Something I Learned Today

Fulfilling a request I received recently, this is the 1993 compilation Set it On Fire! A Tribute to the Scientists. Man, I used to love these themed based compilations, but at some point it got played out for me. This one is pretty solid, both then and now. At the time it served as both an introduction to many cool bands (Cheater Slicks, Mono Men) as well as a primer on the weird, wild sounds of the Scientists. I actually heard this before I heard any of the Scientists actual releases, prompting me to seek out the Subpop compilation disc Absolute (the only Scientists material readily available in the latter half of the 90’s) . Nowadays, you can (and should) pick up the two Scientists compilations out on SFTRI - Blood Red River and Human Jukebox.

But back to this comp - 12 songs, 12 bands of the noise/garage/trash persuasion originally released on the Dog Meat label out of Australia. There’s alot of hits on this one. My choices here are the Slicks, Mono Men, Mudhoney, and Sugar Shack, but really, there ain’t a stinker in the bunch.

Cheater Slicks - Set it on Fire.mp3
Honeymoon Killers - Murderess in a Purple Dress.mp3
Mono Men - Swampland.mp3
Stump Wizards - Bet Ya Lyin’.mp3
Star Spangled Banana - Frantic Romantic.mp3
Walkingseeds - Nitro.mp3
Mudhoney - We Had Love.mp3
Sugar Shack - Hell Beach.mp3
Vertigo - Pissed on Another Planet.mp3
The Philisteins - Teenage Dreams.mp3
Laughing Hyenas - Solid Gold Hell.mp3
The Sunset Strip - It Must Be Nice.mp3

11 comments

Put out by Maximum Rocknroll records in 1989, They Don’t Get Paid, They Don’t Get Laid, But Boy Do They Work Hard! was a tribute to the bands and ‘zines that espoused the “do it yourself” punk philosophy. 14 bands from across the US playing late 80’s hardcore, the kind that met all of MRR’s strict guidelines for acceptable punk (sorry, I can’t resist a little MRR bashing). To wit, regarding the Screeching Weasel track on the comp:

We went over to Solid Sound and recorded “This Bud’s for Me” for the They Don’t Get Paid, They Don’t Get Laid, But Boy, Do They Work Hard comp LP on MRR Records. The song was supposed to be a bit of a parody which is why it’s so goddamn fast; Tim at Maximum had encouraged us to “keep with the theme of the record.” We figured that meant play loud and fast and stupid.

Not alot of fast and stupid here, just some earnest “we’ll change the world” sentiment. Some of this still sounds pretty good (i.e. Detonators, COAC, Jawbox, Screeching Weasel, Downfall ) , while a couple are simply forgetable (Apocalypse, Amenity, Conspiracy of Equals). The rest occupy the neither here nor there middle (Nausea, Dissent, , Cringer, Bazooka Joe, Dead Silence,Libido Boyz). This LP came with a nice booklet that featured not only the bands, but a bunch of fanzines including Absolutely Zippo, Profane Existence, Hippycore, Endless Struggle, and No Answers. I have of course lost said booklet, as I do with seemingly 90% of my records. Below are my favorite tracks:

Detonators - Denied.mp3
Christ on a Crutch - Nation of Sheep.mp3
Nausea - Clutches.mp3
Screeching Weasel - This Bud’s For Me.mp3
Jawbox - Bullet Park.mp3
Downfall - Long Way to Go.mp3
Dead Silence - Hope.mp3
Libido Boyz - Mr Greenthumb.mp3

You can download the whole thing as a rar archive here

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When it comes to punk compilations a post on the first Rat Music For Rat People compilation may seem ordinary given all of the rarities now available via blogs, p2p, and usenet. Nothing obscure here by any stretch - all of the bands are legendary and all tracks are live versions of songs that also appear on the official releases of each band (with the exception of the Dils, I believe). So why post it then? Two main reasons:

Some of you have been talking about the live version of “Scream” by Black Flag

A chance to post my favorite Bad Brains track: “You” aka “Don’t Bother Me”

Not to mention that it’s out of print and the CD version (with only 27 of the 42 cuts from all three volumes) is selling for the ridiculous price of $126 on GEMM. WTF? BY comparison an original press of this LP on Go! can be found for the bargain basement price of $15 on Ebay. Go figure. Below are my favorite tracks from the comp, all recorded live in San Francisco from 1977 through 1982. You can download the whole thing as .rar archive right here.

DOA - America The Beautiful.mp3
Flipper - Life.mp3
Circle Jerks - Live Fast, Die Young.mp3
Bad Brains - You.mp3
Crucifix - Steel Cage Enclosure.mp3
Dead Kennedys - Forward To Death.mp3
Black Flag - Scream.mp3
TSOL - Sounds of Laughter.mp3
Avengers - Cheap Tragedies.mp3
Dils - Blow Up.mp3

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Earth Rapers & Hell Raisers was double 7″ compilation put out by the folks at Hippycore in 1990 as benefitf or the Phoenix chapter of Earth First! Lot’s of pissed off, political hardcore from 12 bands and a thick booklet with all sorts of tree hugging commie bullshit of environmental and vegan information. Say what you will about the politics, but every Hippycore release I’ve come across is a labor of love, with thick booklets and tons of educational material. Earth Rapers… isn’t as consistent of a comp as earlier Hippycore comp Metal Gives Us A Headache, but still has some bite to it. The best cuts come from Bent, Machine, Christ on a Crutch, Jesters of Chaos, Seein’ Red, and Samiam. But I’ll let you be the judge of that:

Sins of the Flesh - Technology.mp3
Bent - Intellectual Hypocrites.mp3
Jesters of Chaos - Nuclear Delicacies.mp3
Pissed Happy Children - Graveyard at Sea.mp3
Reality Control - Hold My Breath.mp3
Conspiracy of Equals - Gender Slavery.mp3
Machine - Blind Man’s Holiday.mp3
Samiam - Insightful.mp3
Pleasant Valley Children - Fuck Kill Destroy.mp3
Pollution Circus - Lenny’s Song.mp3
Seein’ Red - Earth First.mp3
Christ on a Crutch - Christian’s Crack Diary.mp3

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Finally back to the grind with a post I originally queued waaay back when. I posted back in March 2005 on finding a rip the Empty Skulls casette which I had been after for ages. At the time I had planned on posting Empty Skulls Volume 2: The Wound Deepens as a follow up within a week or so. Well, shit happens and things get sidetracked and before you know it 18 months have gone by. I probably would have sat on it further if it weren’t for a comment on the original post by one of the responsible parties for volume 1.

Volume 2 was released in 1986 on Fartblossom Enterprises and contains cuts from 12 bands. While the first tape was an all American affair, the second branches out a bit, with bands from Sweden (E.A.T.E.R, Crude SS), the UK (Legion of Parasites), Brazil (Colera), and the Netherlands (Pandemonium). 20 years on and some of this music falls into the dated category -sorry, Pillsbury Hardcore. I still can appreciate the raging cuts from E.A.T.E.R, and Legion of Parasites, the slow menace of L.A.’s White ‘n Hairy, and the only song I ever liked by Stranglehold. Below are the best from each band, but you can grab the whole thing right here

E.A.T.E.R - Abort The System.mp3
Stranglehold - She’s Not Leaving.mp3
Half Life - Old Glory.mp3
Pillsbury Hardcore - Kill Everyone Now.mp3
White ‘n’ Hairy - Involved.mp3
Corrosion of Conformity - Negative Outlook.mp3
Legion of Parasites - Dying World.mp3
Justice League - Looking Back.mp3
Colera - De O Fora.mp3
Pandemonium - Sucks To This Wall.mp3
Crude S.S. - Svensson, Svensson.mp3
Ugly Americans - Buffalo Bill.mp3

image courtesy of Kill From The Heart, which has an Empty Skulls page with links to most of the bands

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Man, 1990 was a great year for hardcore compilations, especially those in featuring bands from the NYC region. Forever is one of three killer NY/NJ hardcore 7″ comps released in ‘90 (Murders Among Us and Rebuilding being the other two 7″s, not to mention the Look At All The Children Now 12″). Forever was released on Irate and features early material from some of the NY/NJ hardcore scene heavies. 5 bands, 5 tracks, featuring posi-core from Turning Point, bilious hardcore from Born Against, and vicious blasts from Rorschach and Citizen’s Arrest. Not to be overlooked, Burn contributes a wild hardcore track that borders on greatness, hindered only by muddy production. One of my favorite comps from my own hardcore heyday:

Turning Point - Insecurity.mp3
Born Against - Mary and Child.mp3
Rorschach - Checkmate.mp3
Burn - Decay.mp3
Citizen’s Arrest - Pain.mp3

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Satisfying a waaay old request, here’s New Jerseys’ Got It? Released on Buy Our Records in 1985, the compilation is nothing but Garden State bands. I’ve been sitting on this one for a good, long while, because honestly it’s mostly disposable. Most of the tracks here play like mediocre, second-tier material. The highlights are a deranged Cows like track from Cynamid, a fuzzed out stomper from Pleased Youth, weird, theatrical noise from Children in Adult Jails, and hyperactive thrash from Adrenalin OD. The highlights are listed below: (whole LP can be found here)

Bedlam - Mongoofy.mp3
Bodies in Panic - Wendy O.mp3
Cynamid - Support.mp3
Pleased Youth - Obedience School.mp3
Children in Adult Jails - Fishing for Compliments.mp3
Stetz - Kids Habits.mp3
My 3 Sons - People Who Bleed.mp3
Sacred Denial - What Religion.mp3
Adrenalin OD - Infiltrate The State.mp3

notes:
>Strange Reaction has the My 3 Sons 7″ available. Check it out
>Many of the bands here were also featured on the Big City - One Big Crowd comp LP. Vinyl Mine gives you the nickel tour.

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I’m not sure how many subsequent volumes (10 maybe?) would be released in the series, but the original Noise From Nowhere compilation has the distinction of being the the first release on Arizona’s Toxic Shock label. Released in 1983, Noise From Nowhere contained 4 tracks from four under-the-radar bands. Kent State deliver earnest if unremarkable hardcore. Modern Industry’s “Out of Focus” is spirited, melodic hardcore - my favorite track on the comp. The flipside features a creepy dirge from Moslem Birth (who would eventually morph into Peace Corpse) and a speedy, snotty rip from Manson Youth. Noise From Nowhere was reissued a couple years back on CD with 3 other early Toxic Shock singles by Peace Corpse, Red Tide, and Massacre Guys. And yes, that’s an exploding penis on the cover, courtesy Pushead

Kent State - Breakout Breakfree.mp3
Modern Industry - Out of Focus.mp3
Moslem Birth - Horror Snores.mp3
Manson Youth - Penis Brain.mp3

---

Notes:
- check out the Punk Vault’s take on Noise From Nowhere
- Cover scan from KFTH. My copy has a light blue cover, as do most all of the others I’ve seen

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A quick one to round out the week, More Songs About Plants and Trees was a pro-conservation compilation released on graphic artist John Yates Allied Recordings in 1990. 4 bands, 4 tracks, and a crapload of environmentalist mailing addresses make for a rather uninspiring compilation, but shit, it was in my “to do” pile and the Antischism track is pretty fucking great. Side 1 includes a poppy and melodic track San Francisco’s Cringer and pretty mediocre number from the Lookouts. The flipside was always more my speed - screaming anarcho hardcore from South Carolina’s Antischism and solid doomcore from NYC’s Nausea.

Cringer - Burn Down The Forest.mp3
The Lookouts - Once Upon a Time.mp3
Antischism - Greedy Bastards.mp3
Nausea - Here Today….mp3

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Originally released as Reflex Records “C”, Kitten was the follow up to the 1982 Minneapolis compilation Barefoot and Pregnant. Recorded live at infamous Minneapolis punk club Goofy’s Upper Deck over the course of two shows in October 1982, Kitten featured 11 bands and a total of 36 tracks. Lots of great noisy Midwestern punk interspersed with some furious hardcore action. Choice cuts are turned in from Husker Du, Red Meat, Exmo-6-Desmo, and Willful Neglect. This was reissued in 1999 with two bonus Husker Du tracks, which you can buy direct from Garage D’Or for just $10. All the info you could possible want on the release has been collected right here. Some samples:

Proud Crass Fools - Bad Moon.mp3
Propaganda - The War Ain’t Over.mp3
Exmo-6-Desmo - The Old Bum.mp3
Todlachen - Parasites.mp3
Rifle Sport - Keep on Walkin’.mp3
Willful Neglect - Geeks.mp3
Red Meat - The Circle.mp3
Man Sized Action - Only You.mp3
Husker Du - It’s Not Fair.mp3

9 comments