Still believing in ANOK: Enola Gay "Censored Bodies - Human Fission" Ep, 1990

Fuck me, it has been a while. Just sitting on my arse thinking about Terminal Sound Nuisance right now makes me feel like I have just come back from long holidays and I have to go back to work, except work in this case is actually pleasant and something I like to think I am pretty decent at. I know I have been threatening to be more concise in the past without ever actually shutting up but things have changed. Just to be serious for a second, I have a new job (gasp) that I have to adjust to - and not just by groveling with servility whenever I meet my boss - so that a lack of time is not completely unimaginable. Ideally, I should try to be more straight-forward or, as my mum used to tell me when I was a teenager, just cut the crap. Either this or I won't do the blog as often as I used to which sounds just sad. Tough shit. Does it mean that I am not looking for anything serious right now? Does it fuck. If anything, writing shorter writeups - or "grandiose articles" as my numerous fans like to call them - means that they will be packed with action and almost devoid of transitions with little to no time to reflect on anything, not unlike a Marvel movie with Deviated Instinct replacing Captain America and shoegaze replacing whoever the new vilain is. 

So... Still believing in ANOK is a series that I have designed, with my proverbial craft, to take a breather from the endless crust series I previously embarked upon. Don't get me wrong, I love crust to death but right now I'd rather run away to Colorado to become a Tantric nail artist or open a vape shop in Slough than write about how great Nightfeeder (and they are great indeed). So I'm definitely pulling a sickie on crust music for a couple of months. What will Still believing in ANOK be about beside sounding like a poor attempt at reconciling The Exploited and Crass in one unspectacular pun? Well, I picked about a dozen works recorded and/or released between 1987 and 2001 - a period that could be broadly described as "pre-internet" because the digital revolution was yet to come and had not yet had the formidable impact it would soon have on punk as a whole. And the recordings I chose all built on the so-called traditional anarcho sound of the original wave. Of course, the 90's were replete with politically-motivated anarchopunk bands all around the world, but in this series I will be focusing on the bands that did not go full on hardcore or crust or thrashcore or whatevercore but kept that distinctive old-school edge and flew with it. Basically, form (genre in this case) will prevail over content and concept (the politics and the DIY spirit). So yeah, expect a lot of Conflict worship.

Exhaustivity, like perfect shaped abs, is a chimera. Still, the focus will be international and, as much as possible, the bands tackled will aptly and meaningfully reflect the whole range of the foundational anarcho sound, or rather sounds indeed as there was a lot of variety originally. Even though we have come to identify a specific, if rather wide-spread at the time, take (let's say Flux meets The System and The Mob for example) as "the classic anarchopunk sound" and even though there was such a thing as generic, average anarchopunk bands in 1983, there was still variety enough, from Poison Girls to Antisect, Zounds to Stalag 17. One of my goals will be to highlight that this variety in speed, songwriting, influences, tones and so on did survive, even though, of course, there was such a thing as "the classic 90's anarcho sound" that was different and very common and epitomised by bands like Aus-Rotten for example. Bloody cycles. There will be some obvious choices and hopefully some bands you will have never heard of. There will be tunes, there will be anger, there will be passion, there will be some inept pieces of songwriting, strange solos, anarchoer-than-thou lyrics, Crasser-than-thou artwork and fake English accents.  

Let's start with a band from Germany. We don't often do classic punk from Germany on Terminal Sound Nuisance, not just because the country perversely birthed the notion that it is fine to have a mullet, a mustache and listen to heavy metal, but because I have never been a massive fan of deutschpunk. Yes Chaos Z, Vorkriegsphase or L'Attentat were great but I was always under the impression that 80's German punk-rock sounded a bit distasteful, not as much as French punk-rock - few countries can boast bands as embarrassing as ours - but still not generating enough enthusiasm. A bit like second-hand sweatpants. Just not that exciting. Enola Gay were clearly not your typical 1-2-1-2 drunken mowing that young punks like to pogo to. Information about Enola Gay are scarce to say the least. In fact, amazingly, only three songs of their 1986 Lp White Control Means Bloody Murder are on youtube, a failing that is the modern equivalent of barely getting a fiver after busking on a rainy wednesday afternoon. 

The band was from Hannover and openly borrowed from the anarchopunk and peacepunk aesthetics, the Lp focusing a lot on the anti-Apartheid struggle, but google is unusually quiet about this lot. Sonically, although it would not be entirely true to qualify the album as a typical anarcho recording - there are hints of European hardcore punk - the spoken words, some of the moodier bits and songs are certainly reminiscent of Anti-System, Civilised Society or Conflict. This heavily UK-oriented sound could also be found in another 80's German band called Anti Heroes from Oberhausen (they were more of a mid-paced affair though) who had a song on a compilation called The ALF is watching and there's no place to hide... where you could also find Naturecore, Oi Polloi or Chumba. But, where Anti Heroes were just enjoyable, Enola Gay were arguably a very good band, a great one even when you consider their Ep Censored Bodies - Human Fission.

Recorded in 1987 only one year after the release of the album, but released in 1990 when Enola Gay were no more, the Ep would totally fit in the "classic records that no one knows" category, which I'm aware is something of an oxymoron since a record becomes a classic through the acclaim of a significant portion, and not just three nerds who are still constantly connected to soulseek in 2023. Maybe the band shot itself in the foot by taking a name that I suppose would have already been taken by the Danish Enola Gay, a band that is undeniably much better-known now than their German counterparts, although it is difficult to assess their popularity "back in the days" outside of Denmark. Our Enola Gay did appear on a tape released as early as 1984 that included live recordings of bands that played the Ajz venue in Bielefeld (you also have established bands like Neurotic Arseholes, Upright Citizens and even Wretched) so timing may not have been of the essence. There have been quite a few Enola Gays afterwards too so that homonymy may also have impaired the band's status, even more so with France's best 90's crust band having the same name. As a result, these German peace punks have remained a footnote, a cruel fate when one considers that many would be into their sound.

In any case, you can thank me whole-heartedly because if you are a fan of 80's anarchopunk then Hannover's Enola Gay are for you. With such a piece of knowledge, I guarantee you will be able to quizz and surpass rivals in order to ascertain your total domination over the local punk scene. Sure, the band was a little late to the 80's anarcho party but close your eyes, play the record, listen to the songwriting, the lyrics and you will have the impression, no the absolute certainty, that you have just unearthed an unreleased Mortarhate record from 1985. On this recording session, Enola Gay also have a female singer thus further reinforcing that classic UK anarcho touch. The first number, a feminist song, is reminiscent of The Sears and Civilised Society? while the next songs lovingly point in the direction of early Anti-System and Conflict for the first one and Icons of Filth and, well, Conflict again for the second (unsurprisingly the infamous Londoners were a major influence at the time). The last one, my favourite, is a deliciously fast and anthemic punk number with dual vocals not unlike Iconoclast and Potential Threat covering Toxic Waste's songs. Energetic punk at its very best. If this had been released in 1984 on Spiderleg or Mortarhate, we'd all be wearing Enola Gay shirts today, and by "all" I mean the same three nerds that are constantly connected on soulseek. 

I am absolutely clueless about what the members became afterwards and to be honest, I don't really remember how I initially came across Enola Gay (through a blog I assume but I have not been able to track it). Censore Bodies - Human Fission was released on Enola Records (the band's own entity) and Double A Records (a label that was also responsible for Stengte Dorer, Sons of Sadism or the Attack is Now Suicide Lp). This Ep does not go for obscene prices on discogs so if you bump into it, you know what to do. 

Enola Gay                      

The Empire Crusts Back (part 4): Mindrot "1990 demo" tape, 1990

Alright then, this is the last part of The Empire Crusts Back (rolling out with laughter, right?), my short and humble series about the so-called OC crust bands of the late 80's. As usual, it was a fucking pleasure to be able to school the great unwashed about so crucial a subject if one seeks to understand how the world works and to make sure as to what trendy crust shirts to wear this winter 2021 (in case you haven't heard, OC crust fashion is making a massive comeback so you'd better take my word for it). If you missed out on the first three instalments of the series, I recommend you take a bit of your precious time to take a look at them since it will provide some important musical context from a diachronic perspective and a definition of what is meant through the term "OC crust" at that particular time. As I moaned about previously, the peacepunk and crust bands of this era and area unfortunately remain largely undocumented although Jang from Resist and Exist has interviewed some bands that were part of that wave - along with classic bands from the UK, current anarcho bands and videos about political activism - and uploaded some rare recordings and live performances for his youtube channel. Check it out punk as it is truly a work of passion and dedication that could not be further from the online posing contests that punk-rock sadly too often engages in nowadays.

 

But enough grumbling as I am not here to act like a middle-of-the-road gammon and today we are going to talk about arguably the most famous of the OC crust bands, the brilliantly-named Mindrot (which I have already tackled here with their top notch 1991 Endeavor Ep so I will try to keep it short). Although Mindrot can be said to be something of a respected and recognized band in the extreme metal world, they are rarely connected nowadays to the hardcore punk and crust music scene from which they originally emerged. Just knock on your neighbour's door and ask the geezer about Mindrot. He is very likely to reply "The doom metal band from the mid-90's" rather than "The early OC stenchcore from the early 90's". Or he might just let his staffies out. He'll probably do that actually so let's just pretend you knock on his door. So Mindrot are basically the biggest name of the original OC crust and yet are largely seldom identified as such, although things might be different in California and punk old-timers, who knew of Mindrot before the mid-90's Relapse period, might say otherwise and link the band to the hardcore world so it could be a generational thing.

 

 

 

I mentioned in the review of A//Solution's mastercrust Ep that I first heard of them thanks to the Mindrot's thank list included on their Dawning album, a cd (of course it was the cd version) I bought after reading, or being told, that they used to be a crust band. But then, I tried hard to remember where I might have read such confidential intel or which gentle soul guided my virginal self through my discovery of OC crust. Could I have made that story up or do I actually have imaginary friends? Who cares. Probably both. Perhaps the cd looked enticing enough, with the Relapse label being vaguely associated with hardcore in my tiny mind, and spotting Final Conflict, Total Chaos and Chaos UK on the list - it was second-hand so I could open the case - was enough to convince me that Mindrot was possibly a band that I should know about. That sounds like a much more plausible story actually. Anyway, Dawning is a doom-metal album and at the time the genre was about as alien to me as disco polo so to say that I was disappointed and above all completely out of my comfort zone is an understatement. I did not play the cd much - although I did try to be honest - but I often consulted the thank list and did my best to get information on the bands graced with a punk-sounding name that were included on it. Thank lists are dead, long live thank lists. This grail-like manuscript from 1995 illustrated significantly the position that Mindrot occupied: the space between Orange County's flourishing extreme metal scene and the peacepunk/crust world. With them rubbing shoulders with Morgion, Nausea LA and Fear Factory just as casually as they did with Armistice, Total Chaos or Final Conflict, early Mindrot can be approached as the definitive bridge between both worlds as their sound could appeal to metalheads addicted to doom and death metal as well as crusty punks craving for mean and heavy metallic hardcore music. But then, maybe it was a case of "too metal for the punx, and too punk for the metalheads", an argument that can sometimes be said to be something of a poor excuse used by terrible bands to justify their lack of recognition from either world.

But back to my personal conquest for crust. Because I was unimpressed with Dawning (which I used to call Yawning), I did not really bother researching the earlier Mindrot material and focused instead on bands like A//Solution, Glycine Max or Carcinogen, and of course Apocalypse. When I realized that some Apocalypse songs listed as belonging to the Terror Tapes on the discography cd had actually been released as a split Ep with Mindrot, I immediately got curious and decided to investigate the band's early years further. Fortunately for me, I was able to obtain a copy of the Endeavor Ep from some Profane Existence sales, which proved to be a thoroughly convincing and solid slice of old-school crust metal, and I did manage to find alright mp3 files of the split with Apocalypse, a top record and a genuine crust classic that I rate as one of the greatest crust split Ep's of all time (although it looks absolutely shit, a real shame when you see what both bands were able to offer visually). But the best was yet to come when I finally managed to go back in time and listen to this 1990 demo, an astounding recording that left me in awe.  

 

   

 

The Mindrot demo is undoubtedly an old-school crust classic. The term "demo" might be more than a little misleading in this case. When you read about a demo recording from an early crust band, you are entitled to expect something quite rough around the edges, an enjoyable if rather raw and primitive work that, more often than not, is characterized by dodgy musicianship and a certain ineptitude in the studio, a punk-as-fuck sound which is precisely why people love them so much. The Mindrot demo does not correspond to that definition at all. The boys were already quite accomplished musicians and knew exactly what they wanted to achieve. In fact, it sounded far more like a proper debut album - it is a thirty-minute long sonic behemoth - than a demo as it easily outclassed, not just in terms of production but also very much in terms of creative intent, of cohesion, of focus, of what the band aimed at creating, most crust demos of the era and beyond. 

 

 

Mindrot were undeniably the most metal-tinged band of the OC crust wave. In fact, you would not be wrong to describe them as "doom crust" or "crusty death-doom" but the recording still retains enough of this chugging and filthy threatening crust edge for it to rightly belong in the crust canon, though I would understand that others disagree (not a common sentiment on my part, let me tell you). When I first heard the demo, I was strongly reminded of a blast beat-free Prophecy of Doom, or a doomier, more mournful Bolt Thrower or a death metal act trying to be sound like Axegrinder on antidepressants. Know what I mean? The music is mostly slow, heavy, suffocating almost and very fucking dark though songs like "Lifeless beauty" and "Impurity" have faster moments. The atmosphere of despair, rage and pain that Mindrot try to create is meaningfully enhanced by the amazing sense of storytelling and narration permeating the demo. From the first song till the last one, a whole story is being told, unravels and the listener can spot classic elements of a narrative plot: the demo starts with an instrumental introduction; "Dying breed" and "Hidden people" are eerie spoken poems interspersed between songs; "Demoniac death metallers (from the satanic realm)" is a Sore Throat-like comic relief; and of course, the absolute hit "Darkened existence" halfway through the tape can be considered as the ultimate stenchcore ballad of the OC crust wave. I particularly enjoy recordings that tell a good story and reflect a creative process from the band. They are not just a collection of songs - as great as they might sound individually sound like - as they act as coherent, self-reflexive wholes that engage the listener through music as a narrative. For that reason, I much prefer the 1990 demo to Mindrot's 1991 Ep's as, I feel, the band was more comfortable with a longer format that allowed them to really weave their punishing stenchdoom vibe.  

 

   

The tape was originally released on Wild Rags records (a label that was responsible for releases from Nausea LA, Pungent Stench or Benediction) and I have no idea why this fantastic demo was never reissued especially when one considers how good and coherent it sounds. And it looks brilliant too, with an iconic cover and proper cut'n'paste DIY visuals. The absence of reissue is basically criminal, especially when one looks at the amount of very average demos from totally anecdotal UK82 bands being rereleased. As was customary with early crust/grind and extreme metal bands, a seemingly endless thank list is included where the accomplished punk maniac will be able to notice the usual OC crustpects but also UK's Sacrilege and Hellbastard, local anarchos Media Children and even Lance Hahn from Cringer. Small world, punks of all scenes unite and fight. Following this demo, Mindrot released the aforementioned Ep's in 1991, and then a live demo on Life Is Abuse (guitar player Matt's then brand new label) in 1992 that saw them going in an even more doom/death metal direction and they eventually recorded Dawning in 1995. As indicated previously in previous reviews, Matt Fisher (RIP) played the bass in Mindrot in parallel with his singing duties with Confrontation and his modelling career with Apocalypse, while Mindrot's guitar players Dan and Matt (although the latter had left by the time of the album) formed the legendary Dystopia in 1991 along with Dino from Carcinogen and Todd from Confrontation, which can be seen as something as the OC crust equivalent of the 1992 Dream Team.

 

 

 

Crucial piece of crust history here. All crusties should be required to own at least one '90/'91 era Mindrot patch. 

1990 DEMO

Ace Compilations For Less Than a Fiver on Bloody Discogs (part 1): "Squat or Rot vol.2" Ep, 1990

The lockdown has been partly lifted and the sun is back. People are allowed by the powers that be to get stupidly hammered in a pub environment and bore their friends to death about their terrific new yoga classes. Middle-class wankers boast about remote working and still being able to travel. Blokish twats are now allowed to walk around barechested and engage in glaring contests. The infamous moped lads of the Test Tube Babies are massively back on the streets while teenage girls listen to outrageously vocodered shite on their phones. Life, as we knew it, is back and one cannot help but notice that the idealistic fantasies of a different, fairer world expressed by the guilt-ridden at the beginning of the Covid pandemic vanished quickly as soon as opportunities to fly to instagrammable destinations rose. I suppose the return of the countdown to Armageddon was inevitable.  

 

Alright then, here we go again since you do not visit Terminal Sound Nuisance to be assailed by my self-absorbed whining and superficial sociological observations about fellow human beings. After a well-deserved, not to mention particularly unproductive, break from the vicissitudes inherent to punk writing, I was able to hear the call of my punk siblings, dying to read my legendary homemade slices of no-nonsense street wisdom and the remarkable and magnetic biting wit that have been my trademark skills for the past nine years. Endowed with a tremendous sense of loyalty and an overinflated ego, I rolled up my sleeves and started digging. 

 

 

The scope of this series will be nowhere near as dense, epic and ambitious as the previous one. Only five records make up Ace Compilations for Less Than a Fiver on Bloody Discogs, a low intensity project for cheap punks on a tight budget or proverbial stingy bastards (we all have a couple of those in our circle of friends) who still crave for quality music combined with interesting bits of punk history which the duly selected five compilation Ep's will, hopefully, provide. I brooded a little over the issue of using the Discogs' scale of measurement in order to evaluate the average price of said compilations (as you can see, I engaged in some serious analytical work of the world of record economics and questioned the validity of existing tools and the speculative dynamics in relation to punk cultural artifacts). Still, Discogs has become this behemoth for record collectors worldwide, the epitome of temptation, not unlike online mermaids with vinyls in their hands trying to seduce music nerds with promises of "go on, it's in near mint condition" or "$30 for the colour version is not a bad deal". Discogs is like free online porn for record freaks. Some argued that it took the pleasure and fun out of record collecting and trading since now almost everything can be easily obtained and is literally a couple of clicks - and a fulltime job with a western wage - away. The five compilations that will be treated in this series are relatively cheap, common and definitely significant ones. Genuine slices of punk history if you will that can be yours for a small sum from a bargain bin.

 

 

The first one of these delightful and oft disregarded compilations is the second volume of the Squat or Rot samplers released in 1990 on Squat or Rot Records (I'd like to thank Captain Obvious here for the heads-up). Two of the bands included here were already tackled years ago when I wrote about the BBP tape that included live recording of crucial bands - Jesus Chrust, Apostates and of course the mighty Nausea - belonging to New York's infamous Squat or Rot scene. If Nausea, I should be disposed to imagine, are pretty much known by the punk scene at large, the rest of the SoR roster remains fairly obscure to most although I suppose, and hope, this comment does not apply to old-timers. New York hardcore and punk is strongly associated with the musical prowess of tanktop-wearing, bold by choice thuggish geezers that, in turn, gave rise to many tanktop-wearing, bold by choice thuggish bands all over the world. I must confess that I am fairly ignorant about the hardcore scene that is traditionally understood as quintessential to New York because it absolutely never attracted me when I was just a lad as, when it came to hard men singing about being hard men, I was more inclined to go for Blitz or 4-Skins. And well I think that it is the kind of music you have to get into as a teen in order to relate to it, when you reached 20 it's just too late. Therefore, when I hear "New York punk" I jump to Nausea or Dissassociate. Or indeed to Insurgence, a band I was obsessed with in no small degree.

 

 

I first read about Insurgence - the band opening the compilation - in a mid-00's issue of Slug & Lettuce, a well-known (it enjoyed a print of 10.000 at some point which sounds insane from a 2021 perspective) and long-running fanzine done by Chris, a former New York punk that was an active member of the SoR scene which she documented through her ace pictures. I was an avid and loyal reader of her enthusiastic reviews - she had tastes very similar to mine - and never failed to take notes about the records she enjoyed. Memory works in mysterious ways. While I am barely able to remember a discussion I may have had last month, I distinctly recall that I first came across Insurgence in a S&L review about Storm Heaven, the Lp of Requiem, a band with former Catharsis members that seems to have vanished from collective memory. Requiem had three singers, just like Insurgence, Chris said, a band she went on to describe as a "baby Nausea". Now that immediately got my undivided attention. An old-school crust band with three (!) singers that sounded like Nausea. I went on a quest to listen to the band, no small endeavour considering how little-known the band seemed to be. Fortunately, after persistently harrying a local old-timer who used to distribute SoR and Tribal War Records in Paris, he pointed me to this compilation.

 

 

My maniacal search for Insurgence proved to be worth it, although I might have been a bit of an annoying chap to be around with when vocalising my frustration. "Hawk and the dove", that's the title of the Insurgence song, can be said to be one of the best crust numbers ever written, and I make this claim with the utmost seriousness. Tasteful and powerful old-school anarchocrust with three vocalists, among whom Alicia who would later on front the amazing 13. The song starts with a soft guitar introduction before exploding into pacifist metallic crust heaven. I love how the vocals work with each other to provide a feeling of (ins)urgency and political anger. Nausea come to mind obviously, although Insurgence were probably more straight-forward. I am also reminded of Anti-System, Antisect, early Sacrilege or a filthy crust version of Civilised Society?. Brilliant, essential stuff. The rumour of the existence of a full Insurgence demo had been circulating for some years and it finally surfaced recently which enchanted me to no end. Top peacecrust as could be expected. I also heard about an Insurgence retrospective record but that was a long time ago so our collective breath should not be held. The following band on the compilation is Malachi Krunch, a Connecticut act that released a full Lp in 1991 as well two split Ep's, one of them with the great The Pist. I am not really familiar with the rest of the band's catalogue but this is a good, raw and direct hardcore song, quite typical of the sound of the time, not far from the aforementioned The Pist and Broken, a later band that had members of Malachi Krunch in its ranks. 

 

 

Next up are the very prude Jesus Chrust, who previously appeared on the BBP live tape and thus have already been discussed. The band had Nausea's first singer and Tribal War mastermind Neil and future Dissassociate frontman Ralphy Boy on vocals and, judging from what Discogs tells me, also employed John and Roy from Nausea at some point in their illustrious career too (actually, in spite of their relatively short run, the good-natured JC seemed to have seen a number of musicians coming and going, probably obeying the well-tried principle "if you want in, you're in"). Most of JC's songs could be defined as rather fast and hard-hitting dual vocal crusty anarchopunk, pioneering a cocktail that would be quite popular in the 90's in the $tates, but "Means of destruction" is a simple - if not simplistic - traditional mid-paced plodding gruff stenchcrust number with a raw punk sound, a filthy epic chugging riff, hoarse shouts replying to threatening growls, with implications of dodgy personal hygienes. Just another crust at the office and possibly my favourite song from the band. I love the song for its sheer directness and primitive structure. Early Deviated Instinct and Sore Throat at their Frostiest as well as early 90's bands like Glycine Max, Embittered or Jesusexercise could be relevantly convened. Primal antinuclear crust punk for crust punks. Because we're all worth it. The two split Ep's with Social Outcasts and Würst - also released on SoR - are solid slices too and go for equally cheap so that with some crafty negotiations, you should probably be able to take the lot home for a tenner. Neil would keep Tribal War going until the mid-00's and sing for Warning and Final Warning while Ralphy Boy, as alluded to, would unleash a grinding fury for Dissassociate.

 

 

Next is the fourth contestant of the compilation and let's all welcome Yuppicide, a long-running and still active Brooklyn hardcore band that was in its infancy when they recorded the song "Ourselves" for the Ep. In the 90's, agents of gentrification - a urban process against which squatters fought hard in New York's Lower East Side - were called yuppies. Suits and ties type who exhibited their money and symbolized triumphant capitalism. Nowadays they are called hipsters and they are no less damaging to working-class communities all over, except they are wolves in vintage sheep clothing with their pretentious progressive politics, their expensive tattoos and their postmodern pseudo bohemian mindset. At least yuppies hated you in your face. To get back to Yuppicide, they played straight-forward New York hardcore with terrace chorus and a mosh-friendly heavy break toward the end. You know what to expect.

 

 

Finally, you have Apostates, one of New York's best kept secrets. Like Jesus Chrust, they also had some live songs on the BBP tape. The band had John John from Nausea on guitar but do not expect anything crust or even hardcore-oriented in Apostates' music. Apostates were to The Mob what Disaster were to Discharge. It's not exactly the same but it's this close. Mid-paced brooding 80's styled anarchopunk with deep vocals and an excellent sense of tunes with a bit of deathrock, a style of UK anarchopunk that, for some reason, did not really take in the US (apart from Trial and maybe Atrocity on the other side of the country). That the band is not reverred by anarchopunk lovers (and there are quite a few of them if Insta accounts, also known as "Making punk a selfie again", are any indication) is akin to an anomaly. In a perfect world where people are just like me, Apostates should be treated with deference, as an obscure, secretive band that one only whispers about when in the company of initiates, a band like Awake Mankind or Two-Fingered Approach. Oh well. The endless rediscovery of humankind's flawed, directionless nature. Lyrics deal with the inheritance of ecological destruction for future generations and they could have been written yesterday. If you are into the moody but beautiful side of dark, melancholy mid-paced anarchopunk, like The Mob, Zounds, Null&Void or early Blyth Power (they are could have called themselves All The Mad Joseph Porters really) then Apostates are for you. The Burning World of Hate Ep also comes highly recommended.

 

 

Squat or Rot Vol.2 is a sensible compilation including at least two absolute classic songs in the guise of Insurgence's "Hawk and the Dove" and Apostates' "Grows up in the puff of smoke" and it is the best one of the three. However, music is only one side of the record as it came with a genuine SoR newspaper showcasing what punks would do when they organised a little and put their money when their mouths are. The five bands enjoy striking full-page artworks in the paper and you will also find great punk art, an article about squatting and how it relates to class antagonism, private property, housing rights and autonomy and another one about fascism, racism and white supermacists in the States. Detailed pieces that reflected the activism and idealism of that scene. The paper is not in mint condition (I doubt you'll be able to find a perfect copy of a 30 year old newspaper) and the vinyl is not deprived of surface noise, but it is an interesting and inspiring - as millenials say - piece of our collective history. 

 

Squat and Rot: the Return                        

Ten Steps To Make Your Life CRUSTIER Starting Today (step 5): Prophecy of Doom "The Peel Sessions" 12'' Ep, 1990

There are a couple of tacit but nevertheless crucial, and indeed immemorial, rules that even the most seemingly unflinching crusty has to abide by if the all-important crust credibility is to be maintained at all time. Some have been thoroughly documented by notorious crust anthropologists and I strongly recommend to read such classic studies as The Elementary Structures of Crustship or Coming of Age Rituals in Patched Societies. Today, I will focus on one of these ground rules so that the unexperienced reader will no longer be caught dithering like a speed virgin when asked about his or her favourite recording of /insert name of classic UK hardcore crust bands from the mid/late 80's/, a common enough question in punk socialising spaces like glamorous d-beat gigs, distro stalls or, of course, the bar. Make no mistake as a wrong answer to such a critical enquiry could have you banned from the crust elite for any number of years and from being asked to play in a retro stenchcore band, which is pretty much the highest rank in crusty social groups, the very top of the crust chain. In fact, there have been many instances where the question merely served as a means to gauge the current crust level of a new recruit, not unlike a rite of passage marking the transition from "poser" to "proper". So if you nurture the dream to one day become the guitar player of a tasteful synth-driven stenchcore band, the right answer could be decisive whereas faltering awkwardly "the first album?" will probably not suffice and might condemn you to only attain the spot of the bass player in a new school d-beat band. Therefore, whenever possible, safely go for "the Peel Sessions are excellent". 

A fine example of Midieval art

Not only is such an answer - almost - always true, as you could indeed argue that the best materials of Extreme Noise Terror, Doom or Napalm Death were recorded during their visits to the BBC studios (I personally consider the transitions between ENT's "I'm not a fool" and "In it for life" and between Doom "Symptom of the universe" and "Multinationals" to be some of the most poignant moments of crust magic ever put to tape), but it also shows that you acknowledge the influence that John Peel has had on the making of the so-called UK hardcore scene and sound. To be offered a Peel Session was a big deal for punk bands at the time. Pretty much every punk kid was a fan of the man's open-mindedness and enthusiasm and got to discover top bands through his show so it was felt as a major achievement to be invited to be a part of it, without mentioning that your band was going to be broadcast nationally on the BBC with all the exposure that ensued. I suppose one of the main reasons - if not the main reason - why punk Peel Sessions always sounded ace was that, for many bands, it would be the only opportunity to play on state-of-the-art equipment, as opposed to the usually shitty amps of their practice spaces, which accounted for the fantastic sound production they were treated with. Besides, the very idea of playing the noiziest, filthiest grinding hardcore on such expensive appliances, live on the BBC radio must have felt quite exhilarating and an antithesis in action. Punk, innit?  

When it comes to Prophecy of Doom, from Tewkesbury, you can confidently assert that their two Peel Sessions deserved to be regarded as the best material they ever recorded (although the second one from 1991 might be even better than the first). It will undoubtedly shine a knowledgeable glow upon your person. PoD were certainly one of the most unique and convincing bands pertaining to the original UK crust wave (as usual, I strongly urge you to read the chapter devoted to them in Trapped in a Scene) and, at their peak, their brand of intelligent, oppressive grinding stenchcore certainly amounted to the best of what crust had to offer. In spite of the two aforementioned Peel Sessions, one genuinely classic crust Lp - 1990's Acknowledge the Confusion Master - and a number of contemporary reissues (thanks to the good people of Agipunk for that), PoD have unfairly remained something of an underappreciated band, fervently revered by a few but tragically ignored by many. I first came across PoD through their second album, the Matrix cd, released in 1992 on Metalcore, which I got for cheap (it figures) ages ago. It was not, to say the least, an ideal introduction to a band that I had seen mentioned on several tasteful thank lists and that shared a split cd with Axegrinder, which entitled me to expect some proper crust from them. Matrix is not good and the last time I played it, I think Tony Blair was still Prime Minister. However, it stands as their only admittedly lacklustre work and you can trust all the rest, safe in your crusthood. 

The Peel Sessions 12'' Ep was recorded on January, 28th and broadcast on February, 14th, 1990. It included four songs that originally appeared on the album, released the same year on Deaf Records (a Peaceville sublabel) and recorded with the same lineup of Shrew, Shrub, Tommy, Dean and Martin. I suppose that if you played PoD for the first time to an innocent punky bystander, a common first reaction would be one of genuine wonder at Shrew's very peculiar vocals since he used a guitar effect pedal (some sort of delay) making him sound like the rotting corpse of some unidentified but undoubtedly monstrous and barbaric creature growling at your guilty conscience from beyond the grave. It is just a lovely feeling. While I am generally not a massive believer in using too much effect on your vocals, the combination of the delay with the threateningly gruff, insane-sounding vocal style works ideally with PoD and it has to be said that it was a daring move for the time. If life has been so miserable that you have never had the opportunity to enjoy PoD at their best, let's suggest that they could be defined as an oppressively groovy grinding crust band with a leaning towards early death metal or as an epic pub brawl between early Carcass and Mindrot, '89 Deviated Instinct and '88 Hellbastard but I feel that such comparisons cannot render the suffocating atmosphere of madness permeating PoD's sound and their original take on the genre, be it in terms of song structures, writing or sonic textures. You will find many different paces in these four songs, from fast-paced cavemen crust to mid-tempo mean pummeling stenchcore, blasting grinding death metal or painful and dark sludgy moment, all shades of crust punishment answer the call. As you can expect, the production is absolutely perfect and the bass sound is to die for. The lyrics were another strong point of the band with rather thought-provoking words about our pervasive egotism, the subconscious thought processes, the lies and conceit we create to keep going and the ensuing personal and social insanity. PoD's lyrics were like their music: quite unique and smart.

This 12'' Ep was released on Strange Fruit, the BBC-related label that put out all the Peel Sessions and of course everyone recognized the distinctive style of Mid who drew the cover of the record (I encourage you to use this intel as a scholarly piece of crust trivia) and kept experimenting with more layered visual techniques. Fortunately for you, Boss Tuneage released a PoD discography entitled Retrospective 1988-1991 last year (without Matrix though) that is still available on vinyl and cd so there is really no excuse.     

Prophecy of Crust    

Japanese Crust vs The World (part 2): Crazy Fucked Up Daily Life "Atrocity exhibition" 12'' Ep, 2002 (1990)

As a theme, love is often shunned by da punx. And sometimes, it is fair enough. No one wants to be compared to a dreadful high-school emo band singing about being miserably single at 16. It does not exactly fit with the "rebels of the state" pose and we just love acting all tough and unaffected by affairs of the heart ("cuz, you know, like, there are more important issues to discuss, like, you know, wars and stuff, yeah?"), which does not keep anyone from listening to The Buzzcocks or The Undertones in secret (or to Joy Division and The Smiths if the culprit feels that playing non-punk bands somehow makes it alright). And this is pretty odd if you ask me, especially since most people's (including, gasp, da punx') daily lives, judging from all the usual drama, strike me as being more akin to Bonnie Tyler's tirades than to Conflict's rants. If love as subject can't be said to be one of punk's strongpoints, I would argue that the feeling is necessary in order to write good punk-rock. Love punk if you want to do it right. Take Disclose for instance. Kawakami's exclusive love for Discharge was of fanatical, unconditional, unshakable proportions, a source of limitless inspiration if one cares to listen past the strictness of the beat. There was more love involved in Disclose than in most love songs ever written. They were a romantic band, for real.

Whenever I listen to CFDL, love is the first thing I notice about them. These boys just LOVED punk music. Passion for punk permeates their songs, even (or especially?) the very sloppy ones. CFDL had this unequivocal, youthful enthusiasm for things punk that almost tended toward the existential. The band's tunes, DIY ethics and aesthetics are here to remind you, in much the same way a raving young lover is here to remind you of the new subject of his or her affection, that they love punk, noisily and staunchly. But whereas the aforementioned friend's infatuation can quickly come as rather monotonous, CFDL's always sounds fun. Punk and CFDL are a genuinely happy couple and you can hear that their relationship is a source of constantly renewed energy and the feeling is contagious. They really found each other these two and having CFDL in your life is not unlike stuffing yourself with ice-cream while rewatching that one good Hugh Grant movie when you feel low. Love punk and it will love you back.

But let's leave the cheesiness and the tired allegory for a moment. Love has never been enough artistically speaking, otherwise any happy lover would be able to write good poetry and we all know this has never been the case (and thanks fuck poetry editors often have higher quality standards than punk labels). Like love, punk-rock requires a mutual, even if tumultuous, understanding if you want things to work. And CFDL really got the essence of the punk spirit, its exultant exuberance, its bare-bones energy, its obnoxious and yet empathic anger. And of course its relevance as a culture echoing itself in a process of rejuvenation. Some would argue that there were more powerful, more intense, more radical bands than CFDL in Japan at the time, and they may be right. But was there a band more genuinely, goofily and unpretentiously in love with punk than them? I don't think so.

The band originally started as Atrocity Exhibition (yep, that is from the Joy Division song although one would definitely struggle to find common musical ground between the two bands) around 1989. They didn't record much under that name, only two songs, "You" and "Arsehole!", that appeared on the game-changer "Must get to the power of the defense for" flexi in 1989 along with SDS and Naüsea (one of the first Japanese grindcore bands, from Nagoya as well, who formed in 1987 and shared the same drummer as AE, Hisahiro, and whose singer, Takaho would late form the legendary Unholy Grave). The two AE tracks are sloppy as fuck, and I do mean that. Recorded without a bass and with just Takeshi on vocals, they stand as joyful, fast and rough hardcore songs. The AE live demo is probably more interesting (albeit definitely as rough and testing for the faint-hearted) if one craves to understand what CFDL would get at one year after. Entitled "Never mind the atrocity exhibition here is crazy fucked up daily life", it featured the dual vocal attacks CFDL was famous for at the beginning of their journey and is a clear (well... figuratively speaking) indication of the band's direction. This handmade DIY tape is ripe with references to the late 80's UK crust scene, especially Extreme Noise Terror (there are covers of "Deceived" and "Bullshit propaganda"), but also Antisect, Napalm Death and Electro Hippies (a couple of spottable riffs here and there), Disorder (with the song "I love DISORDER") and Sore Throat (like them, AE covered Shitlickers' "Warsystem"). It is precisely in this 87/89 "fast and crusty" Peaceville interstice that the band would nest when they changed their name to CFDL (another Disorder reference as it is a line from the song "Daily life") and lay a spectacular egg with the "Atrocity exhibition" Ep (they did seem to have second thoughts about leaving the AE moniker methinks).

Quite obviously, Disorder-influenced Japanese bands were nothing new by 1990. However, as we have seen, but for So What, the Bristol trend, though by no means completely extinguished (and it never will over there judging from the number of bands still flying the chaotic cider flag), was not at its best. But CFDL incorporated this element very differently from their noize forefathers. The music is both extremely direct and accessible and yet stems from an incredibly dense and even complex background, a literal maze of influences interacting with each other. It would be tempting to say that CFDL's "Atrocity exhibition" was just a brilliant take on ENT (especially the first Peel session) moulded with Japanese clay and spiced with UK hardcore, but it would not cover half of the record's essence. Just like bands like Atavistic or Electro Hippies was the result of a collusion of many international hardcore influences, CFDL's music feels like a synthesis of almost all the brands of fast and raw 80's hardcore punk written by a Japanese student majoring in the UK sound (the dissertation topic could be "The Disorder sound and its ramifications in the post-"Holocaust in your head" era"). If you care to listen, you can hear so many things going on in "Atrocity exhibition". From Mob 47-type riffs, a Shitlicker cover, G-Anx's upbeat tempo, Negazione's fury, Chaos UK-drumming (the opening beat of "Make my day" is the as "Victimized"'s), MELI's crude anger, Dirge's Bristolian dual vocal approach, Siege's "take no prisoner" stance, Gauze and SOB's frantic hardcore whirlwind, Kuolema, Lärm and Rapt's "noise not music" ethos and I could go on and on. And that is why it really is so good. While "Atrocity exhibition" makes sense as a post-ENT dual vocals crusty hardcore band (like Amen, Disrupt or Embittered), it is also a friendly, loving, passionate reminder of what makes international hardcore punk (or just PUNK in fact) so crucial and fun.

The sound on this 1990 Ep is insanely good. It is raw but it has a thickness and an energy that are impressive. The guitar 's texture is hard to define, you can almost feel it but it still sounds like it's flowing, like a current of energy through the sewer or something. It is not completely blown out either, it sounds more like Ake Mob 47 is playing on Gauze's guitar amp. The bass is definitely more reminiscent of the Chaos UK school but I am also reminded of NYC Nausea for some reason. It is omnipresent on the songs, with a round, groovy sound that gives the whole that mandatory crust edge. The drummer relies heavily on the crash cymbal and is in total "all out bollocks raw hardcore mode". He plays fast and tight, despite the rather thin production on the drums, and yet completely frantically, relentlessly, a bit like the 80's Swedes really but with more craft. CFDL were the first band (to my immodest knowledge anyway) to use the time-approved, specifically British, dual vocal attack in Japan and I particularly love its arrangement that brings to mind ENT at their most ferocious. Rabid and insanity-driven high-pitched barks answer to more traditional raucous and slightly gruff shouts not unlike very early Doom. On the whole, the songs are rather simple but they work perfectly, nothing sounds out of place or distasteful, and the untiring raw energy is truly incredible.

This version of "Atrocity exhibition" is actually a reissue from 2002. The original release was done by Yappy Core (CFDL's own label) and Standard of Rebellion in 1990, but this 2002 repress includes three extra songs from the same recording session, as well as liner notes from Takeshi and a history of the band written by Jhonio Crust War (yes, it is in Japanese). It was released on Scruffy Records and Answer Records (a Nagoya label that also put out records from Disclaim, Reality Crisis or Demolition). The cover is gloriously typical of the early crust days with an illustration of the proverbial "crusty and a dog" (a nod to Sox's "Sewerside"?). The real visual nugget is the very cheesy punk as fuck, crust as hell drawing of CFDL playing live on the insert. This good-humoured, snotty cartoon sums up what the band is about more relevantly than 1000 words (which kinda makes this post rather useless... oh well). Following "Atrocity exhibition", CFDL went on to be rather prolific, significantly not as crusty but still as energetic and wild. The 1991 demo and the "Thrashpunk '91" from 1996 are highly recommended. But man, what an unsung masterpiece "Atrocity exhibition" is... And how influential, of course.

It really was all about love.

<3    

  Crazy fucked up daily atrocity exhibition of life!!!

"Wild & Crazy "Noise Merchants"...Invade a City Near You!!: Worst of the 1in12 Club Vol.9/10" 2xLp, 1990

I always have a really good time whenever I go to the 1in12 Club. I haven't been there in a few years now to be honest (the last time was to see Antisect, Cress and Hellkrusher in 2012), but each time I went was a memorable one and the 1in12 remains one of my favourite punk venues (though it is by no means only a punk venue) and I particularly like that, as a venue and as a collective, it actually means something to support the 1in12.

I am not going to dumbly rewrite the Club's wikipedia page nor its website but the idea behind the collective that started in 1981 as an extension of the Bradford's Claimants Union was to promote and work along the principles of self-management, mutual aid and solidarity and the opening of the actual building in Bradford in 1988 was a continuation of the collective's politics. Of course, because of the particular context which saw the birth of the 1in12 (meaning, Yorkshire during the 80's), the values of the collective's members meant that they quickly became connected with the anarchopunk movement (Leeds' Chumbawamba played for them countless times). Judging from the early flyers of gigs they put on, they certainly did not restrict themselves to punk however and worked with musicians that shared similar politics, were involved in activism or wanted to support a worthy cause. I am in no way qualified enough to identify with accuracy all the bands that played for the 1in12 in the early 80's but it doesn't take long to understand that the musical spectrum was wide, from folk music, indie-rock, goth to postpunk. Like New Model Army for instance, possibly the most famous rock band to ever emerge from Bradford...

Although very much rooted in local struggles, foreign bands also played for the 1in12 Collective in the early 80's like The Ex and other Dutch anarcho bands. Judging from the list of the gigs they organized on their website, the collective slowly began to book foreign hardcore bands from the mid-80's on (bands like Lärm, Die Kreuzen or BGK) but kept having non-punk acts playing for them. "Wild & Crazy Noise Merchants" was actually the sixth 1in12 Records compilation and the second one to be released after the club opened in 1988 (the first one was another double Lp compilation, "Volnitza"). Contrary to "Decade of Dissidence" that I reviewed here a couple of years ago, the line-up on this compilation is diverse and goes beyond the confines of punk-rock. Is it going to be a challenge? What do you think! Of course it makes perfect sense since the point of "Wild & Crazy Noise Merchants" was to include bands that played the 1in12 Club between July and December, 1989, and it didn't matter if they were a gruff grindcore band or a soft indie act. On a broader level, this compilation is also interesting because it captured the mood in the very last months of the 80's, this glorious and glorified decade. For the record, the last ever 80's gigs put on by the 1in12 saw Doom, Mushroom Attack, Warfear, Psycho Flowers, Pleasant Valley Children and FUAL play. Not bad, right? But let's get to it.

- Godorrhoea: incidentally, I consider the three opening songs as the real nuggets of the compilation. Godorrhoea were an obscure and short-lived Yorkshire band that was brought back to light a few years ago with the Ep "Zeitgeist" that was released on Looney Tunes and included all the band's recordings (not many of them). For a reason that I cannot quite comprehend, the Ep did not garner the band much interest. And yet, it is, by far, the best Rudimentary Peni-worshipping band I have ever heard. Peni belongs to that category of bands that are almost impossible to accurately emulate well and I cannot think of many bands that managed to pull it (Ciril did a good job but there were other things going on in their music). But Godorrhoea did it wonderfully, focusing on the savage and demented Peni sound of the first Ep's, they penned short and fast bursts of insanity-driven, asylum punk-rock. The three songs are heavily bass-driven and the lines sound like they could have been lifted from an unknown Peni practice. The most impressive achievement lies in the tense, almost uncomfortable atmosphere they recreated. It is a vision of a macabre Dantean circus produced by a madman's mind. Absolutely brilliant stuff. The lyrics are superficially non-sensical as the band played with syntax and word sonorities in order to confer meaning to their sound, not unlike in poetry: "Charlatan churlish chaplain churns out chapters of babble".

- Psycho Flowers: a Scottish anarchopunk band with a heavy, slightly metallic sound and gruff vocals that I already tackled when reviewing the "They ain't seen nothing yet" compilation Ep. Although not really spectacular, PF was a band that definitely heralded the typical UK hardcore punk sound of the 90's. "Who's the scum" was actually a rather angry diatribe about Napalm Death selling out and attested to the slow but unavoidable dislocation of the UKHC scene in the late 80's. 

- Paradox UK: beefy old-school punk-rock fronted by Spike, who sang for Blitzkrieg and ran Retch Records. I like Paradox UK. They had a heavy and groovy sound with a cool Motörhead influence and Spike had a raucous, rough-hewn voice that still sounded rather tuneful and I definitely recommend the "Disenchanted land" 12'' ep from 1990. The song "Abuse of power" was originally written by Blitzkrieg.  

- Active Minds: a tuneful number from Scarborough's finest anarchopunks. "Take it back" is about, well, taking control of our own lives and is reminiscent of Bad Religion, albeit with that typical raw sound that Active Minds have always had.

- Slander: one of the first bands that I reviewed for Terminal Sound Nuisance with their "Politicians cause it" 1992 demo. Slander were from Hull and epitomized perfectly the 90's UK hardcore-punk sound, updating the classic sound of GBH, The Varukers or One Way System with a more modern, heavier production (which didn't alway work, let's face it). Slander remind me an awful lot of a beefed-up Mau Maus, especially the vocals. "Freedom" is a good song with a cracking heavy bass sound that carries the whole thing. It is about the fall of the Berlin Wall and how capitalism was quick to invade the newly "freed" countries, thus replicating the same system of Western exploitation. Pretty dark and angry lyrics. I like it.

- Trottel: a classic anarcho band from Budapest that is relatively famous in France (we do love experimental punk-rock over here and they play quite often). Trottel have been playing since 1985 and truly developed a sound of their own throughout the years. I am not familiar with all their records but the song included here is great. Female-fronted anarchopunk with a psychedelic postpunk feel, not unlike The Ex jamming with Contropotere and Dog-Faced Hermans at the Post-Regiment's house or something. It is really good. 

- Chumbawamba: of course, they were going to be included on this. This is late 80's Chumba, very poppy, not unlike Madness I guess. This is music that would not scare off your granny. The lyrics are smart and subversive, as usual for them in the 80's, and were a tribute to Harry Goldthorpe, a sociologist from Bradford that worked on social classes and was an original "Bradford bad lad". 

- Spongetunnel: a band I know virtually nothing about... They were from Chicago and released a couple of pop-punk records in the late 80's. One of the blokes, Russ Forster, also ran Underdog Records. Musically, I cannot say that it is my cuppa tea as it is too rock'n'roll-sounding for me but I can imagine people getting into it.

- M4 Alice: now we are talking. Absolutely brilliant and inspired English gothpunk. M4 Alice is a band that sank into the punk netherworld and completely escaped me until I unearthed this compilation a few weeks ago. How I could forget about such a good band will remain one of Humanity's greatest unsolved mystery. There is little information floating around about M4 Alice. I think they were from London and released two records in 1985 and 1988, the latter being distributed by Plastic Head which makes it even more unexplainable that they remain so obscure. Granted, they played a genre which had probably become unfashionable by the time they were around, but there is quality in the songwriting and had it been released on a PDX label in 2012, people would be all over it. Of course, it is reminiscent of classic bands like Sisters of Mercy or Sex Gang Children, but I also hear a strong deathrock influence, some "Cacophony"-era Peni arrangement and some of the demented psychedelics of Smartpils as well. A definite highlight of the compilation. 

- Indian Dream: formidable anarchopunk from Scarborough. I already raved about Indian Dream in the article about the tuneful side of 88/92 anarchopunk but they are a band I cannot get enough of. Indian Dream had this fabulous classic UK 80's anarcho sound and aesthetics (without mentioning the cheesy, idealistic moniker), tuneful and melancholy, with strong female vocals, postpunk guitar leads and catchy choruses to die for. "Our land..." is a rather moody, poppy yet dark, song about racism and nationalism that is sadly even more relevant today than it was then. If you are looking for the perfect blend of Lost Cherrees, Omega Tribe, Karma Sutra and Skeletal Family then you are in for a proper treat. A winner.

- Telic Tribe: that is a really obscure one as Telic Tribe only recorded that one song and the internet remains silent about this lot. First, like Indian Dream (and in the spirit of City Indians, Flux of Pink Indians and Omega Tribe), a name like Telic Tribe suggestively indicates pacifist anarchopunk with tunes and second, the artwork and lyrics reminiscent of The Mob points in the same direction... Am I mistaken? What do you reckon? Telic Tribe played indeed dark, moody, if not mournful, mid-paced anarchopunk that is really quite impressive. They remind me a lot of The Next World's most melancholy songs (especially in the vocals) and of Kulturkampf. Telic Tribe were from the Channel Islands, Guernsey, which was very uncommon, and apparently had a demo that I am dying to hear. 

- Pink Turds In Space: I have always loved PTIS but their name probably rates as one of the worst ever, especially when you consider that they also had quite serious political lyrics... Oh well, that was the sense of humour of Belfast punks I guess. Fast and thrashy hardcore-punk with amazing, striking raucous female vocals. PTIS were made up of ex-members of anarchopunk bands like Toxic Waste and Asylum and after the band's demise, some of them formed Bleeding Rectum in the early 90's, an equally unfortunately-named band that is still very much worthy of attention. Of course, "Teenage kicks" is a manic, punk as fuck cover of The Undertones. 

- Sofa Head: yet another band that was tackled in the article about the 88/92 era of anarchopunk. Sofa Head was very much the continuation of the amazing Dan with a new singer and Lainey from HDQ and Leatherface on the drums. They played female-fronted tuneful hardcore-punk influenced as much by the UK scene as the US one. The guitar leads are crispy and melodic and I cannot help thinking that a band like Sofa Head must have been an important influence on bands like Harum-Scarum or Mankind? The song "Invitation" was recorded live and sounds much angrier than the studio version. 

- Nitro Puppy: a band totally unknown to me from Brighton. This is sadly not my thing at all. Grungy garage punk that still might appeal to some I presume.

- Incest Bros: aka Incest Brothers from Leeds, a fun-loving, silly hardcore band that always puts a smile on my face (after all they did headline the "Totally Crap Festival" with Skum Dribblurzzz in 1985 and had a demo entitled "Ugly but proud"). However, Incest Bros were much more tuneful than their name suggests and played fast and anthemic US-flavoured hardcore-punk with some great bass lines as the song on this compilation shows. 

- FUAL: probably one of the best punk bands ever to come out of the Belfast scene. FUAL was made up of people who had been involved in bands like Stalag 17, Toxic Waste or Crude and Snyde during the early days of the Ulster anarcho scene. This was a really innovative band that could play fast hardcore music, dark and moody punk-rock or upbeat poppy punk. The vocals of Louanne were incredibly powerful and strong, neither really sung nor shouted but still able to convey a whole range of conflicting emotions. It is difficult to find points of comparison when dealing with such a unique band but I guess that FUAL would have been comfortable sitting with Leatherface, Stalag 17 and Potential Threat. "20 years on" (here in a live version) was a song about the political situation in Northern Ireland and a criticism of the idealistic and dogmatic vision of Chumba about this issue that they expressed on their "Revolution" Ep. FUAL were compelling and possibly one of the very best anarchopunk bands of the late 80's. Top shelf.

- Warfear: of course, there had to be at least one song of utter aural savagery on a late 80's compilation from Northern England and Warfear proudly took this coveted spot. Most people who weren't there at the time (and even if they were, Warfear was pretty much a local band) must have discovered the band through the Crust War Lp reissue of their various demos from 2007 but Warfear actually did manage to appear once on a proper record in their lifetime: "Wild & Crazy Noise Merchants". Warfear was made up of Rich from Sore Throat on the guitar, Bri Doom on the drums, Chris (who would play in Health Hazard and Doom later on) on the bass and one James on vocals. As you can expect from such a line-up, Warfear played blown-out, fast and brutal crusty hardcore that, of course, brought bands like ENT or Chaos UK to mind, but was also very much influenced by noisy Japanese bands like Gai or Kuro. "Dig your own grave" is a raw, aggressive, groovy, pummeling number with undecipherable barking vocals. Just fantastic. 

- Chris Halliwell & Mary Johnston: oh boy... How am I supposed to review this? This is a folk song with a distinct Americana feel but I know nothing about this genre so I am not going to delve too much into it. I like the voice of Mary though. 

- Greenhouse: well, this is indie rock music with a punk vibe. I never thought I would have to write an indie band but here it is. Greenhouse appeared to have had some sort of success as you can find proper music videos of their songs on youtube and they released quite a few records. It is pretty catchy and uplifting and I must admit that it can work on sunny days.

- The Wonderful Thing Called Tiddles: what an albatross of a name... But it is actually much better than I remembered it to be. Dark cold-wave with a drum machine and winding guitar leads that is aptly depressing, sad, ethereal and urban. I wish I knew the genre better It must work very well on rainy days.

- The Clearing: this is... postpunk music with a strong poppy feel. Pretty catchy as well, this could definitely have achieved some kind of mainstream success. The mood of the song is rather light and uplifting but there is a dark undertone to it that makes it quite memorable and I can definitely imagine myself dancing to its great tunes at an after-party. Apparently The Clearing only appeared on this compilation. 

- Wild Willi Beckett & Jont: a local Bradford duo that played weird folky and dark experimental music with dark ominous music. I unexpectedly like it actually. Both Jont and Beckett also played in the Psycho Surgeons, an insanity-driven postpunk/goth-rock band that used theatrics and sounded like a mix of New Model Army, Sisters of Mercy and Southern Death Cult. Not a bad way at all to end the compilation actually.  

And I will leave you with the own words of 1in12 Records:

"We are not party to the record industry which exists to make personal profit, to supplement the state system & to perpetuate the myths in society! Noise of the revolution."

Wild and Crazy "Noise Merchants"