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NUMBERS and VARIOUS |
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in issue: |
| 9 SHOCKS TERROR "Zen And The Art Of Beating Your Ass" LP | What the hell would we do without records like this? I ask myself. Sometimes (correction, most of the time) human beings just piss me off. Just watch daytime television for an hour and you'll find out just how pathetic people really are. I mean our species is just the lowest form of life ever to have inhabited this planet. When I think about it I get really angry and I need to listen to records like this that capture that frustration with society. This is top notch punk thrash which I recon is far superior to their other releases. This LP was originally released on Devour records but the mix was wrong or something, so apparently this is what it's meant to sound like. (AG) | (*5) |
| 16/TODAY IS THE DAY "Zodiac Dreaming" CD | I don't know, all those kids painting their fingernails black, acting all moody and listening to MARILYN MANSON think they've got the monopoly on depression. HA! I say lock 'em in a room with this CD and show them what fucked up twisted rock is really about. 16 deliver 3 tracks of their trademark sludge hardcore and are definitely nearly back to their best again. TODAY IS THE DAY offer up a serving of music that sounds like the result of a life of endless torment. The vocalist sounds like he's just escaped from the loony bin and the music is haunting, heavy and technical. Records like this are probably best listened to alone in the dark with all sharp objects removed from the room. (AG) | (*4) |
| 244GL THE- "Donations Welcome" | Tooth Pondskaters (Gerridae Gerris odontogaster) are found in weedy ponds and canals though out the British Isles. They 'skate' along the surface tension of the water using their long legs to propel them.The adult is active from mid spring to mind autumn and they feed on other insects stranded on the water surface. Thats pretty gnarly. So is this band... they do that intense screamo thing but with a slight crust drone, making them come across alot more pissed and angry than the usual. There are alot of short fast breaks and hard hitting power blasts with some serious screeching guitar in the music which I bet the unsuspecting prey of the pond Tooth Pondskater would associate with when being devoued by this wonderful beastie. (LH) | (*6) |
| 400 YEARS "The New Imperialism" 10" | I remember these chaps staying at my house a couple of years ago after playing in Leeds, and I must say they were some of the nicest people to pass through our doors. Not to mention their bass player having one of the most spectacular beards in hardcore. Anyway, enough trips down memory lane "what about their latest record?" I hear you ask. Well, this is great emotional hardcore played with passion that varies from dischordant and harsh to melodic and tender. Their sound and politics will draw comparisons with bands like FUGAZI, although FOUR HUNDRED YEARS' sound is more rooted in hardcore. So if that sounds like your cup of tea, it probably is!(AG) | (*5) |
| 1985 (THE) - 7” | Three tracks from crazy US band The 1985. Their music is electronic, experimental, lo-fi madness!! Kind of like the Dismemberment Plan meets Bis with a bit of the Pixies thrown in for more randomness. As weird as it sounds, this is really rocking: up beat with lots of distortion. Definitely worth checking out if you’re bored with listening to the same old stuff. (CB) | |
| "Amped up…. and ready to go” CD | This is a compilation put together by the UKbase website and In At the Deep End records, with a view to giving the access that UK base gives to British punk bands via MP3’s in CD format. The intentions are admirable, to try and give more people access to British bands, and get people off their arses and supporting their local bands. I can empathise with the struggle, for I’ve been trying to explain to my friends why supporting Peterborough Utd. is much more enjoyable than being a glory hunter. Although music is a bit different to football, and I’d endure a whole season of Posh being beat to enjoy the good times, but I find myself skipping a number of tracks on this CD. There are some of my favourite bands on here though (Mend This Tear and Fig. 4.0) and some that I’ve not heard before that I really like (Lovejunk for a start, I should’ve checked them out ages ago!). Check out the website at www.ukbase.org.uk to check some bands out. (JW) | (*5) |
| "BARRICADES AND BROKEN DREAMS" CD (An International Tribute to CONFLICT) | CONFLICT were a bunch of gits who pulled all kinds of shit on people 'back in the day', I guess most people on this comp never saw that side of the great 'anarcho gods'. 28 bands take on various CONFLICT tunes and it's a benefit for the A.L.F which is great, respect to Blackfish for that. Distributed by motherfucking Plastic 'million pound turnover' Head. (SN) | (*2) |
| "Be Quick Or Be Dead" 7” | 1 side Italian (5 bands, 6 songs) & 1 side Swedish (5 bands, 6 songs). This is a decent showcase of bands from these 2 countries. All the bands are fast as fuck, heavy as fuck, angry as fuck. To me the Italian side had the edge with TORQUEMADA, ENTROPIA, D.I.A., OHUZARU & TORTUGA outshining ASSEL, SEWN SHUT, LAST SECURITY, LEFT IN RUINS & ACURSED. If you like comps its worth tracking down. (JK) | (*7) |
| "BOB’S BIZARRE BAZAAR / BLOOD SUCKERS / ANGRY MINDED - 3 way split - CD | Grrrind - it’s all unreadable logo’s and ‘Thanks to AG’. BOB’S BIZARRE BAZAAR get top band name award right away!, they’re grinding and screaming with sample breaks and enough oddball bits to keep it interseting. Lyrically they’re split between serial killer fascination and the socio-political. Strong anti-fascist sentiment throughout all 3 bands here. BLOOD SUCKERS are self described ‘shit crust’ (a new genre?) aren’t that shit at all, but nothing really new, lyrics printed to 2 of their songs -so, who knows what they’re on about the rest of the time. AM play ‘fast freak core’, theirs is a rehearsal recording, the vocals just low and high rasps in the guitar based mix, a shame as they have some good lyrics. Top value all round - 41 songs all in. Ungerground freak types should be down with this. (SN) | (*5) |
| "Destroy All Borders" 7” | Great multi-nation compilation 7” featuring FACE UP TO IT (France) MASS SEPARATION (Malaysia) CRUDE BE (Germany) FUERZA X (Guatemala) ESTRILRACO (Brazil) and MELEE (USA) put together around the theme of bringing down the borders that separate us geographically, by gender, race, or sexuality. Musically FACE UP TO IT really impressed me and reminded me of RIPCORD in places although slightly more thrashier. MASS SEPARATION sounded a bit like the stuff Earache originally put out. CRUDE BE’s two tracks were a lot less ‘grind’ orientated than stuff I’d heard before. FUERZA X are full on, blistering Latino thrash and a band I look forward to hearing more from. ESTILRACO feature some gut wrenching vocals made me think of bands like EXISTENCH and DREAD 101. MELEE from Boston, US have now, unfortunately, split up but leave us with this raging track that was a lot faster and a little more ‘old school’ sounding than their other stuff. (SH) | (*2) |
| "Does Everyone Stare? CD | 23 track compilation featuring a strong line-up of melodic hardcore bands such as: MANIFESTO JUKEBOX, BLOCKO, WOOLWORTHY, SERPICO, RHYTHM COLLISION and many more. I’m sure you know what to expect. (SH) | (*6) |
| "drunks, guns & livestock in the streets - live at the turkeyneck bar & grill" 1979-2001 CD | A live compilation of Aussie bands that played at the bar in the title. A bar in the Outback in mid Queensland, which famously(???) put on shows for over 20 years until its closure last year, according to the liner notes, due to arson. The live recordings are mostly decent enough. The music, very Oz in style, is that sleazy Stooges/Cramps garagey punk rock. Some bands are well known: X, Cosmic Psychos & The Onyas, but the rest aren’t. Probably a worthwhile release for those who’ve had the (mis) pleasure to go there, but for the rest of us… When I lived in Queensland, they used to call rednecks “Bevans” ? wonder if they still do? (JK) | (*7) |
| "Emotional Outburst Assisted By Technical Supply" CD | Does it make it an International compilation when there are 2 Swedish bands and a Canadian band alongside 19 German bands? Who knows... The two Swedish bands failed to impress, with Neg ("Dude, you gotta be Posi!") sounding like a kinda metalcore/nu-metal hybrid and The Hand That Feeds doing a fairly straight-ahead tuff metallic hardcore thang that pulled no punches. The Canadian band played cool fast melodic hardcore, singing about girls, though they looked like Stormcore in the inlay! Also flying the more melodic flag were indie-rockers Sunday Inn, who plodded along averagely enough, but interrupted the flow of the metal quite nicely, Treadmill, who could quite easily masquerade as an "emo" band if they so desired(!), but felt hardcore to me, Mournful, who also had a harder and even metal edge, but in places came across as too whiney, Three Minute Poetry, who were rather emo and rather good, and Trust No One, with some nice emo-rock sorta stuff. Costa's Cake House stood out for their cool unique hardcore sound, and of the rest of the bands, mostly metallic, the ones that stood out the most were the crazy Kate Mosh (think I'll be sending for more of their stuff), the messy A Never Ending Summer, the drivingly moshtastic Shanara, and the "suicide commandos" Springwater, with their funky bass. The Caliban and Jane tracks were predictably good, but they're both from old releases so I skipped these in order to listen to stuff I hadn't heard before. Not the greatest comp., but definately worth checking out for the cool new bands and the diverse genre's displayed, even if it wasn't all to my taste. (SW) | (*6) |
| "Firework anatomy” CD | This is a sampler compilation kind of deal, 20 tracks of bands that are all usually categorised as ‘emo’. Unfortunately the good tracks are few and far between. You have to sit through long periods of slow soft rock and a certain over-rated pseudo-hardcore band (Grade, I’m looking in your direction) before you get to some good tracks. On the other hand, the San Geronimo track is a good Samiam/Lifetime affair (ex-Lifetime didn’t you know!), the tracks by Rydell and Hunter Gatherer are both good. Also The Casket Lottery cover the classic ‘Red House’ by Shudder To Think. This didn’t really need doing but it’s good effort. I don’t know how much this is to buy but I’d recommend checking out Rydell, San Geronimo and Hunter Gatherer as they are the best tracks. (JW) | (*3) |
| "Fuck Divisions” comp CD | While I agree with the sentiment of the title, the thought of unifying the emo scene with the hardcore scene is a pretty terrifying one. Keep backpacks out of the pit is my moto. From the title I thought this would vary in styles a lot more than it does. Most of this is hardcore with a metal edge such as 25 TA LIFE & TOGETHER WE FALL or Sick Of It All style HC such as 2000 STRONG & SET AGAINST or hardcore punk such as SWELLBELLIES & SECOND CHANCE. MURDER ONE reminded me of mid period Integrity so they were the best band on here. Enjoyable. (JK) | (*5) |
| "Funtime Zine" Compilation CD | OK, so when I think Funtime Records I think the of the metal-tastic PN, as the label is run by Johan who screams with that band. So, with this in mind, when I slap on a 22 track compilation CD compiled by Funtime what I don’t expect is a pop-punk marathon! The majority of the stuff is in the fast pop-punk/melodic hardcore vein, with some metal stuff thrown in seemingly for varieties sake. Of the metal stuff, Course Of Action. Deluge, Panchrysia and Cast-Down stand out as bands I wanna hear more of, and of the rest, well, not wanting to put any of the bands down, but it all seemed fairly similar after a while. The awful Crawlspace stick in my memory as a low-point of the CD, and if it was a bit more varied (read : less pop-punk!) I think it’d have been a lot stronger a compilation. (SW) | (*2) |
| GARANTERAT MOB 47 - A Tribute to MOB 47 and Bonus Cassette | MOB 47 were an amazing Swedish hardcore punk band from Malmo in Sweden back in the early 1980s and the songs that they did back then still rage today. Not many bands can manage even now to come close to that MOB 47 sound. This tape sees bands such as SPRECKFORLOSSNING, HELLSHIT, HALK, VAPNAD KNOFLIKT, AKKOLYTE, KURBITS I.R., CROSSING CHAOS, WARMACHINE, SPECIAL PATRULLEN, SCORNED and THE SPITZ cover MOB 47 songs, some well produced, some not. The real gem on this tape though is MOB 47’s last ever rehearsal from 1986 which is of really good quality. Even if you aren’t into tribute stuff or some of the bands, this is worth it alone for the MOB 47 rehearsal and 19 furious tracks of pure hardcore punk!!!! (SHY) | (*8) |
| "HARDCORE TRUE OR FALSE" CD | This seems to be a label sampler CD for the wonderful Kangaroo records in Holland. Most of this is pretty hot & as far as I know most of this is unreleased. Its all hard & fast hardcore as you'd expect from this label. OUT COLD, NEIGHBORS, INSULT (US), MILK MAN, KOSIK, THE DESPISED, YAWP being amongst the best on here. About 30 bands & 41 tracks make this a great sampler. (JK) | (*4) |
| "HARDWARE RECORDINGS COLLECTION No 2 CD | This compilation has 17 tracks by bands from all over the place including some better known names like DETESTATION and AGATHOCLES mixed with some not so well known bands. The recording quality varies as does the style of music but I suppose they would all come under the banner of hardcore. Hardware is a new label and seems committed to the principles of DIY music.(AG) | (*3) |
| "HYMNS AND PSALMS" - Compilation Cd | Voles (Cricetidae Microtus agrestis) are found in woodlands, hedgerows, bogland, sand dunes, and moorlands, throughout mainland Britain, but not Ireland. Voles have rather shaggy greyish brown fur, and a pure grey underside, with blunt faces, small ears, very short tails and are active both day and night. Thats quite a variety packed little fella huh? Just like this cd... Awsome DIY done hand crafted packaging, based on a bible concept, which really grabs your interest. I could tell it was hand made of there was glue on the cd, which made some of the tracks skip. Nevermind, they were ones I didn't like the sound of anyway. The ones I did like however were the HHH, Outbreak and Carnated ones, which are by far my favorite bands on this. I still don't get why European Ska-punk bands insist on trying to do american sounding vocals, especially when they are from Peterborough. The little booklet (the Psalms) tha comes with this has some interesting reading by people involved in this little project. Its nice to see such team work pull things off. With such is the nature of variety and this has plenty. (LH) | (*3) |
| "It Don’t Come Right To Me” Benefit CD | This comp is a benefit for the Cowley Club Collective (based in Brighton, UK), who are trying to raise money to buy a building to be converted into a bar, veggie cafÈ, performance space, library etc. There are 29 bands on this CD, including Sawn-Off, Combat Shock, WORM, Zemezluc, M.T.A., Profane, Annalise and Wat Tyler. The inlay contains information about the Cowley Club project and has a contact list for all the bands too. Support this worthy cause. (AG) | (*7) |
| "KANGAROO RECORDS - "Loved by few... Hated By Most" compliation 7" | This compilation is better than good because: a) Its a full on thrash attack with tracks from Milkman, Bury The Living, Crispus Attucks, Dandare, Brezhnev, The Blurters, AVO, Something In The Water, Anger In Motion and Jesus And The Gospelfuckers b) Its got rad comic artwork of kangaroos and people fighting each other as well as a cool poster c) All the bands featured have something inteligent to say in their lyrics d) All of the above (LH) | (*6) |
| "Kangaroo Records Comp. 7” | 11 bands, 12 songs, 1 7”. This is a pretty good comp if you want to find out what sort of stuff Kangeroo is releasing these days, or even if you want a comp with some of the best fast hardcore bands around! The bands are Tear It Up, Real Shit, A.V.O., Outcold, Yawp!, Seein’ Red, Milkman, The Neighbors, Rawhide, Creeping Jesus, and Deadstare. With the bands hailing from the U.S., Japan, Australia and Europe this is pretty much essential. (AG) | (*3) |
| KEITHS RECORDS - "Keiths Kompilation"- Cd | This 42 track double CD is absolutely cracking. Keiths Records is apparently a new non profit DIY label operating from the Wirral. I was a bit daunted by the dayglo artwork but reassured when I saw Grampus Eight, Flamingo 50 and Three Minute Margin had contributions on it and damn fine ones they are too. There is a total mix of stuff made this total heaven to listen to. Everything from crazy keyboard pop to pop punk to hardcore punk to emo hardcore to electronic to country to fifties to surf to thrash (I think that's it). It pretty covered the crazy world of my taste in music.... if there had been some hammond and classical I think I would have exploded. I was still pretty damn chuffed by the diversity whole thing. I liked the way bands like Plague of Vermin followed the country style of The Fortunate Children and preceded the fifties kitsch of the Frank and Beryl experience. Reframe the Concept had me air guitarring like I've never air guitarred before, even down to the pinch harmonics, fuckin tremendous. Apart from 2 or 3 tracks, particularly the banging (as my mum would say) ones, I thoroughly enjoyed this compilation which isn't bad considering there are 41 bands. Pure aceness and fuck me its only 3 quid. (COC) | (*8) |
| "MANOS MAL QUE NOS GUSTA LO PEOR - compilation CD | This is a comp featuring Peruvian bands such as FUTURO INCIERTO, Q.E.P.D. CARRENO, 3 AL HILO, ASMERIER, METADONA, AEROPAJITAS, and METAMORPHOSIS who all play the kind of catchy upbeat pop punk made popular by labels like Fat. The exceptions are MANGANZOIDS who sound like a sixties garage band (complete with Hammond organ and a psychopath on vocals), and PSICOSIS who play ska with a distinct salsa injection and a bizarre rendition of that stupid song that you are made to sing at new year.(AG) | (*6) |
| "MP FREE" - Flat Earth Records, MP3 free compilation | 313 - Magpies (Corvidae Pica pica) dominate farmland and suburban areas of Britain with the exception of northern Scotland. Said to be the bringers of bad luck, this often misunderstood bird is considered by some to be a bully and a pest, when in fact they provide a decent clean up, waste disposal service to mother nature, rooting out the sick and dying of other species. With its black and white pied plumage and long tail, Magpies fly rather slow and cumbersomely with rapid wingbeats compaired to most other birds, and are often found in small parties. During the winter months these gatherings tend to be larger, and the harsh 'chak-chak-chak' call dominates the cold air. Resilient DIY labels who stick with the times and use technology to keep DIY going kick ass. This is the raddest thing I've had in ages. Its basically an invitation to the mostly out of press Flat Earth discography of loads and loads of fucking tracks, by loads and loads of bands... All for free! You can even download and print off a cover too. Its a novel idea in the total DIY sharing things spirit. What could be more DIY than downloading and making your own cds? Awsome! (LH) | (*7) |
| Music for the underprivileged CD | 5 bands BLISTERHEAD (Sweden), BOMBSCARE (Australia), HOMEBREW (UK), DOGSHIT SANDWICH (UK) & TOWERBLOCKS (Germany). BLISTERHEAD start things off with 13 tracks (that’s pretty much a full albums worth) of Rancid/ Voice Of A Generation fast tuneful punk. Its starts off a bit sickly but overall they’re pretty damn rockin’. BOMBSCARE (6 songs) then wade in with their own punk style, less melodic but still good impact. DOGSHIT SANDWICH (9 tracks) play fast aggressive stuff, but its all a bit “bum-tit-bum-tit” pace-wise, which I really hate, although the guitarist tries to keep it a bit more interesting. HOMEBREW (7 songs) sounded a lot more aggressive than I remember them from live performances, decent but no real hooks to get me excited. I always wanted to hear someone do the “unclefucker” song from South Park and here it is, but it’s not that exciting. TOWERBLOCKS (2 songs) play a couple of basic Oi! tunes, not as good as the songs on the Runnin’ Riot split. (I was working when then played here the other week ? bummer!). This could have been a really decent release if it had just been a Blisterhead & Bombscare split. The rest was just filler for me. (JK) | (*8) |
| "NEVERENDING…/ THE (JUKEBOX) SCENARIO Benefit split 7” | This 7 “ is a benefit for Rote Hilfe, a left wing solidarity organisation that is not party dependent. They basically support people in Germany that are persecuted for political activities be they antisexist, antifascist, anti-war, pro working class struggle etc. Amongst other things they provide funds for lawyers, support for people who lose their jobs or receive fines and implement structures that can be used after a raid or repression in order to organise resistance. The idea is to take the inconvenience of criminal proceedings out of the equation of being a political activist. There is an excellent booklet that comes with the record with information in German, Englich and Spanish. The (jukebox) scenario- Total aceness. Made me think of Fugazi crossed with Unwound with a bit of Hoover thrown in to boot. Inspiring stuff. I liked these a lot. www.snc-empire.de/jukebox.html Neverending- The loud snare is a bit off putting, but otherwise this is pretty good. After trying to listen to this more I have come to the conclusion that the snare is unbearable. I’m sure this won’t bother most people though. Altogether this is an excellent record for an excellent cause. Consume guiltfree. (COC) | (*6) |
| "NO KNIFE/ NINE DAYS WONDER Split cd | 2 solid tracks by No knife with some top riffs a la Burning Airlines. The 3 by Nine Days Wonder were more in the vein of Engine Down meets Faraquet. The smart percussion really sold this to me. Wasn't sure if there was a real glockenspiel or keyboards but either way it sounds ace. Overall, well produced, well played and well structured. Pretty damn fine. (COC) | (*7) |
| "Now That's What I Call Punk CDR | 31 tracks of UK pop punk that is bursting with fake US accents and little Ska breakdowns - great! We're also fortunate enough to be granted a little ditty from the new darlings of the PHD empire, MR ZIPPY, under license of course…(SH) | (*6) |
| "ONE LAW FOR THEM, ANOTHER ONE FOR US' - CD | A benefit for the Justice for Mark Barnsley campaign, Mark was beaten up , fitted up and has been locked up for the last 8 years, what happened to him could happen to any of us - more info elsewhere in this issue and we hope to interview Mark after his release later this year as part of the continual campaign against this injustice.. So, onto the CD itself , the levels are up and down a bit over the 22 tracks, I'm onto the last one now and I must say it's been a lot of fun - it's mainly 'street' (are the streets these bands live on any worse than the streets people in fast / stoner bands live on???) punk / oi bands - The BUSINESS, CONTEMPT, TEMPLARS, RED ALERT, REAZIONE, VIOLENT AFFRAY, SCUM for example , then there's BLYTH POWER and ATILLA THE STOCKBROKER doing their thing, a bizarre surf track from CHESTER and the Maltese nu-metal of NORM REJECTION, and I finally got to hear the legendary DOGSHIT SANDWICH! Good value for money, money which is going to a damn worthy cause, the title says it all. (SN) | (*3) |
| "Passing Bells’ - 7” | Birds and Trees on the cover opening out into a RUDIMENTARY PENI style poster with skulls, crosses and mushrooms.. 6 fine Finnish Bands contained herein: WASTED (straightforward rocking stuff) MANIFESTO JUKEBOX (awesome version of BORN AGAINST’s ‘Shroud’), HERO DISHONEST (short, simple, snotty), SHARPEVILLE (Kirous cover song done with bulldozing power), DIASPORA (Female fronted anarcho punk) and UNKIND (Unplugged - campfire crust!) All the bands have great lyrics and put their points across well - a WELL worthy snapshot of the current / recent Finnish scene. Yeah! (SN) | (*7) |
| PLASTIC BOMB Compilation CD | FREE with No.40 of zine Thirty-one tracks here on this Free Comp.CD from pretty much all bands that I had never, apart from one or two, ever heard of. Mostly the bands featured are German from what I can gather and all are really well produced and have a good sound to them.. Standouts for me were WOLFBRIGDADE and RED WITH ANGER but honestly, this is just a good sampler compilation whereby you can hear some new or unfamiliar bands. As noted above, this comes free with PLASTIC BOMB Zine #40 so if you’re interested, check it out!! (SHY) | (*8) |
| "PREVENT THIS TRAGEDY” - Skate-core compilation vol.1 | This is the shit!! Any records that involve fast/oldschool hardcore and skating have got to be good. Some of these songs have already been released on other things, but never mind! With lyrics like this you can’t go wrong “Kickflip, ollie, acid drop, skate all day and never stop, pulling stalefish off the vert, ripped up vision street wear shirt, always catch the biggest air, swankest style the smoothest hair, making all the betty’s drool, oh skt boy, you’re so cool.”- Skt Skt Skt by REINFORCE. The other bands featured are THE SWARM, SUICIDE NOTE, H-STREET, IN REACH, DIEHARD YOUTH and the band who refuses to be named. The booklet takes the form of classic skate ads from days gone by which have been re-done by the bands.A fun record and a damn good one too.(AG) | (*5) |
| "PUNK & DISoi!DERLY CD | How come Oi comps are generally better than hardcore ones? This one is no exception, opening with FUNERAL DRESS (Bel) sounding like BLITZ’s “razors”. The styles on here are pretty varied but all are winners. Some of the standouts are BANNER OF HOPE (US) ? fast as fuck w/ female vocals, GC5 (US) ? Dropkick’s jig, INSTANT AGONY (Eng) ? catchy slower stuff (Up The Rovers!), BONECRUSHER (US) ? classy hard edged Oi, CASUALTIES (US) ? fast & brutal, ANTIDOTE (Hol) ? fast & angry. Some great proper punk haircuts, too on the sleeve. My only negative was that there is no info or addresses for any of the bands. One for the collection me thinks. (JK) | (*2) |
| "REJECTED VOL III - Rev. William McCrea selects 2001/2002 | A compilation from Irelands Rejected Records, who have put out stuff by Striknien D.C, Leatherface and Runnin Riot amongst others. Rejected started as a zine and radio show, back in 91, becoming a record label in 94 ,after being a tape label, Mero also runs a newsletter and side labels, and has a record shop in Dublin. Like most compilations this has some good and bad, my favourites being the tracks by Runnin Riot and Blood or Whisky, mind you The Restarts track is a pretty good one, as well. This is all mainly straight forward punk, not too inspiring, sorry for not being more enthusiastic, but I am a tad tired what is inspiring is what Mero has achieved in the last decade and how he has made it possible for a lot of Irish (and not so Irish) punk bands to get themselves heard. Keep up the good work! (G) | (*7) |
| "RUBRIC RECORDS SAMPLER #1 | 20 track compilation album. Extremely varied from country to acoustic to rock to full on rock n roll. Thankfully it had Gogol Bordello and on it. The Heroin Sheiks had a good slow dirge about them and the Takers had an upbeat Spaceman 3 feel about them. Wasn't overly impressed with the rest. Scorched Earth's "woman gone bad" stood out as a particularly pitiful experience a la Tom Jones gone spandex. (COC) | (*6) |
| "RUNNING RIOT RECORDS AND THE COLLECTIVE PRESENT SAMPLER #1 CD | This is an enthusiastically put together sampler CD compilation highlighting 17 relatively 'new' bands from the UK and one from Germany. There is one song from each band and whilst there are some competent bands on here, there is little in the way anything that strikes you as being something different - some of the recordings on here I would not even remotely classify as being punk in any way, shape or form, I mean EMPATHY'S track is pure 'rock'! There are a lot of bands here doing the ska-punk thing too. Overall, this is a good idea to get lots of bands heard and highlighted cheaply and the quality of most of the recording s is decent, however, as previously mentioned, a lot of this is simply not, at least musically - punk! (SHY) | (*6) |
| "SCHNUSIC- SCHNEWS COMPILATION | 18 track compilation involving bands such as Digital Support Group, Flatpig, Far out Fishing. A variety of styles from punk to dub. Schnews is an outstanding DIY political information source to support. (COC) | (*7) |
| "Shades of Volume" CD | Scarborough and area comp 'Made for young people to express their views and feelings'. A benefit for the DIY collective (the only 100% autonomous youth led group in England) and their venue /drop in place 'The Warehouse" (dig out R2B issue 1 for the full interview). Musically varied (as hinted at by the Cd's title), it's mainly the people from the hardcore band BELLIGERANT DECLARATION in various guises - they kick it off in fine style with their eponymous and most memorable song. A NATION MOURNED does the miserable emo thing quite well, PHALLUS STENCH - do noisy chaotic 'art'. Some great female singer / songwriter stuff from Kath, Harriet and Rae. The winner for me though is ARKITEX Featuring 'The Edger' who is rapping like a young BLADE, dissing the bling bling thing, UK Hip Hop I wanna hear more! I like the way this comp has been brought together through co-operation and a sense of community (rather than genre based). Refreshing to hear on the day Joe Strummer died - from Garageland to the Warehouse! (SN) | (*8) |
| "SIN FRONTERAS NI BANDERAS VOL 1 comp CD | This is truely awsome! It comes with a 8” sq cut & paste booklet and the cd is wrapped up in a cloth cover! All in spainish and featuring plenty of great bands. The production is raw, sometimes live, but the tunes and the energy is flowing full speed ahead making this really enjoyable and gnarly. And Gnarly is my favorite word. 20 different South American Bands from places like Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Boliva, Argentina and closer to home Spain. Each band has thier own sound and pretty political sounding lyrics. Makes you wonder how gnarly it is down there. I always find this type of HC the most sincere and powerful over some middle class suburban kid in a wifebeater vest playing his expensive guitar and showing off moronic his dance moves. Definatley get this! (LH) | (*6) |
| "SYRENS” 10” | This is an international compilation of women’s noise and experimental music, ranging from the ambient lo-fi echoey stuff of Japan’s S.ISABELLA to the U.S’s NUCLEAR PIGSHIT which is noise, pure and simple. MAMMAL HOLIDAY is distorted drums all remixed tae fuck, KEIKO A is dark ambience, ANGELICA ROSENTHAL is almost electro pop ala KRAFWERK with a bit of ‘Heathen Earth’ era THROBBING GRISTLE before diving into Drum and Bass territory. That’s just half the names on this invigorating and innovative comp , it’s great to hear some women noise makers, I thought it was all spotty blokes, Excellent! (SN) | (*2) |
| "The Best Punk Rock in Japan Tomobachi” CD | Apart from Three Minute Movie, who did a split 7” with Braid a while back, I had never heard of any of the bands on this compilation. I guess that’s why this record exists: to get more Japanese bands heard over in Europe. The inlay gives loads of information about each band: discographies and samples of lyrics etc. The packaging and artwork is really nice, especially with the pullout tracing paper bit which makes the front cover look totally cool. Anyway, onto the music... there are a good variety of musical styles here but mostly melodic hardcore and pop punk. Some aren’t so good but on the whole the bands are great particularly Screaming Fat Rat, My Winter Jane and Longball to No-one. (CB) | (*6) |
| THESE THINGS HAPPEN - Vol.1 CD | This is a 23 track Compilation featuring some well-known bands: Travis Cut, Horace Goes Skiing and Annalise; and also some less well-known bands. There is quite a mixture of musical styles here but mostly the bands are pop punk and melodic hardcore. The overall production on this is brilliant, not what you expect from DIY punk rock compilations usually! I don't think there was one song on this that I didn't like: Definitely recommended! (CB) | (*8) |
| "THIS ARE U.K. SKA | This is a ten track compilation with a variety of UK ska bands which covers a broad range of styles from trad ska and reggae through to 2 tone and ska/punk. I found most of the CD pretty boring to be honest, with the PROPAGUMBHIS being the only band to raise the energy levels enough for my liking with their cover of Good guys. The other bands featured are SHOOTIN GOON, REBELATION, GREAT GOOGA MOOGAS, SPLITTERS, MUTTLY, YE WILES, FAT JABBA, KENISIA and 100 MEN. (AG) | (*4) |
| "this is the like vol. 5 CD | Yes, this is a great comps worth of stuff from Japan. Never heard any of the bands on here before but I liked them all. The styles are varied THE BLANK GENERATION play street punk (but with loads of distortion), SOUL CRAFT reminded me of Agnostic Front, there’s some 80’s sounding straight edge from DISTRICT. Some of the others just go for an all out distortionattack. Others bands are RESISTANCE, URBAN HEAD RAW,WHAT EVER, ENSIGHT INFECTION, VICIOUS REVENGE, PAIX, REBEL YOUTH & F.G.C. (2 others in Japanese). Fuck yeah. (JK) | (*1) |
| "To Be Continued..." CDr | A pretty cool international compilation from a new Manchester-based label. featuring a fair mix of styles. Fig. 4.0 are present with their classy blend of thrash-attack hardcore punk stop-start melodies, the now split DC-9 with a more stripped down hardcore sound, Carry On blasting out some powerful US hardcore, Buzzkill and their RFTC-esque rockage, the also now-split Dead Inside, and some other bands I hadn't heard before - Bow Echo & Modus Operandi - both over on the melodic end of the spectrum - and No Warning & Panic - both on Bridge Nine records, so have that "pissed off" US hardcore sound. A good start to a new label, definitely a keeper as a compilation. Not sure if this is getting pressed properly or not, so email Marios for details. (SW) | (*8) |
| "total future" CDR | First off you’re getting a CDR with photocopied artwork ? so I guess that means it’s DIY as fuck. 2 or 3 songs from 12 different bands playing different styles of punk/ hardcore. The bands are SELKAUS, MIXAMATOSIS, TOTUUS,THEMA ELEVEN,BLINDSPOT A.D.,HELTER SKELTER, CORNFLAKES FREAKS, YACOPSAE, BORN SICK, SEE YOU IN HELL, APPARAT CHICKS & PIONEER OF TSCHERNOBYL. All of this is pretty decent ? my favs being Selkaus (hard street rock), Blindspot A.D. (blistering fucked up grind), Yacopsae (faster than fast) & Apparat Chicks (melodic heavy Husker Du stuff). Decent (JK) | (*3) |
| "UNORGANISED CHAOS CD | A compilation showcasing the current wave of British diy punk rock & ska. Plenty of variation here from the fantastic ska of MIGHTY SNORTING POWDER RANGERS “when shit happens” to the punk of DOG ON A ROPE or FOUR LETTER WORD. There’s the more hardcore sounding OSTRACIZED, KISMET HC & THE JONES and HOMEBREW try to Oi it up. FDK’s angst ridden song over a slow ska backdrop deserves a mention, too. Decent stuff. (JK) | (*3) |
| "What Would Mummy Say?” CD | The packaging of this cd is rubbish: just a really crap picture on the front, no photos and no information about the bands other than contactaddresses. It sounds stupid but I couldn’t even work out which country some of the bands were from with the sparse information given. The concept of the compilation is a good one though: to help out new bands from Britain, Sweden, Germany and Norway and to throw in a couple of new tracks by more established bands. In this case, the established bands are Vanilla Pod, Annalise and the Jon Does. I’m afraid that this just isn’t my kind of thing though.Apart from the Vanilla Pod song which is pretty good, this album merely ranges from bland pop punk to absolutely bloody awful god-knows-what. Laminator, for instance, was so infernally horrendous that I began to contemplate ramming my review-writing pen repeatedly into my eyes whilst cackling wildly. Anyway, if you like this kind of thing then this is probably a bargain: 22 tracks in total and probably at a fairly cheap price. (CB) | (*2) |