Valley Boys 12"

The VALLEY BOYS are a new band although they have been functioning as a group for a couple of years. But as a current line up the band is relatively new. Matt, formerly of the School Jerks, is the driving force behind the band. He is the principal song writer and the guy who has brought this group together. Matt brought in Jon from Brutal Knights after they had broken up but while Hassler was being formed. It is that fast paced garage that Jon brings to the sound. Jon also convinced a boyhood friend Kalle to play drums. This is the first band that I know Kalle for. Jimmy Vapid recorded these two sessions out at his new place in Oshawa and in the process convinced everybody that he could play bass for them. It's not like they needed convincing. But these recordings represent the band before Jimmy was on bass just knob twiddling of the production sort.

Matt loves the Modern Lovers so they start out this release with a cover of "Modern World". Has anyone been paying attention to that contest that is trying to get "Roadrunner" as the official state song for Massachusettes? The sound comes across like the TV Freaks meets MC5. Matt's vocals are similar to Dave's, but there is a fuller sound to the Valley Boys which comes from having two guitar players. Some of the songs like "Feeding Time" are so primal which works for this song. It is a song that repeats and is just pounded out but really gets into your psyche. Matt has a lot of observations like the pharmaceutical industry creep into life with the outrageous "Side Effects" that they can have on a person. And "Shooting Politicians" is about the incident with Gabrielle Giffords that happened in the States. The song "Auto Pilot" feels like how I get through many days and I take it as a statement on how life can become monotonous.

This recording is a collection of two different sessions but it sounds like one. It was originally released as an on-line demo through their bandcamp site, but Cut the Cord has pressed it as a limited edition 12", which I understand is sold out in the black vinyl and there are limited copies of coloured vinyl that can only be ordered through the label at this time. The songs on this release are as follows:

1. Modern World
2. Eyes on Fire
3. Feeding Time
4. Feels like shit
5. Pills
6. Rich Kids
7. Side Effects
8. Auto Pilot
9. Shooting Politicians

10. Fired

Review - White Lung "Two of You" ep

The latest White Lung single is reviewed in the April 2013 issue of MRR (#358). 

Review - Herd of Wasters "Beer Whore" flexi

Herd of Wasters from Saskatchewan release their secnd recording captured in the latest MRR (#358).

Review - Haggatha "IV" LP

Vancouverites doing some crushing black metal reviewed in the latest MRR (#358).

Review - Flaccid "Fuck 2012" demo

Flaccid are from Calgary and we have played their demo in the past. Here is a review of the demo in the latest MRR (#358).

Review - Dahmer / Mesrine split ep

This is a re-issue of this split. Dahmer are from Montreal and Mesrine are also from Canada. Here is a review in the latest MRR (#358).

Review - Careers in Science "Foreverwolf" LP

Careers in Science are from Toronto and this is their second release in the latest MRR (#358).

Review - Skeleton / Beton split ep

Here is a review of Skeleton who are from Canada. This split gets reviewed in the latest MRR (#358).

Review - Critical Convictions LP

This Critical Convictions LP was reviewed in the March 2013 issue of MRR (#358). The band self-released the record.

Review - Asile "Kichesippi Toxique" LP

This Asile LP was reviewed in the March 2013 issue of MRR (#358). Rust and Machine released the record, the same label that released the Napalm Raid records.

Review - Purity Control "Coping" ep

This is the second ep by Purity Control which was reviewed in the February 2013 issue of MRR (#357). High Anxiety released this single.

Absolut demo

Absolut has been around for a few years as an idea and a different line up that grew out of Saigon Distress Signal. The band has come together more recently in a more permanent line up. Chris on vocals and Vassil on drums were original members. They convinced Joel from Rammer to play guitar and Rich from Action to play bass. They all have been in punk bands, but this group veers in a sound that borrows from some influences which include Anti-Cimex from Sweden, Death Side from Japan, and Disorder from the UK. This is an incredible recording and you can download it from their bandcamp page at http://absolutnoise.bandcamp.com/. Above is the artwork from the demo.

Valley Boys demo

The VALLEY BOYS are a new local hardcore band inspired by KBD punk, oi, garage punk, the ANGRY SAMOANS, rock n roll, old American hardcore and old punk.  The band is made up of Jimmy Vapid (the VAPIDS) and Jon (BRUTAL KNIGHTS) fame. Jon grew up with the drummer Kalle who is from Cornwall. And the missing link is Matt Hitch who is on guitar and vocals and used to be in the SCHOOL JERKS. The band has just learned that Cut the cord that... Records (http://ctct-records.tumblr.com), out of Munster Germany,  will be releasing the demo as a 12”. Cut the Cord that...  has released material by NEON PISS, FOREIGN OBJECTS, and VACCINE among others so the VALLEY BOYS are in good company. Look out for P-Trash doing a 7” after that. You can download the demo at http://vboys666.bandcamp.com/album/valley-boys. (e-mail -  vboys666@gmail.com).

Review - Purity Control “Adjusting” ep

PURITY CONTROL is a great new hardcore band from Toronto that live in the power violence arena which is a place I like to dwell. The band features Payson who originally played in this little known band from Truro, Nova Scotia called CAPITAL DEATH. They were incredible and each of the band members have gone on to play in incredible bands (CAREER SUICIDE and the ENDLESS BLOCKADE to name two). Other members in this band moonlight in S.H.I.T. and ABYSS so the talent of this band is nothing to take lightly. They are power houses in their own right and when they get together they make this short sharp bursts of anger reminiscent of CROSSED OUT with the heavy bass driven structures found in PISSED HAPPY CHILDREN. These are cues from the some of the pillars in the power violence scene but the unrelentless speed at which songs like “Dear Life” are played at make you realize that this sound has been brought up to date. In fact, I have heard this described as breakneck bludgeoning music which I tend to think is accurate of the pace and heaviness at which PURITY CONTROL play. This recording was mixed and mastered by Will Killingsworth of ORCHID fame so that is something of note to all you Y2K emo violence followers. And if you like their recordings you really should see them live. (http://puritycontrolhc.bandcamp.com/)

No Problem “Living in the Void” ep

This is NO PROBLEM’s latest release, which makes four. This would be the third 7”. The first two were on Handsome Dan. The full length was on Deranged. If I was to draw a conclusion about this it looks to me that 7”s come out on Calgary labels. Debt Offensive has taken this on. But Todd won’t have any problems with a band made up of past members of WEDNESDAY NIGHT HEROES, LET’S DANCE, and THRASHTIC FIBROSIS.  These were great bands in their own right and everything that NO PROBLEM has written has been great. This new ep seems a bit more back to basics. In an Exclaim interview the band talked about going after an old L.A. sound, and after listening to this I would hazard to guess that they were talking about early YOUTH BRIGADE and CHANNEL 3. The songs are more mid paced in tempo, the songs are constantly building and there are great sung back up vocals a la early SNFU. If I didn’t know better I would think that Chi Pig had broken out a rendition of “Cannibal Cafe” for the back ups on “Happy Family”. I mean that as a compliment. Have you ever been to an SNFU gig when that song starts in and the crowd erupts into a chorus of “whoas”? There is no moment quite like it. The chorus in “Happy Family” invokes the greatness of NO PROBLEM. But the sentiments to “Living in the Void” are immediately relatable whether you are living in Edmonton or Toronto or Sydney. And that is a carry over from the LP. There is so much relatable material in a NO PROBLEM song. The flame still burns what sounds like an all start team of a band. Champion city lives on without the Oilers. (Debt Offensive – 205-25 Richard Place SW / Calgary, AB / T3E 7N1 / Canada / http://debtoffensiverecs.bigcartel.com/)

Hassler "Asphyxiate" ep

Hassler ep HASSLER are a new group from Toronto. They remind me of DOUBLE NEGATIVE in their approach to song writing. They write short songs packed dense with generations of hardcore. It is what a contemporary hardcore band should sound like if they were speaking in tongues about the last three decades of hardcore. The band credits RIPCORD, BGK and a few other noise merchants as their influence despite their despisal of any retro trends. HASSLER is made up of the singer from BAD SKIN, the guitarist from BRUTAL KNIGHTS, the bassist from the REPROBATES, and the drummer from RAMMER. Get it right because I am sick of seeing the crazy lists that are associated with this band which speak to how involved these guys are in the scene. RAMMER brought Al and Jon together and this idea of a band germinated more in a band called KOMMANDO, but they threw everything out when they found Erik and Jay. Any of this previous band history is misleading because HASSLER sounds like none of these bands. They also sound like nothing I have heard before. This recording is blown out and the over modulation serves to suggest that these guys are just kicking it out regardless of any consequences. I have heard their production described as raw-fi which gets close. But the enthusiasm of MRR’s editor captures what I feel about this band after seeing them live. She said about this ep that it is “un-fucking-real. The record is stupid good. If you ever claimed or claim to like hardcore in its most violent, purest forms, then you should love this." I wholeheartedly agree with her. They don’t give a shit about hype. This will make them the best band that you don’t know about. I am telling you to pay attention. I also think that something should be said about the artwork. Adam Kindred from CONCRETE ASYLUM / ABJECT PAX did the cover artwork. Adan has done covers for other bands like TRUNCHEONS. This particular piece channels RUDIMENTARY PENI meets DYS’ “Brotherhood” drawing. Just a gnarly rough street alley scene with characters like a pregnant girl smoking and a personified rat in leathers, which may sound cliché and comedic but sets the tone for a wild party. Everything about this release is great. (Schizophrenic Records – 17 W 4th Street / Hamilton, ON / L9C 3M2 / Canada / www. schizophrenicrex.com)

The songs found on this ep are:

1. Asphyxiate
2. Nothing for Nothing
3. Beatdown

4. Pigpen
5. Enlightened
6. Innocent

There were 100 with a limited cover, which is the scan you see to the right of this.

Limp Wrist "Vazaleen" ep

This limited edition release (20 copies) is a fundraising effort by Limp Wrist that was released at their "Shame" show. Monies are being raised in Will Munro's honour in care of the 519 Church Street Community Centre. The single is a limited edition test pressing for the "Want Us Dead" single with exclusive photos of Will taken by Martin Sorrondeguy. The songs on the single are:

1. Just Like You
2. What's gone wrong?
3. Want us dead
4. Fake Fags

This is a joint release by Lengua Armada and Cheap Art. and the cover artwork is beautiful glossy photographic paper stock.

Kremlin “Will you feed me?” ep

This may be KREMLIN’s third recording, but it is their first release on a label. Surprisingly there are loads of new songs not yet heard on the previous two demoes. The opening song has an early Finnish hardcore flair to it, with a wild pace and shouted back up vocals. The production is lo fi and gives it that “Russia Bombs Finland” feel to it. This song goes immediately into a more mid paced JESUS AND THE GOSPELFUCKERS “Kill the Police” like number. All the while Zack’s guitar has this feedback snarl that reminds me of Marcel’s electric bullwhip lash in “Coho! Coho!”. The whole band reminds me of the way many early hardcore bands worked from a DISCHARGE premise and developed all these amazing different sounds. Like the FARTZ or LARM or almost any of the early great hardcore band’s. That is what DIRECT ACTION from here seemed like to me. A band that worshipped DISCHARGE but wound up playing something different than D-Beat. This is a band and a recording to be reckoned with drawing on many styles of hardcore and spitting out something unique and yet familiar. (Hardware Records – P.O. Box 1646 / 49006 Osnabruck / Germany / www.hardware-records.com)

Pick Your Side "Let me show you how democracy works" LP

This is Pick Your Side's first full length. Even though this recording features a full band, the sound is very similar to the "Survival Prayer" ep. Raw hardcore with this heavy low end crushing feel that compliments the anger spewed forth in the lyrics. This is a band that picked up where Haymaker left off. This recording was done in a real studio out of Chatham which is a studio space made from a converted church. In an interview with the band I learned the follwoing about their songs:

 1. Dark Future is a song about environmental cons and the lies behind it. The line "your dark future is a lie" is how they line up on environmentalism.


2. Plug-in Generation is a song about this generation's reliance on technology from smart phones to social networks and Jeff has a doomsday senario for them which involves an electro magnetic pulse that would render this all obsolete.

3. More Cops, More Crime is the observation that we have seen an escalation in police hirings at a period when crime goes down. They have to justify their existence and as a result everday people get hassled and incarcerated. That's how the cycle works.


4. Meltdown is a song about nuclear disaster experienced in recent times in places like Fukushima with a line like "you can't pretend - leaking into the ocean, you can't escape the pain".


5. How to Cope is Jeff's personal coping strategy. The anxiety that comes with a bleak future requires a day-to-day perspective in order to sleep at night. He calls it his own PMA, which he has tattooed on his hand.

6. Looking Back is a song about regret within the hardcore scene. There were many divisions over debates on ideology and this is Jeff's song about how he wish he could take it back because losing friends over this was not worth it.

7. Paranoid or prepared? Despite the cautions of conspiracy there are some very real ones eroding civil liberties. This song is a warning about the new slave nation of microchipped humans.


8. This too shall pass is an optimistic song about history demonstrating that we survive the bad times.

9. My Troubles is an autobiographical insight into problems weighing a person down. In some ways it is a first hand account at how depressing reality can be.

10. Ham Sandwich is slow and plodding like Infest's "Fetch the Pliers". The song attacks religion singling out some of the more fundamentalist sects of the Muslim faith.

11. Doomsday Demise is a song that takes on these apolcalyptic religions that use faith to scare people into belief.

12. It could be better is a song about police oppression which dare I say sounds informed by real life events. The song talks of the falsehoods of freedom with Freedom of speech being held up as the golden goose. How free are we in a police state? Just because it doesn;t happen to you doesn't mean the crackdown doesn't happen.

13. Matter of time predicts the collapse of our capitalist system which is unsustainable built around lies and falsehoods.

14. New War talks about Class War being the new enslavement principle.

15. All your fault is a song about spin doctoring lead by lawyers to let corporations off the hook blaming everyday citiznery solely for the mess we're in.

16. No good will come from this is another civil libertarian warning about the erosion of our rights.

17. 2 Headed Snake is directed at an unamed culprit who lies from both sides of their face like a two headed snake.

18. Right Turn is a callous call for survival in what has become a system that has focused us on the me. It reads like a paradise lost realization and ultimately expresses disdain for our system.

This full length came out on a389 Records.

Arson “White Folks” ep

This is the ep originally released by the band back in 1979 on their own Glamatron label. The Ugly Pop re-issue sees the songs flipped so the title track is the B-Side and “Coho Coho” starts out the record. It is a smart idea given the energy to “Coho Coho” is a faster song and as a result stands out because of the energy. But this is the first time I have noticed this crazy effect layered over the entire song. It is like a live wire which is fitting for a band named ARSON. I love the effect.

The song has a particular importance to the band who wrote it after observing an anti-disco rally in Chicago. The crowd was chanting something that sounded like “Coho” and so the band wrote a song about it replicating the chanting part at the beginning of the song.



 

The title track is a 33 player. It is a longer song and played slower. It reminds me of the DEMICS “New York City” in terms of pace. Rude’s vocals exude an IGGY POP snarl who I have come to learn was an inspiration. “White Folks” is a building critique of the suburbs and Frank Manley breathed new life into the single back in the 90’s through the “Smash the State” series. But there is something about having this as a single which has me appreciating it so much more. (Ugly Pop Vinyl - http://uglypop.bigcartel.com/)