I knew and some I didn't. It was a lot of fun to explore the unknown records. Probably the best find in that stack was the 14-song Neos "Hassiban Gets The Martian Brain Squeeze" 7", released by Rat Cage Records in 1982. The Neos were a bunch of teenagers from Vancover, hell bent on setting a speed record. "Hassiban" was their second record and a lot better than their first, the "End All Discrimination" 7" (Alandhiscar Records, 1982). "Hassiban" is absolute mania, the sound of kids freaking out on their instruments, having a blast, racing from song to song with carefree abandon. In 1997, a legit CD discography came out. Great music, but man, the packaging sucks. They really dropped the ball. Anyhow, a few Neos bootlegs have popped up recently, but I won't endorse getting them as another legit discography is in the works. Hopefully the packaging will be better this time around. In the meanwhile, you can listen to this track with anticipation.



09 Mob 47 "Karnvapen Attack" (Sweden)
Some blazzing Swede thrash from Mob 47's self-titled 7", released by Uproar Records in 1984. If you like this, you are in luck as Havoc Records just did a spot-on reproduction. Mob 47 reformed recently and have been playing around Europe. Maybe they'll make it to the U.S. someday...

10 Circle Jerks "World Up My Ass" (CA)
Oh, just try picking the best Circle Jerks song. It's not easy. "World Up My Ass" comes in near the top of anybody's list. Find this on the classic "Group Sex" LP put out by Frontier Records in 1981 and still in print. A must! Apparently this album was a huge influence on the early D.C. hardcore scene. And if you have not already seen it, look for the documentary, "The Decline Of Western Civilization" which shows a very early incarnation of the Circle Jerks playing a firey set months before "Group Sex" was released. [My choice would have been the short version of "Wild in the Streets," but listen to this song! It sounds sloppy at first, but listen to those first seconds: Keith shouts "Got," then the drums kick in on the word "The", then the band comes in on "World." That's just amazingly tight! And the bass is playing a typical 4-note pattern, except that he goes into this really weird, low note on the 4th. - Chris]

11 The Freeze "American Town" (MA)
I love the Freeze. I think their first album, the "Land Of The Lost" LP released by Modern Method Records in 1984 catchest them at their zenith. Great songs, good production. All around, a perfect album. This is the first song from "Land Of The Lost" and it still gives me chills. Dr Strange Records has released a CD with "Land Of The Lost," the second album, "Rabid Reaction," and some bonus tracks. If you are new to the Freeze, that's a great place to start. The Freeze should have been bigger. I've talked to singer Clif Hanger on the phone and we've exchanged a few letters and emails. Seems like drug use and legal problems kept the band from reaching their full potential. Too bad. But they are still playing. Maybe one day they will make it to Florida. [Land of the Lost really is one of the best albums of clean, semi-melodic hardcore out there. - Chris]

12 Crude SS "Forced Values" (Sweden)
More good stuff rom Sweden. The "Who'll Survive?" 7" was released by Uproar Records in 1983. Uproar is the same label that released Mob 47. Crude SS and Mob 47 are probably the two most essential Swede HC bands of the early 1980s. Crude SS also had a few tracks on some compilations. In the 1990s, a discography CD came out on Lost & Found Records. In the early 2000s, the discography was bootlegged as an LP. A few years later, the discography was bootlegged again as a CD. Hey, can't somebody find Crude SS and get permission for a legit reissue? Until that happens, I will suggest looking for the bootlegs.

13 N.O.T.A. "Taking Away Your Rights" (OK)
Essential and underrated early American hardcore. Part of the reason that N.O.T.A. is underappreciated is that their original records came out on smaller labels in relatively low press runs. These labels have since gone out of business and the music remains out of print. Had N.O.T.A. been given the opportunity to be on a strong label like Alternative Tentacles they might command more attention today. Over the years a few labels have attempted to reissue a complete N.O.T.A discography but the band is reluctant. As far as I know, N.O.T.A has never been bootlegged, a fact I find very surprising. The only N.O.T.A. material currently in print is the "Live At The Crystal Pistol" LP/CD on Prank Records. That's a fine record, but the world deserves the full N.O.T.A. discography. This song is from the "Moscow" 7" released by Unclean Records in 1984. I bought this for $2.50 when I was in high school. It will cost you a lot more these days. A few months ago, Big Al, a friend of the band sent me a pile of N.O.T.A. CD-Rs full of demos and live recordings. Someone PLEASE get N.O.T.A. to come around!

14 Capitalist Alienation "Braindead" (Canada)
In 1997 I was visiting my friend John in San Francisco. He asked me if I'd ever heard Capitalist Alienation. I hadn't, so John put on a cassette of their self-titled album, released by the band's own Alienation Records in 1987. Holy crap! I was floored. John didn't know much about the band. All he had was the tape. I started looking and eventually found a copy in 2001. I paid $20 for it and was quite pleased. A few months later, I was in a record store in Antwerp, Belgium and I found another copy. It was just $7. Doh! Well, I didn't want to carry an LP all around with me for the next week and I already had a copy, so I left it in the rack for someone else to discover. A little while later I found a bootleg CD with the full album and several demo tracks. I snapped that one up right away. So, why don't more people worship this band? They should. Sounds to me like what D.R.I. would have done if they made an album between "Dirty Rotten" and "Dealing With It." Oh, and did I mention that the crazy vocals you are hearing are coming from a female? I didn't believe it myself until a Canadian pen pal confirmed.

15 Heresy "Face Up To It" (UK)
Here's the title track from the "Face Up To It" LP put out on the band's In Your Face in 1988. Heresy formed out on an earlier band, Plasmid. (A Plasmid 7" of the band's only recordings came out recently. It's great and has killer packaging, so look for that one.) I used to trade records with one of the guys in Heresy. It didn't dawn on me that he was in Heresy for about a year. Anyhow, that's how I got most of my Heresy records, including this one. My friends in England say that Heresy and brother-band Ripcord came along when things in the UK were kind of blah and gave the scene a real kick in the ass. Heresy made lots of records and most of their material has been reissued on CD. If you are into thrash, Heresy should be part of your lexicon.

Part 3

01 Bad Posture "GDMFSOB" (CA)
Such profanity! That was the classic George Carlin bit, "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" from the essential "Class Clown" album. Carlin. What a genius. I thought that would be a nice lead in to Bad Posture's obscenity-filled masterpiece. This version of "GDMFSOB" was from a demo tape recorded in 1982. It later turned up on Maximum Rocknroll's "Not So Quiet On The Western Front" double LP compilation. The comp is back in print on Alternative Tentacles. Still later, Bad Posture moved from San Francisco to New York City. While in NYC, they re-recorded "GDMFSOB" and some of their other material and released it as a very rare 12" record on their own Irresponsible Records (1983.) We'll hear TWO songs from the Bad Posture 12" in show #34, so mark your calendar. And of course all of the Bad Posture material was re-released by Grand Theft Audio on the "GDMFSOB" CD. (When Brian from Grand Theft Audio told Maximum Rocknroll's Tim Yohanan that he was working on a Bad Posture CD, Tim laughed his ass off.) MORE BAD POSTURE TRIVIA: One of these guys also played in the great and underappreciated Sluglords who we will check out next week (show #15). Also, the singer of Bad Posture briefly filled in as the singer of Flipper. (I believe a live CD exists of this line up.) One of my friends told me that the singer worked as a hot dog cart vendor in NYC.

02 Confuse "Fight Against The Plutocrats" (Japan)
I'd like to get serious for a moment. Please, please join Confuse and me as we fight against those gosh-darned Plutocrats. If we don't stop them, we're inviting attacks from Martians, Venutians and those slimy one-eyed creatures from Ryjel-7. (Pause for laughs) Anyhow... Confuse. Great, great band. Their original records are really tough to find. Many bootlegs are floating around. King's World Records in Japan has done a couple of legit reissues, but they are almost as tough to get as the originals. "Fight Against The Plutocrats" is from the wonderfully-titled, "Contempt For Authority And Take Off The Lie" 7", released in 1985 on Confuse Records. Some other great Confuse titles are:
"People Are Nuclear Poisoning"
"Spending Loud Night"
"All Things Change Into The Fashion -- Media"
and "Absolute Power Of Armaments Old Man." As Sir Winston Churchill said during the Spanish Inquisition, "I may not always know what Confuse is singing about but I will defend until the death their right to sing it. As long as it sounds this good."



03 No Thanks "Are You Ready To Die?" (NY)
Yeeeeeoooowww! This one is a screamer. Title track from the red vinyl 7" released on the band's own Dead Space Records in 1983. I bought my copy from the drummer of Adrenalin OD several years ago for a buck! In case you can't tell, that's a female singer. Her name is Donna Damage and I think she could probably kick my ass. Leguna Armada has JUST released an official No Thanks discography album with the full 7" and some bonus tracks. Check the new arrivals section -- I might have some in stock by the time this show posts. A couple of years ago, I corresponded with Donna about letting me release the No Thanks discography on my label, Burrito Records, but we fell out of contact and the project slipped through the cracks. I'm glad Leguna Armada picked it up. Always great to see good music available again.

04 Crucifix "How When Where" (CA)
It was hard to pick a Crucifix song to use, as the entire "Dehumanization" album is one crusher after another. A flawless album, "Dehumanization" was released by Corpus Christi Records in 1982. Man, I love this one. I'm wearing a "Dehumanization" tshirt in almost every photograph taken of me between 1993 and 1995. People would say, "Bob, is that the only fucking shirt you own?" No, it just seemed that way. Truth is I owned like FOUR "Dehumanization" tshirts. This is definitely the highlight of Crucifix's catalog. The first record, the "Capitulation" 12" (Universal Records, 1981) isn't that hot. The "Ninteen eighty-four" 7" (Freak Records, 1982) is good but not great. "Dehumanization" is great, great, great. This album has been in and out of print on both vinyl and CD for the past 15 years or so. Last week I talked to the distributor with the rights to "Dehumanization" and asked him if it was currently in print and he didn't know. Hey, let's get on the ball, buddy. OK?

05 M.D.C. "Business On Parade/Dead Cops" (CA)
Powerful material from the first M.D.C. album released by R. Radical Records in 1982. (Nerd alert: There is also a European pressing on Alternative Tentacles UK.) Whoa, this was a heavy album for me. I remember borrowing a copy from a guy named Jeff and listening to it on headphones. The musical impact was so dense and the lyrics so hard-hitting that I was actually a little scared. I was about 14 or 15 and hearing lyrics like, "There's no god in heaven, so get off your knees," really shook up my still-forming brain. Mom and dad would definitely NOT approve of this album, no sir! Flash forward about 20 years to 2003 and I find myself hosting an M.D.C. concert in the back room of my record store. There's around 100 people crammed into a 600 square foot space. M.D.C. is totally ripping it up. They launch into "Dead Cops" and the whole crowd is yelling the refrain. All this madness happening in a strip mall in Anytown, USA on a Saturday night. All those cars whizzing by on the main drag on their way to the Olive Garden and Wal-Mart. I just had to laugh at the juxtaposition. M.D.C. is still around. Some of their releases are available on Beer City Records and Sudden Death Records. And they might be touring right now.

06 Corrosion Of Conformity "Tell Me..." (NC)
"Tell Me..." comes from the first C.O.C. album, "Eye For An Eye," released by the band's No Core Records in 1983. It was later repressed with help from Toxic Shock, making C.O.C. the first band from North Carolina to have a record released by an out-of-state label. That Toxic Shock pressing is what made C.O.C. a household name. That and the band's relentless gigging. The band is still around, but they are nothing like what they used to be. A good friend of the band tells me that they are, "...the least nostalgiac people in the world," and that they'd just like to keep moving, staying in the present. They know that people want to hear the old stuff, but that's not what they want to play anymore. Well, I've got to respect that, I guess. Unbelievably, "Eye For An Eye" is out of print today, although an excellent bootleg popped up a couple of years ago. [People always used to tell me I would love this band, because I was into hardcore and into Black Sabbath and the "grungy" punk sound. I can understand it, but they never really clicked for me - Chris]

07 F "Spit It Out" (FL)
F headlined the first show I ever went to. That was a big night for me and my friends. It cemented in my mind that punk rock is where I belong. I like other kinds of music, but punk rock is my experience. When I listen to blues or jazz, I am listening to it as an outsider. When I listen to punk, I'm listening to the music of my peers. F were huge to us South Florida weirdos. This track is from F's self-released "You Are An E.P." 12" on Intendo Distorto Records in 1984. Either 1,000 or 1,500 copies of the 12" were pressed -- nobody seems to remember exactly. Through most of the 1980s, you could find copies in just about any record store in Florida for around $5. They sell for a lot more these days. In 2000, singer Phil Blumel decided to re-release "You Are An E.P." as a 7" record featuring a bonus track called, "Grab Your Dick And Run" with a guy called Vic The Skankin' Pirate on vocals. A lot of people think the 7" version of "You Are An E.P." is a bootleg, but it is not. It was made to deter bootlegs. A lot of people think that I released the 7", but I did not. The reissue was completely financed by Phil Blumel. My address appears on the record because Phil didn't want to deal with selling them. One thousand copies of the 7" were pressed. Phil gave me 100 copies for helping. He took 100 copies for himself and I took the remaining 800 copies on consignment, paying Phil off in chunks as they sold over the course of a year or two. It was a real honor to work with a band that means so much to me. Recently I have been in touch with the band's founder and singer Flash. We are working together to put out four F songs recorded in 1984 that few people have ever heard. One of those songs is a different version of "Spit It Out." Check the Burrito Records section of this web page in the next week or two and you can be among the first to purchase the F "Four From '84" 7". As part of the packaging, that record will have an extensive interview with Flash, detailing the band's long, convoluted, disputed history, liner notes from a couple of band members and an F family tree. It will be a real chunk of Florida history. I can't wait to get it out there. [NOTE: the "Four From '84" 7" is available now. Some video of the very show Bob refers to above can be seen here.-Chris]

08 Ataque Frontal "Sobrevivire" (Peru)
I have always been intrigued by the idea of punk from other countries, particularly strange places like Norway, Yugoslavia, Denmark and Australia. In the late 1980s, I discovered a great mailorder in New Jersey called Forefront Records. Forefront stocked tons of foreign hardcore. Looking at a new Forefront catalog was like a trip to Disneyland for me. One day while skimming a Forefront catalog I noticed a listing for the Ataque Frontal 7" (New Wave Records, 1986). The description stated that the band was from Peru. "Wow, they have hardcore in Peru? I need to get that!" I placed an order for maybe six or eight records the old fashioned way -- well concealed cash through sent mail. That was the only way to order records back then! Nobody took credit cards, few places took checks and Pay Pal did not exist. A few weeks later, my parcel arrived in the mail. I ripped it open and the first thing I grabbed was the Ataque Frontal 7". I put it on and was floored by the seething rage. Just listen to those vocals. The Ataque Frontal record quickly became one of my all time foreign HC faves. I taped it for a lot of people over the years and they always loved it. In 1991, Forefront Records went out of business and stored all of the remaining inventory in a warehouse for a few years. In 1995, Mike Young from Forefront called me to see if I wanted to buy what was left. "It's a lot of stuff!" he said. He faxed a list over. There were a few turkeys on the list, but a lot of really good stuff, too. I made Mike an offer, he agreed and a few weeks later a UPS truck backed up to the door of Sound Idea. The driver jumped out of the truck and said, "Are you trying to kill me or something?" He rolled open the back door of the truck. The cargo area was packed from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. "This is all for you. The whole truck load!" Geee! I didn't realize it was so much. From the fax, it was hard to visualize just how much space that many records would take up. I gave the driver a hand and we loaded it into the stoage room. I think it was around 80 large boxes. Over the next four or five days, three employees and I unpacked boxes, counted titles, checked the titles off a master list, priced, shelved and entered titles into the computer for the print catalog and web page. Fuck, it was a lot of work. In one of the boxes was a single unplayed copy of the Ataque Frontal record. It had a different cover than the one I'd purchased years ago, so I grabbed it and added it to my personal collection. In 2003, I was thinking about Ataque Frontal. I wanted to reissue the record if I could find the band and original record label. I wrote to the contact addresses on the record and amazingly, the letters reached the right people. Guitarist Jose Eduardo Matute responded by email, granting me permission to do the reissue. But then the label, New Wave Records, emailed me denying permisson as they intended to reissue it. By 2005, the Ataque Frontal 7" was still out of print. I contacted the band and label again and this time, both parties gave me the green light. I was quite pleased to get an old favorite back into circulation. (Check the Burrito Records section if you want to get a copy or hear another song.) In 2006, my wife and I vacationed in Peru. While there, we met up with Jose in Lima. Over dinner we discussed a reissue of Guerrilla Urbana, the band that Ataque Frontal evolved from. While we ate, he reached into his jacket pocket, produced two very old cassette tapes and handed them to me. The master tapes. A couple of months ago I took the mater tapes to a studio in Tampa for audio restoration. Sometime in 2008, expect an 8-song Guerrilla Urbana 7" on Burrito Records. For the packaging, Jose is writing a history of Peruvian punk. Keep your ears to the ground for that one.

09 Septic Death "Burial" (ID)
Title track from the Septic Death "Burial" 7" released by the singer's label, Pusmort Records, in 1987. Ah, I missed the boat on Septic Death. I never saw any of their records in stores and none of my friends had them. That's the way it was in a small town before the internet. If you didn't see the record in a store or send away for a copy from an advertisement, it was outside of your little world. I didn't even hear Septic Death until around 1993 when I found a copy of their "Need So Much Attention" LP in a Tampa record store. I asked my friend Rob if it was any good. "You don't have that? BUY IT OR YOU'RE A POSER!," was his response. I bought it and soon sought out all of the other Septic Death records. Man, sometimes good stuff can get past you. Nobody knows it all, nobody has it all. Sometime in the early 1990s, Southern Records made a Septic Death discography CD (and cassette). I got that, too, as I had just purchased my first CD player and had only one other CD. The Southern release went out of print after a couple of years. Enter Prank Records who began working on another SD discog. The release date for the Prank SD CD was supposed to be Oct. 31, 1999 but it still has not come out! I last saw Ken Sanderson from Prank Records on April 3, 2007. He and his wife had dinner with me and my wife at an Indian restaurant in Tampa. Over dinner, I asked him about the Septic Death discography. He kind of rolled his eyes and said there had been many delays but that it WILL be out in 2008. OK, Ken. I'm going to hold you to that!

10 Poison Idea "Give It Up" (OR)
Like Septic Death, Posion Idea was another band that slipped by me and my friends. I know, you're thinking, "What the hell...?" But as great as Poison Idea was/is, they never played in Florida, no store in my town carried their records and nobody I knew ever ordered any through the mail. I remember one kid in my high school who had POISON IDEA painted on the back of his leather jacket, but he wasn't part of my crowd. Maybe he should have been! I never laid eyes upon any Poison Idea records until I was in college and then all of a sudden, I saw tons of them. And I bought almost all of the ones I saw. "Give It Up" was from an early PI demo (1981, I think). It was released on vinyl in 1989 on the "Darby Crash Rides Again" 7" on the band's own American Leather Records. You can also find it on the "Early Years" CD, released by the German Bitzcore label.

11 Urban Waste "Police Brutality" (NY)
Urban Waste is practically a household name these days, but in truth, they were an obscure band who made a single record in a small pressing a long time ago. In recent years, record collectors and armchair historians have pushed Urban Waste to the spotlight. I'm not complaing -- Urban Waste is fantastic. Follow the history: In 1982, Urban Waste put out their own record, a brutal, 8-song 7" of no bullshit hardcore. In 1987, the 7" was reissued as a 12" by Big City Records. Then it appeared as part of a bootleg LP with three other New York bands. Then it was released as a mini-CD by Lost & Found Records in 1993. Then it got bootlegged AGAIN as an LP with some other bands. Then it got bootlegged as a 7". Finally, an official reissue on 12" and CD came out a couple of years ago on Mad At The World Records. So, you've had a lot of chances to hear Urban Waste. Find one of those darn records and hold onto it!



12 D.T.A.L. "Fucking Nappe" (Sweden)
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! This is one band that I think more people should be aware of. I don't know much about them, but they rip. "Fucking Nappe" comes from the band's second record, the incredible "Time to Die" 7" put out by Atom Records in 1986. Every song is fast, tight and absolutely crazy. I have never seen a copy of the first D.T.A.L. 7", "A Beautiful Day," released in 1985, but I really want one. Some guy in Germany was selling a copy on the internet about a year ago but he didn't list a price. I asked him how much he wanted and he said, "Make an offer." In negotiations, you never start with your top offer. You start low and haggle. So, I made a low ball offer, expecting a counter offer and perhaps we'd meet in the middle. Instead the German guy sent me an insulting email in return and ceased communication. Dickhead.



13 Upright Citizens "Hated" (Germany)
If you think the only good music from Germany is Heino, you have a little homework to do. Like most Americans, my first exposure to the Upright Citizens was their solid, "Open Eyes, Open Ears.." LP released by BYO Records in 1985. But the Upright Citizens were around for a few years before that and released a few records in Europe before the U.S. embraced them. UC toured the states in 1985 or 1986 in support of "Open Eyes." They didn't come to Florida -- not a lot of bands did in the 80s -- but someone from BYO hooked me up with a tour poster, which hung in the back of Sound Idea for many years until it became mutilated by moshers. "Open Eyes" is currently out of print, but a lot of copies were made so maybe you can find one. I was ordering it on cassette as late as 1998 from BYO, so you might luck out. When I was in Spain in 2002, every record store I visited seemed to have copies of a bootleg UC album with different versions of most of the songs on "Open Eyes," but for some silly reason, I didn't buy one.



14 Life Sentence "Problems" (IL)
Chicago hardcore. The first Life Sentence LP, released by Walkthrufyre Records in 1986, is one of the last great American hardcore records of the 1980s. Around 1986, most of the best US HC band had split up or changed styles and started to suck. Some GOOD records came out, but not many that I would call GREAT. The Life Sentence LP is great. After this album, a serious rift developed in the band and they split into two bands, each claiming the Life Sentence name. There was even a lawsuit filed, as documented on the second Life Sentence album in the song, "Win, Lose or Sue." That second album featured only singer/guitarist Eric Brockman. It's a pretty good album, but not the one I grab when I want to hear Life Sentence. I think the bad blood between members still exists, as attempts to do a legit LS reissue have flopped. I can think of two LS bootlegs, one on vinyl and one on CD. At one time, the original album was not too hard to find. If you don't already have a copy, you might have to settle for a bootleg.

15 Final Conflict "What Kind Of Future?" (CA)
A scorcher from Final Conflict's "Ashes To Ashes" LP (Pusmort Records, 1987). I like Final Conflict a lot. I think they were influenced by Crucifix, which is a good band to be influenced by. Like the Urban Waste record we talked about, "Ashes To Ashes" has been through many incarnations. A couple of pressings on Pusmort, a CD repress by Relapse in the early 1990s, an LP/CD repress by Tacklebox Records in the mid to late 1990s and a recent CD press on S.O.S. Records. Sound Idea has some of the S.O.S. CDs in stock now if you need a copy. Final Conflict put out a series of really good but really limited 7"s in the 1990s and a second album called, "Rebirth." They are still going today, but singer Ron Martinez has left the band. Guitarist/founder Jeff Harp is still in the band. Jeff works as a tattoo artist these days. Ron Martinez was working at a record store in California the last time I talked to him.

Part 4

01 S.O.A. "Lost in Space" (Washington, DC)
The snarling first song from the S.O.A. "No Policy" 7" (Dischord Records, 1981) featuring a young Henry Lawrence Garfield on vocals. Maybe you know him as Henry Rollins. I love the crazed drill instructor bark Henry has with S.O.A. When the "No Policy" 7" went out of print, Dischord wisely repressed it along with Youth Brigade, Teen Idles and Government Issue as the "Four Old 7"s On A 12" and later as part of the "Dischord '81" CD. For a band that only played something like 11 shows, S.O.A. has left an enduring legacy. All respect to King Henry.

02 Zero Boys "Amphetamine Addiction" (IN)
Here's one of my fave tracks from the first Zero Boys LP, "Vicious Circle," originally released on the band's own Nimrod Records in 1982 and later repressed by Toxic Shock with bonus tracks in 1984. There was also a repress on Lookout! Records a few years ago and another repress on Rifleman Records in 2006. Lots of copies of "Vicious Circle" were made so you shouldn't have to look too hard or pay too much if you need a copy. I love that bubbling bass line, supplied by David "Tufty" Clough who also played the 4-string in Toxic Reasons. Zero Boys guitarist Terry "Hollywood" Howe passed away in the 1990s. I heard it was drug related. The story I got is that he moved from Indiana to Florida to escape drugs but fell back in. I heard he overdosed in Orlando. Speaking of which, I saw the Zero Boys in Orlando about a year ago and they were top notch. Three original members and a new guy on guitar. After the show I cornered Tufty and asked him about 600 questions about Toxic Reasons like, "Remember when you were in Toxic Reasons? That was awesome!" Singer Paul Mahern owns a recording studio and has made quite a name (and a lot of money) for himself producing albums by John Mellencamp. Paul is also a yoga master.

03 Meatmen "Mr Tapeworm" (MI)
Ah, the marvelous and much-maligned Meatmen. The Meatmen were accused of being all things politically incorrect, but in the words of Foghorn Leghorn, "It's just a joke, son." Like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, the Meatmen pushed the envelope of good taste and turned the punk rock rule book upside down. As a teenager in a small town, I worshipped them. The Meatmen were led by the larger than life (6'6"!) master of mirth Tesco Vee (nee Robert Vermuelen). Tesco was once a grade school teacher if you can believe that. When I interviewed him in 1995 he told me the story of how he called in sick on the last day of school so that he and members of the Necros could drive from Michigan to Washington D.C. to see Minor Threat and Government Issue. This track is from side two, the live side, of the fabulous first Meatmen album, "We're The Meatmen And You Suck," released by Touch & Go Records in 1983. There's also a licensed version of the LP on the German label Aggressive Rock Produktionen. By my calculations, Tesco Vee is 52 years old now.

04 Outo "Slag" (Japan)
From Osaka came Outo, one of my favorite Japanese bands. Roughly translated, Outo means, "I puke." "Slag" is from the "Thrash Till Death" compilation LP released by Pusmort Records in 1987. Also on "Thrash Till Death" are multiple tracks by Systematic Death, Lipcream and Gauze, all fine Japanese bands. While on tour with Failure Face in the summer of 1994, we stopped for lunch in a small upstate New York town. In the same shopping center where we ate, we found a tiny, crowded record store. We started digging and everyone hit pay dirt. There were loads of still-sealed hardcore classics. I found a sealed copy of "Thrash Till Death" for $8 and a few other goodies. The guy who owned the shop seemed really happy that we bought all that stuff. He probably thought it was junk he'd be sitting on forever. Outo made lots of records and all the ones I have heard are great. My favorite Outo record is a 19-song bootleg LP.

05 Roach Motel "Shut Up" (FL)
Roach Motel were probably the first hardcore band in Florida. They were definitely the hardest working in their day, running the important Destroy Records label, publishing the hilarious Destroy zine and luring big touring bands to Florida such as Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Necros, CH3, Negative Approach and more. All of this may seem routine these days, but back in the early 1980s, Roach Motel's work was uncommon. They laid the foundation for hardcore in Florida and they did so in Gainesville, which had to be a lot tougher than say, Miami or Tampa. "Shut Up" is from the great "Roach & Roll" 7", released in 1981 by Destroy Records. Just 600 copies were made. In 2001, the band released their discography on CD, bringing back the Destroy Records moniker. The CD is now out of print, but you might scare up a copy on the net somewhere. You can still get the Hated Youth/Roach Motel LP that I released on Burrito Records in 2002. The HY side is unreleased studio tracks from 1984. The RM stuff is a cool live gig from 1983. Some people consider Roach Motel kind of a joke band, but I really respect them for getting Florida on the map.

06 Battalion Of Saints "I'm Gonna Make You Scream" (CA)
Here's a really catchy track from the outstanding Battalion Of Saints "Fighting Boys" 12" put out by the band's own Neutron Records in 1981. In fact, B.O.S. formed out of the remnants of an earlier band called the Neutrons. The cover art of "Fighting Boys" is by the late Mad Marc Rude who also managed the band for a while. In 1998 I hired Marc to do the covers for two Murder-Suicide Pact record covers. He offered to sell me the original "Fighting Boys" cover art for $500, but I didn't have the money at the time and he sold it to a collector in Michigan.

07 Koro "Dear Sirs" (TN)
Here's an outrageously awesome song from Koro's uber-rare "700 Club" 7", released by the band in 1983. I don't have an original copy of this record, but I do have the two bootleg versions and the recent official discography LP. An original copy sold on eBay for $1,460 in November so I'll probably NEVER have an original. That's OK. I'll live with the repros. Legend has it that after Koro opened for the Circle Jerks in Knoxville in 1983, CJ singer Keith Morris said something like, "How are we supposed to play after that?" Morris was so impressed that he called his label Frontier Records and raved about the band that blew them off the stage. Frontier wanted the band to come to California, play a few shows and record an album. They were all set to go when one band member backed out at the last minute because he didn't want to leave his girlfriend. Thus Koro lost the chance to be on Frontier and possibly be as huge as labelmates Circle Jerks, Adolescents and Suicidal Tendencies.

08 Belching Penguin "Dead People Can't Drive" (FL)
Here's another band that falls into the "Should have been huge" file. The Belching Penguin "Draft Beer... Not Me" LP (No Clubs Records, 1986) is disgustingly underrated and unknown. This album is SOLID start to finish. Great playing, great songs. Maybe some of the lyrics are a little simple, but on the whole, "Draft Beer" is a monster. 1,100 copies were made. It was repressed on CD by No Clubs in the late 1990s but you might not be able to find that anymore. However you can easily find the "1985/1988 Demos" 7" I released in Jan 2007 on Burrito Records. (See how I worked that in?) And you can read a long interview with bassist Jeff Jewhurst here.

09 Extreme Noise Terror "Knee Deep In Shit" (England)
I used to be all about stuff like Extreme Noise Terror. I bought everything I could find by them for years. But now I only enjoy this style in tiny little bites. Here's a morsel for you. If you like it, look for the "Phonophobia" 12" released by Vinyl Japan in 1991. By the way, phonophobia is, "a morbid fear of sounds including your own voice." Awesome. I think my fancy with ENT turned sour in 1996 when they were supposed to play at Sound Idea but cancelled because the drummer was, "doing laundry at the hotel." Lamest excuse ever.

10 Kuro "Who The Helpless" (Japan)
"We are like dwarves standing upon the shoulders of giants, and so able to see more and see farther than the ancients." -- Bernardus Carnotensis, twelfth-century French Neo-Platonist philosopher and scholar. Every once in a while I like to whip out a quote like that to keep things real fuckin' classy around here. Anyhow, if E.N.T. saw far, they probably did it standing on the shoulders of bands like Kuro. These Japanese maniacs made this crazy noise back in 1984. "Who The Helpless" is the title track from the 8" on Blue Jug Records. I have an insane live Kuro video that I was sworn not to duplicate. Sorry to tease you like that.

11 Larm "The Complexity of Life" (Holland)
This is the first track from my favorite Larm record, the Larm/Stanx LP put out by Er is Hoop in 1984. It was a happy day when I finally scored a copy of this record. All the Larm Records are killer, but I think the split LP catches them at their most spontaneous. Three of these guys still play together in the band Seein' Red. An official discography was released on vinyl and CD by Coalition Records in the late 1990s.

12 A.M.Q.A. "Cats Are Neat" (WA)
Title track from the quirky, fun "Cats are Neat" 7" released by Subcore Records in 1984. I got this record as an alternative when something I mailordered was out of stock. I can't remember what I originally ordered, but the A.M.Q.A. 7" has given me a lot of entertainment over the years. Everyone I know who has "Cats Are Neat" likes it, but it is still rather under the radar. The band was a five-piece on this record, but by 1988 they were down to a three-piece. The small version of A.M.Q.A. re-recorded some of the songs from their 7" for the disappointing "Mutant Cats From Hell" LP (Ever Rat Records, 1988). I just picked up the LP in November and it was kind of tough to get through. Sorry, dudes.

13 Sluglords "F.T.W." (CA)
Just one of the fantastic songs from the drastically overlooked "Trails Of Slime" LP released by what I assume was the band's own Trails Of Slime Records in 1983. Every song on this record is great. Everyone I play it for loves it. These guys were bad ass musicians who managed to work some unusual parts into their blazing hardcore. Here's a little info on Punk Records.org. And that's a little vintage Steve Martin to break things up. This guy used to be awesome. Then he started making movies about parenthood.

14 Electric Deads "Crossroads" (Denmark)
Female fronted female hardcore from Denmark. Sweet. The Electric Deads made three records, but I don't have any of them. I took this track from the "Killed By Hardcore Vol. 3" LP bootleg. It was originally on their third record, the "Mind Bomb" 7" released by Electro Static Records in 1983. Last year around Christmas a guy in Nebraska had all three Electric Deads records on eBay at the same time. Pricey, pricey...

15 Gash "World Turmoil" (Australia)
Female fronted female hardcore from Australia. Sweet. Gash is also known as G.A.S.H. which stands for Girls Against Sexual Hype. Remember in Calvin and Hobbes when they had a club called "G.R.O.S.S.," which stood for Get Rid Of Slimy girlS? Here's a cool article about G.A.S.H. on the Melbourne Punk Directory. "World Turmoil" is from the "S/T" 7" on Cleopatra Records, 1986.

16 Stillborn Christians "New Right" (NC)
Here's a peppy little number from the "Why Are We Here?" 7" compilation released by No Core Records in 1983, which I believe was the only release for the Stillborn Christians, Blood Mobile and No Labels. COrrosion Of Conformity were on the comp, too, but those guys made lots of records. Remember the track we heard last week? Anyhow... I just discovered that the Used Bin Forever blog has a nice piece about "Why Are we Here?", including a picture of Stillborn Christians and MP3s for the whole record.

17 Vatican Commandos "2000 Years" (CT)
Yeah, this is the band that Moby was in a about 2000 years ago, but he's not on this track. This song is from the third Vatican Commandos record, the "Point Me To The End" 12" put out by Pregnant Nun Records in 1984. This is my favorite VC record, much better than the two rare, expensive ones. From what I undertsand Moby only played on the first record, the "Hit Squad For God" 7" (Pregnant Nun, 1983.) But he sure got a lot of screen time in "American Hardcore."