Records I Forgot I Owned (part 9): Socialcrime "Protest noise" Ep, 1998 (?)

I guess the more records you own, the more you tend to forget about them. That's only logical after all. No one can relate deeply to thousands of records and more often than not, I play a new acquisition once before storing in the correct alphabetical section (which is something I just love since it makes me feel like I am doing crucial archiving work). The internet has caused the punk market - for lack of a better, more comforting term that would not make me feel like a sheepish consumer of D-beat - to be constantly flooded with new bands you have to love (because they are much better than the previous ones, but still not as good as the next), new records you just need to get (and quick, copies are going fast!), new tours you should attend, new trends you have to follow if you want to keep up, so that, I feel, it has become increasingly difficult to relate on a deeper level to new punk music. I guess Zounds predicted it, in some way almost 40 years ago. Like everything in 2019, punk has become much faster, the norm being 18 months old bands with only one demo tape under their belt that are touring - and instagramming - on other continents. 

If I see millennial bashing as a sure sign of misplaced bitterness - and of getting older, but in a sad way - sometimes I do sincerely wonder how today's teens relate to punk bands, since the insane, unlimited abundance of readily available music necessarily affects how you consider a band. Do they carelessly skip from Mob 47, to GISM, Crass, Eskorbuto or Kaaos in mere minutes, without batting an eyelid, since after all it is all on youtube, and then casually choose what they prefer? I have met teenage punks who had a tremendous knowledge of obscure 80's hardcore bands, the kind of bands that only did one great tape and that nerdy collectors used to whisper about in dark corners at gigs, usually Japanese bands that I was completely unaware of when I was their age. I mean, in a way it is impressive but also a little scary. I remember perfectly the very first Japanese band I discovered, it was Hi-Standard with the Growing up album (on cd obviously) that I got on a trip in Germany, aged 14, because it was on Fat Wreck Chords and I liked NoFX. So you can imagine that bands like Sodom, State Children or Tranquilizer were very far off the picture. A few years after that, when I was getting into "real punk" - which translated into me compulsively counting mohicans, studs and beers on the record covers to assess the level of punkness - I got Dick Spikies and Discocks, two Japanese oi streetpunk bands that were quite good at what they did I suppose (funnily enough, I am pretty sure they would be more fashionable nowadays since everyone seems to be into oi-ish UK82 punk). Finally, when I discovered the politics of anarchopunk and how good-looking I was with patches on my jacket, Battle of Disarm was the first Japanese crusty band I got into along with another, much lesser known act called Socialcrime. 

If you think about it, in the context, it makes perfect sense that I grabbed a copy of a Socialcrime record since they were released on Tribal War Asia, a division of Tribal War Records, a label run by Neil from Nausea/Final Warning and therefore one that I could trust with my life and my wallet. Tribal War Asia releases were quite easy to find and fairly cheap and they looked crusty as fuck so getting Socialcrime's Statement of rage 2001 album (it is actually a cd in a Lp gatefold cover) was a safe bet and made sense in my early 00's context. Oddly, the band is never really discussed and rarely mentioned, when at all. Perhaps they were active at a time when there was too much quality bands doing a similar genre in Japan, and they went largely unnoticed. While I don't think Socialcrime were extraordinary, especially in the midst of the mid 90's/early 00's Japanese hardcore punk scene, this Ep still makes for a good listen if you are into raw hardcore punk. I do not remember when or where I got hold of a copy of Protest noise but it must have been during a record shopping spree in Osaka last year (as I told you before, I went completely berserk because of the plethora of ace records and had to be carried out of the store by the security guard). In fact, I am pretty sure that I was unaware that there even was a Socialcrime Ep, so it was a bit of a surprise and it was a cheap second-hand record so the investment was minimal and I didn't think about it twice. 

I don't know exactly when Protest noise was recorded and released. Judging from the production and the overall sound quality, it certainly predates Statement of rage, so I would say 1998 (correct me if I am wrong). Socialcrime were a three-piece from Tokyo and discogs tells me the band members did not play in other bands before or after, apart from drummer Toumiya who went on to play in The Charge. Their 1999 tape released on Malaysian label Broken Noise Records seems to compile songs taken from different recordings and since there is a live version of "Okinawa" from 1996, I suppose the band must have formed during the mid-90's. Apparently, they were close to Battle of Disarm and DIY Records since they appear on the short thank list provided on the Ep and they contributed to three compilations released on Thrash Ahoy (along with bands like BoD, Argue Damnation, Power of Idea, Fuck on the Beach or GJPB) so there could be a connection there as well, but that's about all I can guess with my magnifying glass. I remember being really into their album back in the day but then it also had a lot to do with the fact that I had much fewer records and the idea of a Japanese crusty hardcore band was still exciting and fresh (that feeling unfortunately went away a long time ago as I realized how bloody massive the Japanese scene was...). But, almost 20 years later, have Socialcrime aged well or was my listening experience distorted by youthful punk excitement? 

The Protest noise Ep is not a bad record and while I don't think I could listen to an album worth of songs with that particular production, it works perfectly on an Ep format. What strikes me is how genuinely raw it sounds. Of course, many Japanese hardcore bands crave for a raw distorted sound but in general they intentionally work on the textures to achieve it, through effects, pedals, production and other tricks, so that the rawness and crudity are more akin to well-crafted and elaborated artistic choices rather than the results of material necessities. Protest noise's rough hardcore sound could be by choice but it sounds so much like it was recoded live in their practice space (there is only one layer of guitar and the bass is too high) that artistic intentionality is very unlikely. Besides Statement of rage is a well produced powerful offering so it would not make much sense to go for a rough production on purpose on the previous record. But anyway, the Ep sounds so direct, spontaneous and just really raw that I am reminded of some Brazilian crusty hardcore bands, not so much for the songwriting but for the atmosphere. Socialcrime are not as crusty as I remembered and would probably be best qualified as raw stripped-down hardcore thrash, somewhere between Battle of Disarm, Varukers, Private Jesus Detector, Crocodileskink with a 90's anarchopunk flavour and some Burning Spirit hardcore. The pace is of the fast and relentless galloping d-beat variety with the drums being loud in the mix, the bass is very present too but the sound is probably too high-pitched and lacks groovy heaviness (but then given the overall raw production, it might have been for the best), the guitar riffs are actually good and quite catchy although the guitar is a bit buried and the vocals are shouted in Japanese and sound deliciously gruff and pissed.

The fact that the band decided to have lyrics in Japanese is definitely a plus as it confers additional impact to the very clear vocal delivery and you can hear - although you don't understand what he's on about - that they are very angry indeed. I would argue that this linguistic choice can be explained by the political motivation of the band which are very clear in the lyrics' translations and the explanatory texts. Protest noise is about Japan's brutal colonial past as much as it is about its neocolonial present. The major difference between both periods lies in the means to achieve domination, through military occupation before as opposed to economic invasion now. Socialcrime also have a song, "Okinawa", about the US military bases located there and how the local population are struggling under this rule, with local women being regularly assaulted and abused by American soldiers. "System Japan", my favourite of the three songs, is about the traditional sense of sacrifice in Japan and how it is used by the ruling class to have more money and more power. The translations are not perfect but you can tell that the lyrics are honest and reflect political realities in Japan which makes for a nice change. Too often bands are happy to just sing about "freedom", "truth" or "war" completely out of context but in this case Socialcrime's protest songs are clearly rooted in specific conditions which gives this humble political record of raw hardcore thrash a distinct anarchopunk coloration and makes it quite lovable.

Protest noise was released on Tribal War Asia (the sublabel run by bloke form Crocodilesking) and One Coin Record, a label responsible for the Thrash Ahoi compilations as well as records from Battle of Disarm, Screen Out or Cluster Bomb Unit. The Ep was distributed by Active Distribution in Europe (like most Tribal War materials) and Noise Arrived Music (NAM on the backcover) but I could not find anything about it so I am clueless as to what it actually is. Socialcrime then recorded a full album, also on Tribal War Asia, with a much clearer sound production, courtesy of Shoji Matsugane who also worked for Fuck On the Beach, which gave Statement of rage a lot more hardcore power and focus. There are a couple of fillers on the album but it is pretty raging nonetheless and with a sharp and angry political message. A self-titled tape is also included on the discogs page but there is no date. I guess it is a demo from the same years as the album since the four songs are also on Statement of rage.

If you want some political hardcore that is genuinely raw and angry for this summer, look no further.  

     

Protest noise!

Records I Forgot I Owned (part 7): Protess "Positiveness" Ep, 2001

Ace epic cover

Once again, this is a record that keeps slipping through the cracks and yet one that I never intended to neglect. Although I can never quite remember how it sounds like, I know full well who I got it from. It was during an online record sale organized by Profane Existence about ten years ago. Money was needed to cover some debts (I think) and parts of record collections had to be sold away to that effect. I was an active member of the message board at the time so got the full list early and managed to grab a copy of Legion of Parasites' Lp, The Prison of Life. Needless to say that I was ecstatic to finally get hold of such a classic and although I realize that to still boast about it to this day is a tad embarrassing, I can't really help it. Yes indeed, the deal was pretty good. In the list there were a couple of records from bands I had never heard of but looked interesting judging from the short descriptions that accompanied them. So, upon reflection, I wisely added two Ep's to my shopping list, one being Jesusexercise's fantastic Ep, while the other was Positiveness by Protess, which was said to be a female-fronted anarcho hardcore band from Japan (or something along these lines). 

Protess formed in 1998 in Sapporo, hometown of Slang, a major player in the Japanese hardcore game (u feel me?) and as a matter of fact they may still be playing, as I have seen live videos from 2015 so it is possible. If it seems to have been singer Yumi's first band (correct me if I'm wrong), the other members were already playing in bands when Protess started. Guitar player Koyuru was in the furious Japanese grinding hardcore band Knuckle Head, along with bass player Takeharu and drummer Taketora who were also playing in Barricade, who were more of a distorted noizy hardcore unit. I am clueless about the actual origin of the name but I came up with three theories:

1. During a drunken band meeting in a bar, after much deliberation, everyone agreed on Protest and went on to celebrate the newly born band. However, a glass was spilled on the sheet of paper where the name had been written down. The next day, no one could actually remember which name they had settled for but fortunately the sheet was found. However the last letter of Protest was blurred and unreadable and the "t" became an "s", hence Protess instead of Protest.

2. The band had a very good friend called Tess and was originally conceived as a pro-Tess act.

3. It was a spelling nod toward the classic female-fronted Japanese punk band Gomess.

Anyway, I suppose Protess are best remembered nowadays for their 2008 split Ep with melodic punk band Signal Lost from Austin that was released on Prank Records, but even that would actually be a rather optimistic assumption (I mean, who still listens to records from the late 00's?). The band's first demo, recorded in 1998, was a raw but meaningful endeavour which set the tone for what was to come in terms of inspiration and songwriting for Protess. Although there was certainly a traditional Japcore vibe on the demo - especially in the faster bits and in the typical backing chorus - Protess did not aim primarily for that sound and were more progressive and versatile, "modern"-sounding if you wish, trying to blend different beats and genres in order to create a passionate whole. Of course, many bands were trying the same thing worldwide and you could argue that this artistic drive and desire to innovate was very much contextualised and even characteristic of the late 90's and early 00's. The 1999 split Ep with Noise Pollution on MCR showed the band in a much tighter mode with a very clean production that highlighted the band's emotional aspect (arguably a bit too much) but it was Positiveness, thanks to a potent and crunchy sound production from one Koji who had already recorded materials from Crude and Mustang, from that really summarized what Protess were all about.

I cannot claim to be a massive fan of the type of hardcore sound Protess were going for in 2001, however the song on the first side of the Ep, "心に花を", is undeniably a hit. It manages to be heavy, epic and triumphant in a Japanese hardcore way, diverse but coherent without ever losing the listener in spite of its length (almost 6 minutes) and above all intense and passionate. The song is mostly a dark, mid-paced number that reminds me of Scatha, Debris and Unhinged, with punishing and heavy tribal beats (the drumming is fantastic all around), but there's also an actual melodic emocore moment toward the end that gives Anomie a run for their money as well as a genuine and epic burning spirit abrasive moment. The vocalist Yumi sounds very ardent, both indignant and hopeful, and the fact that the words are in Japanese confers even more intensity to the prosody and therefore the song. On the whole, "心に花を" works very well and never sounds disparate, on the contrary, its circular structure of echoes maintains its narrative quality, which is something you always need to have if you are going for epic moody hardcore. The second song is not bad by any means and sounds quite similar to the first one, but it just is not as inspired and catchy to ears and it didn't grab my attention.

As mentioned above, a band such as Unhinged (who are cruelly underrated if you ask me) must have been a major influence, especially with the female vocals and the emotional but heavy and angry music, and I can definitely picture a Protess recording for Nabate. Beside them, I suppose the tentacular destructive power of His Hero Is Gone must have played a role in influencing the band as well as UK tribal hardcore bands like Scatha and Sedition (the visuals of the Ep certainly point in that direction), maybe some Antisect and Anti-System and obviously other progressive emotional hardcore bands that were contemporaries but that I know nothing about (but then, I decline omniscience). I don't really listen to that type of music anymore but I really enjoyed playing Positiveness. Of course, it is quite dated and the last decade was overrun with hardcore bands who wanted to be heavy, epic and melodic (cough neocrust cough), but Protess sound and look first and foremost as a genuine punk band who played hardcore with passion and in the end that's exactly what you need to have for an Ep to be solid. This one was released on Sprout Records, a label run by Tsuyoshi (who went to be sing in the MG15 fanboy band Desperdicio) that also released materials from Sacrifice and Youth Strike Chord. I just love the manga-like drawing of the band on the cover (I am a sucker for those) but haven't been able to find other pieces from the artist, so if you are aware of some, please let me know. 

Positivenest

Incidentally, the copy of the Ep contained two photographs from Protess playing live somewhere in 1999. I have no idea who took them but they are pretty cool so here they are.

There's even a bloody sticker!

Noize Not Music is a Fine Art: "No Hesitation to Resist" compilation 10'', 1998

This is the last stop of our leisurely journey through the untamed land of Japanese crust noise-making. We hope to see you soon on Terminal Sound Nuisance Cruise. Please, don't forget to collect all your belongings before going back to your crazy fucked up daily life. Ta!

And to wrap up our noizy ride, let's enjoy a longer record in the shape of a format that I love: a bloody compilation 10''. For fast, hard-hitting hardcore music, you could make a case that this is the ideal format, neither too short nor too long, a bit like a 45 rpm Lp but not as heavy to manipulate. For some reason, I have always been into 10'' records. The size appeals to me and their relative scarcity makes them look more stylish than regular records, not unlike flexis nowadays, except I loath flexis. In 2018, flexis are the format equivalent of a hipster with brand new old-school tats and an ironic metal shirt. In fact, I strictly buy new flexis in cases of emergency. 10'' records are more akin to your loyal mate who has always been a bit of an eccentric but has his heart in the right place (meaning he is genuinely into Discharge). Anyway...

No Hesitation to Resist is made up of twelve Japanese hardcore punk bands (in a broad sense) that can all be defined as noizy, meaning - in the frames of this study - that they make a point in playing punk music that sounds essentially raw by nature and by choice. Rawness becomes a creative choice and an artistic postulate, not just the reflection of teenage urgency, lack of means and dodgy musicianship. Not unlike a school of thoughts but without having to read any critical theory and with a lot of studs and gratuitous growls, because it's punk, innit? 

I find this 10'' highly enjoyable. I do not think I could listen to a full album of all the bands it includes, but I feel that, on a compilation, the lineup is excellent as it displays a crispy variety of punk (sub)genres that are all tied up together with their attraction toward and their focus on a raw and direct sound, so that you do not have that annoying patchwork feel some compilations unfortunately have. Although taken individually, the songs on No Hesitation to Resist may not all be amazing, the tone cohesion of the selection makes for a really solid record, as opposed to a compilation that would have superior individual tracks but without any strong sense of togetherness and fluidity of form and thus of content. Know what I mean? As for the previous records tackled in Noize Not Music is a Fine Art, this one can also be considered as an accurate illustration of the Japanese crusty scene in the late 90's with well-known familiar faces as well as smaller bands that did not leave much of a trace afterwards. Hindsight is cruel. 

Since there are twelve bands to talk about, I will try to be brief but, as you all know by now, I like too much the sound of my own voice for that to really happen (who said Terminal Self Importance?). So let's go forward into battle to the end of the Earth, shall we? The first band is Truth of Arize from Tokyo and they deliver the best song of No Hesitation. Honestly. As simple as that. In fact, you could get the record just for the song "Controlled freedom" and it would still be a good deal. 

I do not know much about ToA. They formed in 1996 and released three demos: a 1997 split demo tape with Ignorance from Yokohama entitled Abuse and Abusers..., a self-titled demo tape in 1998 and another tape, called System Crucified (no date for that one). Because life is deeply unfair, I am only familiar with the '98 demo from which "Controlled freedom" is actually taken. And it is an absolute scorcher, without the shadow of a doubt one of the best - if not the best - dual vocal crust band from Japan that I have been given the opportunity to hear. The songs are brutal, intense and very catchy, with that typically obnoxious, obliviously angry vibe that defines the finest cavecrust. Of course, I can hear classics like Extreme Noise Terror, Abraham Cross, Amen or Disrupt, but there is also a crushing, relentless Japanese scandicrust vibe in the songs that brings Framtid or Frigöra to mind. The over-the-top vocals work perfectly together and, combined with the insane energy of the recording, ToA sound pretty much unstoppable. Look me in the eye and tell me that the way the music speeds up after the mid-paced D-beat introduction of "Controlled freedom" is not devastating. Come and have a go if you think you're crust enough! This song as well as the three others off the '98 demo are essential and we should all pray for it to be reissued someday. 

ToA went on to release a full Lp in 1999, the delicate Genocide Massacre Holocaust, which was some sort of demented concept album combining noize and harsh noise. Basically, a blend of harsh ambient music with a lot of white noise and shit with some bouncy Doom-loving crust like Abraham Cross and Mindsuck. I personally like it a lot but it is not something I would play at 9am on a sunday morning (I would wait until at least 10). Try it if you dare. I love that band.

Next are one of Tokyo's most famous anarcho crust export and Terminal Sound Nuisance regulars, Battle of Disarm. I have already written about them several times (here and here) but they were invited on a lot of compilations in the 90's and early 00's so their presence is not surprising. BoD contribute a rerecording of one of their early 90's classic, "Our invasion", with a super crunchy eurocrust Hiatus-y sound, filthy metallic guitar and gruff vocals which makes this version more powerful than the original.

Disclose follow and what can be said about the metaphysicians of d-beat (maybe this)? They turned a band - Discharge - and their tentacular influence into an endless source of inspiration, into a proper structural worldview, into a validated genre. They can be defined as THE noizy band by design. If only one had to be picked, it would be Disclose, for Kawakami's dedication and unshakable faith in Discharge-loving hardcore punk. The Disclose song here is "In agony" and I am actually at a loss since I cannot state with my customary self-assurance the recording session to which this version of the song belongs. We are clearly in the Dis-Lickers era of the band (to rephrase it, Discharge by way of 80's raw Swedish hardcore) and the lineup is the same as on the split with Totalitär, however the version is slightly different to the one from that split. Both are very similar but there is more distortion on the guitar and the vocals are double-tracked, which gives this take of "In agony" a nice old-school Discharge feel (I know some dislike double-tracked D-beat vocals but I am generally in favour). Or perhaps I am going deaf and I am hearing (dis)voices. Whatever the truth is it is a brilliant Disclose song, with a strong Discard and Shitlickers influence. And Discharge? And Discharge.

The next band is Absent from Amagasaki (not too far from Osaka) and I am sadly not familiar with this lot. Discogs tells me that they also had a demo tape called Fixed Contamination....... (yes with seven suspension marks) and judging from the lyrics, the band was heavily into green politics but that's about it. They were also included on an antiwar compilation Ep along with Argue Damnation (who released it on their own FFT Label) and Victims of Greed (it's a small world since both bands are also on No Hesitation to Resist) so one might infer that they belonged to the same crew of political punks, but that can be far-fetched. Absent played energetic, hard-hitting and angry Japanese hardcore thrash with a d-beat feel and intense raspy vocals (not quite unlike Argue Damnation) and fit perfectly on this compilation. 

And my mentioning Osaka's Argue Damnation above was premonitory since they are the next in line. I have always liked AD and have much respect for their staunch DIY spirit and their genuine political lyrics and attitude. Since they had toured in Europe (in the late 90's I suppose?), I remember the band was regularly referred to positively by older, wiser (?) punks in the early 00's. And I find their manga-styled drawings of punks to be ace, but that's probably because I grew up watching Saint Seiya in the 80's. AD was formed by Aoishi after Iconoclast folded and played typically fast and intense 90's anarcho thrash punk, with that distinctive triumphant energy borrowed from traditional Japanese hardcore and some crusty punk for good measure (after all they played a lot in Osaka in the 90's so that was unavoidable). They were usually pretty fast and furious - especially at the time of No Hesitation - but their song "Anti the new Japan-US security" (about a military agreement between both superpowers) has a moderate pace. The sound is thick, the aggression raw, the bass thunderingly groovy, the guitar riff catchy and epic and the vocals have that snotty and pissed punky vibe that I crave. A bit like a Japanese take on Sedition? A great band that does not the recognition it deserves (probably because their records still go for cheap).

Victims of Greed are next. Hailing from Itami in the Hyogo Prefecture (like Absent), they can be seen as one of the forgotten heroes of crust in Japan. And I mean this quite literally since everyone seems to have forgotten about them. They were around in the mid/late 90's so you could argue that the crust throne was obviously a coveted position and that competition was bound to be harsh, but they deserve more than a mere footnote in the grand story of gratuitous growls and patched up pants. In terms of outputs, FFT released a split Ep between VoG and Scum Noise (from Brazil) which saw the band unleash fast polyphonic crusty hardcore and the label also included them on the aforementioned 反新安保 compilation Ep, to which VoG contributed two genuine gruff crust hits (probably from the same recording session as the song from No Hesitation to Resist) and reveal their true ugly face to the world. "Mouth head" sounds like a beefy cross (or a cider-induced brawl) between Battle of Disarm, 90's Doom, the mighty Hiatus and Condemned, one capable of outcrusting a lot of what the decade had to offer (which was an awful lot). Bear-like cavemen vocals, a raw but loud crunchy guitar sound with a lot of feedback, a heavy metallic bass sound. This is seriously heavy. The song starts off with a filthy mid-paced Discharge part before diving dreads first into extreme noise heaven. Fuck me, this is great. If their Authority --> Rotten demo is as anywhere solid, I think we have a real winner. Simple, direct and glorious cavemen crust. After the demise of Victims of Greed, Yosuke (guitar and vocals) joined the very good Reduction.  

It is now time to flip side and deal with Äpärät from Kanagawa, who open for side Protest (aka side B). If you ask your average geezer about a Japanese band with lyrics in Finnish, he would just stare at your blankly and think that you have just broken out of the local asylum. If you ask the same thing to a hardcore punk fan, he or she would merely lift an eyebrow and reply "Be more precise, are we talking about the Kobe or the Osaka school?". Japanese punks are well known for their devoted passion and reverence about Scandinavian hardcore and for their absolute sense of detail so it makes sense that some of them would form referential hardcore bands with lyrics in Swedish (Frigöra), Italian (Isterismo), Spanish (Desperdicio) or, of course, in Finnish (I am really looking forward to the day when they will try to sing in French in a Béruriers Noirs type band, great fun ahead). I think Äpärät may have been the first Japanese hardcore band to sing in Finnish and play typical 80's Finnish hardcore, a genre that  - not unlike Japanese noizy punk - owes a lot to Chaos UK and Disorder, so I guess it all makes sense in the end. Of course more bands like Laukaus, Poikkeus or Folkeiis would follow that path of Kaaos/Riistetyt/Tampere SS worship in their native tongue afterwards.

This said, in 1998, Kanagawa's Äpärät did not sing in Finnish yet, although the Kaaos influence is clear on the song "The staff of life" (especially in the raw aggressive sound of the bass and the fast and referential chaotic drumming). This song is pretty much Raw Punk 101 and beside Finnish hardcore, I can hear a UK82 influence with some early Discharge-loving hardcore thrown in as well (Death Sentence meet Diatribe in Sweden or something). I love the punky snotty binary break in the middle as it makes me feel like I'm 16 and hating high-school again. A great hardcore punk song that is as deceptively simple as it is effective. Previous to No Hesitation to Resist, Äpärät had contributed three songs of the same vibe to the first volume of Chaos or Destruction. After that, they recorded a rather rough demo tape in October, '98, and then went full on Finn punk (linguistically and stylistically) on their excellent split Ep with Effigy in 2001.

Next up are Instinct from Fukuoka and let me warn you, they are absolutely relentless. The band was set into motion in 1997 by two members of the respected grindcore band Voltifobia when the latter folded. However, Instinct did not play grindcore but opted instead for that brand of raging, brutal, heavy, pummeling Swedish hardcore that was the flavour of the day in the mid/late 90's. Furious shit that goes straight to the point and can be seen in the same light as early Skitsystem, 3-Way Cum or Driller Killer with whom they shared a split Ep, also in 1998, on which they sounded just like a 90's Swedish band (for real). Their contribution to No Hesitation to Resist, "Groundless pains", is my favourite material from them as it still retains a Japanese hardcore feel in the vocals and the typical chorus which makes it sound more exuberantly, fist-raisingly angry, and the drums just sound like the apocalypse is just around the cornaaarrrgh. They must have been a steamroller live.

Beyond Description follow and what can I say about them? Even in 1998, BD were old-timers (they formed in 1988) so the fact that they are still active now is fairly impressive. Mind you, they even released a full album last year (The Robotized World) which sounds exactly as it should: old-school crossover hardcore thrash. I must admit that the genre is not really my cup of tea and that I am mostly familiar with BD for the splits they did (with Excrement of War or Detestation for example), though I remember enjoying A Road to a Brilliant Future when it came out. The 1998 lineup of the band had Tomo from Äpärät on the bass and the song "Development" is a straight up fast and raw thrash punk song, not so far from traditional Japanese hardcore really, played with a lot of energy and determination. It fits perfectly with the rest of the compilation and I think selecting a metal-free song was wise. And of course, No Hesitation to Resist was released on the label of BD's singer Hideyuki, Forest Records, so it is only fair that they appeared on it (why would you have a label if you cannot include your own bands on cool comps? I mean, duh).

Mental Disease are next and I have already discussed them in the previous post (here) so I am not going to repeat myself too much. To be honest, I think the song "Mental sick" is a definite highlight of the compilation and MD sound much tighter and more focused than on Natural Crust and Punk Force Noise Making. The band is in full Extinction era Nausea-worship mode (the guitar riff, the solo, and the way the bass and the guitar work together are heavy nods toward New York) and the clever collaborative work between the male and female vocalists makes the already fast and furious song even more pissed and intense. I am also reminded of (Japanese) Iconoclast and SDS which is an excellent thing. Late 90's Mental Disease should be recognized as top drawer dual vocals crust and I still cannot get my head around their currently low profile. Should I start campaigning?

Another crust band is next, this time of a much higher profile: Effigy. Of course, the band has already been discussed in the past (here) which makes me realize that I may be going around in circles... Have I been caught in an endless crust loop? Anyway... In that review, I tackled their transitional status between the 90's and the 00's old-school crust schools. Effigy made the link nationwide between bands like SDS, Carnage or AGE and the new generation embodied in Zoe, Acrostix or Disturd, while worldwide, on the strength of their brilliant From Hell Ep and the split with Hellshock, they certainly had a big influence on the so-called stenchcore revival of the early/mid 00's. But let's be factual first.

They formed in 1998 in Takamastu, Kagawa Prefecture, and Masuda (on the bass) previously played in COSA (oddly meaning Cache Of Strategic Arms...), a metallic punk band with a thrash influence that had an Ep in 1992 and were included on such compilations as the Truth Lp and the What is crust? cd. Effigy's contribution to No Hesitation to Resist, "Destructive of the Earth", was actually the band's very first vinyl appearance, although you can hear quickly that, if the band was technically young, there was some solid punk experience behind it. I really enjoy this Effigy track, better than Evil Fragments actually. It is a moderately fast one (in a mid-paced d-beat way) with crunchy metallic riffs enhanced with a raw and heavy textured sound; low and gruff, hellish-sounding dual vocals that work particularly well here; and overall a rather simple structure that is adequately mood-oriented. There is nothing technically spectacular in the song per se but the stenchcore balance is just right and tasteful as Effigy wisely used simplicity and sound as assets to generate the proper crust vibe. It is a clear winner. I am not really reminded of other Japanese crust bands here (maybe AGE), but 90's metal crust classics like Misery, Coitus, Warcollapse or Greek bands like Σαρκασμός or Βιομηχανική Αυτοκτονία do come to mind. ACE!

The final song of No Hesitation to Resist is "Ideal" from a band called System Kills. Based in the Gifu Prefecture, they look quite obscure and I have not been able to find a lot of details about them. System Kills played hardcore with a NYHC influence (there is a massive metallic moshpart in the middle), some epic guitar leads typical of Burning Spirit hardcore, tough screaming vocals and the compulsory gang chorus. I would not listen to a full album from them but I guess they represent a style that was absent from the compilation so far and it gives a bit more hardcore variety to the whole. Still, I am pretty sure they wore bandanas.

This record is a lovely, unpretentious compilation and there is something for everyone here. Beside you have just got to love the pixelated cheesy drawing on the cover with a bunch of punks (meant to stand for the different schools in da scene I guess) being surrounded by a threatening bonehead, a demented businessman, a rabid soldier and a whole faceless squad of riot cops, without mentioning the nuclear explosion in the background. Such is the the power of metaphors. Seeing that you can find it for a reasonable price, you know what to do.  

No Hesitation to Noize

     

Noize Not Music is a Fine Art: "Final Noise Attack" compilation Ep, 1994

To ignore Final Noise Attack in a series revolving around the canonisation of the notion of "noize" would be criminal. Or dumb. Or even worse, a proof that you are not familiar with the record. And this discrepancy could mechanically have you eliminated from the contest for the - much coveted - Noiz Cruster of the Year award, assuming you did survive the Crust Pants of Hell battle royal of course. It is a tough game. 

But really, doesn't the very phrase "final noise attack" basically point to the next logical step, the sensible continuation of "noize not music"? Once you have settled that noize (and not conventional music, whatever it entails) is your project, then it makes sense to push the statement further and emphasize the agency inherent in the concept. The purpose of this music is to be hostile and relentless, to attack in a radical fashion that relies on noisiness and crudity. After all, radicality and extremity have always been punk's main selling points and attractiveness so you could argue that the call for a "final noise attack" can also be read as a healthy return to the basics, to the genuine foundations of hardcore, raw and noisy by essence, like the noize to end all noise...or something. Strictly speaking, the bands included on the Final Noise Attack Ep are not even that spectacularly noisy, though it depends what meaning one gives to this term and what is expected from it. But they are not particularly deafening or strident (especially by Japanese standards). They cannot be described as a wall of blown-out distorted d-beat noise, which would be the implication if the phrase was used today, since "noise" has come to be equated - I blame our epoch's compulsive need to classify everything for it - with the Disclose-style sound. At least within our little quarter of the hardcore punk scene, since to other people, "noise" will designate grindy noisecore bands or grungy dissonant bands or harsh noise electronic band or ambient stuff and so on, while Joe Public will probably be thinking that this is all bollocks and give him Phil Collins any day. We are all someone else's noise I suppose.

But my point is that this compilation is not so much "noizy" in a literal, sonic way (although it is also that), but above all for its focus on referenced influences and their almost systematic aestheticization, and for its unshakable belief in the value and relevance of hardcore punk as a raw, unpolished, noisy music belonging to a particular tradition, as opposes to the overproduced brand of hardcore that was blooming in the early/mid 90's. Noize becomes a way of looking at and creating punk music. On that level, it very much echoes with the almost bitter message on the back of Gloom's Recomendation of Perdition from 1997, dismissing crusty bands they deemed too melodic (which brings us to the real £100 question here: did neocrust kill Gloom?). But then of course, it makes sense since Final Noise Attack was, by essence, an Osaka record since it was compiled by members of Gloom themselves. As mentioned in the introduction to the Japanese Crust vs the World series (here), Final Noise Attack was originally the name given to the gigs organized by the then young and enthusiastic Osaka crusties in the early 90's. Not unlike the Punk & Destroy gigs that took place in Nagoya, Final Noise Attack gigs were numerous and certainly helped foster a new generation of raw punk and crust fanatics on a local level and consolidated crust as a powerful genre on a national one (just look at the posters and you will see that basically every single Japanese bands going for the crusty, d-beat, scandicore sound played at those events). I am not sure how many Final Noise Attack gigs were organized throughout the years (but judging from what I saw on da internet, quite a lot of them during a relatively short period, which says a lot about the dynamics and the momentum of the 90's Osaka scene) or when (or why) they stopped using that name, so I would be grateful is someone could shed some light here. What is pretty clear however, looking at the posters on the Ep's backcover, is that the visual aesthetics promoted by the gigs (a blend of Discharged-loving imagery, Bristol-by-way-of-Kyushu drawings, Crass-y anarchopunk symbols and so on) adequately reflected the music style of the bands playing (and the fashion of the people attending). Subcultural in the noblest sense of the term. And that is why I love this Ep. Of course I like the music and the looks of it, they are replete with visual cultural clues, nods, precise references, and it validates what I already know, like and know I like. But it also acts as a wonderfully accurate cultural artifact of a specific time and place. It has true meaning and meaningfulness as it concentrates what it was all about, and despite the many references to the glorious decade of the 80's, it completely conveys the energy and conviction of the next decade so that it does not feel nostalgic. But let's get to it.

The main surprise here is the absence of everyone's favourite 90's Osaka band: Gloom. I have no idea why since members of Gloom were the instigators of the Final Noise Attack gigs and I am sure they had a hand in the making of this Ep but there you go. They released Speed Noise Hardcore Rags the same year, in 1994, so maybe they did not have any songs ready for the compilation but that is just a wild guess. But if Gloom were technically absent from Final Noise Attack, it did not mean that all its members were. Indeed, the first band of the Ep, Defiance (the name is unlucky enough in retrospect), actually had Habi and Jhonio from Gloom in its ranks while Kaco and Okamoto respectively played in Warcry and Asphyxia. Noizy bands to say the least. I have already talked about Defiance on Terminal Sound Nuisance (here) since they were included on the magnificent Meaningful Consolidation 1994 2xEp and to which they contributed the brilliant metallic punk scorcher "Future is darkness". I could be wrong but I believe that the two Defiance songs on Final Noise Attack could be from the same recording session. Although they are nowhere near as metal-oriented, the production is similar and the thick and groovy bass sound that is genuinely appropriate for some thunderous Dis-oriented heavy scandi hardcore - with a mandatory dash of crust - is the same. I can hear obvious hints of Anti-Cimex, especially on the rather rocking "Violation of human rights", early Doom, Private Jesus Detector, Discard (the riffs on "Never be deceived") and even Anti-System (especially on the guitar texture). The songs are heavy, relentless and have this high energy, explosive quality that characterizes Swedish hardcore. The almost organic thickness of the bass and guitar certainly confers an edge to the otherwise classic 90's Discharge-flavoured songwriting and I really enjoy them. Classically-trained but very effective in a "Swedish hardcore crusties" way. The vocals are shouted but neither yelled nor gruff. This recording is from February, 1994, and Defiance also had a demo tape from 1993, the three songs of which subsequently landed on 1995's Truth compilation Lp, and had two tracks (with added crustness due to a dual vocal attack) on the What is Crust? cd from 1998 (though I guess they were recorded much earlier). I wish there was more from them...

Next are Reason Why. And... that is unfortunately all I can tell you about them! I have not been able to find any detail about the band so far (no trace of them on the internet) and it looks like the song "Contradiction" was their only vinyl appearance. The only thing I know about Reason Why is how their singer looked since there is a picture of the band in the book Inferno Punx. I know, it is pretty slim. As for the song itself, it sounds a lot like early Gloom (the 91-94 period). In fact, I even wondered at some point if it was not a Gloom cover or Gloom in disguise. Seriously. Perhaps Reason Why was a young band trying to emulate what was the most exciting punk band in town at the time? It certainly would not be the first time in punk history (more like a rule of thumb really). Anyway, judging from that one song, RW played a direct style of proto crasher crust with a very raw sound, distorted guitar and screams. A bit like listening to Chaos UK, CDFL and Confuse having an argument over a dove logo in the basement. How very Osaka.

Condemned follow on the other side with two songs, "Remember" and "Depends on bloody human". Like for Reason Why, information about this band is scarce (someone should write a book methinks) but it was not their sole recording. Condemned had two demo tapes out before Final Noise Attack: Do you respective live? in 1993 and To all human error (possibly '94?), the latter being actually the very first Crust War release (catalogue number CW001 if you're wondering), and Jacky even played the guitar for Condemned toward the end of their existence (he formed Framtid after they split up). They were also included on Japankore's first omnibus tape compilation (that I have sadly never heard but also had Disclose, Battle of Disarm and the deliciously intriguing Ace of Shit) and contributed live recordings to the third volume of Bondage Maniac Record's tapes. If you are a devout Terminal Sound Nuisance believer, you will remember that I included the song "Depends on bloody human" on my cavemen crustmas compilation so that already gives you a hint at what Condemned were about. In Inferno Punx they are described as "PRIMITIVE BLAST CRUST CORE" which is pretty fucking accurate (I love the neological terminology used in the book). Condemned played fast, all-out primal crust with savage vocals reminiscent of early Disrupt, Embittered, Extreme Noise Terror (obviously) and the local Warcry (without the Sore Throat influence). There is a distinct early British feel to the band that is reinforced with the band's visuals being heavily "inspired" by the UK anarcho aesthetics (they use The Mob's dove and the logo of Dirge). The sound is raw and the songwriting direct and I so wish someone would reissue the band's demos on vinyl one day. Basic but glorious nonetheless.   

Finally, you have two songs from Despair, yet another rather obscure band that did not quite fulfill its potential. Despair had Gun from Asphyxia (he later on played in the tough guy hardcore act T.J. Maxx) on the bass but that is about all I know about their lineage. The band released three demo tapes in the early 90's, the last of which was called Victims of War, and were also included on the Outlast compilation tape (released around '95 or '96, I would say, and alongside a couple of brilliant Japanese hardcore bands like Toxic Noise, Scum Blast and GJPB) and the aforementioned Bondage Maniac tape (the Despair songs are taken from their third demo). In terms of sound, you will not be too astonished to learn that the band was into punishing the audience with fast and intense crusty hardcore with really gruff vocals. The production is pretty thin and is lacking in heaviness but the music is frantic, energetic and pissed enough to make up for this and I like the deep, hyperbolic crust vocals (they are forceful but not goofy-sounding and work well on a short format). Judging from the metallic opening of "The free world" and the crunchy guitar sound, Despair were clearly into early SDS, though I would describe the overall tone as a blend between early eurocrust and blazingly fast Japanese harcore (with a twist of Ripcord too). Two short sharp shocks that do not fuck about.

Final Noise Attack was released on MCR Records in June, 1994, and you could see this Ep as being part of the series of hardcore compilations focusing on specific Japanese towns that the label put out at the time. It should be pointed out that this Ep did not merely celebrate hardcore punk from Osaka but also the work and efforts from a bunch of young punks into raw punk and crust to create their own scene in their hometown through the Final Noise Attack gigs and bands. It highlights and validates specific dynamics. You could argue that this Ep (especially taking into consideration the reputation and distribution of MCR) pretty much put the Osaka crusty hardcore scene on the map, although the compilation itself, from a strictly musical point of view, with four quite short-lived local bands, is solid but not earth-shattering (and not as potent as Tokyo Crusties). Context might be more relevant than text here. At that time, all these Osaka bands (and by and large most of the growing second generation of Japanese crust) only had demo tapes so to be included on a proper Ep was probably a success for the whole Final Noise Attack scene. Also around that time, Crust War Records released the first Gloom Ep and the rest is crustory.

Osaka Noise Attack

   

Noize Not Music is a Fine Art: "Mie City Hard Core" compilation Ep, 1994

From the inception of this series in my tiny mind, I instantly knew that this Ep had to be part of it but that it would represent a challenge. The main argument for selecting it could be summarized in one powerful word: CARNAGE. Given the templates of Noize not Music is a Fine Art and my endless obsessiveness with old-school crust music (one that Japanese punx have also been sharing for almost three decades, thanks fuck for that), picking a highly referential metallic crust band of a high standard, one that was not too obvious, appeared like a contractual obligation. If you really think about it (go on then, do it) Carnage were therefore the best solution, with only three songs recorded, a solid historical relevance and a cracking sound. It was to be a cruise on an ocean of excited blabbering over crust authenticity, yet another heroic and victorious march into dark uncharted stenchcore territories, one that would ensure yours truly a comfy spot on the Mount Olympcrust. Or so I thought...

I had originally bought Mie City Hard Core just for that one Carnage song and had not paid much attention to the other three bands on the compilation (I am not sure if it makes me a cooler punk or more of a poser...). Listening to the whole Ep again made me realize that, not only did I know nothing about these bands (and I do mean nothing), but that they played a genre I never felt completely at ease with: burning spirit hardcore. Now, I certainly do not mean to provoke the ire of honest, hard-working nerds with a crush for obi-wearing records by saying this and I hope I did not offend anyone. Please do not flog me with one-sided flexis as a punishment. Not being an expert in traditional (to be understood here as a genre signifier) Japanese hardcore, I cannot even really claim that Self, Zig-Zag and Blood Feast completely fall in the burning spirit category since they are not quite as over-the-top and epic as the 90's bands I tend to associate with the term (like Death Side, Slang, Warhead, Bastard or Tetsu Arrey), but I will leave the responsibility of clarifying such an issue for good to the ones in the know. However I feel like they each hold enough significant similarities with burning spirit to be widely described as such, if only for the sake of classification and clarity and because of the context of the time (there seems to have been many bands going for the style during the 90's in Japan). If you mention the phrase "90's Japanese hardcore" to me, I always hear flashy and epic guitar solos, ferocious speed metal leanings, a massive love for Discharge and Motörhead, some mosh parts, a direct and rough vocal flow, dynamic enormous gang chorus everywhere, weird lyrics about self-empowerment (you could easily make a few quids selling a book with burning spirit quotes these days) and even weirder band names. But perhaps the best definition I have heard for this style is that it makes you feel invincible and triumphant and for all the subjectivity of such a statement, I can see why someone would say that. 

But let's get to the record. Mie City Hard Core was released in May, 1994, on MCR Records and was part of a series of compilation Ep's focusing on the hardcore scenes of specific Japanese cities or areas. Before Mie, MCR had put out compilations highlighting bands from Kyoto, Nagoya, Sapporo, Yokosuka, Shizuoka, Niigata, Utsunomiya and Kochi-City (yes, Disclose). I personally love the concepts of local comps as they can meaningfully capture the essence of a particular era in a particular area. Of course, they are not all breath-taking and some bands never released anything else after but they are relevant cultural shots of a given context. Mie is not actually a city but a prefecture so this Ep includes bands from the same region but not necessarily the same town. 

The first candidate on the Ep are Self. Yes, Self. Now if that's not a name for a self-empowered, spiritually liberated hardcore kid, I don't know what is. Discogs tells me that the song "Clay guilty" (a song against war) is the sole appearance of the band on record and that is a shame. Self checked several important burning spirit boxes and played with a lot of raw energy (but then, that's a bit redundant to point it out given the genre) and that distinct Japanese hardcore fury. The Bastard-like riffs are excellent, very uplifting, the vocals are hoarse, the pummeling drums are super dynamic, there is a short but catchy solo, the singalong gang chorus are epic and contagious and you are even treated with Mad Max samples for good measure. Self were from Ise and I haven not been able to find any detail about them other than the fact the bloke who engineered the song also worked with bands like SOB, Warhead or Rise From the Dead and that the singer, Sakkon, produced an Ep for Dislike (you know, that late 90's noisepunk band, back when no one did the genre?). On an unrelated note, I am really into the band logo displaying a peacefully praying spiky punk inside a Star of David, also featuring two yin yang symbols, circled with an antiwar message written in the Crass font. Ace. 

Next up are Zig-Zag with the song "Act out!". From what I understand looking at the band's artwork, the name refers to the French brand of rolling papers since Zig-Zag (the band) used the same famous drawing of a zouave than Zig Zag (the brand). I am not sure what to think about it. They could have been heavy smokers or something got seriously lost in translation... Despite the rather raw sound, Zig-Zag pretty much epitomize burning spirit hardcore to my ears. The riffs are triumphant and catchy, the drumming is all over the place, the chorus are anthemic and will induce some intense sessions of fist-raising in your bedroom and I challenge you not to be taken by the sheer energy of the song. In terms of writing, you can tell that they really thought things through with a two-parts chorus that allows for the pressure to build up before exploding. I really like the snotty vocals on this one as they remind me of UK hardcore or vintage peacepunk at times and they add a genuine punky feel. Zig-Zag's drummer also played in Assfort (the first Japanese hardcore band I have ever heard) so it will give you a good picture of the waters in which the band liked to swim. Two years after Mie City Hard Core, they contributed four songs to a compilation cd entitled 2nd Round of the Game of Death (that could work as a title for a teenage horror movie as well). Much better recorded and even more aligned with the burning spirit school of crazy guitar solos and homeric hardcore songwriting, these songs will literally make you feel like a super saiyan. 

Blood Feast, from Tsu, are the next in line and contrary to Self, Zig-Zag and Carnage, they seem to have had a decent discography of their own (three Ep's) and can even pride themselves to have recorded some classic 90's Japanese hardcore. The band also appeared on a tape compilation (probably form the mid-90's as well), Outlast, along with bands like COSA, Slang or Guillotine Terror, but I am not too sure which was their first recording session. Judging solely on the quality of the sound production, I'd say that the split with Poison Cola contained their earliest stuff but I could be wrong. Anyway, from the three "Japanese hardcore" acts on Mie City Hard Core, BF are easily my favourites because they are the punkiest-sounding of the bunch. Super aggressive and direct thrashy hardcore punk with a punishing, hammering 1-2-1-2 beat and snarly desperate vocals. Mind you, I even enjoy the mid-tempo mosh parts with the crazy soloing. I can definitely hear that typical Chaos UK influence that pervaded a lot of Japanese punk although the arrangements and the riffing are undeniably local (Kuro and Death Side come to mind). The (moderate) distortion on the guitar - which they would subsequently pursue - is also an asset as it confers an additional edge to the song and they sang in both Japanese and English which I really enjoy since the flow of the language goes well with the steep relentlessness of the genre. Their '95 Ep on Discrete Records (that label responsible for some classic DSB records a few years later), War in a Babylon, was even better, with a distorted raw punk edge, a genuine antiwar message and one of the best Crucifix covers ever (in fact, BF even openly borrowed the Crucifix logo on this Ep!). Really solid band that is well worth (re)discovering and rates pretty high in terms of quality 90's Japanese hardcore.     

And finally, my precious, my beloved, my treasured Carnage. As you can imagine, a large amount of bands throughout the years decided to make a stand and call themselves Carnage, mostly of the metal variety, but by no means exclusively, and that is without even considering variations such as Total Carnage, Supreme Carnage, Mörbid Carnage or the classically misspelt Karnage. Still Carnage from the Mie Prefecture are, by far, my favourite Carnage, in spite of their very short discography. There must have been demos at the time but I have never heard them (or even heard of any) so that one song from Mice City Hard Core and the two others from the oddly named What is Crust? What is Melo-core? Be Different Hardcore? '98 compilation cd (that also has Disclose, Frigöra and Argue Damnation) will sadly have to do. 

As I mentioned, Carnage were pretty much the main reason why I picked that particular record for treatment. And let's face it, it was an obvious choice. Carnage excelled in crust referentiality and exemplified the notion that "noize not music is a fine art" and the aesthetic intent and artistic carefulness underlying such a statement. The point is not just to pay homage by playing with visual and sonic elements originally created by crucially influential bands, but to build on them. The motivation is twofold, as referentiality is a means to consolidate and validate one band's creation into a pre-existing tradition, but also to turn a band's sound into a legitimate style of its own, with its rules and codes as well as its songwriting potentiality. In Carnage's case, you could argue that they turned the sound and referential creativity of SDS into an actual subgenre, they conceptualized it. Very much like Anti Authorize at the same time (and closer to us, Disturd), they referred to SDS' sense of Antisect referentiality (as their piece of artwork and their hairy antisectish font can attest). Of course, the influence of SDS on the Japanese crust scene was prevalent by 1994 but Carnage was one of the first bands to openly work on the template of Antisect and UK sound as generated by SDS. 

The result is brilliant. The song "Desperate future", recorded in January, 1994, is basically a raw but powerful blend of Out From the Void and In To the Void with some groovy but filthy metallic riffing strongly reminiscent of SDS of course but also heralding bands like AGE and Disturd. In itself, the song is rather simple and effective, the vocals are gruff, almost Neurosis-like, the bass sound is thick, the riff is crusty and catchy and thus you've got the perfect mid-paced crust song. The short spoken words at the opening nod toward Flux of Pink Indians' "Neu smell" and Crass' "Mother Earth" and act as reminder of the anarcho roots of the genre. The two other Carnage songs on the cd, "Total destruction of nuclear weapons" and "Change", are faster and heavier and were recorded six months after, though they were released in 1998. These mere three songs showed that, at a pivotal time for Japanese crust punk, when bands like Abraham Cross, Disclose and Gloom were really coming to the fore with their own concepts, Carnage (along with Anti Authorize) paved the way for a different crusty path, carefully and specifically crafted with the SDS approach, that would be taken by more bands afterwards.  

Of course, it would be strange not to talk about the "crustier than Concrete Sox' socks" artwork, which can actually be rather misleading if you consider the lineup. It was done by Carnage's drummer Sucker and is yet another example of referential crust art with the adequate amount of broken instruments, crust pants and dreads. I personally have a soft spot for the drawing on the backcover because the geezer is drinking from a beer bottle sporting the infamous crossed out music note logo and because he sort of looks like me, I'm afraid to say. Noize not Music can also be a fine drink.   

Mie City Crust Core            

As a follow-up to this one, MCR released Mie City Hardcore 2 in 2002 with a much crustier lineup made up of Contrast Attitude, Deceiving Society and Alive.