Necessary Evils

It's impossible to talk about the Necessary Evils and not mention how goddamn evil and menacing they sound. You can't ignore the sinister undercurrent that runs through their body of work. Featuring former members of Fireworks and Beguiled, the Necessary Evils spent the last half of the 90's releasing two albums and a handful of singles of damaged, fucked up, and fuzzed out psycho garage.

Necessary Evils - Pretty White Girl on a Black Death Train.mp3
from 1997's debut LP Spider Fingers. This is one of 12 cuts of fuzzed out guitar riffs, desperate vocals, creepy organ and strange synth sounds all captured on a beautiful no-fi recording.

Necessary Evils - Buzzsaw Parts 1 & 2.mp3
Appropriately this 1997 7" is labeled as In The Red 666. 4 plus minutes of guitar, screaming, and sawing spread over two sides of vinyl. This is the soundtrack to dismemberment.

Necessary Evils - Glory Hole.mp3
from the 1998 album The Sicko Inside Me. A wall of noise guitar sound and insane vocals make this my choice cut off the album. Better than Spider Fingers, Sicko... features 13 songs total ( well 12 and 1 feedback mess ) including cool covers of songs by the Seeds, Black Rose, and the Keggs. I had trouble picking songs from this one, so you know, there may be a couple of other tracks on the server someplace if you get nosy.

I'm pretty sure the band is no more, with guitarist James Arthur subsequently playing with A Feast of Snakes (also defunct?) and a couple of other bands.

Busted At Oz

Busted At Oz was one of the earliest Chicago punk comps, featuring a nice cross section of bands involved in the scene. 6 bands, 16 tracks, all recorded live at Oz nightclub in early 1981. Highlights include smoking tracks from Strike Under, the Effigies, and the Subverts. Also included are 4 early Naked Raygun tracks, experimental weirdness from Silver Abuse, and artsy fem-punk from DA.

Effigies - Guns Or Ballots.mp3
I'll have a post dedicated to the greatness of the Effigies at a later date. Suffice it to say, this is one of their best. You gotta respect that BIG guitar sound. Man, I love the Effigies.

Strike Under - Fucking Uniforms.mp3
Strike Under - Anarchy Song.mp3
Don't let the sophmoric titles fool you. This is some pretty fierce shit from Strike Under. Featuring Pierre Kezdy (later Naked Raygun/Pegboy) and Steve Bjorklund (Breaking Circus), Strike Under dissolved not too long after these tracks were recorded, leaving only a hard to find 12" and these tracks in their wake. If anyone has a copy of the "Immediate Action" (vinyl or even mp3) please get in touch.

Naked Raygun - When The Screaming Stops.mp3
NR in their earliest form. Weird, half-baked new wave type stuff complete with odd synth sounds. Bares little to no resemblance musically and personally to the band they would later become (singer Jeff Pezzati was the only holdover). This is the most straight forward of their four songs on the comp.

Subverts - State of the Union.mp3
simple, snotty punk with a "west coast" sound (which means I can't pinpoint what other band they remind me of) . They had one 7" in addition to these tracks that I have not heard. If anyone has an mp3 copy of that 7" please get in touch

Thanksgiving w/ Rye Coalition

Tomorrow we in America take some time to reflect on all we are grateful for. Actually we just eat a meal that would choke a horse, pass out, wake up and eat again, sleep, and get up early Friday AM to shop. Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the US. To the international readers, enjoy an uneventful Thursday. And once again, Sorry About Everything.

There isn't a whole lot of Thanksgiving music, at least in my collection. This is the best I can do. a 7 minute epic from the Rye Coalition. Heavy Jesus Lizard influence and screamo vocals. I dig it.

Rye Coalition - Thanksgiving Day for Cats.mp3

If you like, why not stop over to Epitonic for a couple more?

Flipper

This was inspired by Jason over at Mystery&Misery, who was jonesing for some Flipper.

Two tonight from Generic Flipper, the San Francisco quartet's 1982 debut LP. TrouserPress has a nice description of the band and their sound. Flipper had a way of capturing both the beauty and ugliness of life and presenting it in stark, memorable fashion. Slower tempos (by hardcore standards) and noisy, muddy production only added to the feeling of desperation on many of these tracks. I enjoy this much more now all the way through than when I originally bought the record. Their singles collection Sex Bomb Baby is also worth a listen.

Flipper - Shed No Tears.mp3
The dual bass dirge of Will Shatter and Bruce Lose stands out on this one. Total sludge and guitar skronk punctuated by Shatter's nihilistic lyrics.

Flipper - The Way of the World.mp3
Despite the upbeat tempo, the music and lyrics bleed with a feeling of melancholy. The subtle cruelties of life summed up in 4 verses. My all time Flipper favorite.

American Youth Report

Well, this was supposed to go out on Friday as part of my plan to cover a different comp each Friday. Well, one thing led to another and the schedule got all fucked up. What are you going to do?

American Youth Report
A compilation of Southern California punk released on the Bomp! label in 1982. This is billed as "part one", though I've never seen nor heard of a part two. Plenty of "names" on this one, including Bad Religion, Descendents, Minutemen, Adolescents and TSOL. For the most part the entire compilation is solid, though most of the songs were taken from existing releases by the bands. This is a nice sampler of early 80's SoCal punk. kFTH has the liner notes

MIA - Tell Me Why.mp3
A melodic punk number with some jackhammer piano thrown in for good measure. For so many years I didn't care for MIA, but I've come to appreciate them in recent years. Reissued by Alternative Tentacles as part of the Lost Boys CD

TSOL - Sounds of Laughter.mp3
This is much rougher and more uptempo than I really recall TSOL being. I'll have to listen to Dance With Me (from which this track is taken) and Beneath the Shadows again.

Modern Warfare - One For All.mp3
straight and to the point. Early style HC, played fast and loose. This was much more direct than their later, stranger material.

Flesheaters - Pony Dress.mp3
Every time I hear the intro I think it's "Shallow Water". A stripped down raucous tune that doesn't have the frills that some of their other work had. This also appeared earlier on the Tooth And Nail compilation

RF7 - Jesus Loves You.mp3
a shuffling, jangly punk jaunt. I'm still not sure if the reference to Bad Religion is an inside joke or a taunt. This is more distinctive and fun sounding than their other work ( that I remember ). From their Weight of The World LP

Halo Of Flies

I've been meaning to post this one for three days. If this sounds hurried ( more so than usual) forgive me. I'm at work.

Halo of Flies was initially formed in Minneapolis as a "studio" project by Tom Hazelmeyer and drummer John Anglen. Bassist and former AmRep house producer Tim Mac joined soon afterward. You may be familiar with Haze: Halo of Flies singer/guitarist, Founder of AmRep Records, ex-marine, temporary U-Men bassist, so on and so forth. Starting in '86 Halo of Flies began releasing 7 inches of schizoid garage rock. An amalgem of 60's garage, 70's (motor city) rock, noise guitar and fuck all attitude. In 1991 most of the singles and 12 inches were compiled into one CD reissue, Insect Music for Insect Minds.

Halo of Flies - Headburn.mp3
"I want my head to blaze like some fucking sun!" Angry and brutal. Originally from the 1988 12" of the same name, released on Minneapolis label Twintone records.

Halo of Flies - Garbage Rock.mp3
a 4 song mini LP from 1987, also on Twintone. The title says it all. Fast and piledriving, their best balls out rocker.

Halo of Flies - How Does it Feel to Feel.mp3
The "B" side to 1987's "Richie's Dog" 7 inch. A pretty cool amped up cover of a Creation song.
Slower, lots of feedback/reverb make this a standout.

Grunnenrocks has the full discography

A-Frames

I'm not sure how to describe the sound of Seattle's A-Frames without copping from existing reviews of the band. How about: disjointed, atonal robot rock that is strangely catchy for being such monotonous, repetitive music. The A-Frames build upon the lost, early sounds of bands like Joy Division, Wire and Devo by adding more noise and more drive. The trio has released two albums and a couple of singles in the past 2 years. Apparently their next album will be on Subpop, so let the hype begin! Below are two tracks from their second ( numerically correct ) album 2. Both are angular, noisy fun.

A-Frames - Modula.mp3
A-Frames - Futureworld.mp3

And one from their website

A-Frames - Crutches.mp3

Soulside

After all these years I'm still not sure if it is "Soul Side" or "Soulside". Even the Dischord site has it spelled both ways. Ah to hell with it. Soulside were responsible for churning out some dark, moody "emo" core ( for lack of a better term ) in DC in the late 80's. They were quite prolific in their short lifespan - 3 full lengths and 7" in less than 3 years. Progessing from a straight up "posi" melodic HC sound on Less Deep Inside Keeps to a dark, noisy realm on Hot Bodi-Gram, Soulside's albums all sound a bit different and unique. 3/4 of the band ( sans singer Bobby Sullivan ) went on to form 90's indie band Girls Against Boys ( and eventually 2 of those went on to New Wet Kojak )

Soulside - Walking.mp3
from their 1987 album Less Deep Inside Keeps. 11 songs of typical "emo" hardcore - soaring guitars, melodic choruses, plaintive, positive vocals. Slow start that builds to a speedy conclusion. Sounds like a mix of GI, Gray Matter, and Verbal Assault. Well, maybe not. This was released on the long lost Sammich label, which chronicled some of the lower profile DC bands ( Shudder To Think, Swiz ). Sounds positively sunny in comparision to their later releases. Still holds up pretty good.

Soulside - Name in Mind.mp3
From 1988's Trigger LP on Dischord. This album is slower, darker, less immediate than Less Deep... But it's many ways more powerful due to it slow burn nature. More accomplished musically with longer and more complex song structures ( for the genre ). The lyrics are less by the numbers. A great mood album. This track was also on the DC comp State of The Union

Soulside - Pembroke.mp3
From their final LP, 1989's Hot Bodi Gram. Career climax, or the post Trigger backslide? I still can't decide and I've had this thing for 15 years. Definitely noiser and more chaotic than their previous work, oft times dark and depressing. Stylistically you can see the future GVSB direction on this one. Still enjoyable if you can get past the cryptic lyrics and monotone vocals. All in all, this pairs up nicely with Trigger on the CD Reissue Soon Come Happy

Process of Elimination

Touch & Go records Process of Elimination compilation was one of the first to catalog the early Midwest/Detroit hardcore scene. (All bands were from Michigan and Ohio) . Released in 1981, Process of Elimination featured 8 bands packed onto one 7 inch platter. Some of the big hitters on this one include Toxic Reasons, Necros, Negative Approach, and The Fix. Dementlieu has the goods on this.

Necros - Bad Dream.mp3
The pride of Maumee, OH. I'll opine on the virtues of the Necros another day. This is basic hardcore, nothing terribly distinctive. This song would appear in better form on their 1983 Conquest For Death album

Negative Approach - Lost Cause.mp3
the first released output from Detroit's killer Negative Approach. Fast and furious, it clocks in at 38 seconds. I believe this is from their first demo tape. Not as good as the material on their first 7" and mLP, but you can see the potential. This track was reissued on the Total Recall complete discography CD in the early '90's

Youth Patrol - America's Power.mp3
Sounds like The Fix with less powerful vocals. I can't track down any other info.

Toxic Reasons - Riot Squad.mp3
This is the highlight of the comp. A rough, mid-tempo kick in the nuts from Dayton's Toxic Reasons. This cut also appeared on their first LP Independence, which was chock full of tough and melodic hardcore.

The Fix - No Idols.mp3
Another classic cut from the Fix. Fast, powerful, scary. The Fix deserve so much more credit for the role they played in defining the US hardcore sound than they ever get. All they've left us with is two 7 inches, this comp cut, and some demos. Tragic

Soldier's Requiem

A dose of the Chicago sound in honor of Veteran's Day

Naked Raygun - Soldier's Requiem.mp3
The lead track from 1987's Jettison LP. This is the typical Naked Raygun anthem - searing guitar, galloping drums, and all of the "whoas" and "hos" one can handle. Jettison as a whole is bit of a disappoinment, mainly due to it's generally crappy production. It's thin and tinny sounding in too many places, which kills a pretty good set of songs. Not a bad album by any stretch, but I'd recommend Throb, Throb or All Rise before this one.

More from Epitonic:

Metastasis.mp3 - from Throb, Throb
Home of The Brave.mp3 - From All Rise
Walk in Cold.mp3 - From Jettison
Coldbringer.mp - From Jettison

Deep Wound

If it weren't for the presence of J Mascis and Lou Barlow Deep Wound would probably be buried deep in the scrap pile of forgotten 80's hardcore bands. Boasting teenagers Mascis on drums and Barlow on guitar, Deep Wound appeared out of the wilds of western Massachusetts in the early 80's. They released one 7" and a couple of comp tracks before dissolving. You already know what J and Lou went on to after all of this.

The two tracks here are from their only 7", released in 1983 on the Radiobeat label. 9 tracks of furious, hyper thrash in the vein of Seige, Void, and Negative FX. To be honest this hasn't aged all that well. The two tracks below do have a somewhat unique feel to them, and serve to bookend the 7 short, tuneless songs that make up the rest of the EP

Deep Wound - I Saw It.mp3
The first track from the EP, slower and more controlled sounding than most of the other songs. What Deep Wound lacks in ability they make up for with energy, at least on this one.

Deep Wound - Dead Babies.mp3
The last track. Slower than the others with a discordant sound. Not sure what the hell the lyrics have to do with dead babies, but I'm guessing they may have been going for shock value. My favorite song on the EP.

I'm not sure if this has been legitimately reissued. Lost&Found booted this many years ago, but I've seen nothing recent. Eh, for serious fans and completists only.

Lazy Cowgirls

Patt Todd and company have been cranking out rock and roll for close to twenty years now. The Cowgirls released their first album of amped up garage rock back in 1985. Their tenth album (I'm Goin' Out and Get Hurt Tonight ) was just released this past year. The Cowgirls have never strayed too far from their original blueprint: 3 Chord rock inspired by the Ramones, the Stones, 60's garage, and a hint of R&B . Latter albums have thrown in a heaping handful of country flavor. The key all along has been Patt Todd's big, gravelly voice. Vertically challenged and bald, Todd looks more like a high school science teacher ( or at least my high school chem teacher ) than a professional rock and roller. Looks can be deceiving, as evidenced by the following tracks.

Lazy Cowgirls - Reoccuring Thang.mp3
From their second and most urgent LP. Tapping the Source was released in 1987 and is the band's best effort. 11 songs of overdriven Ramonesy goodness. My favorite by these guys. Some will argue that 1995's Ragged Soul is a better LP. While it is good, it sounds flat and clean compared to Tapping The Source. This is the place to start for those unfamiliar with the band.


Lazy Cowgirls - Reborn.mp3
From the 1988 mini LP Third Times The Charm. A decent crop of songs marred by shitty production. Still, I had to post this cover of the Shitdogs classic take on the reformation of Larry Flynnt. This has been appended to the CD version of 1990's How it Looks, How it Is

Lazy Cowgirls - You're Gonna Miss Me.mp3
a live take of the 13th Floor Elevators signature song. This was from the "live on the air" LP Radio Cowgirl which captured a raging live set of covers and originals. "You're Gonna Miss Me" is the closer. Clocking in at 6+ minutes, it burns with pure electric energy. The band recorded a studio version of the same song for their self-titled debut, but it sounds mild in comparison. The CD release tacks on a bunch of singles and one-offs. Good to have if you can track it down.

Welcome to 1984

The title could be read as some kind of political "Big Brother" comment, but nope, it's compilation Friday.

Welcome to 1984
One of the first international hardcore compilations, put out by Maximum Rock&Roll in 1984. 23 bands from 17 countries. At the time I first heard this many of these bands were unknown to me. I was just amazed at how the music translated around the world, regardless of the language or geography. Now, 20 years later a great deal of this sounds unaccomplished, generic, etc. Some of it still stands out. The highlights:

Terveet Kadet - Outa Maa.mp3
47 seconds of freaked out Finnish thrash. I used to read a lot about Terveet Kadet in zines like MRR, but I was never able to track down anything else by them. Oh, the days before the internet...

NOTA - Propaganda Control.mp3
Speedy, guitar heavy hardcore from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I bought this comp because of NOTA - a band I had heard on tape but whose releases I could never track down. This track later appeared on their 1985 self-titled LP in more polished form.

Kidnap - No SS.mp3
melodic mid-tempo punk/oi from France. Kind of long at 4+minutes, especially when the lyrics consist mostly of "No, No, No, No" and "Fucking Nazis". Never heard anything else from them.

Raw Power - Fuck Authority.mp3
The epitome of 80's Italian Hardcore. Insanse screamo vocals, hyperfast guitar, and the odd "rock" flourish, in this case cowbell. I love cowbell.

Depression - What A Strange World.mp3
A slow and powerful hardcore song from this Australian band. The guitar sound and vocals make this one enjoyable for me. Pre-metal phase.

BGK - Computer Control.mp3
A tight and fast one from Balthasar Gerards Kommando. This song and "Arms Race" from the War/Peace comp turned me into a fan. After many years I was finally able to hear their albums when their complete discography was reissued on Alternative Tentacles in the late '90's

Post Election Blues

Needless to say the results of yesterday's election are disappointing. Depressing even. Not just for the 55 million Americans who wanted a change, but for the millions of people worldwide who will undoubtedly feel the repercussions of a second term of this bullshit.

Fuck it. A couple of songs summing up my thoughts:

Black Flag - Depression.mp3
From 1981's classic Damaged LP. Rollins screaming, Greg Ginn laying that thick piledriver guitar down. Song title says it all.

Youth Brigade - Moral Majority.mp3
A cut from the legendary Flex your Head comp. The music may sound a bit dated but unfortunately the message is still dead on. How much further to the right can we go?

Christ on A Crutch - Nation of Sheep.mp3
59 million voted for Bush. How many did so out of fear? Fucking sheep. Originally on the MRR comp They Don't Get Laid, They Don't Get Paid, But Boy Do They Work Hard. Reissued by NRA as part of the odds and ends package Shit Edge...

Vote!!!

Craig from Songs:Illinois came up with this idea, a chance for some of us MP3 Bloggers to do our part. I'll try not to be too partisan, but you know - go Kerry!



Hey!! Stop what you're doing! You're not going to find that Arcade Fire live bootleg today, nor will you be stumbling across the b-side to "Hand In Glove", and there's no way you'll be finding that unreleased Pixies album. What you need to do is get ready to vote in the most important election of our lives. Figure out where your nearest polling place is and make sure you are registered. Tell your friends to vote, tell your enemies for that matter. But just vote.

Worried that you're not informed enough to vote? You're on the internet - the information is out there waiting for you. Not a U.S. citizen? Then please call or email all your American friends and make sure they plan on voting. Many artists/organizations are stepping up and helping with the Get Out the Vote campaign, and now so are many of us in the music blogging community. Below are some links but please continue to add your own.

Moveon.com
RockTheVote.com
JohnKerry.com
GeorgeWBush.com
MusicForAmerica.org
DeclareYourself
JustVote
MyPollingPlace
GetEducated

And since this is an mp3blog we've added a couple of songs to boot.

Here's a song For Kerry supporters.

And one for the Bush fans as well.

Get Out And Vote On Novemeber 2nd. Regular Blogging Will Commence On
November 3rd.

Thanks,

Music Bloggers For Democracy