Episode 238: August 2024
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here or here.
Will you accept it - whats going down? Will you accept it - da lowdown?
Gefyr/Rat Cage Split 7”, Bunker Punks Discs and Tapes
You ever just want to buy a new record that kicks ass? If you’re reading this Substack, you probably understand the sentiment. In the pre-internet era, getting burned with a bunk ass record was a rite of passage. In fact, often times when you’d get said bunk ass record, you’d play the fuck out of it just trying to find parts of it that you might like. The digital era of music has pretty much eliminated this risk factor completely which is one in the win column for modern times, I suppose. Anyway, my point is that this record kicking ass was not a surprise. I listened to it online, liked it, and ordered it. Still, two bands unleashing six songs that all bring the heat on a single record should be commended and encouraged.
Gefyr hail from Hudiksvall, the same town as Totalitär, and like any D-Beat band that plays over 160 BPM they kinda just remind me of Totalitär, albeit with a more blown-out sound like most current bands of this style. The snare sounds huge and cuts through the wall of noise nicely and the singer sounds killer. These dudes have a three minute hardcore song on here that doesn’t blow, so that’s a testament to their songwriting prowess.
We have talked about Rat Cage a bunch on the pod including their LP from last year that was one of Dan’s favorites. Personally, I didn’t love the LP cuz I thought the drums sounded too Pro-Tools’d out for a raw Hardcore Punk band like them. Welp, the first song on their side of this split made me eat my hat with one of the crispest hi-hat tones I can remember in modern Hardcore. That song is a great UK 82 styled ripper and the other two match Gefyr’s stylings more closely. All three songs are killer and line up nicely with those songs they put out on the excellent Screaming Death compilation from last year.
This record rules.
Missing Link Watch Me Bleed LP, Triple-B Records
Watch Me Bleed is Missing Link’s first proper LP, following up their excellent 2022 12” EP on Richie Krutch’s Never Ran Never Will Records and a flexi from last year. Like most modern bands of this style, you can definitely tell that All Out War, 100 Demons, and Merauder are in the DNA but there are a few things that makes this record stand out above wastelands of mosh-core mediocrity. What we get here is 30 minutes of mosh-core savagery with a huge recording and every song except the last one is under three minutes. The most refreshing part about this band is the vocals. Along with having a savage voice, his personality shines through on songs like “New York Minute” and “See Ya Later.” Also, he can write a good chorus especially like the one on “Scraps For the Dog.” Hell yea.
Problems Beg For Release 7”, Adult Crash
This is a serious contender for my EP of the year. The whole mission statement of this band is established within the first 15 seconds with the fast drum fills, the yell, then the guitar break into the fast verse. The singer is a full on wildman who can BLEEHH with the best of them. I love on the third song “Body Burden” when he just kind of inserts a BLEEHH where you’d think another verse bar would be.
Remember on the 1981 episode of 185 Miles South when I said that if your singer is boring, you should lock him in a room and make him listen to “Lost Cause” by Negative Approach on loop? This dude sounds like the end result of that task, especially on the 5th track “Out Of Body” where we witness his descent into madness, like a proverbial Apocalypse Now in Hardcore form.
This thing is just straight up stellar 80s influenced roots hardcore - maybe think Urban Waste meets the Mob 47 7” meets the Direct Control demo. Or maybe just crank this thing and I’ll just STFU and crank this thing again too.
Poison Idea War All The Time LP, Alchemy Records 1987
We continued Dan’s journey through the Poison Idea catalog. This stop, their 1987 record War All The Time. Dan loved the record which rules, cuz it’s easily my least favorite of their 1980s run. Still, the weakest link on the 80s P.I. chain is stronger than most bands and there are some great moments on here, especially when Jerry’s voice goes full-on manic. Peep the verses on “Murderer” and circle back.
Paul Cripple from Reagan Youth joined me for a great interview. I was surprised by how much he downplayed Reagan Youth’s output at one point in the interview. Who cares if you only put out two records in eight years when one of them is one of the greatest Punk 12”s of all time? Youth Anthems For A New Order is one of those classic Punk albums that grabs you on the first listen and somehow never seems to get old. The recording is absolutely perfect, with the fuzzy guitar and clean drums all creating the perfect backdrop for one of the best Punk voices ever to get down on.
Have a killer week.
- ZN
Absolutely agree about the Problems EP, it's killer!
And I can definitely sympathise with the feeling of getting burnt pre-internet. Having to wait at least 6 weeks or so for mail order records to arrive here in NZ was made worse when they turned out to be duds. On the other hand, we'd feel like we struck gold if there was a keeper or two in the bunch.
At the end of Dan's Poison Idea journey, it would be interesting to know if he would revisit any of his Super 7 or Top 100 picks for any of the years/decades that matched with a PI release. Could PI force their way in at all?