Hey my old buddy Bob Suren from Sound Idea distro has been doing a punk and hardcore music podcast for a bit now and I’m finally catching up…check this one out because Bob knows his shit… -Dave K.
Play list and notes (Show #6 DATE: OCT 13, 2007)
01 Society Dog “The Baby’s Dead” (CA)
This one never fails to get my blood pumping. Just one of the four great songs you will find on the “Off The Leash” 7″, released by Subterranean Records in 1981. “Off The Leash” is the band’s second record and, in my opinion, their best. Since their first record, “Working Class People,” released in the previous year, the band sped up, trimmed song length and the singer, the late Jonathan Christ, really found his voice. “Working Class People” is a good record, too, so if you see it, don’t pass it up. After Society Dog, Jonathan Christ went to sing for Code Of Honor. He died sometime in the 1990s and the band reformed with a new singer. The new line up re-recorded all of the old SD songs and put out a CD. Unfortunately, the magic was gone by then. And even though I am a huge Society Dog fan, I just could not listen to that CD. Society Dog also had 1 song on the “San Francisco Underground Vol 2″ 7″ compilation, a record we’ll be dipping into in Show #34, the San Francisco Punk Special. That’s 28 weeks from now. Mark your calendar.
02 Subterranean Kids “Gente” (Spain)
03 No Fraud “Agression” (FL)
Here’s a pair of tracks I lifted from the “Attack Is Now Suicide” compilation LP from 1988 on Double A Records, a defunct German label. Cool comp it is with Stikky, Asocial, OHM, Raped Reenagers, Extrem and more. I don’t know how easy it would be to find, but it shouldn’t be too expensive. Anyhow, Subterranean Kids were from Barcelona, a beautiful city if you’ve never seen it. While I was there, I visited the singer’s cool record store, Outline Records. “Gente” can also be heard on the band’s “Los Ojos De la Victima” LP and on “85-88: The Hardcore Years,” a CD released by Tralla Records.
Meanwhile, No Fraud was one of Florida’s best hardcore bands in the mid to late 1980s. My copy of the No Fraud discography CD says that “Agression” was only available on “Attack Is Now Suicide.” I like that, when bands make a song exclusively for a compilation. Doesn’t happen too much any more. Or if it does, it’s a throw away song. I think “Agression” is a ripper, suitable of its title. Get your hands on that discography CD if you can. Or if you are a vinyl nut, hunt down their first 7″ record entitled, “The E.P.” No Fraud still plays once in a while and they were great last time I saw them.
04 Outpatients “Fight” (MA)
05 Deep Wound “You’re False” (MA)
Since I am digging around in my comps, here’s a pair of songs from the “Bands That Could Be God” compilation LP, released by Conflict Records in 1984. Really, Outpatients and Deep Wound are the only good bands on this album. Each has two songs. The Outpatients are one hell of an underrated band. Most of their best songs were available as a cassette-only release which became known to tape traders as, “The Basement Tape.” In 1995, the band released “The Basement Tape” as a CD called, “Hardcore Outcasts Revisited: ‘82-84.” Do anything in your power to find this CD of extrodinary hardcore. The Outpatients really SHOULD have been gods, but for whatever reason, didn’t get a lot of notoriety outside of their area. Sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s, some early Outpatients material was released as a split LP with another MA band called Da Stupids. You can try looking for that, too. A bit of a warning, the Outpatients did some later records that were decidely more rock and are not to my liking. Maybe you’ll dig them, but I don’t. One of them was called “Free Association” (Incas Records, 1987). Approach with caution.
Outpatients bassist Scott Helland also played in Deep Wound, who are much more well known, particularly among vinyl collectors with fat wallets. I took “You’re False” from “Bands That Could Be God,” but it can also be heard on Deep Wound’s super-rare “I Saw It” 7″. Deep Wound has been bootlegged a few times, but now an official Deep Wound discography has been put out by Rough Trade. Apparently one of the guys from Deep Wound gave up hardcore in the late 1980s and started some indie rock band that’s popular with college wimps. Well, thanks for making some great music before you quit, Famous Guy.
06 Blast “Our Explanation” (CA)
Think these guys listened to a lot of Black Flag? I know they did. Inside of their LP, “The Power Of Expression,” they write, “And thanks to Black Flag (for existing).” This song is my top pick from that album, released by SST in 1987. I believe there was an early pressing on Wishing Well Records. Anyhow, Blast began life as M.A.D., a more straight-forward HC band. You can hear what is probably their only vinyl appearance on the “Not So Quiet On The Western Front” double LP compilation.
07 Direct Action “Damn-Age” (Canada)
Back to the comps for this hot track from Direct Action. This song comes from “There’s A Method To Our Madness,” an LP released by Phantom Records in 1986. Find more info about Direct Action on Kill From The Heart, a fantastic resource that I refer to frequently on this show. If you haven’t checked it out, you’re missing some good stuff.
08 Bazooka Joe “Phoenix” (SC)
More compilation madness. This one is from the Maximum Rocknroll comp LP/cassette (yes, a tape), “They Don’t Get Paid, They Don’t Get Laid, But Boy Do They Work Hard” from 1989. I’d purchased Bazooka Joe’s two earlier 7″s but they didn’t impress me much. By the time they recorded this song, SOMETHING happened and they were all of a sudden great. Wonder if they have any other songs this good. Also on this comp: Dissent, Dead Silence, Screeching Weasel and some more.
09 Verbal Abuse “Power Play” (CA)
From the first VA album, “We’re An American Band,” which has been reissued recently on vinyl by No Way Records and on CD with extra tracks by Beer City Records. You folks might also know singer Nikki Sikki from his days in Sick Pleasure.
10 United Mutation “Pass Out” (VA)
Totally repulsive vocals. I love United Mutation. They were so demented and way ahead of their time. It’s like S.O.A. with a hobgoblin singing. People speak of Siege as gods, but I think UM is just as cool. This track is from the “Fugitive Family” 7″ co-released by D.S.I. Records and Dischord in 1983. This is probably the only early Dischord release that collectors aren’t breaking the bank for. You can probably still find one of these for $30 or less.
11 White Cross “Fascist” (VA)
First song from the band’s debut vinyl, a 7″ released by Zero Degree Records in 1982. Pounding stuff, eh? Their follow-up LP is pretty good, too, but not as snarling and primitive as this. Both records AND an unreleased album were put out CD by Grand Theft Audio, but that one is now out of print. Search the secondary market for copies.
12 Youth Brigade “Violence” (CA)
13 Agression “Intense Energy” (CA)
I’m stuck on comps this week. Both songs are from the”Someone Got Their Head Kicked In” LP released by BYO Records in 1982 and still in print today on both vinyl and a CD with extra tracks. My favorte tracks by both bands. Had Youth Brigade made an entire album like this song, it would be an all time favorite. Youth Brigade’s “Sound And Fury” album is very good, but I have to admit there a few songs that make it drag a little. The Agression song is about skateboarding. I have not been on a deck in a long time, but I recall this being a good one to get gnarly to.
14 Groinoids “Empty Skull” (MA)
One more comp song? Why not? This one is from “Unsafe At Any Speed” 7″ released by Modern Method in 1982. Also on that comp are Jerry’s Kids, Gang Green and more. As you may or may not know, “Unsafe At Any Speed” was the follow-up to “This Is Boston Not L.A.,” another great comp. In 1995, Wicked Disc release “Unsafe” and “This Is” on a single CD. I’m pretty sure that it is out of print by now, but you can try looking around. I acquired my copy of “Unsafe At Any Speed” from a trade with the always-cool Bruce Rohers. I like trading for records a lot more than paying cash. It’s more fun for both parties.
Well, thank you for sticking around. Check in next week for another broadcast. Show #7 will have 17 songs — the most I’ve done so far. They’ll be from all over the world, but none of them are from compilations. Tell your friends to join us.
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