March 2013 – #358

Top Ten:

DAWN OF HUMANS-Blurst of the Birdfish-EP
LOTUS FUCKER-Forever My Fighting Spirit-LP
TEMPEST-Solace-EP
TO THE POINT-EP/KRÜGER-EP
REIVERS-LP
MALDITO PAIS-LP/GOOD THROB-EP
ZYANOSE-EP/LOS CAIDOS-LP+EP
DEBORAH KANT-Terminal Rail/Route-LP
ACTS OF SEDITION/RAW NERVES-split
IN DISGUST/STILLSUIT - live


DAWN OF HUMANS – "Blurst of the Birdfish" EP
Coming out of the same NYC scene that spawned PERDITION, CRAZY SPIRIT, HANK WOOD AND THE HAMMERHEADS, et al, DAWN OF HUMANS are on a whole other tip, delving into the same nightmarish terrain as early THROBBING GRISTLE and bad trippers FIFTY FOOT HOSE before them. Sonically speaking, the focus is on fuzzy, weirdo punk dirges, taking up the framework of hardcore one minute only to ditch it the next, or, as is more often the case, dissolving it into an ominious, apocalyptic meltdown. The bizarre, psychedelic shit cartoon art (and I mean that in the best way possible) only adds to the sense of impending headfuckery, to say nothing of the vocals, which alternate between, shall we say, “traditional” hxc screams and something vaguely resembling the spawn of a gremlin and DEVO’s terrifyingly sexless Booji Boy. Maddening and supremely satisfying, this is music by freaks, for freaks, with no room for squares or the weakly stomached. Can't recommend this highly enough. (WB)
(Toxic State)

MALDITO PAIS – LP
Rollicking, melodic punk from Spain with members of TEMPESTA, DERROTA and DISPARO, this is apparently a vinyl repress of the MALDITO PAIS demo cassette. Could have fooled me! Really though, this sounds as good (actually, waaaay better) than most bands’ mature works, with a well-honed 80s punk sound and some truly inspired songwriting. There’s a decided post-/anarcho-punk influence here, most notably on the production, and the thick echo on the vocals definitely takes this to the next level for me, but every member of this band nails it across the board. The LP starts off on a fairly upbeat note and for the most part retains a fun, exuberant feel, but some more aggressive sections pop up from time to time and provide a nice counterpoint to the rest. The whole thing is endlessly catchy, like this-just-bored-holes-in-your-brain-and-laid-eggs catchy. If you dig bands like ESCROTO DE RATA this will be absolutely crucial, but either way it'd be a big mistake to miss out on this one. (WB)
(Pifia)

SUBSERVIENT FUCK – “Kill” EP
A gnarly debut marred by some horrendous recording, SUBSERVIENT FUCK from New Orleans do the angry hardcore thing better than most, with metallic overtones, some pissed-off blasting and a palpable sense of frustration with modern life—nearly every song is written in the second person, and boy is this band disappointed in you. I like my hardcore raw and blown out as fuck (who doesn't), but unfortunately this just sounds like the guitar tracks were horribly clipped and then digitally compressed down to total chunky shit quality...the results are near unbearable, especially on headphones. Too bad, because the songs themselves are pretty killer, with appropriately filthy vocals and some fx-laden noise solos that fuckin’ rip. I would love to see this band live; hopefully the next record will live up to the material they're writing. (WB)
(Human Resources)

V/A – "Shredded Wheat Vol. 2" CD
A label sampler from Harvest King Records, a DIY collective operating from the prairies Western Canada. Mostly made of cuts from previous HK releases along with a few new tracks, there's a wide range of styles here leaning towards the more melodic, polished side of punk and hardcore—you could imagine more than a few of these bands working their way up to a release on Epitaph—while some of it goes into straight up alt rock territory (I'm looking at you THESE ESTATES, yeesh). Not exactly the kind of music I go for these days, but there's some standout tracks by BORN WRONG, REHASHED, and AMOUR FOU on the more aggressive side of things, and INVASION puts a nice screamotional touch on their track "Lost and Found". Nerds, you'll be happy to know the whole thing is available as a free download on that internet thing I keep hearing about. (WB)
(Harvest King)