We Can Do Anything!

Ah, the sound of children's voices, so green, carefree, and heart-warming, especially when shouted over grinding fast hardcore punk!  It's thanks to another blog visitor that I was pointed in the direction of a record virtually unseen on these shores.  The "Making Children's Songs a Threat Again" comp might suggest a themed collection, and that is indeed the case.  The tracks, writings, and interview responses are all concerned with either growing up, or the ongoing conundrum punk/anti-authoritarian parents face as they struggle to reconcile their ideals with the choices they make for/with their children.  Some documentaries have been made on this subject, but the interviewees and bands on this one are not as mainstream as the ones in those flicks.  In addition to fantastic music and discussion, this comp was put together with that ingredient foodies love to allude to-- I'm talking about the "L" word here, people.  There's a hand-bound smaller booklet with lyrics, a comic book clipping, and even some handwritten messages.  The larger booklet is less involved, but nicely and simply laid-out, and contains interview responses from some members of contributing bands, members of other hardcore bands, and some label proprietors (Deep Six, Profane Existence...).  And, just look at the international line-up:

This is an incredible comp; something I seldom ever say.

Some other things you may want to know about it:

• It starts off with a long spoken word in French by the singer of 20 Minutes de Chaos.  But that is the only track of its kind.
• Yes, a couple of tracks do actually have band members' kids on vocals.
• Some European distros still have copies of this, such as here. This one is worth owning just for the packaging alone!
• Many of the tracks are exclusive to this record
•  There are some between-tracks sound bites and music; I often wasn't sure where to cut them off.  Sorry if I goofed.  However, this comp seems designed to be heard all the way through, no interruptions. 

"Making Children's Songs a Threat Again" LP (scans of all booklets included), (Guerrilla Shooting Records, 2005)

Recent Re-ups:
Servitude/Ebola split 7"
Servitude 7"
Multi-Facet/Sheephead split 7"
Token Tantrum 10"
Assassinators early EPs/Demo CD

Okay, next up, we return to the Swedish series...

Seven Inches of Songs About...

In sorting through the mess of split EPs I've got lying around me right now, I once again felt the need to choose a theme to make sense of it all.  I've arrived at an international theme, as in the next few splits will have bands from two different countries.  Having stated that, both 7"s tonight are linked by German melodic hardcore workhorses, Inner Conflict.  When I first heard this band's second LP, I wanted to dislike them due to their "processed" vocal sound and the fact that they played with a drum machine.  But the driving riffs and melodies were too much for my sanctimonious knees, and an inevitable collapse took place, followed by a surrender.  The usual adjectives-- energetic, catchy-- associated with bands of this style are ever so appropriate here.  This first installment sees the band paired up with a Finnish band whom I liked a great deal; then they recruited vocalist, Arja, and it morphed into a love affair!  Juggling Jugulars has got to be one of the most explosive and distinctive bands in Europe today, and they only seem to get better with each release.  This time around they treat us to four tracks so charged and ornery, you'll never get a chance to nail them to any one genre within the punk (dis)order.  Each band also covers a track from the other's back catalog, thus solidly rounding out an already rock hard piece of wax.

 Inner Conflict's Spanish friends on this next split hopefully need no introduction.  For me, Sin Dios have been an intermittent crutch, anchor, and a slap in the face for many years and will continue to be even though they are long deceased (as a band).  "El Poder Mundial" is sadly only two short jabs, displaying the band's fighting spirit even as it was sinking to its knees.  If you've heard the other splits and the last CD the band put out, the tracks are along those lines.  While I regard "Ingobernables" as Sin Dios' pinnacle, the material just afterward was still better than most punk or hardcore out there.  As mentioned above, Inner Conflict take side B honors with two of their best tracks.  "Down" follows the band's usually style, mixing faster hardcore tempos with slower, more anthemic moments.  But it's "Scene" that has stuck with me since first hearing their side.  It's easily their most fist-pumping, gritty anthem, holstering their melodic weapons, and reaching for the switchblade instead.  Both sides go by way too fast, but hopefully the other 7" will offset this disappointment.

Both splits here

Contact Twisted Chords to get hard copies!

Song of the Week: "Gusano De Fuego" (Moho)

Well, the SOTW is way late, but that's how it goes on vacation-- the days of the week are thrown out with the alarm clock. Late rather than never, we have one of the vices of all my summers. Along with more melodic stuff, I tend to grab the slow and sludgy records too, complimented with some non-cigarette tobacco product and a little alcohol. Eyehategod and Cavity are defaults for porch-sitting capers, as is the mighty Moho. They fit the MO perfectly-- Low and dirty post-Sabbath riffs? Got 'em. Sickening vocals? In abundance. Oodles of feedback? Check. Bearded Southern guys loaded on meth and whiskey? Ooh, not quite. Moho is some ex-grindcore kids from the capital of Spain, but don't let that prejudice you; they can easily hold their own with the big guns.

"Gusano De Fuego" by Moho from "20 Uñas"

Vaya Sin Dios

I get the feeling Sin Dios' last full length, "Odio Al Imperio," was not meant for wide distribution. I didn't see it in too many American distros, and the enormous book(let) is completely in Spanish. Nonetheless, in technical aspects, "Odio" is possibly the band's best release. True, some of the revolutionary fire of their previous albums is missing from the songwriting, but the production and musicianship is certainly at its most mature. Since everything the band did is worth repeat listens, here are some quality CD rips if you missed it the first time, along with some low-budget but very legible pictures of the 100+ page book that accompanied it.

Listen here.

Read here

¡Ruido Anticapitalista!

This and the next post will be an alpha-omega sort of thing for one of my all time favorite bands. For something like 15 years, Sin Dios inflamed crowds with their lively and distinctly Spanish take on anarcho-hardcore. Simultaneously pissed and catchy, each of their records is potent enough to instantly wipe away my dissaffection, no matter the day or circumstances. Ripped for you today is what I believe to be their first release: a split LP with fellow Spaniards, Tarzan. Both bands offer top notch material, and the 'zine-styled booklet covers a lot of info on the early '90's political situation in Spain and Latin America. After their break-up, Sin Dios uploaded their entire discography at their site, but I'm not sure if it's still there (and I don't believe they posted the Tarzan tracks).

Sin Dios/Tarzan Split LP (@ 256 kbps) w/ booklet

Beldurrik Gabe

As promised, here's the sixteen track LP by shadowy Basque hardcore mercenaries (or at least that's how I picture them...), Karkaba. I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy their 7" a bit more, but if you love truly visceral hardcore, and especially if you love '80's South American bands, Huasipungo, or even Crudos almighty, this is one hell of a gratifying feast!

Karkaba "Beldurrik Gabe"

Get the band's 7" here.

Itzul Gaitezen Haitzuloetara

The first description I read of Karkaba employed words like "primitive" and "powerful." Said description and the utter lack of any web presence for this mysterious Basque band led me to grab all I could find by them. Both "P" words above apply to the band's sound without a doubt, although, as is usually the case with great bands, words don't quite suffice. Karkaba have an excellent ear for good, crankin' old school riffs, and play them with tons of genuine rage. And, speaking of rage, the vocalist issues some of the most sincerely pissed off sounding yells of recent memory. The black and white photography adorning the covers and booklet is disturbing, yet nicely composed and consistently themed. I've included the lyrics in the folder below, which are mostly in the Basque language with Spanish translations provided. Definitely check this 7" out if you like your music good and raw. It's a rather long and satisfying EP, but if you want more I should have the band's LP up soon.

Aqui

Song Of The Week: "No Te Rindas" (Sin Dios)

Hardcore has saved me on so many occasions. From what, exactly? It's hard to say, but I feel like the raucous hammering and screaming has kept my thinking somehow... clear. It started with Bad Brains and Void in my early teens; then it was Econochrist and Crimpshrine entering young adulthood; His Hero Is Gone more or less sealed my fate... but as I was entering my chosen career, it was my discovery of Sin Dios that may be responsible for keeping me on the path for life. Coming out of the decade that dealt the death-blow to "punk," everything in the independent music world seemed ruined by imitators and colored by irony. Enter Sin Dios, who was like a brass-knuckled fist up the ass of that way of thinking. I was lucky enough to stumble upon them right when their masterpiece, "Ingobernables," was released. This was the first time the band felt the desire to reach out to the world beyond their compadres Españoles, releasing the album on German labels (Skuld & Twisted Chords) who in turn distributed it fairly well to all the global punk "markets." After about ten years, these anarcho-syndicalist punks managed to belt out hardcore anthems more explosive, full of conviction, and heavier than anything they had done prior. The lyrics and additional writings are full of the usual Sin Dios scholarship: rants about the virtues of the DIY ethic, topical diatribes on the state of European politics/direct action initiatives, and images/lyrics that show a strong atavistic connection to Spain's libertartian heritage. In short, these guys were the real thing- not just a bunch of fly-by-nighters sloganeering about nuclear war and such.

This post could be an album of the week post, since all 14 tracks are just awesome. I chose the first track, "No Te Rindas, " because its fiery message and energy encapsulates what this band and this album did for me at a time when the lure of the status quo could have easily won my soul. When you start to feel like there's nothing you can do to change the "way things are," and you're tired of making ironic remarks to cover up your sense of futility, crank this song about four or five times in a row...


"No Te Rindas" ("Don't Give Up")


Lyrics

Black Panda - Hit the Gas Barry!

Spanish society must be either in state of great prosperity or great strife, the two conditions which generally produce the best music. With all of the excitement over Sweden and Japan (as well as the good ol' USA) I didn't realize how many of my recent favorite bands are Spanish (Moho, Leadershit, Cop on Fire, Madame Germen, Ekkaia, Derrota, Ictus...). Granted, many of these bands are related membership-wise, but who cares? as long as they bring the rock!

Members of Madame Germen and Nashgul (among others) have collaborated to loosen yet another beast de espana: Black fuckin' Panda! Okay, so the name is a little anti-badass/climactic, but the music is what we're concerned with here. Black Panda "market" themselves as "D-Beat Rock 'n Roll," which may serve to deter some potential fans. D-beat, for all its simplicity, used to be a powerful form of punk. But let's face it, that same simplicity, coupled with a flooded market of bands, created a rather boring sub-genre (with some exceptions). Then we have a new sub-sub-genre of bands incorporating dirty rock'n roll with d-beat, which has produced more than a few, um... awkward/forced sounding hybrids. Without further digression, I can confidently say that Black Panda has spawned a rock/hardcore mongrel that is organic sounding, raging, and downright fun! "Tanque de 98 Octanos" (Trabuc Records) is BP's Debut LP, showcasing 10 tracks of cleanly recorded, weed and booze-primed rock-core that may lead listeners into spontaneous demolition derbies in nearby parking lots, or impulsive driveby bare-assings of local authorities. To balance out the cleanliness of the recording, the rhythm guitar's distortion is "dirtified" enough to enhance the rock feel, while the lead guitar, when not spewing solos, adds a layer of higher-end picking and chords to the riffs, which create a more complex and emotion-laced dimension. And (yes!) there is a bass presence! You can really hear the bass come through, and the interplay with the guitars is pretty central to the compelling nature of the songs. Like many of the Spanish bands mentioned above, BP's vocalist(s) employs similar hoarse screams, which, while not original, seem to work with the music perfectly. So, is this "D-Beat Rock 'n Roll?" It is sometimes. But the song writing and tempo shifts are way too diverse for the d-beat label, and such a term might insinuate 'boring' for some fans. This album is anything but boring, and if you're anything like me, this LP will not leave your turntable for months after purchase.

mp3s:

"Seguiremos Fumando"

"Discoborregos"

Purchase:

Hardcore Holocaust