Various Artists "T.O. Hardcore '83" LP

Back in 1983 there was an amazing tape compilation pulled together by Brian Taylor of YOUTH YOUTH YOUTH. Brian started to get used to working in studios and he wound up convincing all the bands back then to come into a studio and record a couple of songs each. Then he released it on a tape on his label at the time NRK. I think Brian still had all the tapes and it has been 25+ years so those masters are probably starting to decay. So Brian went and prepared these for a vinyl pressing. And it's about time that this comp gets the vinyl treatment. It deserves it. It was an incredible comp back in the day and it is an incredible comp now. Think of it as Toronto's version of "This is Boston, Not L.A.". So these are the core bands of what has been referred to as the Toronto hardcore scene. This is it at it’s inception. DIRECT ACTION, YOUTH YOUTH YOUTH, YOUNG LIONS, CHRONIC SUBMISSION and these recordings are all unique to this comp only. So if you have DIRECT ACTION’s “Trapped in a World” and you have “19 A.D. 4” on that you don’t have this version which is a lot rawer and more scrappier. This comp is incredible. So the comp. starts out with a butchering of the Canadian national anthem a la Hendrix. Then A.P.B. get things started. They were a band that featured members from other bands. Andy Ford played bass and would go on to play in NO MIND and start NOTHING IN PARTICULAR. Buzz, from DIRECT ACTION, played guitar in A.P. B. as well. And so did Paul Newman who would go on to drum in NO MIND and the DOUGHBOYS. They were a three piece and I saw them open up a lot of shows. They contribute two tracks. CHRONIC SUBMISSION are one of my favourites from this era. They were the a bunch of teenagers a lot younger than the kids who made up the scene at the time. They were in tune with the new style of stop and start hardcore that was just developing at the time. Their songs were a lot shorter than the other bands and as a result they contribute four tracks. I don't know much about DEAD END but I do know they released two full length cassettes. We hear three songs that were re-recorded for the "Youth Now" cassette. DIRECT ACTION were one of the most well known bands from our scene. They would go on to influence so many local bands in the next generation of hardcore. I thought of them as our version of Discharge. The songs they do are early versions of songs that would appear on "Trapped in a World". YOUNG LIONS were Toronto’s first hardcore band. These tracks are even better then the “1982-’84: From the Vault” LP and were songs written around the time of their first demo. YOUTH YOUTH YOUTH will always be my favourite local hardcore band. There is a mix of tracks from “Sin” and comps but these were recorded earlier. It is amazing to make out the lyrics to "Wanderlust" for the first time. They also do a YOUNG LIONS song “Made in England”, which I would find out that YOUNG LIONS were suppose to cover a YYY song but never recorded it. Too bad. I never heard YOUNG LIONS record the song so I’m glad YYY did. It’s a great song trying to bring attention to the local scene. And ZERO OPTION would round out the comp. ZERO OPTION also appeared on the “Something to Believe in” comp that BYO put out, but I think their participation had something to do with this comp. The ZERO OPTION material reminds me a lot of “Group Sex” era CIRCLE JERKS meets early YOUTH BRIGADE. I don’t know where you can get you hands on this but seek it out. It is labelled as the second NRK release. Don’t write me to get you a copy because I have already broken the bank buying 7 copies for other people.