The Empire Crusts Back (part 3): Confrontation "1989" Ep, 1992

Growing old sometimes sucks. Well, I am not technically quite old enough - though Tik Tok would definitely disagree - to utter such pompous and peremptory statements and therefore may lack the necessary legitimacy and worrying back pains. But still, one observes, one witnesses and one is not a fool. As punks grow older, their record collection gets more and more important, threatening to make the living room's floor - and oftentime their marriage as well - crumble and collapse under its weight of vinyl, potentially crushing a charming gran living downstairs or, better, a twattish busybody who could not stop complaining whenever you play Chaos UK supposedly too loud. We've all heard horror stories of honest, ebay-abiding record collectors being squashed under a landslide of single-sided Japanese flexis, of granduncles being knocked out cold during a family reunion by a box of demo tapes that you had promised to take care of or of innocent pets being flattened by the limited edition of the Noise Not Music Discharge box (there are far worse deaths than this one actually). The exponential activity of collecting records can be hazardous physically but also mentally. 

 

Indeed, as records keep piling in their living room, old punks can become quite pedantic about some aspects of hardcore music (it is almost always about hardcore music), especially about the correct terminology of subgenres and about the inclusion or exclusion of specific bands in specific genres. Just ask on a message board roaming with officially recognized record nerds who the first real powerviolence band was and enjoy the ensuing verbal brawl and below-the-belt name-calling. Occasionally, physical violence can ensue - although it is quite rare as record collectors usually only resort to fighting to get first to merch tables - and combatants end up solving their personal issues in the octagon to assert their supremacy. As much as I would love to tell you that I am above such rivalries and epistemological disagreements, I must confess that I have already engaged in heated arguments about the archaeological position of Los Saicos in punk culture or the value of post-"New age" Blitz and while I haven't headbutted anyone because of my proverbial lack of basic bravery, also called being a wimp, there was a lot of finger-waving, scornful looks and offending accusations about being a middle-class poser and only getting into Blitz after I did. Oh well. I still think genres do matter and should be discussed and that precise descriptive names can be useful in order to reflect on histories, eras and areas. But instead of being bones of contention, arguments about genres should improve our appreciation and not limit it. Peace and love my friends. Which takes me to today's record: the 1989 Ep from Confrontation.

 

 

 

I have seen Confrontation being qualified as grindcore, as powerviolence, as crust - and even as modern hardcore but it was an honest mistake and the person was actually talking about the late 90's German band on that one so that the virtual tar and feather might not have been totally warranted and I probably should have refrained from sending anonymous threats to his house but I prefer to see this incident as a life lesson for the both of us. In actual fact, you would not be wrong indeed to qualify the band as grindcore, powerviolence or crust as each appellation makes sense for different reasons. Because of its dirty metallic groove and its blast beats the grindcore tag would fit Confrontation; but then 1989 having been originally released on Infest's label Draw Blank and because of the band's typical hardcore breaks and riffs you could say that powerviolence is not far off the picture either; and of course, because of the band's close connections to Glycine Max, Apocalypse or Mindrot - in a word the OC crust galaxy - and its raw and filthy punk production and emphatic cavemen vocals, claiming Confrontation were an old-school crust act is not irrelevant, and since we are on Terminal Sound Nuisance here, the Ep will be approached and tackled through a distinctively crust perspective, without discarding the other influences, because I am, after all, known, among other things, as The Magnanimous One. However, not being particularly well schooled in old-school grindcore - though I can hold my own to some extent - and being absolutely clueless about powerviolence - it always sounded too American to my delicate ears and I never really got the appeal, I will ask you to bear with potential inconsistencies. Now that the issue of terminology and nomenclature has been settled, we may proceed to the crux of the matter: my own record coll... I mean the band.

 

Confrontation was actually the first OC crust band I came across although at that time I had absolutely no idea that there had been a fabulous crust source over there and, apart from Resist and Exist, I don't think I was aware of other anarcho/crust bands from that area or aware that this area had its fair share of extreme bands. I was, as you might say, still green. Because finances were low and grim while enthusiasm was high and unquenchable, I was able to lay my hands on a second-hand copy of the Confrontation's discography cd after hearing the In Crust We Trust compilation that a gentle soul had found for me on soulseek, back when it took two days and a half to download an album. I did not enjoy In Crust We Trust as much as I thought I would to be fair. At that time, I was still in the process of discovery of crust and the title, which I now find cheesy as fuck, announced something spectacular and developmental. There were some good bands on that compilation, don't get me wrong, it had Disfear, No Security, Concrete Sox and Heresy, but if you look closely, there was not much proper crust and it was bit misleading really. In retrospect, I understand that it was just a sample of Lost & Found's catalogue and that the misleading title did not illustrate the content, much like The Best Crust Compilation in the World Ever! compilation whose hyperbolic irony was lost on me when I bought it, especially since, without really disappointing, there was, again, not much crust in it. But I did like the Confrontation songs - they are some of their best numbers - and seeing that Lost & Found also released a full cd of the band and that it was cheap, I did not fuck around and bought the copy online. I learnt later on that the not-so-virtuous label released this cd because they claimed that the band had received an advance payment for the recording of a full album which they never did since they broke up and the cd was a way to get some money back. Not really the classiest act on the part of a label that was famous for this kind of dodgy moves and it is no coincidence that the cd is listed as "unofficial" on Discogs. Just bad punk ethics.

 

 

 

I couldn't find many details about Confrontation's noisy career and I really wish some heroic old-timers from that time and place will one day write a book about the Californian 80's peacepunk/crust scene like Ian Glasper did for the British waves. A boy can dream. The band formed in Huntington Beach probably in late 1988 - the Ep was recorded in May, 1989, so that sounds plausible enough. I have seen a mention of that record being a demo Ep and it might have originally been some sort of demo tape that they decided to reissue as a proper Ep. Still it does not seem very likely as this practice was not widespread at the time, whereas releasing a demo again on a vinyl has become very commonplace these days. What's the point of engaging in an activity bound to saturate the already fragile punk records market especially since demos are readily available online and, well, they are demos, I hear you ask from afar? I ain't got clue guv. To get back to Confrontation, the band was from Huntington Beach and had Matt Fisher from Mindrot on vocals and future Dystopia bass player Todd on the bass. As my jaundiced speech indicated earlier, the band remained mostly associated with the mean and manically fast hardcore bands - the early powerviolence wave - and they shared some common ground with the groovy grindcore freaks that roamed this very part of California at the time. Just consider that powerviolence legends Infest were from Valencia, Crossed Out from Encinitas, No Comment from North Hollywood and the unique Man Is The Bastard from Claremont. All those hardcore acts lived in a 50 kilometers radius and therefore it is little surprising that the area, in punk's more or less unreliable collective memory, has often been closely connected with powerviolence. Similarly, just consider that grindcore legends Terrorizer - the grindcore equivalent of the 1992-era Ultimate Warrior - were from Huntington Park and Nausea from Los Angeles. The Infest connection is clearly the most relevant since 1989 was initially released on Infest's own label Draw Blanks Records - it was only DB's second release - although Confrontation sounded nothing like them so that's the grand network of friends in action for you. The version we are dealing however is not the original but the remastered one from 1992 that Misanthropic Records - the first output of Todd's label - took care of. 

 

There are eight songs on this Ep and let me tell you that Confrontation had little time to waste. The opening song "Deathtrap", my favourite number on the record, is a grinding crust masterpiece that reminds me of the early rawer Napalm Death, Electro Hippies and crust maniacs Mortal Terror. The first riff epitomized what old-school crust has always been supposed to sound like and Instinct of Survival on their split Ep with Guided Cradle had no reservation about borrowing it - to great effect I must say. After that groovy metallic crust introduction, Confrontation unleash their brand of fast and abrasive crusty hardcore with harsh cavecrust vocals. The rest of 1989 keeps maintains this high level of quality, navigating between snotty UK hardcore classics like the above-mentioned powerhouses, local OC crust heroes like A//Solution and Apocalypse and that contemporary brand of punishingly fast and violent US hardcore (some of the breaks undoubtedly fall in that category). In terms of production, and in spite of a second mastering work, the Ep sounds like raw and urgent early stenchgrind - the band included a five-second burst of referential noise called "Scum..." to wrap up the Ep, just to make sure the listeners understood where they were coming from - and can be said to be a typical and solid example of the sound of the area at that time. I love the cut'n'paste DIY look of the foldout bringing to mind the traditional early crust aesthetics and the band's logo depicting a roughly-drawn picture of a rather melancholy-looking crusty punk's shrunken head is wonderful and gets an A+ for me. The cover is undeniably more enigmatic as it is a picture of a prisoner-of-war or concentration or refugee camp with a dozen of miserable-looking men behind barbed wire. Pretty shocking and grim really. True realities of war. I do not know when this was taken or if it holds any relation to the year 1989 but judging from the prisoners' clothing I doubt it. I suppose the band's choice was meant to reflect the constant war mongering and disdain for basic human rights that defined the twentieth century and while I agree with the sentiment and the content, the visual form can be considered as awkward, or even, in 2021, as "problematic". From a very prosaic standpoint, it makes their shirt particularly hard to wear and I only sport if at grindcore gigs where I am confident the majority of the audience will be wearing far more shocking and distasteful shirts. Clever me.

 

The following Ep was released in 1991 - before 1989's remastered version - on Tribal War Records back when it was still located in New York City. Entitled Dead Against the War, it was the label's very first release (or was it actually the Warning Ep?). Confrontation pretty much kept on the same old-school grinding crusty hardcore tracks with new singer Ben, although they started to include heavy and suffocating doomy sludge part in the songwriting, adding a suffocating sense of atmospherics that will characterized what Dystopia would be known for a few years later. In fact, you could say Dead Against the War and the 1991 split Ep with Cantankerous (a band that had Matt from Mindrot on guitar) pretty sounded like a raw, unfiltered blend between between early Deformed Conscience, Concrete Sox and Embittered. Although I like 1989 better for its superior bollocking power and filthier blasting bum crust sound, the later material is also solid and thoroughly enjoyable and an interesting pre-Dystopia endeavour. After the demise of Confrontation and Cantankerous, Todd and Matt formed Dystopia along with Dino from Carcinogen (he actually provided some artwork and drew the liner notes on Dead Against the War) and Dan from Mindrot, a band that went on to write some of the most potent, original and influential punk music of the 90's. 

 

This write-up is dedicated to Matt, who sadly passed a year ago.        

 

 

 

Confront!       

Ace Compilations for Less than a Fiver on Bloody Discogs (part 2): "Walk Across America - for Mother Earth" compilation Ep, 1992

Walk across America for Mother Earth. 

Walk across America for Mother Earth?

Walk across America for Mother Earth...

Almost 30 years after its release, the title of this compilation Ep - Walk Across America - for Mother Earth in case you are a bit slow - remains one of the hippiest of the whole punk history. Despite its unquestionably good intentions, if the Ep is unbeknown to the punk on the street, the title will conjure up horrifying images, visions that few men and women can claim to have survived without going insane. Many could never get over the blinding nightmarishness of the patchoulied worldview. Some became like possessed, converted, swallowed whole into the hippie ideology, never to return. Fucking sandals. Fucking magic crystals. Fucking white middle-class people reconnecting to "Nature" through dancing, playing fucking bongos and doing loads of drugs. Dodgy, fake fucking shamans blagging their way into a cult leadership, leaving you bollock-naked in a field making out with a bong. Ten-minute long fucking solos, Doors' cover and Manu Chao cosplay. I could go on. Abominations that are generally admitted to be the curse of the human race. These are the kind of thoughts that the title of the Ep would evoke out of context. A quick look at the cover of the Ep may also send shivers down the barmy army's spine. Some misdirected souls claimed that on full moons, one could sometimes hear cheesy folk music coming out of the record and that if it did happen, it was strongly recommend to immediately store the Ep next to Sore Throat or Gloom records, reputable talismans against the hippie eye. Of course, the quick-witted punk would not fall so quickly into the abyss, ignore the flying feather and actually read what accompanies the Walk Across America - for Mother Earth title: a well class lineup made up of Hiatus, Political Asylum, Mushroom Attack, Indian Dream, Silent Water and the rather enigmatic Teenage Kicks. And I personally have nothing against hippies, I mean I had a hippie friend back in the day and my cousin even dated one. I am not prejudiced.   

Before dealing with the cracking lineup of this compilation, let me reiterate that the idea behind it was very honourable indeed since, all joking and hippie-basing aside and in spite of confirmed sightings of crystal-worship during the walk, For Mother Earth was an organization responsible for the Walk Across America 1992 initiative in solidarity with the struggles of Native American people across the Americas. All the profits went to the organization and although they cannot have been incredible - it's a DIY punk compilation, not a U2 benefit gig - it is always encouraging to see punks actually giving a fuck. There were a lot of protest, notably from Indian activist groups in 1992 because many American states celebrated the 500th anniversary of the "discovery" of the continent by Columbus. Celebrating the start of an ongoing genocide against Native populations is about the most outrageously insulting they could have thought of, even for soulless politicians. The genocidal policies against Native Americans certainly kept going throughout the twentieth century and still do. A basic summary of the many facets of the oppression and genocide faced by Natives is included on the back of the foldout cover. It is, because of issues of space and clarity, short but it was meant to lead people to get interested and involved in the struggles and dig deeper into those issues. The same year, Profane Existence released the In Spirit of Total Resistance double Ep compilation coinciding with 500th anniversary and the Mohawk uprising in Oka. There were of course more compilations and cooperations between bands to protest against the disgusting, shamelessly revolting celebration, notably from Latino punx. Let's mention the Medellin Contra el Quinto Centenario 1991 tape (with Imagen and GP among others) and the Rock Subterraneo Contra el V° Centenario international tape (with Los Violadores, IRA or Atoxxxico). More recently, in 2005, the 512 Años Despues el Saqueo Continua digital compilation is equally worth investigating with a solid lineup including Doña Maldad, Dios Hastio, Apatia-No or Los Dolares. 

After a whole paragraph of talking about serious stuff, let's solemnly shift focus on the six bands invited to support the worthy cause. First are the mighty Hiatus from Liège. I once professed with authority that Hiatus were probably the best band to have ever walked the Earth and that was not an empty, alcohol-induced claim. There are days when I have the conviction that Hiatus were the missing link between the Neanderthals and modern human beings. Think about it. The Belgian heroes have been regularly included on Terminal Sound Nuisance so this one will be a sitter. The song "Confusion inside my head" was recorded in August, 1990, during the same recording session as the first Ep I don't Scare Easily But... and the split Ep with Reach a Mental Road. At that time Hiatus still had Raf on vocals while Wills was playing the bass (he famously went on to crust things up behind the mike after Raf's departure). This was Hiatus at their most primitive before they became the hugely influential eurocrust powerhouse they are known for. In 1990, Hiatus were rawer, simpler and not quite as impactful as they would become from 1992 on though they still packed a serious punch. Still, the band can be said to have been, maybe not the first - Extreme Noise Error were actually first with their 1988 demo - but certainly the most significant late 80's Doom/ENT/Sore Throat filthy cavemen crust worshipers on the continent so that we should be eternally grateful for that. Absolutely classic crust.

Next up are another former Terminal Sound Nuisance candidate with Indian Dream, whose first 1987 Ep Well Are you Happy Now? was reviewed here almost four years ago (gasp). Again, I am not going to throw myself into an elaborate speech about the merits of Indian Dream and rather, for laziness is also a virtue, encourage you to take a look at the aforementioned older review. With a name like Indian Dream, the inclusion of the late 80's Scarborough lot on benefit compilation in solidarity with Native Americans feels almost too obvious. It is widely known that British anarchopunks in the 80's were fascinated with American Indian cultures and the harmonious lifestyle they stood for in the psyche of young, idealist, pacifist punks. It does sound quite cheesy from the all-knowing arrogance of our 2020's selves and you would probably have punks accusing Indian Dream of naive cultural appropriation, and I suppose it is not an unintelligible argument, but at least the band gave an actual shit about the oppression of Native people and their lyrics reflected their outrage and their support to the struggle. I am not sure when "Discarded" was recorded, possibly during the same session as the second Ep, but it is probably my favourite song from them. Melancholy, moody but uplifting anarchopunk with superb poignant female vocals, this song has everything, from the disarming catchiness of classic anarchopunk to the charmingly cheesy 80's-inspired "tribal" chants that could be awkward but kinda work well with the pagan atmosphere, lyrics and imagery of the band (I may not be impartial here, truth be told). If you enjoy Lost Cherrees, Rubella Ballet or A-Heads, Indian Dream might become your favourite band soon. The two Ep's are brilliant examples of third wave UK anarchopunk and the Orca Lp is a genuine classic with a cover that is the visual equivalent of Oi Polloi's "Whale song". You were warned.

Next up are not Teenage Kicks at all but Pink Turds In Space covering "Teenage kicks" from The Undertones, one of the most famous punk songs ever written and certainly the catchiest chorus of rock'n'roll history - right next to The Exploited's "Alternative" and Doom's "Police bastard" - which the band took a manifest pleasure destroying. This cover actually already appeared on the Wild and Crazy Noise Merchants double Lp compilation (reviewed here) so I will not stun you with endless ravings this time round. PTIS were one of the best bands of the late 80's/early 90's Belfast scene with their fast, mean, magnetic thrashing hardcore punk with some of the raspiest female vocals I have ever heard. Everything they did was top but the split Lp with Sedition was particularly ferocious. Antisociety reissued the full discography of the band on vinyl so don't be a poser and support the scene.

On the B side, guests are welcome with the Scottish anarcho-progpunk champions Political Asylum which, once again, already made a memorable appearance on the blog with their Winter Ep. "Symptom" was taken from their Someday Lp from 1987 and at that point the band was becoming more and more proficient musically, more technical, with more rock and less punk, so to speak, but still deep into anarchism. I like the album and its energy and the tuneful distinctive vocals, almost folkish here, work well but I somehow miss the brooding melancholy of the 1985 Ep and the demos a little - but then "I prefer the early demo to their late material" as the famous ancient punk saying goes. This said, "Symptom" is a solid tuneful song with neat arrangements and a prime example of Political Asylum at the peak of their prowess. Still to be consumed with some moderation because of the unreasonable amount of solos. One is never too careful when punks actually learn how to play their instruments.

The next stop sees us stepping into a much dirtier territory, a dangerous place where toxic armpits rule and toothbrushes are banned: Mushroom Attack's squatters kingdom. This Groningen classic band briefly popped up on the blog through the benefit compilation Ep They ain't Seen Nothing Yet (here) that included a song of theirs. MA are often considered as a pre-Fleas & Lice band and the comparison is not irrelevant although they had no inclination toward crust music. Expect fast and raw anarcho-thrash with dual male/female vocals. I did not remember them to be that fast but the song "Squat and live" certainly delivers with a sound that epitomizes the essence of the typical sound of many European DIY political hardcore punk bands. Dynamic early 90's squat punk at its best that I often to associate with cities like Groningen or Liège that still cradle that sort of noise unit to this day. Early Disaffect definitely comes to mind (not by design but because the musical context led to the formation of bands with a sound like theirs) and other Flat Earth Records bands like Sedition, One By One or Health Hazard and even Jesus Chrust and (German) Enola Gay. You know the deal. "Squat or die" is a song about squatting and fighting gentrification, a battle that was sadly but logically lost. The two classic split Lp's with Ξεχασμένη Προφητεία and Disorder (the brilliantly named Masters of the Glueniverse) have a better, more powerful sound and also comes highly recommended if you are into raw dual vocal hardcore punk with honest political lyrics and into records worth a fiver since their 2001 cd discography pretty much goes for that little. Not the most crucial band of the decade but still thoroughly enjoyable for old-school types. 

The last song is "Your shark" by Silent Water, a band I did not know at all before grabbing the Ep. They were from Belgium, were active from the late 80's to the early 90's and released two tapes and a full album in 1991 with the rather depressing title A Joyride on Waves of Solitude. Hand me the fucking rope. Judging from the titles of the songs, Silent Water had strong anarchist leanings and them participating in compilations alongside Jesus Chrust and Earth Citizens beside the spiky lineup making up Walk Across America. I have no idea what the band sounded like in general - it is actually a one-man man so I probably should have used "he" instead of "they" - but "Your shark" is an acoustic folk song. Not bad at all and it reminds me of Chumbawamba but that is certainly due to the fact that I don't listen to folk music at all, unless I am forced to like that time I had to witness an Against Me gig. Long story. The one SW song I could find had a punky noise-rock touch but I am clueless if it is representative of the style either.

The compilation Ep was released on Be Yourself Records and Bonds of Friendship, the latter being run by the bloke responsible for Conspiracy Records. The Ep has some noticeable surface noise but since we are all half-deaf punks here, I doubt you will be too bothered. Let's call it additional vintageness. I paid about €5 for my copy and if you negotiate cleverly, beg pathetically or blackmail wickedly, you should able to too. 

               

Walk Across America - for Mother Earth 

Sonatas in D Major (part 3): Realities of War "S/t" Ep, 2013

It's monday morning and although I am not exactly straight and alert, I still have time on my hands before listening to Cock Sparrer on my way to work (because that's what real workers do, right?). I suppose normies would use that precious extra time to do some ironing and catch up on a tedious Netflix series so that they will have something to talk about with their colleagues and feel like their superficial critiques of mainstream American programs is actually akin to engaging in voicing a dissenting opinion. When you hear people claiming that they'd rather spend their night watching Netflix rather than go to a gig and support da scene, that's when you know there is something very wrong indeed with people and with the scene (let's be honest). Are Netflix and Instagram killing punk-rock? You've got four hours. As for me, I shall not be corrupted by this unrelenting propaganda machine and will rather spend my monday morning on something more intellectually rewarding and healthy, like write about an extraordinarily raw recoding of Japanese noizy d-beat from the early 90's. That will be my symbolic act of resistance to the kkkapitalist system and maybe I will also vacuum the flat if I'm done early.

Today's Sonatas in D Major will be Realities of War's self-titled Ep, first released in 2013 but actually recorded 21 years before that, in 1992. As the band bio, written by the guitar player tells us, RoW was never an actual band and this recording was only done for fun by two bored but devoted teenagers who had access to a studio at their school but did not really bother to share the result. I know it already sounds very much like the beginning of a punk fairytale but then when the guitarist adds, for the sake of realism, that "one day of 1992 after listening to DISASTER and SORE THROAT, we decided to go to the studio to try something like that", the story almost falls into unabated teary-eyed romanticism and the most idealistic among us are praying for this magic story to go on. In a perfect alternative world, some other punk (with DISCHARGE and DOOM patches!) that the drummer vaguely knew from his hometown would give the recording a listen, think it's amazing and offer to play the bass (because as you have guessed it, it was just a drum and guitar hardcore project). This three-piece would practice a lot and record a proper demo tape in 1993 and their revolutionary d-beat noize will make them noticed and they'll get to play at the infamous Final Noise Attack gigs in Osaka and share the stage with bands like Gloom and Crusade. At that time they will start to form a strong friendship with another Japanese band, from Kochi city, who was also trying to invent a distorted version of Discharge and further systematize a formula and an artistic view: Disclose. RoW and Disclose would often share the stage and this partnership would materialize through an incredible split Lp entitled Devastation Inferno recorded in 1994 and released on MCR, the distribution of which would make both bands known throughout the world and revered to this very day. That would have been the perfect version of the story. In reality, RoW never played outside of the studio and this project remained a one-off thing, stuck at the stage of the first practice forever. Sob sob.

Would we have heard of RoW if the guitar player in question was not Jacky from Framtid and Crust War? Probably not. After all, the recording was never released, not even as a demo, and therefore very few people would have even been aware of RoW at the time (especially since Jacky was also then involved in a real band, Asphyxia, whose demo would too be reissued in the 00's). Except that Jacky found the recording by chance years after that and sent it to Kawakami (from Disclose you dimwit) "just for fun". It made sense that he liked the recording, since after all it was made up of raw, distorted and primitive d-beat punk songs, not dissimilar to what Kawakami was trying to do exactly at the same time, great minds thinking alike and all that. Then the recording was sent to John from No Fucker, who thought of releasing it but eventually did not, and it finally saw the light of day on a proper Ep in 2013 thanks to Not Very Nice Records, a US label responsible for other noizy stuff from the likes of Chaos Destroy, Scum or Rotozaza. 

I will not beat around the bush: in order to appreciate this Ep, you already have to be really into raw d-beat. If a friend wants to get to know d-beat music better, asks you for help and you end up playing RoW, then you can be sure that he or she will never get into it. If that was your initial intention, well done mate, that person will probably never ask you for musical recommendations ever, but if you wanted to make a convert, then you are just a bad punk. Let's face it, this is a very rough recording, even if in a good way. Some badgers' arses are softer than that. But then, it was basically a recording of a first rehearsal done by two teenage punks, with no bass guitar, so all in all, the result is really not that bad. The sound quality aside, it is pretty fascinating to hear the obsession for Discharge and Discharge-loving hardcore that made the basis for RoW and in that light, they were right on time for the real start of the 90's d-beat explosion and their referring to Disaster as an influence is significant as it points to a second degree Discharge-loving influence and not just Discharge which means that they thrived for a "just like Discharge" sound while emulating prior talented copyists in the process, meaning that RoW was as much about the love for Dis(charge) than about Discharge in flesh and boooones (do you copy?). Because of obvious technical limitations, it is difficult to say if the rawness of the end product was intentional and how much would they have polished the sound if given the chance. Similarly, I wonder if the primitiveness of the songwriting and the directness of the riffs (for instance) were totally conditioned by the time limit or if they denoted a will to play stripped down, pure, quintessential Discharge music. I suppose the answer lies somewhere in the middle.  

I personally do not mind the raw rehearsal sound (after all I have raved about Gutrot and even Eat Shit on Terminal Sound Nuisance) and in addition to early Discharge and Disaster, I am reminded of genuinely raw early discharge-y bands like Subversion, Violent Uprising or even Diatribe, of demo era Doom instead of Sore Throat (the opening of "Doombastards" leaves little room for doubt), and of Disclose of course, especially in the vocal tone, but the similarity is unintentional, if not anachronistic. As I said, the guitar riffs are very simple, direct and aggressive and the d-beat is very pure and, dare I say it, innocent. I just love how the singer introduces the band at the start and then at the end says "Thank you, good night" as if it were a proper gig. It just sounds adorable especially when you put in perspective with the barrage of raw noise that just hit you. RoW sound almost refreshing for their genuine and youthful version of the raw and distorted d-beat, they sound like the lost paradise, essentially prelapsarian, unspoilt by the massive coming trend, symbolical of a time when the name "Realities of War" referred also to Discharge and not just to the whole d-beat phenomenon. It does sound a bit corny to our jaded ears nowadays but that's because we have become cynical bastards.

This is for the true lovers of the D. Seven songs, five of which are untitled. This noize kills posers and can therefore be used as a repellent. 

Realities of D

  

Sonatas in D Major (part 1): Disfear "S/t" Ep, 1998

More than three years ago, in the spring of 2016, I fiercely battled, on this very arena, a genre I had not yet dared to really approach: d-beat. Armed with my wits and a lot of time on my hands (I was fully unemployed then and writing at length about being Discharge by proxy sounded like the best idea I ever had), I fought long and hard in order to understand and identify this inspiring passion, this fearless and devouring Discharge love that have led countless bands to proudly pay tribute to the Stoke-on-Trent instrumentalists. And, as we saw then, there are different ways to express praises to the Discharge sound, ranging from attempts at sounding just like Discharge, to embracing the whole Discharge-inspired universe as valid and self-sufficient materials (a bit like Marvel or DC), the singular Discharge cover tradition that punks still celebrate today, working on sound textures,  effects, intertextuality, referentiality and, metatextually, on reflecting on the Dis phenomenon itself. The Chronicles of Dis - that was the series' name - were about all that. The selection illustrated different aspects of Discharge love and I tried to highlight its historical roots and put forward significant practices of the mighty D that were relevant. Following this formidably demanding enterprise, I became unable to stop my fingers from playing a galloping d-beat on any wooden surface that happened to be in their vicinity. It proved to be quite awkward, especially at funerals.

Despite almost overdosing on Discharge then, I grew to feel that the work was somehow incomplete and I caught myself thinking about records that could or even should have been included. In the end, I had to face the facts: I had some unfinished business with d-beat. The time has now come for the second round with a brand new series, entitled Sonatas in D Major, which will be about Discharge love and Dis-inspired records - yet again - with twelve meaningful records that I will tackle chronologically according to the dates of recording (not necessarily the same as the release dates). I am aware that sequels usually suck but then there are always movies like Batman Returns or Gremlins 2 to give me hope. Even Jaws 2 is not that bad, right?

And let's start with an absolute classic d-beat band: Disfear. Now, I guess everyone knows about Disfear and if you ask a passerby to name only one d-beat band, he or she is likely to reply either Disclose or Disfear, choices which could be argued to stand for the two major trends in d-beat, the distortion-loving raw Dis or the heavy, beefy, rocking Dis. I guess you could see them as two different d-beat schools essentially expressing a similar fascination for Discharge, though probably not for the same facets of the band. But after all, our likings are heavily conditioned by circumstances and by what we used to like, what we are used to like and what we have grown to expect to like, so that listening to Why for the first time is not the same experience to an Entombed, an Exploited or a Motörhead fan. Since their two albums on Relapse, Disfear have become quite well-known and celebrated in the punk/metal world, but of course the original old-fashioned hardcore die-hards will always favour "their early stuff" or even, if you are an elite-level hardcore expert, "their demo recordings". But let's take a listen to Disfear's first steps since it is actually the topic of the day.

The band actually started in Nyköping, Sverige, as Anti-Bofors in 1989. If you're wondering the word Bofors refers to a Swedish owned arms manufacturer and is now widely associated with the 40 mm anti-aircraft gun used during WWII - on both sides of the conflict. Bofors were also involved in a major corruption scandal with the government of India in the 80's which probably led a bunch of scruffy teenage Swedish punks to go for the name Anti-Bofors. The band, then as a three-piece with bass player Henke also handling the vocals, recorded one eponymous Ep in 1991 for No Records. This Ep has never been reissued on vinyl and is now highly sought-after but I suppose it is only a matter of time. After seeing the Svart Parad double lp reissue, everything is possible. Anti-Bofors, although clearly Discharge-influenced like all the Swedish hardcore bands of the time, cannot be said to be a d-beat band. Instead they were certainly trying to emulate the raw and gruff Scando hardcore sound of bands like Bombanfall, Disarm or indeed Svart Parad with amazingly hoarse vocals. A genuinely classic Ep that very much sounded like an 80's hardcore record, contrary to the first offering under the name of Disfear that marked the band's entry into the 90's sound-wise.

But first let's ask ourselves a very existential question: why did they change their name to Disfear? A reasonable hypothesis would be that the prefix "Dis" indicated more evidently the band's shift toward a more Discharge-inspired sound and songwriting and I suppose that it does make sense. I am much more perplexed about the choice of the substantive "fear". Obviously "disfear" is not a word so what does it mean? I suppose it could be the contraction of "this fear" but I personally think that it refers to the aestheticization of a particular fear (of the war, of state oppression, all the usual theme of the Discharge literature) in the form of the classic Discharge formula, as if it were the actual sound of that fear. Or maybe they looked at Dischange and thought that they too could get away with a silly Dis-name. I suppose it is somewhere in the middle.

The band had a new vocalist, Jeppe, on their self-titled Ep that originally appeared in 1992, on No Records once again (the label released a third Ep, Dispense's Nothing but the Truth before folding up) but the instrumental team is similar. Musically, only one year after the Anti-Bofors Ep, the band is much tighter and more powerful. The improvement in terms of sound was massive but then the Ep was recorded at Sunlight Studio by Tomas Skogsberg who worked on production with all the Swedish death-metal bands of the period (Entombed, Dismember, Carnage, Grave... just name any one of them, Tomas was in on it), a collaboration that also accounted for the darker, meaner vibe running though the songs. The primitive hardcore gruffness was all but gone as the band progressed and their anger became more focused and sharper, though they retained a raw hardcore vibe and were not yet quite the relentless d-beat machine they would eventually become. I really enjoy this first Disfear offering because it perfectly epitomized the transition between brutal, hard-hitting Swedish hardcore and 90's d-beat orthodoxy. You can hear that the band navigated between hardcore bands like Totalitär or No Security and full on Discharge-worship. Perhaps this middle ground was best embodied by the flow of the vocals in Swedish, sometimes close to the fast-paced, raspy, Totalitär-like school, sometimes almost similar to Cal's peculiar intonation (although the tone of Jeppe's voice on this one is higher-pitched and closer to the classic Swedish hardcore way). The five songs sound very potent, aggressive and energetic with a an urgent and tense raw sound, the vocals sound fucking pissed, the riffs are great in a sort of classic and tasteful way. In their early years, Disfear's music really sounded like an unstoppable and cruel warmachine approaching and I think it is probably best served on repeat mode in order to enjoy the repetition of repetitiveness. Know what I mean? The visuals on this Ep are stark, severe and appropriately macabre and the lyrics are in Swedish and deal with religion and war (interestingly, the shift to English lyrics on subsequent records also corresponded with the growing Discharge influence on the songwriting and singing style). This eponymous Ep paved the way for the crucial d-beat masterpieces, the mammoth Discharge-loving Ep A Brutal Sight of War, from 1993 (my favourite Disfear record and easily one of the best d-beat records ever recorded), and the absolutely relentless Soul Scars album from 1995, two records that pretty much defined what has come to be associated with Swedish d-beat, with a heavy production, crushing riffs and a vocal work that saw Jeppe really find his hoarse but distinctive style.

My copy of the Disfear is not the original from 1992 but a 1998 repress co-released by German label Rødel Records based in Berlin and responsible for a lot of grindcore/crust/fastcore records (Rot, Yacopsae, MVD or Autoritär to name a few) and Finn Records, a Swedish label specialized in quality Discore music that put out many Totalitär records, but also stuff from G-Anx, Uncurbed or the Excrement of War/Dischange split Ep (small world). And if you are into early Disfear - and do keep in mind that you should be in order to be for real - their eponymous 1992 Ep and A Brutal Sight of War 1993 Ep were finally reissued on vinyl last year by La Familia Records, Havoc Records and Disfear Records (it had been previously reissued by Feral Ward in 2004 so you know it is definitely classic stuff). You know what to do.        

Austere indeed

Disbofors

         

Records I Forgot I Owned (part 8): PUS "The real scapeghost" Ep, 1992

It could be argued that life in our so-called modern societies are being increasingly filled with petty, meaningless trivia through the overarching presence of the internet. It could also be argued that our growingly shorter attention span is a a result of this abundance of irrelevant details and that our greed for novelties is fueled by our own fear to be outdated and cast aside. Being irrelevant or even being socially sanctioned as such has become far worse than being dead. 

Still, trivia remains the easiest way to break the ice in many social situations, especially potentially awkward ones, like punk gigs for instance. Sometimes, all your mates are here so you don't need to come up with clever things to say during conversations that will make you look suave and sophisticated (aka SAS). Your friends are already familiar with your natural awesomeness. But there are other times when you don't really know anyone at gigs and you need to make friends, and for that you need clever-sounding introductory sentences and a good piece of punk trivia is ideal. This takes me to Terminal Sound Nuisance since this very blog has been voted the best place on the internet to find proper intel and anecdotes about cool punk bands that are obscure enough to make you look knowledgeable (but not too obscure, otherwise you are going to sound all nerdy and creepy and scare people away). Who knew these humble rants of mine would bring people together in friendship and unity! And since we're at it, here is a fun piece of punk trivia for your future new best friend: did you know that PUS stood for Punx Underpants Smell, a reference to the Pax compilation Lp Punk Dead - Nah Mate, the Smell is jus Summink in yer Underpants innit? Amazing, right? I mean it makes the name PUS - already a top punk moniker - even better. If knowing that doesn't get you at least a date, I don't what will.

I suppose that, in spite of their punker than punk name, PUS will be mostly remembered by the British punks active in the 90's who got to see them live. They were from Wisbech and were active for most of the 90's, at least between 1991 and 1999, an honourable run in itself when you compare it to modern hardcore bands' lifespan (or maybe ephemeral hardcore is the new black, I dunno). Quite sadly, PUS seem to have been largely forgotten and, although they were not the best band of the decade, they wrote some solid anarchopunk songs in their day. I cannot remember exactly where or when I got The Real Scapeghost but I know the Ep was lingering in a discounted record box, a fate that many 90's and 00's records are familiar with and that even more bands from our current decade will know when the deafening hype is over and people actually listen to them. I do remember exactly when I first encountered PUS however. I got their Death from the Skies discography cd in 2003 in Leeds at an Extinction of Mankind gig. And guess what, even then the cd was in the discount section. It must be karma. Despite the rather ugly cover depicting a warplane and the fact that I had never heard of PUS, I thought that spending a few quids for a discography was a bargain and brought the record home. I have to admit that the cd was a bit of a let down at the time for two main reasons. First, I expected the band to have more of a UK hardcore sound (c'mon, there's a bloody warplane on the cover, it was a fair assumption) and second, there are 33 tracks on the cd and it is a lot to digest.

This said, with the passing of the years, I grew to really enjoy PUS. In fact, the deeper I descended into the nether regions of the 80's anarchopunk wave, the fonder of PUS I became. The band can be seen as an embodiment of one of several relevant post "classic anarchopunk" paths. You could either take anarchopunk as a spirit and a stance not essentially bound to punk music and therefore go for a totally different sound (like techno, indie, dub...) but keeping the same political perspective. Or you could consider anarchopunk as both a stance and an actual genre which, as such, could legitimately be kept alive even 10 years after it peaked. PUS - and bands like Riot/Clone, Haywire, Kismet HC, Combat Shock, Substandard... - picked the second option. The Real Scapeghost was their first Ep, recorded in 1992, and while the production is undeniably thin, it is still a throughly replayable record with a genuine snotty punk vibe. Of course, there are sloppy bits here and there, some songs would have probably benefited from some structural changes and a more focused approach, but on the whole there is a freshness and a spontaneity that contrasts sharply with current bands that claim to be influenced by 80's anarchopunk but end up sounding like they calculate everything and value referential minutiae over everything else. In this light and for all its flaws, The Real Scapeghost is an interesting listen and, for the songs "Scapeghost", "Democracy", "Eternity" and "Shadow of death" (yes, there are eight songs on the Ep!), even a great one if you are into anarchopunk or UK82 (yes, you should be taking notes). There are several paces and vibes on the Ep, ranging from the fast and snotty Bristolian school to darker mid-tempo anarcho tunes and even a reggae-ish one (probably the weakest of the bunch but the band got much better at those afterwards). I can hear a lot of influences in the early PUS sound, Subhumans and early Conflict being obvious ones but you can also add bands like Riot/Clone, Karma Sutra or The Waste to the list.

This strong old-school anarchopunk vibe can also be seen in the lovely antiwar cover of The Real Scapeghost as well as in the backcover which depicts a logo comprised of a nuclear mushroom, a peace symbol and a crucifix (the ole 3 in 1 anarchopunk bargain pack). Lyrics deal with the atrocities of war, pollution, state control and of course animal rights, a theme that PUS tackled a lot as they included in the insert a list of useful addresses as well as some information about the ongoing exploitation of animals, pretty typical of political punk bands in the 90's and something that I always found great and indeed inspiring. After that humble snotty punk Ep the band recruited a second singer and meaningfully polished their sound into a powerful and tuneful blend of dual male/female vocals anarchopunk reminiscent of early Civilised Society?, late DIRT, PAIN and Toxic Waste that can be heard on their subsequent Ep's on Know Records, '96 A Life in Fear and the  '97 split with Omobna. PUS also appeared on a number of compilations throughout the years that you may even own since some of them were put out by labels like Panx, Loony Tunes, DIY Records, Discrete Records and Resistance Productions. As mentioned earlier, the best way to discover the band would be to get hold of a copy of the Death from the Skies cd, released on Bomb Factory Records (a label that put out some great 90's anarcho music by the likes of Contempt and Riot/Clone). This should not be too difficult considering PUS' current popularity. So if you see it gathering dust on a distro, you know what to do. Finally, I am not sure what the members did after the band split up apart from drummer Sonny, who also played in Combat Shock at the time, who would join Constant State of Terror and more recently Flowers in the Dustbin.

Punx Underpants Smell

California Screamin' (part 5): Resist and Exist "Ad Liberty" cd, 2010

Jurassic Park left a lasting impression on me when I first watched it as a kid in 1993. The parents of my best mate actually took the both of us to the movies in Paris for the occasion. We were 10 and overexcited at the prospect of seeing proper dinosaurs on screen. Of course, like all boys our age we loved dinos and had been playing with colourful plastic versions of these long-gone reptiles for years so the movie felt a bit like a consecration for us. We were aware that the special effects were amazing and I can still us in the queue chatting noisily and obnoxiously about how awesome it was going to be. Of course, we had seen the trailer on telly and we knew how realistic the dinosaurs were going to look. Or rather we thought we did. Jurassic Park scared me shitless and I was absolutely petrified, grabbing my seat like a sloth on its branch. I even thought of leaving the premises during the infamous kitchen scene but I was literally too afraid to move (The Grudge had the same effect on me many years later, though this time the reason why I stayed was that I was too hungover from the night before... oh well...). To this day, I still feel a little uncomfortable and nostalgic whenever I watch Jurassic Park. 

The other thing I took from the movie then was how ace it was to be an archaeologist because you got to wear a hat, be on your own and look for old things in the ground. Though I have always been too shit at biology to become a proper one, I sometimes feel like Professor Grant when I do my research for Terminal Sound Nuisance, digging endlessly to find fossilized pieces of information about punk bands from past eras, dusting them, showcasing them in this digital museum. Only I do not really see the point of wearing a hat indoors. That'd just be silly, yeah? 

This one was a piece of work. Which may seem quite strange since Resist and Exist is not like an obscure dinosaur that no one, apart from the usual bitter nerds, has heard about. They are pretty well-known and respected in the punk world for their longevity and their unwavering political commitment. I would even argue that, along with Aus-Rotten and Resist, they are the most influential US anarchopunk band from the 90's. If their mid/late 90's vinyl releases are pretty much classics, little do punx know (or care to, but that's an other matter) that R&E have had two existences, related but distinct, during the decade. Their first incarnation was rather short-lived but meaningful and relevant in the history and development of OC peacepunk at a pivotal time, what we often and wrongly see as the end of the golden punk era: the transition between the 80's and the 90's.

I have already written about R&E before (about a '03 live recording here) but I will not try not to repeat myself, pretty much because I love being redundant and raving about bands I love dearly. Besides, this post will closely focus on the band's first run and origins and how they are tied to the peacepunk scene. 

The Ad Liberty cd contains 24 songs taken from five different recordings. There is an eight-song demo recording from 1991 (it might be the very first demo but it is unclear as the Music For Social Change demo was recorded the same year and I don't know the precise month), one song from their very first gig in '91, two songs from the aforementioned Music For Social Change demo, two songs off their '92 demo entitled The Oppressors and a live set from the same year.  If you want to be thorough about early R&E (and why wouldn't you?), I strongly suggest you get the Music For Social Change cd (released on Fight For Your Mind in 2005) which includes additional songs from the demo of the same name as well different versions (mastered differently I presume) of the two songs from The Oppressors. The booklet of Ad Liberty tells the story of the band from the point of view of Chris who was, along with Jang and Cyhndi, the original singer. R&E was formed in December, 1990, when Jang offered Chris to join the band. The former had been working along with Jayd (from Media Children) on a song called "The system remains the same" (which makes it the very first R&E song I presume) and I guess they were looking for like-minded punx to form a band.

Now before I go on, let's point out a crucial element in the genesis of R&E, one that is made up of two words: Media Children. I have already touched upon MC previously (when writing about the S.I. One compilation Ep here) but have come across significant intel since. I suppose that MC epitomized, during their lifetime between 1988 and 1992, the third peacepunk generation in California, after the second one (basically made up of bands like The Iconoclast, Another Destructive System, A State of Mind or Diatribe) folded. They were peacepunk's third wind if you like. However, if you take a close look at the first lineup of MC, as indicated on their first 1988 demo Slaughter of the Innocent, you will realize that along with singer Tammy (one of peacepunk's most recognizable voice), the band was made up of Jang on vocals, Jayd on guitar and bass, and finally John on drums, all of whom were part of the first R&E lineup. Therefore, it would not be irrelevant to see '88 MC as some kind of precursor or sketch of what R&E would do just a few years later (or perhaps equally as the first personal experience of mates making punk music together). The first MC demo is, on the whole, not completely similar to R&E's first demos as it was a more melodic and slow-paced effort, somewhere between Atrocity, A State of Mind, Icon AD and Alternative, but then R&E also had moody, tuneful punk songs in their setlist along with their fast dischargy peacepunk sound. MC would go on with another lineup and a faster, Bristol-meets-ASOM sound, but both bands remained very close partners in crime, touring together and even sharing songs (R&E's "Anti war" and "The women song" were originally MC songs).

But back to the early R&E entity. The band played its first gig with MC (obviously) and Arise (a band with former Holocaust members that I am honestly dying to hear) and did some touring with Total Chaos, back when they were part of the OC peacepunk scene and did Antisect covers (this historical fact is known to have given a few self-proclaimed streetpunx a heart attack). In 1992, Jang left the band to form Autonomy along with (I believe) some MC members (R&E singer Cyhndi would join the band later on... I think!). But there was no hard feeling since R&E played their last gig in April, '92, with Autonomy. Of course, Jang would resurrect R&E after the demise of the latter, bringing with him songs from their first incarnation and even an Autonomy number ("Korean protest song" is basically a reworking the song of "Autonomy").  

So, after all this background information, why choosing to talk about R&E in this peacepunk series? I mean, apart from the fact that their moniker was taken from an Antisect song? I am fully aware that the time gap between my last post, which explored the Naturecore's 12'' recorded in 1986, and these recordings from 1991 and 1992 can look suspicious. Did nothing happen in this five-year period? Of course not. OC crust happened. Essential bands like Apocalypse, A//Solution, This Bitter End, Mindrot, Glycine Max and, of course, Final Conflict emerged (though the latter were never technically a peacepunk band and inbetween scenes). But although they shared the values and the politics of peacepunk and can be seen as the logical sonic and aesthetic extension and continuation of it (just like in the UK really), they also reflected the birth of something new with a different artistic perspective and as such cannot be said to represent the "classic peacepunk sound". While R&E, at that time, were THE ultimate synthesis of the preceding decade.

If you were to be asked (say, during a fancy dinner party at the embassy or something) what 80's peacepunk is then look no further and play the early R&E demos. How ironic since they are actually 90's recordings but they concentrate what 80's peacepunk is all about musically, lyrically and aesthetically. The real strength of the band is how effortlessly they managed to synthesize the two schools of peacepunk while never losing sight of the structural British influence. You will find furious dischargy hardcore punk songs that nod lovingly toward The Iconoclast, Crucifix, Body Count, Against or Final Conflict, as well as moody and catchy anarcho numbers reminiscent of Atrocity, Trial, Naturecore or A State of Mind (yes, my evil peacepunk master plan was to write about four bands that the fifth one would perfectly summarize!), and all this with the intense versatility of Another Destructive System. I know I haven't really mentioned all the faster, more hardcore-sounding side of the scene in this series (because I already have before) but of course it played a major role in the shaping of the classic OC peace sound. As I said, the UK sound and inspiration are also very much present in R&E's songwriting and early Antisect, Anti-System, Liberty, Civilised Society?, The Sears or Potential Threat are obvious points of comparison. However, I would argue that they were a band heavily influenced and primarily motivated by the local historical peacepunk, in other terms a peacepunk-influenced peacepunk band (that's a lot of peace and a lot of punk, I know) which was important in and of itself.

As you can expect from demo recordings, the sound quality is not exactly crystal clear. It is raw punk with a sense of youthful urgency and spontaneity and that's precisely how it should sound. The presence of three singers gives the song a polyphonic vibe that conveys the collective identity of the band as well as a cracking vintage anarcho feel. The fast and furious hardcore numbers are brilliant and their ferocity is actually reinforced with the catchy and moodier, darker punk songs that Cyhndi's haunting voice make so poignant. Through these songs (as well as the inclusion of some poems), the band expressed a wider ranger of emotions, like melancholy on "Self destruct" or "When we meet again" or dignified outrage on "The oppressors" (perhaps one of the most uplifting anarchopunk songs of the period with fantastic male/female vocals and a terrific singalong chorus). The song "The system remains the same" (that the band would turn into "Movement" in the late 90's) may be my favourite with its tribal Crass-like beat and layered vocals and its deliciously melodic and poppy Chumbawamba conclusion. Genuine anarcho magics here. The live set (without Jang) is pretty rough but you can tell how receptive the audience is to the band's message and music and they cover BGK and Crass for good measure. The low point of the cd is the absence of lyrics (apart from the reggae-tinged "Ad liberty") which is a bit of a missed opportunity, especially with such a political band with a positive anarchist message. 

This was released on Mass Media Records, an OC-based record label with an ace dove logo that was close to the peacepunk scene of the early 90's (they shared the same address as Media Children actually) that released Ep's from Autonomy, Social Outcasts, Dan and of course Media Children before going on a hiatus for 15 years. Ad Liberty appeared to mark the return of MMR in 2010 (or is 2009?) since the label went on to release top shelf anarcho deathrock and postpunk in the following years with very convincing records from bands like Masses, Moral Hex or Silent Scream. By the way, this cd is still available, so you know what to do.

Since there were annoying gaps between tracks on the cd I did my best to blend songs when necessary (for the live set mostly as the gaps were too distracting). /And before wrapping it up, I strongly suggest you take a good look at Jang's youtube channel (here) if you want to learn more about these peacepunk years.

Ad Liberty

             

The PDX-Files: Godless "Who's in control?" Lp, 1992

Finally. Back again.

I would love to tell you that I have returned wiser, smarter and sharper than ever, that I was waiting for the right time to write again and that my resurrection will reveal Terminal Sound Nuisance's unfading glory to the eyes of the unconverted. But let's get real, I have just been lazy really and besides, it is pretty sunny here, in Paris, and I did have other important things to do, like exhibit obscure punk shirts to the world. Yes, I am a smug wanker sometimes. But anyway, enough with the turpitude of life, let's get to it. I had originally not planned to start a PDX series for my comeback but after giving some super deep thoughts to it, I figured it could be a wonderfully geeky way to get back on tracks.

Not unlike Japanese punk, my relationship with Portland punk has always been a tormented one. To an extent, I felt that the never-ending hype surrounding the city was overbearing and tended to overshadow other worthy bands. Although I will be the first to admit that the PDX mania is more indicative of the obsessiveness of punx outside of the fantasized PDX scene than anything else, it still seemed that, no matter what, PDX bands were inherently cooler (the "Had they been from Portland" theorem derives from this) and to this day, the mere mention "from Portland" on a gig flyer is often enough to make sure you will attract enough people (granted, some of them will be hipsters, but at least they seldom scrounge to get in). But then, my directionless mumbles about PDX bands regardless, I couldn't help liking a lot of the bands that the punk scene has produced over there and I certainly was not the last one to buy those cool records from cool bands. I hate, but also love, to say it: PDX punk is often synonymous with quality. By no means am I an expert in US punk but there does seem to be something special and alluring about the city that has given birth to so many great punk bands in every known subgenres (with the apparent exception of ska-punk but it is really all for the best) and it is no coincidence that so many people want to move there (I mean, it cannot be weather-related, right?).

I won't be talking about the first time I heard about Portland but if you need to know (in case anyone wants to write my biography some day), it was through the Bulls vs Blazers video game, from 1992, that I had on Genesis, and having watched a video of it today, I sadly realize that it looked much uglier than I remembered. The second encounter with Portland was fortunately more determinant and came much later through the first Defiance Lp, which incidentally made me aware that Poison Idea were also from there. And little by little, as I started to sink irresistibly, deeper and deeper in the awe-inspiring depths of punk music, I noticed that Resist and Final Warning, but also Detestation and Atrocious Madness were from Portland, and that it was cooler to mention it as PDX (which I will actually do from now on). What was with PDX? In these pre-internet days (for me anyway), unaided by my distinctively British punk upbringing, I was clueless at first. And then, analyzing the thank lists (my main sources of information), I realized that while there were to be millions of bands, it was pretty much always the same people playing in them. It was my first contact with the all-important notion of inbreeding as applied to punk bands. A touching moment indeed. As years went by, I got to see many PDX bands play, bought more PDX records than reasonable and became aware that every self-respecting knowledgeable punks loved PDX punk, even secretly, although, for some very strange reason that epitomizes the paradoxical nature of human beings, it was both cool to love it and cool to dislike it because it was almost too cool to take sometimes, and it is pretty cool to dis outrageously cool things. Know what I mean?

But enough talk already and let's tackle the first PDX punk record of the series: "Who's in control?" by Godless. Now, I must confess that for a series that is supposed to be übercool, I did not really pick the coolest band of the block as an opener (a quick look at how much the Lp goes for on discogs is the sad proof of it). And their inexorable fall into obscurity does not really make sense because Godless were excellent and, although completely of their time, they still sound remarkably original, inventive and insanely catchy. I cannot really think of another 90's US anarchopunk bands sounding quite like them. Information about Godless is scarce but I did find a 1994 interview of the band that appeared in an issue of Flipside and gives a little background to the band's work. Godless emerged from a previous band called Corrupted ("No, not the Japanese one!" Captain Obvious yelled) that was formed by the singer Leslie in 1989 and came to include Matt on guitar. After numerous line-up changes, the band changed its name to Godless (it would be easy to scream "Nausea reference" but I don't think so) and settled to a relatively stable three-piece with the addition of Ty Smith on drums (from the classic anarchopunk band, Resist, and the not-so-famous neanderthal crust side-projects Namland and Amnesty, he seemed to be a busy bloke that one). After "Who's in control?" - and after other members coming and going apparently - the band became a five-piece with Ward Young (also ex-Resist and Amnesty) on second guitar and Jason on bass (Leslie, as well as singing, played the bass on the Lp). It was this line-up, I believe, that recorded the self-titled Ep for Campary Records in 1993, that I have sadly never heard.

The genesis of "Who's in control?" is as chaotic as the inception of the band. The 13 songs were written between 1990 and 1992 and were meant to appear on an Lp, but the band still released 6 of them as a "pre-album demo" because the album took too long to be released. There is a mention of a fourth member in the interview who is supposed to have played the guitar on the Lp, Molly, but there is no trace of her anywhere on the actual record, which is a little weird to say the least. But anyway, "Who's in control?" was put out by the always reliable Tribal War Records (with Neil Robinson still based in New York at the time) and it was the label's second release. The Lp was produced by Thee Slayer Hippy, aka Poison Idea's drummer, and recorded at Smegma Studio, just like so many other PDX punk records from that era, and it is not far-fetched to claim that this place may have helped define the classic PDX sound from the early 90's on to this day and age.

Musically, Godless played highly energetic and deliciously catchy American political punk-rock that borrowed equally from US hardcore and British anarchopunk. I suppose it could also be relevant to see the sound of the band, with the very dynamic, snotty female vocals and the typical American flow of the language, in the light of the then growing Riot Grrrl movement, not unlike bands like Smut or even The Gits perhaps. Godless used a variety of beats into their songs, from fast hardcore punk like Dan or Conflict ("No, not the English one!" Captain Not-So-Obvious yelled), upbeat punk-rock like Action Pact or The Expelled, or mid-paced moody punk like Lost Cherrees or A-Heads. The structuring, recurring motif in the band's music is catchiness, a word I am known to use to death in my permanent ravings. But still, although rather simple and direct, the music is always tasteful with enough smart hooks to get you to listen to the full Lp. The production is probably a bit thin but I think it gives the band this extra raw energy and a feel of urgency that work particularly well and provide some balance with the amazing vocal work. Because the real star of the show is definitely Leslie's voice. Intense, emotional, powerful and just so bloody tuneful. She really CAN sing. It is difficult to find relevant points of comparison between "real" singers (it is always easier with cavemen growls, isn't it?) but I am strongly reminded of Jae Monroe, from APPLE, who were contemporary with Godless, but were essentially a slow-paced punk band, while Godless did fasten things up at times, which makes Leslie's singing even more impressive. There are also times when Jools from Dan or even Kay from Youthinasia/Decadent Few come to mind. Retrospectively, a band like Godless, not unlike Post-Regiment, opened the gates to that brand of female-fronted, fast yet tuneful, punk-rock that almost became a genre of its own with bands like La Fraction or Signal Lost.

There are two covers on "Who's in control?", Conflict's "I've had enough"(this time, I am referring to the Brits) and Rudimentary Peni's "Blissful myth", so that gives you an idea of what Godless were about ideologically. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are angry, to the point and deal with such topics as animal welfare, homophobia, domestic violence, feminism, religious indoctrination, the capitalists' invasion of "free" Eastern Europe and the need to think for ourselves. Good shit. I am not a big fan of the cover however, which I find frighteningly creepy and not really representative of the band's sound (it would have been more fitting for a bandana-wearing crossover band I presume).

Last but not least, I suggest you read the thank list because, besides spotting most of the anarcho/crusty bands and people active in the States in the early 90's, you will also find someone called... Mark Landers! Now, depending on where you are from, it may not mean anything to you and you will probably think I have irrevocably lost my marbles this time. But if, like me, you grew up in France during the 80's and were into Japanese anime, Mark Landers was the bad boy in the excruciating and hilarious football anime "Olive et Tom" (aka "Captain Tsubasa" in Japan) and was a bit of an iconic character in my childhood (his signature move was called "the Tiger shot", that's how cool and badass he was). If anything, this only confirms what I have been thinking all along: PDX bands are so cool that they have Mark Landers on their thank lists.

Mark Landers in all his glory

Dammit.

Godless