Episode 240: September 2024
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here or here.
I was joined this week by Anthony Pappalardo and Todd Jones to talk our recent projects and a bunch of other stuff. Nails put out a new record, Pops started a record label/put out a comp, and Bob Wilson and I are putting together a scene report fanzine/comp. Speaking of that, if anyone has any contacts in Africa, the Middle East (other than UAE), or Central Asia (other than Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan), please get in touch with me.
Nails Every Bridge Burning LP, Nuclear Blast
Nails returned with their first LP in eight years at the end of August, and whaddadyaknow - they brought the heat again. 10 tracks in under 18 minutes of that savage wall of noise you’ve come to expect and that may have made Kawakami want to sneak a peak at Todd’s pedal board. The classic Nails blazers are on here like “Punishment Map” and “Trapped,” but the album shines the most when they find themselves settling into riffage like at the end of title track, or on “Imposing Will,” where the final riff is ran through both the mid-tempo and bounce blenders. “Give Me The Painkiller” reminds me of '90s Anti-Cimex on bath salts and is one of the highlights of the record. It goes full rocker mode, both with the initial riff as well as Jones laying down what is maybe the best guitar solo of his carrier.
Over the years Nails has become known for their big closing tracks. This time around “No More Rivers To Cross” delivers barrage of sludge that may drive B-tier stoner metal bands smash their bongs and fuzz medals in defeat. Of course even when dabbling in a different style, Nails’ Hardcore sensibility can’t be shaken and the whole track builds to a giant final mosh.
On that HC sensibility piece, my favorite track on the album is “Lacking The Ability To Process Empathy.” It’s pure head bob riffary on the verses leading to a chorus that’s about as catchy as you can get in this genre - pure ‘90s NYHC ran through the Nails filter. Oh yea, this one leads to a final mosh too. Hell yea.
V/A Propeller Product Prop 4-1 LP, Lawrence Wilmington
Friend of the pod, Anthony Pappalardo unearthed this early ‘80s cassette-only comp of Boston post-Punk bands. He’s no stranger to this neurotic level of archiving having done one of the best books on Hardcore Punk, Radio Silence, but here he’s giving us something we can drop the needle on. It’s an interesting time capsule because these were the bands happening at the same time in the underground of Boston during the birth of Hardcore in that city. SSD referenced this scene with their song “How Much Art Can You Take?”
Personally, I never really gave post-punk a chance. I just figured that I’ll hopefully be old someday and I’ll check it out then, after finally getting into Hüsker Dü and inevitably getting bored with them. I do really enjoy that Burma song “Trem Two” so that’s probably my best point of reference. Oh, I like “Bastards of Young” too if that counts.
All that said, I really enjoyed this comp. My favorite tracks were “Ich Liebe” by V; (not a typo), “Midge” by White Women, and the weirdo instrumental “Pink Dress” by Lori Green. How ‘bout you?
Thought Control Sick & Tired Of The Talking Heads 7”, Crew Cuts Records
Thought Control might not like “Psycho Killer,” but bad taste aside their 3rd 7” might ironically be their tastiest! I kid, I kid…it’s no doubt their best record so far and quite possibly the EP of the year. Last year, Stigmatism won the prestigious 185 Miles South LP of the year award for Ignorance in Power and this 7” is just as good. If you liked the 2000s era ‘80s influenced Hardcore like Direct Control or Government Warning, you’ll dig this. I’d say it’s in line with those bands but maybe with a tad meaner edge à la 86 Mentality or Boston Strangler. The Demolisten writeup name-checked Out Cold as a reference and that’s a good one too.
Before I continue to puff up this record, let me just lodge a major complaint as someone who purchased it: where the fuck is the insert?! Cmon man. At least give me a copy/paste photocopied one or something. Also, the singer is dangerously close to being a muffly-mic guy like he was on the 2nd 7”. Hold that shit like an ice cream cone and be your true self…let’s do this!
Alright, what makes this album spectacular is they have great vocal hooks without coming off super trope’y or generic. Take one spin through and the second time you’re singing along. The singer does an amazing job of channeling teenage angst but with the sophistication of listening to roots hardcore for at least a decade (I’m guessing). Hooks like “(You’re) full of shit" and “Fuck you, I don’t care” are catchy and timeless. You don’t even get a tempo change on this record ‘til the fourth song and I didn’t even notice until like the third spin cuz there are big moments in every song that distracted me.
This 7” has two mid-tempo bangers, the first (and better one) is the title track which was seemingly plucked from the mean streets of Bridgend, South Wales in ‘83 and scribed onto this awesome 7” (with no f’n insert). The second song “Anti-Christ Rock N Roll” bangs pretty hard too, and Vishnu sighed with relief that he didn’t catch any heat once again.
This has been a fabulous year for Hardcore Punk 7”s, a format I once tried to stop buying. Add this one to the stack along with Collateral, The Massacred, Problems, Nightfeeder, Echo Chamber, Enemic Interior, and En La Muerte as great ones from this year that I can think of off the top of my head.
Fatal Realm Demo CD-R, Self Released
Listeners of the pod know that I’m a poser of many genres and Death Metal is definitely one of them. I love all the OG late ‘80s/early ‘90s shit but I never really took the ride much beyond that. By 1993, I was getting into punk and as a teen back then you kind of had to choose a lane that you wanted to spend your money and time on figuring out. I still held those Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Suffocation, etc. albums pretty close though, and I’ve been listening to them on the reg since back then. Anyway, this is a long way of getting to the Fatal Realm demo that basically mooshes all my fav Death Metal shit together into a compact piece of music.
Mike Shaw, most known for playing guitar in Mindforce, is the king of brevity. He already applied that get in/get out mentality to create the best current Crossover band on the planet, so why not take a stab at the Death Metal side of “hardcore-adjace”? (The other being the Alt-Hardcore side, of course.)
Fatal Realm lays down an intro and 4 songs in under 10 minutes. It’s caked with mosh parts that will make those swept up in the SLAM-aissance or into modern beatdown do their rehearsed dance moves in attempts to gain fleeting attention on the socials, but there’s enough fast parts for us regular folk to enjoy too. I’ve spun this thing a bunch of times and I dig it big time. Stoked to see what comes next!
Cutdown To The Grave 12”, Scheme Records
Like Dan Sant in 185 trivia, Scheme Records doesn’t miss. Here’s another killer record added to the catalog, this time around it’s a 12” by New Jersey’s Cutdown. Last year, the band put out an excellent split 7” with Never Again and now they’re back with six new tracks of superb Roots Hardcore. They do a good job of varying the base fast tempo on the tracks and the singer isn’t opposed to getting a little repeaties to make for a memorable chorus after one or two listens. Also, I caught the band live a couple weeks ago and the guitarist down strums every note and is locked in with the drummer - two critical pieces of being a great Hardcore band. Not much else to say here other than this record kicks ass and you should check it out. So yea…check it out.
PLAYLIST:
Daniel from Sorry State Records/Scarecrow came on the pod to give us a starter kit on Italian Hardcore. I learned a lot, pretty much like any time I speak with Daniel or read the Sorry State newsletter (shoutout Usman - one of my fav HC historians).
In celebration of the stater kit, here are some related clippings. Let’s start in 1983…
Have a killer week.
- ZN
Nice one with the Italian primer! A little less Raw Power in the final playlist would have been cool to feature instead other representative bands (Impact, Declino, Eu's Arse... at least one song out of Impact - "Solo Odio" LP should have made the cut!). I also feel like Negazione's first LP and Indigesti - "Osservati..." LP are where those bands reached their peak, especially if compared to their somewhat chaotic beginnings. And it would have been cool to mention some more adjacent stuff like Nabat (for the Oi! contingent) and Nerorgasmo (the Italian Rudimentary Peni and in my opinion some of the very best punk music to come out of that country altogether) to give a more comprehensive view of the whole early 80s scene.
But hey, very cool all considered! Italian HC has mostly taken a backseat compared to Japan and Scandinavia when it comes to hardcore archaeology, and unfairly so in my opinion.