Records, records, records.

So I got a few new records in the mail. And you know records are not meant to be listened to, they're meant to be blogged about and then mayyyybe flipped on eBay. So here we go. As always, no download links. I'm not your goddamn internet maid. I would also like to add some of these were PROMOS, that's right folks, I'm getting shit sent my way for free. You can do it.




Artic Flowers 7" - This band is obviously trying to capture the sounds of the old UK Anarchopunk bands that latched onto a more postpunk/goth kinda sound, and with people bringing up similarities to the Ruts, Gang Of Four, or the Au Pairs, I was really looking forward to it. I'm happy to say they have avoided the main problem that plagued these old limey bands, and most of their offspring: they were very succesful at throwing down a lot of flanging and effects and creating 'atmospheres' but totally inept at decent songwriting. Unfortunately for me, well written and all, "Neon Tombs" immediately reminded me of Spitboy and, even worse, Signal Lost, and totally ruined the rest of the record for me.




Insurgents "Fad Cash" 7" - Well, what can I say? This record (down to the cover artwork) is disgusting and filthy, the living, walking, talking image of small town boredom enhanced/subdued (sometimes it's all the same) by cheap drugs and shitty equipment. It's a sound that a trillion bands have tried to capture in recent times, but then again, most of them are not from Australia, a country known for producing bands in whichever style imaginable but constantly marked by what I can only define as an aggro weirdo vibe. Which is perfect, really. It really sounds like no particular band, but if you groove or have grooved in the past to the sounds of fine purveryors of musical garbage such as YDI, Void or The Mob (NY), you should get this.





Leather "Anchorite" 7" - Well, the last couple of years have seen a lot of bands move away from cookiecutter hardcore stylings (handbook youth crew/d-beat/80s retro/whatever exercises) and try to capture the disjointed, fucked up, hardcore sleaze of later period 'Flag, Saccharine Trust, Scratch Acid and all the usual suspects. I guess if you are like me, and were jaded on hardcore by age 19 and your enthusiasm for the genre got a new lease on life via buying a copy of 'Fucked Up & Photocopied' and discovering a lot of old, weird, and ugly hardcore bands, this is good news. As much as I can see right through a lot of these bands, and most of them reek of guys who were sucking mayor youth crew cock 18 months ago and are simply trying to latch on to a new set of clichés and style guidelines, as defined by the messageboard-born 'Mysterious Guy Hardcore' subgenre in an effort to live out their fantasies of being either a late-80s Henry Rollins or a current, better dressed Bruce Loose, which totally kills it in every which way possible, most of these bands shroud themselves in mystery (which in this day and age means having your internet presence reduced to an un-updated blog, no biggie) and if you live in third world Europe (as I do) there is very little way of finding out about them through the grapevine, so they got that shit covered by forcing you to give them the benefit of the doubt. Leather go for a nice sound like early SST channeled through late 80's Touch And Go, with all the crazy, lunge-at-your throat riffing, snaky guitar licks, and vocals that actually don't succumb to god-awful screechy screaming or pathetic attempts to sound like the guy from Pissed Jeans, but actually stay firmly rooted in slurry punk howling and yelping, I don't know, it kinda reminds me of Chris Thompson (Fury/Monorchid/etc..) at times, and that's a good thing. I'd like to see these guys record with a (slightly) cleaner, trebly sound, not Billy Anderson-clean, but Spot-clean, crunchy and warm and comfy. I like.





Máximo Volumen "Inyecciones por el bul" LP - This is the vinyl pressing of a 1987 spanish hardcore demo which I reviewed in an early entry of this blog. And that's pretty much all I can say about it. It's a nicely done reissue, with lyrics and some graphics pulled out of old zines (not an easy feat, let me tell you). It's raw, it's ugly, and it's pure nonsense at times, but if you like your hardcore raw and exotic, it's a must have. Limited to 300 copies, get in touch with Terminal Picnic Records before it's all gone.






Merchandise "Strange songs in the dark" LP - Murky production that works, decent album length, I could really see myself getting into this, and seeing how some people I trust were enthusiastic about it, I really tried but..I don't know, there's something missing here...you know 'that extra push over the cliff' that Nigel Tufnel talked about? Well that's it. They stuck to the most boring elements of shoegaze (aimless wandering amongst songs) and post punk (being bored and affected and distant as an excuse for being boring), and, I don't want to be that guy, but really, this record needs some guts, some blood, something other than jaded slackery. Pretty tepid response from yours truly. I guess I could get into this if I was depressed because the new dorm I moved to was a few blocks further away from American Apparel than the last one. Or if I was a girl.