EP 249: January 2025
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here or here.
Happy new year everyone! We kicked off the pod with Kevin’s recap of FYA. Every Collateral show should be this well attended and hectic. That’s my 2025 wish.
Onto the newerish stuff…
Just Us The Demo cassette Physical Therapy Records
Killer demo. Great recording. Stellar drumming. There’s a fast part in every song except the intro and the singer sounds like he’s missing a chromosome. Hell yea. “No Tomorrow” rules so hard.
Voltage Mania EP Self Released
I saw this on a CVLT Nation year end list and had never heard of it. This is a raw punk band out of Kamloops, B.C. On a personal note, my old band played one of our best shows ever in that town in ‘02 or ‘03, so it was sick to see something pop outta there. My favorite song is the first where it’s just straight Discharge worship - think Meanwhile or Disaster. The rest is more along the lines of the ‘90s Swedish stuff. Thick, nice recording. No shy guy hiding behind effects BS. Killer.
Walk Alone A Cruel Promo cassette Rebirth Records
Another tight demo that came out at the end of 2024. This has a nice recording and fast parts in every song too. They vary their fast beat which is cool. “Hyper Vigilance” is more of a slow fast, Clevo/Integ style fast beat. “Head of the Hammer” is full on scissor beat and “Decentralized Risk” is just a regular double time fast beat. The singer’s voice is more throat that gut and it works well here.
Lifeless Dark Forces of Nature’s Transformation LP Side Two Records
This LP was the talk of the town in the second half of December ‘24 and deservedly so. Look, I don’t know what stenchcore is and I don’t really care. It just sounds like a spread of 1982-1985 thrash metal and that A-ok with your boy. This record definitely cannot be accused of having no riffs, but my favorite thing about it is the recording. It’s raw but bright - nothing is hidden. The LP starts with an epic ass intro that builds to the ultimate payoff riff at 2:20. “Depth of Cold” starts with just a single note speed picking over a fast beat. If you listen to it loud enough, you’ll be transported to Ruthie’s Inn and get moshed on by horde of guzzlers in Canadian tuxedos. Seriously, it sounds like it’s 1983 and you’re in a room that smells like sweat and malt liquor. The record is bookended nicely with the first two and last two tracks being the best. The LP already sold out so pray to Hanneman that there’s a 2nd press coming.
Bold rules, alright?
They are sometimes used as the dividing line band between the good and bad youth crew stuff of the late ‘80s. If you love the genre, they probably land in the green. If you only like the best of the best, they probably straddle the line or fall off into the suckage zone. Personally, I love them. Now, were they good enough to skip the 7” and jump straight to gatefold LP? That’s debatable, so we’re taking a good HC LP and turning it into a great 7”.
The new Bold Speak Out 7” is:
Side A:
Talk is Cheap
Nailed To The X
Wise Up
Side B:
Accept The Blame
Still Strong
Intro
Enjoy this USHC classic.
Am I a poser cuz I didn’t love The Varukers on first listen? Probably. They’re still not my fav of the original UKHC bands, but goddamn if their 1984 12” Another Religion, Another War isn’t one of the best straight rippers I’ve ever heard. Maybe they realized they’d never write a tuneful mid-tempo anthem as good as “Dead Cities” or “Alternative” so they just stripped all the melody and decided to just rip on this one. Maybe it was Damien Thompson joining the band. Whatever it was, this thing rules.
I have a little mix that I put on sometimes when I’m out riding my bike which forever was just two albums, Crucifix Dehumanization and Final Conflict Ashes To Ashes. Those records make time fly when you’re trying to knock out a few more miles and you’re feeling the dreadful combination of tired and bored. Recently I’ve added some Battalion of Saints songs to the mix as well as this one. Smash shuffle and win.
Joe D. Foster is a cool dude who has lived an awesome life. Pro bodyboarder/surfer, guitarist in Unity and Ignite, international model, oh yea…and he was in a Madonna video. Ignite was the first hardcore band that I really got into. Liking Minor Threat or Chain of Strength doesn’t really matter when you can’t go see them, but in 1996/1997, Ignite was a force and I saw them a ton. That Zoli/Joe/Casey/Brett lineup is still one of the best bands I’ve ever seen to this day. I interviewed Brett for episode 71, so get in those archives, and now Joe D. Foster has been chronicled on episode 249. Where you at Zoli? Joe was awesome so check it out!
Stage seal siting at 1:30.
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- ZN