EP 268: Best European Hardcore 7" (1981-1985)
What's the best first wave hardcore punk 7" out of mainland Europe?
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here. All of the 7”s are embedded in this post and they are also available here.
I dunno what got into me. Maybe it was listening to the International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation or Welcome to 1984 one too many times when working on the comps episode. Maybe it was chasing the dragon of the 1st wave Japanese hardcore tournament we did earlier in the year for the satisfaction that came with discovering new things for myself and sharing them with others. Regardless, here we are kicking off a tournament on the first wave of hardcore in mainland Europe. LFG!!
Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way: there’s no official time frame to cut off waves of hardcore, so if you think the first wave of West German hardcore ended in October of 1984, that’s cool. You should probably write me so I can pick your brain. Also, it is an unforgiving task to narrow something this big down to 32 records but we did our best. We tried to focus on the new wave of hardcore bands that kicked off in the early 1980s, leaning towards those who Maximumrocknroll would’ve categorized as “thrash.” So classic bands like Lama, Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers and Asta Kask aren’t on here - don’t get at me. MANY things were left off due to space. Should E.A.T.E.R. or Tampere SS been on here instead of Mellaka or Moderat Likvidation? Maybe, but this is what we went with, so learn to love it.
Some notable records that were right on the cusp of being included that I didn’t mention above: Absurd Blodig Stad (1982), Kalashnikov S/T (1984), Zmiv Banzai! (1982), Mornington Crescent Greetings From Amsterdam (1983), Ultimo Resorte (either 7”), Espasmodicos Recomendado Para Molestar A Su Vecino (1982), and Betong Hysteria Spontan Abort (1982).
We did our best to get a nice spread of countries represented. There’s no surprise that Sweden and Finland come in with the most entries - seven each. Germany (West Germany at the time these records came out) is heavily represented with four entries. The Netherlands and Italy both have three. We’re rounded out by Norway with two, and Spain, Poland, France, Denmark, Slovenia and Belgium all have one record in the tourney.
I didn’t seed the tournament. I just put it as A vs. Z, B vs. Y, etc. So in the first matchup you get Agent Orange vs. Zyclome-A. The only times this isn’t the case is where we subbed out a record for a different one. Off the top of my head, I know we subbed in MG-15 for the Espasmodicos so that breaks that alphabet matchup. This happened a couple times.
This exercise really solidified my love for some records that I’ve enjoyed for a long time (Shitlickers, Headcleaners, Nog Watt, etc.) and exposed me to some that I haven’t stopped jamming since we started this project (MG-15, Vorkriegsjugend). I hope you all enjoy it half as much as I have.
Agent Orange VD (1983) vs. Zyklome A / Moral Demolition Split (1983)
Our first matchup presented us with a couple quandaries out the gate. First, which Agent Orange 7” do we pick? Both are awesome. I had only heard the other one before the tournament, but Kev and I both decided we liked this one even more so it’s the one in the tourney. Second, I really wanted Zyclome-A on here to represent Belgium but they only had an LP and a split 7”. We almost rolled with the De Wulpse Varkens 7” but dude, Zyclome-A rips harder so we put their split 7” on here. Moral Demolition is stoked!
Most folks are familiar with the classic Southern California punk band Agent Orange, but international hardcore heads know there’s a 2nd great Agent Orange outta the Netherlands too. Their first 7”, Your Mother Sucks Cocks In Hell, is as abrasive as the name of the record and goes unsurprisingly goes hard. There are slightly muted flourishes of tunefulness, like the little guitar lick on the chorus of “Nothing” but their 2nd 7” VD leans in a tad more. There’s just something about the combo of a raw, old school early ‘80s recordings with a tinge of melody that just hits. There are duel male and female vocals here which play really nicely. Both “Herpes” and “KKK” have almost triumphant sounding chord progressions in them and “Dope” breaks full melodic over a raging fast beat in a way that is not dissimilar from their Dutch peers, Funeral Oration. The 7” ends with the bouncy, mid-tempo banger “Kill The Police” that is catchy as hell but probably didn’t earn them any corporate sponsorships.
Zyclome-A put out an LP in 1984, but this is their vinyl debut here a year prior. They would also appear on the Cleanse The Bacteria compilation and the first song on this 7” is on the ROIR comp, World Class Punk. They are super fast, raging and have great shouted vocals. It’s a raw recording with a super fast closed hi-hat that almost sounds like a drum machine in its rapid assault. “Somewhere They’re Still Fighting” is a bass-break bonanza. Jam this thing twice and you’ll remember the vocal hooks on “Scapegoats” and “We All Hate Cops.” This rules.
Moral Demolition is pretty generic hardcore punk where the singer goes along with the guitar riff. Pretty forgettable but not terrible by any means.
I’m going Agent Orange in this first matchup cuz both sides rule.
Anti-Cimex Raped Ass (1983) vs. Wretched In Nome Del Loro Potere Tutto E’ Stato Fatto… (1983)
This first round brings two kingpins of the era head to head and one isn’t making it out alive.
This is the 2nd 7” from Sweden’s Anti-Cimex. Their first one was kinda whatever but after its release, Tomas, the bass player from the Shitlickers joined the band on vocals and gave them a serious kick in the ass. They would go on to put out two of the best hardcore 7”s of the ‘80s and a really good 12” in 1986 before breaking up. They got back together and put out two LPs in the early ‘90s as well. It was hard to choose which of the two 7”s to roll with here. Part of me thinks Victims of a Bomb Raid is the better 7” overall but the fury and rawness of Raped Ass just nudges it slightly ahead. When the cymbals crash on “When The Innocent Die,” you know what you’re in for. It’s a perfect hardcore punk song, with one of the greatest YOLO guitar solos of all time. The drumming is amazing; the tones are great. “War Machine” and “Cries of Pain” have giant, memorable choruses. “Raped Ass” has simple, perfect lyrics akin to the Shitlickers 7”. This has a chance to go all the way.
Milano, Italy’s Wretched did a split 7” with Indigesti in 1982, but here they are the following year with their solo debut 7”. They hit us with eight songs in eight minutes. It’s an intense blast of fuzzy guitar and bass tones with crazy singing on top of it. Their singer, Gianmario (possibly the best Italian name), packs in a million words a minute on these rapid-fire tunes. The drumming is sloppy but that’s part of the sound really. If you like fast, insane, noisy music packaged into short little blasters and that’s all you’re looking for…this is the record for you.
Anti-Cimex takes this for me, but shoutout to Milano…a top 10 Pepperidge Farm cookie for sure!
Appendix S/T (1983) vs. Vorkriegsphase Scheiss Krieg (1983)
This is the 2nd release from Finland’s Appendix, following their 1982 LP. My main takeaway here is that Appendix is a solid-ass band and a group of dudes who can play really well. The drumming on the 2nd song, “Eliittipiiri” is really high level in a Raw Power Screams From the Gutter, almost heavy metal type way. The recording is good and it’s driven by the rhythm section with the bass guitar at the wheel, sitting just above the percussion. This never unleashes into full on unbridled thrash like their peers in Riistetyt or Bastards so while the songs may be less intense, they’re a bit more memorable.
Vorkriegsphase from Bavaria, West Germany have maybe the most brutal sounding record of the entire tournament. They put this 7” and an LP both out in 1983 and I’m not sure which came first because they both got reviewed in MRR #10. The LP is Rock-O-Rama #32 and the 7” is #33 so maybe they came out at the same time. The song “Starve To Death” is on both records. They sound like a Discharge 33RPM record played on 45RPM, but the guitar tone is what makes this thing special. If Anti-Cimex was tapping into the buzzsaw tone on Raped Ass, Vorkriegsphase have already mastered it on Scheiss Krieg. The amazing thing about this record is they were able to harness that grime without sacrificing the quality of the rest of the record. You have the brutal guitar tone as a wall of noise, but the vocals, bass, and drums all cut through making the songs recognizable and easy to follow. If you like Disclose, Krömosom or Physique, you owe it to yourself to witness the origins of the mass of raw sound assault.
Tight matchup, but I’m leaning Vorkriegsphase for the pure brutality.
Avskum Crucified by The System (1984) vs. Upright Citizens Facts and Views (1985)
If Vorkriegsphase is the proto version of the fully blown out D-beat buzzsaw sound, we gotta consider Avskum proto for what would be called “stadium crust” in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s. This 7” is a serious vibe. It’s Discharge mashed up with some Sabbathy chord progressions and a twist of post-punk deathrocky darkness. It’s fast, but the chord progressions are slower and more deliberate than their thrashier counterparts. The singing is slower too but shouted on 10, matching the desperate themes of the lyrics. This is a rare instance where I think Pushead blew the review. While I don’t think they are on another planet from Anti-Cimex, both bands are distinct in their own ways. Anti-Cimex is way more aggressive sounding, and Avskum has a significantly more darker musical vibe. They sound less aggressive partly because the snare is kinda buried in the mix. This is a memorable record but it almost feels like an LP, even though it’s only six songs in eleven minutes.
I was familiar with Upright Citizens cuz they were on the PEACE and Welcome to 1984 comps and I’m pretty sure I jammed one of their 12”s in the Blogspot era. I thought of them as a good band but nothing spectacular that I needed to acquire or go back to. That changed with this 7”. While the 12” and the comp songs are pretty straight forward ‘80s hardcore, this 7” taps into some shit that few bands do. It’s got the speed, intensity, and the raw recording of ‘80s hardcore, but there’s so much subtle melody tucked into this. This record is only hampered by the absolute trash 2nd song “Future Dreams” which sounds like a totally bunk version of “Memories Are Made Of This” by The Saints or a track that didn’t make the cut for Greg Sage’s debut solo record. It’s a shame cuz the other four songs are straight up AWESOME. Having a shitty song on a 7” is no real surprise but having a song that doesn’t fit the others at all in the 2nd slot is a bum-out.
In a punk rarity, two of these songs (“Bombs of Peace” / “Swastika Rats”) were re-recordings and these versions are significantly better. “Swastika Rats” is pretty similar to the original but the guitar flourishes on the 7” version really make it special, and “Bombs of Peace” is completely reworked here. Instead of being a kinda unspectacular mid-tempo song, now it’s a raging fast song with one of the best vocal performances on the record - so sick. It should also be noted that they were also the first German punk band to tour the United States in 1985.
This is a brutal matchup and as the time of this writing, I dunno which way I’m going to go. You’ll have to tune into the pod.
Bannlyst La Dem Ikke Lure Deg (1985) vs. Terveet Kadet Ääretön Joulu (1982)
Terveet Kädet’s first two records from 1980 and 1981 were noisy, loose and almost garagey sounding punk records. I don’t know what got injected into the Tornio water, but for this third 7” in 1982 they morphed into a pummeling hardcore band that molded the fury of their contemporaries like Bastards and Riistetyt, and the proficiency of others like Appendix and Lama to create one of the best Finnish records of all time. They hit that almost swingy fast beat that the Bad Brains perfected on the ROIR tape and the strings are right there in the pocket with it. The singer sounds like a wildman, almost more akin to the Italian bands. It’s eight songs in six minutes, but none are throwaways. It’s almost like the Rudimentary Peni 7” in that way, where it’s baffling that they packed so much into such a small amount of time. An absolute classic that’s a contender to go all the way.
Bannlyst is one of the two records in the tournament out of Norway, and one I had never heard before. They did a demo in 1983 and a split cassette in 1984 before releasing this 7” in 1985. It reminds me a fair amount of the Appendix 7” in the tourney. They mostly stay in the pocket and are real proficient with their instruments. Check the song “Herrene” and you can really see how good the drumming is when they do the guitar breaks. The recording and mix are really good and you can hear the bass poke through when it needs to. The singer has a killer voice that’s more gut than throat. Kinda like the Avskum 7”, when you’re done with this one you kinda feel like you listened to a full LP. It doesn’t drag necessarily but with seven songs in fourteen minutes, it’s one of the longer EPs on here and starts feeling a little samey by the end.
Terveet Kadet runs away with this one.
Bastards Maailma Palaa Ja Kuolee (1982) vs. Svart Framtid S/T (1984)
Bastards put out a demo in 1982 but this is their first vinyl release and they’d go on to do an LP the following year. Bastards pack 10 songs into this 10 minute 7”. It’s all furious and chaotic with really great, manic singing over the top. All of the songs are good, even if none really stand out too much from one another. It’s held back from truly being great by pretty sloppy drumming but that’s also part of their loose, frenetic appeal.
The Svart Framtid 7” is the other Norwegian entry in the tournament and it’s the only record they ever released. They’re a super solid band like their peers Bannlyst, but these songs are a bit more memorable. Every song on here is good and has some sort of hook that stuck in my head, with “Disiplin” probably being my favorite. The tunes are mostly fast, but maybe just a tick slower than the majority of the other bands in this tournament. They can get almost tuneful, like on “17 Milliarder” which has a really well crafted, melodic guitar lead.
I’m going Svart Framtid because the songs are more memorable.
Svart Framtid in a made for TV movie called Du Har Ikke En Sjans Tan.
B.G.K. White Male Duminace (1984) vs. Shitlickers GBG 1982 (1982)
B.G.K. put out an LP in 1983, this 7” in 1984, and another LP in 1986. They were on both the PEACE comp and Welcome to 1984. If I’m being honest, this is a band I was never able to get into. Someone gave me their 2nd LP back when I was 18 or so. I jammed it a couple times and then sold it or traded it. I was never able to get into the other one either. They were a band where I’d put it on and it would sound good, but by the 5th song I’d be checking to see how many are left and there would be at least 10 more. But they’re a cannon band from the Netherlands and have a 7” in the timeframe selected for the tourney so they gotta be in, right?
I’m glad we included it because this was one of my biggest surprises of the tournament. Dude, I love this thing. It’s super aggro and fast as fuck with a pretty raw recording, but the playing is super tight and they tuck little pieces of tunefulness into the tracks on occasion. “Action Man” is one of my favorite songs of the entire tournament. If I was going to knock something, I’d say maybe the bass is mixed a bit too high but this is a totally killer record.
It’s just a goddamn shame that they’re about to get bodied by the Shitlickers. I wrote about the Shitlickers 7” in this blog already, so check that out in the archives here.
This is a four song EP that clocks in at under four minutes. It sounds gnar as fuck but you can hear everything and every song is memorable. This is going to sound ridiculous but hear me out - this is the Mona Lisa of hardcore. The more time you spend with it, the more brilliant you realize it is. On its surface, one might think it just seems like a regular raw punk record but that person would be wrong. Shitlickers took Discharge, sped it up, blew out the tones, and cut the fat off of a beast that had already been chiseled by the Gods. Riffs - perfect. Lyrics - perfect. And there’s a hook in every song.
Oh yea? Not in “Armed Revolution.”
Au contraire, needle-dick. It’s the drum fill on that one. It’s a legit perfect 7”.
I went from being a naysayer on this one due to the band name, to thinking it’s a top 100 1980s record, to thinking it’s a top 100 hardcore record of all time, to now thinking it’s no doubt a top 10 hardcore record of all time. Don’t agree? Listen to it 10 times in a row with the lyrics and if that doesn’t do it, play along on guitar. Is it smirking at me or smiling at me? Fucking hell.
This thing might go all the way for me. It definitely beats B.G.K. - my newfound love of “Action Man” notwithstanding.
Crude SS Who’ll Survive (1985) vs. Riistetyt Laki Ja Järjestys (1983)
This is the only record that Crude SS ever released and it’s one of my favorite records in the tournament. You may know them from their two songs on the Cleanse the Bacteria compilation. If you checked out our Best Japanese EP 1981-1985 tournament, you know The Clay 7” Middle East Combat Area won the whole thing. This is the Swedish 7” that sounds the closest to that EP, mixed with a healthy dose of Discharge. It’s a thick recording with a perfect mix where you can hear everything. If you listen closely, there are parts that sound almost proto death metal, like on “Destroy Capitalism” where it goes from the sludgy section to mid-tempo and then breaks fast. The way it unleashes into the fast part reminds me so much of a key element of Obituary’s sound on those first couple records. Same with the dirgey-ass chorus on the title track. But don’t get it twisted, this is 100% raging hardcore punk that bangs the whole way through while having a plethora of memorable parts. It’s another longer EP, clocking in with six songs in fourteen minutes, but this one doesn’t drag at all. Total classic. This got repressed in 2011 and is still pretty easy to get if you like it as much as me.
Riistetyt is one of the most renowned Finnish bands and their 2nd LP Skitsofrenia might be my favorite Finnish hardcore record, period. Their first 7” was a split with Kaaos under the band name Cadgers in 1981. This is their 2nd record from 1982. They’d follow it up with LPs in 1982, 1983, and 1984 and would tour the US in ‘84 as well.
The record is very similar to Bastards and gun to my head if you played me 10 second clips from each of those two 7”s, I still don’t know if I’d be able to tell them apart unless it was part of their stellar mid-tempo-banger, “Vittuun Velvollissudet.” Like Bastards, this thing rips all the way through. It’s seven songs in ten minutes and even though nothing but the aforementioned MTB stands out, it’s a good listen that doesn’t drag. The recording quality of this EP is one of the weaker ones in the tournament, though. It sounds thin, the bass is mixed too high, and the hi-hat cuts through way more than any other percussion instrument.
The new eat the old here with Crude SS taking this matchup over veterans, Riistetyt.
Declino S/T (1983) vs. U.B.R. Corpus Delicti (1984)
This is the first record from Declino out of Torino, Italy. They went on to do a split cassette with Negazione in 1984 and a 12” EP in 1985. While some Italian bands of the era show flares of eccentricity, Declino play a very straight forward style of fast hardcore punk, not dissimilar from Wretched but lacking the gnarlier tones. This is six songs in seven minutes and it rages all the way though but doesn’t really connect with me. I’m not really sure how to explain why I can be into that Bastards 7” but not this. If you liked Outo from the Japanese tourney, you’ll surely like this.
U.B.R. hail from Ljubljana, Slovenia which was part of Yugoslavia at the time of this release. This is their first record, following a 3-way split cassette they did in 1983 with two other bands from Ljubljana. They were on Welcome to 1984, but I must’ve always just missed their song because I wasn’t familiar with this band at all before the tournament, so thanks to Daniel Sorry State for the suggestion. This record really gets going with the 2nd song, “Od Tod Do Vecnosti” which has a great vibey intro before letting loose into what seems like a relatively rudimentary fast song at first, but turns into something pretty special as it unravels. The verses are anthemic, de facto choruses - the only singing on the song. They bounce back and forth between that and these cool little instrumental sections that remind me more of “The Exorcist” by Possessed than any punk comparison I can come up with. This is easily one of the best songs in the tournament. The song “U.B.R.” sounds a lot like the song “Nothing” from The Stalin. They mostly stay in the pocket except on “Corpus Delicti” where they push it a little faster than the drummer can handle and it gets a little sloppy. Still, that song has a nice big chorus that’s memorable. There’s a good solo on “Podrazitev.” This is a killer 7” with memorable moments all over it.
U.B.R. takes this matchup over Declino. Slovenia on top!
Dezerter Ku Przyszlosci (1983) vs. Rattus Rajoitettu Ydinsota (1982)
Dezerter is our single Polish entry in the tournament and it’s a good one. They started out in 1981 as a band called SS-20 but changed their name to Dezerter in 1983. The regime in Poland was really oppressive in this era with Marshall Law declared from December 1981 to July 1983. At some point in ‘83, Dezerter were able to record their 7” and it was released on the state-run label, Tonpress. It reportedly sold somewhere between 35,000-50,000 copies, depending on the source, and they played the massive Jarocin Festival in 1984 to a shit-ton of folks.
Their set from that gig was captured for a cassette that came out in 1984, the same year a song from their 7” appeared on the World Class Punk comp. The Polish government denied them passports so they weren’t to play out of the country, but in 1985 D.O.A. played Warsaw and met the band. Joey Shithead took their recordings back to North America and they were eventually released by Maximumrocknroll in 1987 as the record Underground Out of Poland. In 1985, their bass player got drafted into the army and in 1986 their singer got into heroin and ended up leaving the band (he died of an overdose nine years later.) They finally played out of the country in 1987 and soldiered on in one form or another releasing records into the 2000s.
But about the 7”…
It kicks off with an anthemic street punk type song, “Ku Przyszlosci” and is followed up by three solid hardcore punk tracks. They stay more in the pocket, like Appendix or Bannalyst, and don’t break out into full throttled thrash. The recording and mix is really good with clear drums, a fuzzy guitar tone, and the bass punching through under. The bass really drives most of these songs here, especially the third track “Szara Rzecywistosc” where it really shines. The vocal performance here is top notch as well, both in his delivery and range within the confines of punk.
Onto Rattus…
The main appeal of Finnish hardcore is that it just kicks ass. You can put on any of the records in this tournament, crank your stereo, and be tempted to knock over a bookshelf. But one thing that almost all the records from that country in this era lack is any sort of vibe beyond intensity. In the States you had bands like TSOL, 45 Grave, and even Ill Repute dabbling in post-punk or goth type vibes on songs. Big, vibey intros are all over the Japanese tournament we did from the same era. The Finnish bands seem to just cut all the fluff and let it rip.
But then there’s this Rattus 7”, the fourth in their catalog. I can’t think of a single other punk or hardcore band whose fourth EP might be considered their most classic material. You can make this argument for this or their 1983 LP being their best material, but those two records are significantly better than everything else in their catalog. The first three 7”s were pretty basic mid-tempo punk - kinda forgettable at their best, kinda bad at their worst. After their 4th 7” and 1st LP, they re-recorded a bunch of songs for an LP on Rat Cage that came out in 1984 and is just straight up not good. For whatever reason, all the personality of the band that seeps through on Rajoitettu Ydinsota and WC Räjähtää is just completely absent and they try to overcompensate with an all out revberb vocal assault. It’s a goddamn shame too because if that LP was classic, it may have put them in the hardcore cannon for American hardcore kids since it came out on the same label and in the same year as the greatest USHC LP ever, Agnostic Front’s Victim in Pain.
With this 7”, Rattus changed their sound to more straight forward hardcore punk. It’s fast, but not blazing fast like they’d get on the next two LPs. The tempo of this record and the repetitiveness of the riffs with the tasteful reverbed out vocals make this 7” almost hypnotic. They’re just dialed in perfectly here - a perfectly brown, oozing marshmallow hanging off the stick. Confection perfection, tiptoeing right up to the edge where it can fall off into the fire and ruin it like they did on the Rat Cage LP. I can’t think of anything else that sounds like this EP, even anything else from the hefty Rattus catalog. If you’ve read this far, you know I’m not a wordsmith so just jam this record yourself - it’s only four songs.
Rattus takes this one but Dezerter put up a noble fight.
Electric Deads Anti-Sex (1982) vs. Nog Watt Fear (1985)
Blame the alphabet for matching up the two bands with female singers in the first round, not me.
This is the 2nd Electric Deads 7” and the best of the three. I like the first one a lot too, but the third one is not good. Unlike Tim Yohannan, I really like the Electric Deads vocals, especially on the fast verses where her rhythm patterns and high vocal register really shine through as the songs just kinda hang on a single note, or move through slow chord progressions. This record has two fast songs and two more tuneful mid-tempo tracks. “30 Years” is a killer, vibey track that borders on post-punk/deathrock but in true hardcore spirit, it’s only 90 seconds long. All four songs on this are killer and it’s a quick listen clocking in at only six minutes.
Fear is Nog Watt’s only record and it’s a classic. Joanna Mak has one of my three favorite female voices in punk/hardcore/metal along with Chitose from The Comes and Lynda Simpson from Sacrilege. Her vocal intensity and cadence are gnarly. This is a beefy sounding record and it’s mixed well. The first track “Going On” is one of the best songs in the tournament. It begins vibey and then breaks out some super fast riffing. The little guitar lick on the chorus rules so hard. “Hunted” and “Fear” are both spooking sounding, downtempo sleazers that bring the 7” in a different direction before they return to ripping on the last two tracks again.
Nog Watt takes this round.
MG-15 Derecho A La Vida (1985) vs. Negazione Tutti Pazzi (1985)
We debated having Espasmodicos, Ultimo Resorte, or MG-15 represent Spain in the tournament and landed on the MG-15. I had previously only heard their track on the 1984 World Class Punk cassette compilation that came out on ROIR. On that record, they’re billed as Slips and Sperma.
This record is a significant step up and a lot of that has to do with the recording and mix. It sounds so stripped down, deconstructed and cool. It’s almost like you’re listening to early Ramones play in a d-beat band. The guitar sounds like a distorted bass but it’s clearly not because you can distinctly hear a clean bass tone under it. The drumming is simple, but solid. The first and fourth songs are d-beat played at a slow-fast pace, the second song has a simple caveman doo-dat beat, and the third is a mid-tempo song. All four rule. The singing could be out of Finland and isn’t dissimilar to Rattus or Kaaos, but it’s sung in Spanish so I can under stand every one in ten words. I love this thing. I’ve jammed it so many times in the last few months and it never gets old.
Negazione put out a split cassette with Declino in 1984 and this is the first of two 7”s that they put out in 1985. They were also on the PEACE comp. It’s fast, out of control music, not unlike Wretched or Declino, and maybe even more so. The singer sounds like an insane person, sometimes pushing it so far that he sounds like some dude out of a Monty Python movie getting tortured in a dungeon somewhere. I get the appeal and if you like the wild style shit, this is probably top of the heap. It just doesn’t connect with me at all. It’s too thin and too zany. They swing hard the other way for their 1986 LP which almost delves crossover territory and is kinda a slog to get through. Maybe their 2nd 7” was their sweet spot, but I selected this one cuz it’s the most raw sounding.
MG-15 all day.
Headcleaners Disinfection (1981) vs. Moderat Likvidation S/T (1984)
In the late 70s, Sweden had punk bands like many other locales across the globe. Ebba Grön played a style that sat somewhere between ‘77 UK and the New York Dolls. I don’t even know how to describe the first KSMB LP - part ‘77, part straight Rock ‘n’ Roll, part straight-up piano lounge. Of course PF Commando rules. Then there’s Massmedia who sounded like a classic lo-fi band off one of the first four Killed By Death comps.
In 1980 Massmedia broke up and in what may be the most glaring example of the shift from the original punk sound to hardcore’s early 80s dominance, a couple members of Massmedia started a new band called Huvudtvätt, who also went by the English name Headcleaners. In 1981, they put out a great seven song/seven minute, straight-up hardcore 7” that sounds like it was more influenced by USHC than anything coming out of Europe. I read an interview with Mats Nilsson, who said his brother and bandmate, Torulf, went to Washington D.C. in 1981 and bought all of the Dischord Records that were available at the time. You can really hear that in this record. It should also be noted that this is the earliest 7” in the tournament.
I absolutely love this 7”. There are basically no riffs, just simple ass chord progressions with a pretty ugly voice over the top of it. This is a great example of an old school recording basically being the 5th member of a band and making the record so special. How something can sound so raw and so bright at the same time, I’ll never understand. The first five songs are all fast rippers, each with memorable hooks and they cap the record with two mid-tempo bangers. “Kill The Royalties” is an all timer for me and a classic sentiment that we should all share. A stone cold classic 7”.
This is the only Moderat Likvidation record that came out when they were an active band. Simple, right? Well it was until 2006 when Havoc Records repressed it. At the same time, they also put out two other 7”s from the band - one of their demo and one featuring a 1983 radio show recording. The labels from their S/T 7” and the demo 7” got switched, so there’s confusion about the track listing of both. To make it more confusing, both start with the song “Nitad.” You keeping up? I think I’m confused again, just like everyone who uploaded their demo labeled as the 7” on Youtube and Soulseek. Apparently I was one of the idiots who had been listening to the demo thinking I was listening to the 7” and I didn’t realize it until the bracket for this tourney was set.
I enjoy both the demo and the 7”, but I do think the demo is significantly better for a couple reasons. Mostly because it just rips all the way through until it wraps with their best song, “Marionett i Kedjor,” a totally crucial mid-tempo banger. Sometime between the two releases, their main songwriter must’ve listened to way to one too many anarcho records, cuz while they still have rippers on the 7”, it’s dragged down by two four-minute songs that could’ve easily been cut in half. On the bright side, some of the leads/solos on here are excellent and right up my alley. Overall it’s still a good record, just a bit of a slog compared to the demo and I probably would’ve replaced this with a different EP if I’d known I was listening to the wrong record like a fuckin’ poser.
Headcleaners take this matchup in a bloodbath.
Heimat-Los Schlag! (1985) vs. Mob 47 S/T (1984)
Heimat-Los was another band that I wasn’t familiar with until this tournament, and good god man, what a great surprise. “Varsovie” and “Soldier” are two of my favorite songs in the entire tournament. Shit, the yell on the latter before it breaks fast for the final salvo is one of the best moments in the entire tourney. Heimat-Los are fast and melodic without being wimpy at all. The singing is shouted and anthemic in parts. The last song “Antibabies” is a total rager and “Schlag” is an insane 30 second song with some pretty wild vocals. There’s some fluff on here that might be better suited for an LP than a 7” - the 45 second old timey song intro that dudes probably sang while panning for gold, “Trauma” that’s just an opera interlude, and the first 30 seconds of “Funk is Dead.” Still, killer record overall. I really dug this one.
If you know anything about our pod you probably know a few things: we believe bald is beautiful, we hate when bands bury their vocals and tarnish them with mad studio effects because their singer is a timid shy-guy who ironically also wants to front a hardcore band…oh yea, and we are some Mob 47 loving motherfuckers.
Mob 47 put out a self released tape and this 7” in 1984. They were exposed to American hardcore fans by being on both the PEACE comp (1984) and having four songs on Cleanse the Bacteria (1985). This thing rips so hard. Nine songs/nine minutes. The whole thing rages except for “Animal Liberation” and the beginning of “Dom Ljuger” which sounds like an AC/DC song. The drums sound great with a deep snare tone. The guitar is savage; the vocals right in the pocket. Not much to say except this rips like all their shit, including their 2024 LP.
This was closer than I thought it would be, but Mob 47 gets my vote.
Kaaos Totaalinen Kaaos (1982) vs. Mellakka Ei… (1984)
This is the 2nd Kaaos record following their split with Cadgers (Riistetyt) in 1981. It’s nine songs in 15 minutes and feels almost more like an LP or mini-LP than a hardcore 7” from 1982. The singing is great and this dude may have the best voice and delivery of all of the Finnish hardcore vocalists. He lays down a truly top tier performance with tons of AHHHHS and other adlibs that make his personality pop off the wax. The music rages and varies from top-notch fast hardcore at times to kinda sloppy and generic in others. They almost hit a vibe at the beginning of “Hyvinvoinin Toinen Puoli” with the organ but then just blast out of it without bothering to make a smooth transition. Killer 7”.
Ei… is the first 7” from Mellakka. They did another in 1985. This is a solid ass record with a good recording. The singer has a deeper voice. It’s still throaty like most of the other Finnish dudes, but there’s a little more gut utilized. The majority of the record is fast blasters that are like 90 seconds or less, but the first song is a 2:20 beefy boy and probably the best song on the record. It has a breakdown but the coolest thing about it is how nicely the bass is mixed and cuts through when the higher notes are played.
This matchup was closer than I thought it would be but Kaaos ekes it out.
Malinheads Probegepogt Aus Spandau (1983) vs. Vorkriegsjugend Heute Spass, Morgen Tod (1983)
Our final matchup is between two West German hardcore bands. The loser will be banished to the east where the beer is flat and there is no RLD. Damn!
Malinheads come at us with a pretty short 7” - only three songs in six minutes. The record sounds great, all the playing is good, and the singer has excellent shouted vocals. It’s very straight forward hardcore punk. The first song has a breakdown and the second song is a fast, under 60 second blaster. But the highlight of this record is the third song, which is also one of the best songs of the entire tournament - “Wargame.” The chord progression is slow on the verse, then it lets loose to fast riffery on the chorus with a solid vocal hook on top of it. SICK.
I had never heard of Vorkiegjugend and this was another Daniel Lupton suggestion. He’s batting a thousand, baby! It’s a bit of a line-stepper in the tourney because it’s a 7” plus a bonus one sided, two song 7”…so basically it’s 1 1/2 7”s. Since neither Dan Sant or Bedge are around to play the evil Earl Hebner, we’ll let it slide. The first song is a kinda forgettable mid-tempo song, but it’s hilarious because the whole thing is sung in German except for one line when he breaks into English to say “you’re just a cunt!” Alright then! It’s a nice sounding record with solid drumming, cool tones, and a good mix. Vorkiegjugend play pretty straight forward hardcore punk but it has some big moments like the choruses on “Rache” that sound totally manic and awesome. The backup vocals on “Heute Spass, Morgen Tod” are wild. Those two plus “08-15” from the bonus 7” are the best songs. Pretty much all the fast songs are good and the two slower ones are kinda bunk.
This matchup is a toss up. A short, three song 7” vs. seven songs on 1 1/2 7”s. If Vorkiegjugend cut the first song, I’d probably go that way. Best song vs. best song (“Wargame” vs. “Rache”), I think “Wargame” wins and drags Malinheads across finish line. Thus Vorkiegjugend are banished to the oppressive side of the Berlin Wall where punk isn’t allowed. What a shame.
Welp, we’ve made it to the end. I hope you all enjoyed the first round of this tournament as much as I did. All 32 of these records are notable and rip in their own way. Just because I never want to hear Declino again doesn’t mean they won’t be your favorite band, and just cuz I found new love for Upright Citizens, you might think they’re totally mid. It’s all good, dude. What’s important is that we all just agree that this stuff is better than metalcore.
Tune into the podcast to see how Kevin Hare and Daniel Lupton voted and find out which records are moving on to round two.
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- ZN
This blog never ceases to amaze me, and the MRR clippings just add to the vibe. The dedication to a scene and an era is pretty fucking awesome for nerds like me.
This was a lot of fun reading a long, and sure it took me forever but I finally listened to every 7 inch on this match up