Something I Learned Today

Something a little different here, some straight up New York Hardcore circa 1990. This kind of material was my staple 15+ years ago. Most hasn’t aged well in my opinion, but I always thought this comp ripped. Vermiform and Combined Effort released Murders Among Us in 1990, providing a different look at the NY hardcore scene than the one presented by the Straight Edge/Youth Crew/Revelation world. The best track here is by Absolution; I had forgotten just how good “Dead and Gone” was and how unique sounding it was at the time. The Born Against and Life’s Blood tracks are also great. My only gripe is Nausea - I prefer the band’s crustier sounds as represented on their Extinction LP. Vocalist Amy Miret sounds like a shrill 7 year old girl mixed up on helium and speed on this cut. Regardless, a great compilation.

Life’s Blood - Human Power.mp3
Absolution - Dead and Gone.mp3
Nausea - Electrodes.mp3
Born Against - The Good Father.mp3

Notes:
> Middle Aged Youth has an excellent post on Life’s Blood for those looking for more info
> My copy of Murders Among Us was stolen years ago. Thanks to reader DK for hooking me up with an excellent rip of the comp.

I always viewed the 1990 New York hardcore comp Look At All the Children now as big middle finger to those more famous NYHC bands like Agnostic Front, Sick of It All, and the whole stable of Revelation Records artists. Look… was the record that served notice that not all NYHC bands were cut from the same cloth, that there was more to the NYC scene than tough guy knucleheads and empty promises of ‘brotherhood’ and ‘unity’. While musically similar (metallic hardcore) to the bands they sought to distance themselves from, the mindset of bands like Citizen’s Arrest, Rorschach, Go! and others on the comp was miles apart. (i.e. the were more liberal and thus appealing to the almighty punk policy makers - MRR ) The title was lifted from a line from Iron Cross’s song Grey Morning, which was covered on the comp by MAS (a one off band?). This served as another shot at the NYC hierarchy, as Agnostic Front had been playing IC’s martyr complex anthem ‘Crucified’ for years. As I would expect, many of the songs on Look… haven’t aged well (i.e. Yuppicide, pure dreck), but a couple are still worthy:

Citizen’s Arrest - Death Threat.mp3
Hyper thrash from Citizen’s Arrest, who specialized in this sort of mayhem. I think these recordings may have pre-dated their first EP A Light In The Darkness.

Moondog - Expression.mp3
Voice sound familiar? That’s Walter Schreifels on vocals. Moondog was a post-Gorilla Biscuits, pre-Quicksand project for Schreifels that never had an official release (I think their demo was booted)

Bugout Society - Partyline.mp3
This was originally one of my favorites on this comp due to the humor and chaotic music. Bugout Society’s LPs never lived up to standard set by this song, stifled by bad production and subpar songs. This one still cracks me up however

Rorschach - Something.mp3
Crunchy, metallic hardcore that bleeds intensity. The raw vocals and tempo changes keep this interesting. Their discography CD Autopsy is quite good, though extended listens can be draining.

As always, hit me up with any corrections as their isn’t a ton of info on this comp out there.

one last political song for this NYC/GOP Convention week.

Nausea - Inherit the Wasteland.mp3
Nausea were the quintessential American anarcho-punk band, living in the squats, screaming about the environment, animal rights, weapons, war, etc all over a doom-laden soundscape of thrashy, metallic punk. Although hailing from NYC, the band seemed more influenced by Brit punk bands ( Discharge, Chaos UK spring to mind ) than the traditional NYHC. Perhaps that is why I found this album to my liking at the time. Released in 1990, Existence is all of the Nausea you will ever need. The album hasn’t aged particularly well - the songs all sound the same, the lyrics are rather cliched, and the female vocals are practically unlistenable. However, “Inherit the Wasteland” still sounds pretty good- I’ll let you guess what the song is about.

Anyhow, I guess I dug this one out while looking for something “political”. I couldn’t resist the gatefold sleeve and scads of left wing propaganda that came with the record. I’m feeling some regret now, as I think I should have kept browsing down to the Proletariat. Same message, better music. Perhaps at a later date.

This one goes out to all the fine folks gathering in Boston this week for Democratic National Convention.

Christ on a Crutch - Ode to a Liberal Democrat.mp3
an album track from 1987’s “Spread Your Filth” LP, COAC played straight ahead old school hardcore - no metal riffs, no breakdowns, no tough guy bullshit. Political hardcore from Seattle WA, COAC were as tough on the so called left as they were on the right. ”Ode To A Liberal Democrat” seeks to bash those who simply pay lip service to their supposed values. Not a great deal of info out there on the group, This is what I know off of the top of my head: Band formed as a three piece in Washington DC before adding a fourth member and relocating to Seattle in the late 80’s. They recorded 2 albums ( “Spread Your Filth” and “Crime Pays When Pigs Die” ) and 2 singles between 1987 and 1991. Also appeared on a couple of comps released on the Dischord,Maximum Rock&Roll, and Hippiecore imprint.

A trivia note: bass player Nate Mendel went on to play with Sunny Day Real Estate and the Foo Fighters.

New Red Archives has released a couple of CD’s that essential collect their discography:
“Spread Your Filth: The Doughnut and Bourbon Years”
“Shit Edge & Other Songs For the Young and Sentimental”
“Crime Pays When Pigs Die” - possibly the best punk album title ever

Take this job and shove it, says Paul Bremer - leaving two days early and fucking up my whole week. Screw it, still continuing the Iraq theme

Bad Religion - Heaven is Falling.mp3
originally released as a split single with Noam Chomsky ( by MRR ) at the beginning of the first Gulf War. Two great Bad Religion songs, mixed raw and better sounding than the “polished” version that would appear on “Generator” . IMO this marked the beginning of the end for Bad Religion. Subsequent albums were overproduced and the songs lacked the visceral feel of earlier work ( “Suffer” and “No Control” ). I never listened to the band a couple of years after this song was released. It is a shame, sometimes it’s better for a band to split apart rather than plug away into mediocrity…

Anyhow, I always loved Greg Graffin’s lyrics. A reader for the above song:

As I walk beneath the valley
I shall fear no evil
for thanks to King George and his rainbow cabinet
today murder is legal
God I know that it’s wrong
to kill my brother for what he hasn’t done
and as the planes blacken the sky
it sounds like heaven is falling
it sounds like heaven is falling
you promises me a new day a’dawning
I’ve seen a thousand points of light
like so many points of hatred, shame and horror
God I want to be a man
but I don’t want to die with a rifle in my hand
and as the planes blacken the sky
it sounds like heaven is falling
it sounds like heaven is falling
you promised me a new day a’dawning
well nothing here looks new to me
but a score of mothers’ sons
caught ‘tween the devil and the deep blue sea

Well… the big transfer of Iraqi power is scheduled this week, and I’m expecting the scene to be the topper to what has been a supreme clusterfuck. I decided to try a theme this week - see if you can spot the trend.

Poison Idea - Star of Baghdad.mp3
from 1991’s Blank,Blackout, Vacant this song epitomized the more “punk rock” feel that Poison Idea would carry to their demise in the mid-nineties. I still enjoy this album, but it was a disappointment at the time, coming on the heels of “Feel the Darkness” ( which was a classic nihilistic hardcore album )

enjoy, more tomorrow…