Haymaker “It Only Gets Worse” CD

This is Haymaker’s first full length released on Deranged Records. Side 1 or the first 12 songs were recorded in April 2001. This line up features Chris Ansley of Burst of Silence fame. The next 12 songs were recorded in August without Chris. Haymaker are from Hamilton and the band features Jeff from Chokehold / Left for Dead. Christian played guitar in the Cursed and the Swarm. I’m not sure where Curtis and Scott are from. But Haymaker borrows from their past. The heavy down tuned sound, the breakdowns, the pushing the envelop lyrics all come from the Chokehold era. The fast hardcore with emphasis on short fast songs comes from the Left for Dead period of this group of people. Haymaker are the evolution of sound based around Jeff Beckman and although the musicians are really responsible for the sound the vision comes from Jeff. Musically you can hear bits of influence from different places but I have never heard it brought together in this way. The lyrics are pretty straight forward taking on some of the age old issues that hardcore did when it first became a thorn in society’s side. From the fatalistic view of the title track to the reflections of living in the rust belt  with “City that Always Burns” this is a playbook on the raw side of life. There are no Disney endings, no delusions or looking the other way, songs like “Another Million More Dead Cops” is born out of the experience. It is also a clever way of breathing life into a sentiment by a great band like MDC. And it is not the only time. Jeff pays respect to the Subhumans UK with the title of “From the Cradle to the Pavement” and to Unbroken with “Life. Love. Revenge”. They also do a cover of what may seem like an obscure band from Kitchener-Waterloo called the Nunfuckers, but to us were a band we would see often. Jeff brings popular culture face to face with the class war in “Who wants to Kill a Millionaire?” “Cameras in the Streets” is a big issue here in Toronto as the police installed security cameras on the major streets for the G8 summit and they were never taken down. This is just one of many observations Jeff shares about the erosion of our civil rights. And Jeff’s stand on atheism which were prominent in Chokehold to stave off the christians who were weaseling their way into the scene through straight edge in the early 90’s, this theme remains in songs like “God Can Fuck Hymnself”. There is a host of great issues to sink your brain into and here is a list of what can be found on the full length.

1. It Only Gets Worse
2. Can’t Believe
3. Sixteen
4. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
5. From the Cradle to the Pavement
6. 35 Years Later
7. Dream No More
8. Life Love Revenge
9. Stressed Out
10. City that Always Burns
11. Don’t Want to Know You
12. Burning Chemicals (Nunfuckers)
13. What I Mean to You
14. Another Million More Dead Cops
15. Another Shit Movie
16. Cameras in the Streets
17. Should I Care?
18. Waxed Curbs
19. Questions Answers
20. 1460 Days
21. God Can Fuck Hymnself
22. Built to Destroy
23. Tax Attack
24. Who Wants to Kill a Millionaire?

One of the most stark things about this release is the cover artwork done by Pushead. It fits the ideas and the homage to the material on here.