Winter in the Midwest

With the location-based gang mentality that has overrun hardcore since its inception, it's sometimes hard to hear the sounds coming from regional areas over the highly tauted and heavily promoted ones of New York, Boston, Los Angeles, etc etc. If you're outside of the US like myself, it's probably the same if you superimpose your own capital cities in that sentence. Everyone knows the big bands from the big labels with the big enough budgets, but what of the little guys?

For a while now I've been blown away by a lot of the bands coming from the American Midwest. Sure, you've got your heavies like Coalesce and Modern Life is War, but then there's the well-kept secrets that take a little bit of digging to discover. Here are some rad Midwest bands that fit the bill.

Building Better Bombs.
These guys alternate from caustic hardcore to two-step friendly Bronx-esque rawk 'n' roll to revolution summer melodies to atonal squalk to mid-tempo stomp effortlessly. Indeed the only constants here are great riffs and some throat-ripping screams. Featuring one of the girls who used to be in the Soviettes (one of the best guilty pleasure bands in punk), their full-length record "Freak Out Squares" really gets the job of putting an original spin on an often languid style.

Building Better Bombs - Freak Out Squares (V0 VBR MP3)

Get Rad.
A joke band with serious riffs. Their songs touch on topics such as the rise and fall of Metallica, how cool friends are, breaking into waterparks, and being nice to puppies. The songs, however, are no-bullshit hardcore, with elements of crossover thrash, youth crew, and fastcore thrown in for maximum effect. Their first full-length, "Say Fuck No to Rules, Man" was my soundtrack to the summer of 2006, and their efforts since then, namely the "Bastards United" EP and their second LP, "I Can Always Live" aren't too shabby either. Featuring members of bands like Seven Days of Samsara and Herds, who I'll get to shortly.

Get Rad - Say Fuck No to Rules, Man (V2 VBR MP3)
Get Rad - Bastards United (V2 KBPS VBR MP3)
Get Rad - I Can Always Live (V0 VBR MP3)

Herds.
This is crusty, d-beat ugliness of the highest order. Featuring one of the dudes from Charles Bronson and revelling in feedback and Motorhead back-patches, these guys use a lot of the better elements of their genre to their advantage while throwing in some original sounds for good measure. Occasionally the tempos slow and the guitars give way to towering monoliths of bass noise, but no matter what the tempo Herds know how to stay earfuckingly abrasive. Their self-titled full-length was one of my favourite records that came out last year.

Herds - Self-Titled LP (V0 VBR MP3)

DOOM

Got sludge?
Hello! Once again I've failed to update in a timely fashion, and for this I apologise. Again.

One of the many reasons for the big gap in between posts (other than the fact that I'm a lazy shit) is that I'm busy writing and jamming with my current band. We are called Vassals, and if you'd like to give us a listen you can do so here.

Seeing as this band is pretty doomy and heavy, I thought I'd use that as a theme and lay out some doomy and/or heavy shit in this entry. No metal, as there's plenty of other blogs that specialise in that area already, but rather sludge, doom, whatever you want to call it. There was a bit of this kind of stuff in my last post, but that was so long ago you're probably jonesing for more by now, right? Here goes.

The Gersch.
This is a band that ISIS guitarist Bryant Clifford Meyer was in from 1994-1999. They were the first band to release a record on Tortuga Recordings, which eventually became Hyrda Head records. They put out a 7" record with two songs on it, and other than a compilation appearance it is the only recorded output from The Gersch during their lifetime. Instead of getting a bass player, they opted to have three down-tuned guitarists, and the effect retains the heaviness that they were obviously going for, but the lack of bottom end (plus the low-fi production) really brings memories of early Black Sabbath records and other relics from back before they really learned how to record bottom-heavy bass. Don't let the lack of releases or the fact that Meyer's current band overshadows this little nugget of the past turn you away: this band fucking ruled, and they've gotten their due in the form of a discography record that backs up those three previously released songs with a slew of others which are just as good.

The Gersch - Discography (192 CBR MP3)


Noothgrush.
First impression everyone has when it comes to this band: "what's with their fucking name?" It's from a Dr. Seuss book, but don't let this stop you from listening. Kids literature references aside, this band is heavier than fourteen anvils stacked on top of your face. The vocal style is very reminiscent of Chuck Schuldiner on Death's first couple records, and while that's pretty cool it takes a back seat to the riffs and the tempos. This band knows how to trudge, plod, and eek out every last bit of pain from their music, and the overall effect is downright brutal. Last I heard they had reunited and were planning an Australian tour, but that was years and years ago and they've doubtlessly given up on that by now.

Noothgrush - Erode the Person (V0 VBR MP3)


Corrupted.
Most people know this band as those crazy Japanese guys who don't give interviews, speak Spanish and write songs that take up a full CD, but before they expanded their musical vision to this scale they were a straight-to-the-point sludge band. This old 10" EP they released showcases this side of the band perfectly, from the slow fade in of the tribal drum patterns to the last droning note, and all the dirty chaos in between. Three songs, over twenty-seven minutes, and guitars tuned to baritone tuning, what more could one ask for? Unless this record could "make pancakes and massage your balls for you," as George Carlin so eloquently put it, this has it all and takes the cake as my favourite release in its genre.

Corrupted - El Dios Queja (V0 VBR MP3)

I remember Halloween...

Halloween is almost here, and I'm seeing that many of my friends are getting in the spirit by holding parties and dressing up this year. Going along with this, I thought the blog could do with a special seasonal entry - complete with some music that would work perfectly at your theoretical Halloween party.

Hour of the Wolf.
An Arizona-based horror punk band made up of 4/5ths of Life in Pictures, a now-defunct metal-core band that was a hell of a lot better than most other metal-core bands. A couple years ago I bought some vinyl off their singer, Hank, and he's a nice dude. Also, his band is one of the few non-Danzig horror punk bands that doesn't suck complete ass. They've put out an EP, a split and have a 10" coming out soon. Catchy, trashy fun - very highly recommended.
Hour of the World - Power of the Wolf (192 MP3)

Bloody Panda.
Based in New York City, Bloody Panda are a sludge band with a Japanese opera singer as a vocalist, and when used together these two elements make for one evil-sounding band. I don't recommend playing this at a party, but if you were too cheap to buy candy for the little tykes, opening the windows playing this a high volume should make them too shit-scared to knock on your door. Throw out that CD of cheesy ghost noises, this will work much better.
Bloody Panda - Pheromone (192 MP3)

Portal.
Put this into the same category as Bloody Panda - not party music, but scary as all fuck. Play this after the party's over. Picture it: you've had your fill of entertaining, you drop some acid and put on this record; if you wake up the next day and haven't pulled all the flesh off your face, you're harder than most. After years of hypnotising Australian audiences they're doing their first set in America at Maryland Death Fest. Brutal.
Portal - Outre (V0-VBR MP3)

The World/Inferno Friendship Society.
My favourite band. Ever. Evereverever. Not only do these guys put out sweet records and put on the best live show I've ever seen, but they're a good Halloween band if you're going for the old-school cabaret punk vibe. Every year they have a special Halloween show called Hallowmas, and they have a live album from one of these shows which fucking rules, but this is their latest studio release and it once again ups the ante for this amazing band.
The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Addicted to Bad Ideas (V0-VBR MP3)

Alive.

Kinsemo: a form of post-hardcore music created by Chicago's Kinsella brothers - Tim and Mike, namely. This music takes form as many different outfits: Cap'n Jazz, Owls, Owen, American Football, Tim Kinsellas, Make Believe, Joan of Arc, etc. Bands such as Noyes, The Promise Ring and other outfits that include former Kinsella contributors are deemed 'Kinsemo by association.'

Now that we have the education portion of this blog out of the way, let's talk about Victor Villarreal. Victor was the guitarist in Cap'n Jazz and Owls who made a single EP under the name Noyes before literally disappearing. Nobody knew where the hell this guy went; all they knew is that he was a heroin addict and wherever he was he was probably up to no good. This is a shame for any person but in the case of Victor, a guitarist that has been massively influential on countless players and bands, it was particularly worrying. Would we ever hear from him again?

Well, it took seven long years but the answer is a resounding yes. Victor is back, clean, and brandishing an acoustic guitar and singing in a solo project done under his own name. This came out earlier this year and I'm really kicking myself for not discovering it sooner. Rumour around the Internets was that he was gearing up for a new Noyes release, but it looks like this is what eventuated instead. And if we get more Noyes and I'm wrong, I'll be nothing but happy about it.

This album shows off a different side to Victor than we're used to hearing. From past output we expect him to be playing along, lending his talents to a bigger whole and letting his fingers do all the talking. This time around he's playing and singing, and while he doesn't go as crazy with the former as he used to, these being simpler songs - he puts forth a good amount of noodling for all the guitar nerds but keeps the focus on playing and singing sincere and honest music. Much of the album is about the passing of his brother, and some of the proceeds from sales are being donated to Mission USA Prison Ministries in his memory, so if you dig this one, getting your hands on a physical copy would be the thing to do, which you can do here.

Here's a video of Victor playing one of the songs on the record, and hard proof that he's still got it.



Victor Villarreal - Alive (V0-VBR MP3)

We Heard the Tree Fall

I acknowledge the fact that what follows here is completely self-serving and not exactly necessary. It's an entry about a band that played six shows in and around one small city. It's a band I wrote for and played in for two years, and due to a revolving door list of drummers and other assorted issues, never got to a place where we played an awesome show or released a good-sounding record. We've shelved the project and already moved on to new things, and as much as I get a massive douche-chill writing about my own band I feel it deserves something resembling a proper send-off.

I used to live in a share house with my old band, Defamer. We were (and they still are) a death metal band, and together we lived in an old house in Auchenflower that was falling apart. After Leo (my best friend) and myself quit the band we decided to write some songs that were more in the vein of the punk music we grew up on and the stuff we were listening to heavily at the time - but it had to be faster, more caustic, and under it all still have melody.

Before we got the idea to put together this band, I wrote a song for a band that consisted of my friend Will and I. The band was called Deep Stones and the Mountains Thereof (basically the wankiest band name Will could come up with, have a search on MySpace, the old profile should still be up) and we wrote and recorded one song in my bedroom, which ended up being "Social Anxiety Attack as Self-Affirmation Ritual." After this band fell apart, I commuted it to the project with Leo, and this song opened every show and every jam.

At the time, Leo and I were listening to lots of bands like Orchid, Saetia, Joshua Fit for Battle, Love Lost but Not Forgotten, Ampere, Combatwoundedveteran, Reversal of Man, pg.99, etc. We loved how fucking heavy these bands were while they played (for the most part, anyway) in E standard tuning. We liked how it was angry music that often remained coherent and intelligent. We liked how they embraced the DIY philosophy like the punk and hardcore bands we looked up to as teenagers. That's what we tried for, and we ended up writing three more songs and looked to start rehearsing with a drummer.

Our first jam with a drummer was a short one due to the fact that he crashed his girlfriend's car on the way to the jam - he learned one song and we never heard from him again. We tried out someone else, but after one jam he decided his style didn't fit with the band. We finally got a drummer, played two shows and recorded a demo with him but after decided he didn't like how melodic things were getting, he quit. We tried out another guy who couldn't physically play fast enough. We got another drummer, who played three shows with us but his hectic schedule made it so he couldn't play with us. We got a replacement, who played one show with us, only for him to leave for much the same reason as the guy who preceded him. And those were just the ones we got into a practice room - we asked countless others to play but they could smell the drummer curse lingering on us. Or something to that effect.

If you're tl;dr-ing at the above paragraph (and understandably so), all you really need to know is that we were Spinal Tap. That sums it up nicely.

Anyway, after two years, teaching the same songs to three drummers, a bunch of tryouts, one four-song demo, eight total songs written (two of which were never performed live), a few new friends, a stolen Marshall head and something in the neighbourhood of $70 made in total, it's over. A part of me is relieved, to be honest, but moreso than any band I've played in before I feel regretful that it simply didn't work. This was the first band I played in where I wrote the vast majority of the material, and I took a lot of pride in what I did, as I'm sure Leo does in regards to his contributions.

We're playing with the idea of recording everything in a single session and making it available somehow. Maybe.

Anyways, enough bull-shitting. Here's a download of our sole release and some live videos - four taken by the awesome Yudhis who writes a blog called Caffeine at Night and one taken by Leo's lovely fiancee Brooke.











A German Spectacle - Demo (V0 MP3)

And if I can't see, it's for want of you.

Live recordings of punk bands (especially those put to tape in the seventies and eighties) are a mixed bag, to put it nicely. Most of the ones I've heard were gotten out of a desire to hear a band that came and went before my time, hoping to get a bit of a feeling of what it would've been like to see them live. Problem is, for the most part the tapes from this time sound like someone set up a mic in front of a washing machine, and occasionally you'll get one good enough to hear someone's vocals atop the din of said washing machine. Lame - all that wasted bandwidth for nothing.

Most of these tapes come from people standing in the audience trying to capture what they're seeing on tape, to have a record of something they deemed worthy of such an honour. It's a noble act, and you can't blame someone for trying. Add on tons and tons of tape dubbing and signal loss that's happened over the years and there you have it: the reason most old bootlegs suck.

However, every so often you come across a really, really fucking good live recording from this time, and the amount of rubbish you have to wade through to get to it makes it all the more special. Especially when the band in question is Rites of Spring.

I shouldn't have to introduce this band to anyone who's reading this, so I won't - instead, I'll tell the story of how I got into them. I was a dumb kid, as I'm sure you were, dear reader, when you were younger. I was in a dumb band with other dumb kids with dumb ideas about what punk was and what it wasn't, and after a while I started opening up my mind to other things that fell outside my little circle of acceptability. The three bands that really struck a chord who still do to this day were At the Drive-In, Texas is the Reason and Rites of Spring. The latter remains as the most cathartic and sincere hardcore band I've ever heard, so you can imagine my excitement when I came across a soundboard recording of one of their fifteen live shows, complete with good sound and a great performance.

I don't need to hype this up, it does that very well on its own. So go ahead, download this and wish you were there.

Set List: Nudes - Deeper than Inside - Hain's Point - Theme - Spring - All There Is - Drink Deep - For Want Of - Persistent Vision - End on End.

Rites of Spring - Live at the 9:30 Club, Washington, DC - June 14th, 1985. (192-CBR MP3)

Submit to your higher power.

I'm really, really proud to be from New Jersey. Sure, it's a state that's the butt of countless jokes, but it's also a place that's been home to countless amazing bands, Rorschach being one of them. For those unfamiliar with these guys, they were a band from 1989 to 1993 who proved to be hugely influential. Early on, their sound was fast and more reminiscent of traditional hardcore, and they went on to slow down the tempos and inject more sludge and dissonance to their sound, something that heavily influenced bands like Converge and Coalesce. Most people I've talked to love the later Rorschach stuff (the Protestant LP and other releases from that era) - and rightfully so, it rules. But personally I favour the earlier stuff (Remain Sedate, Needlepack etc) - there's a frantic energy to it that I just love.

With that in mind, you can tell why I dig this 1990 performance the band did on WFMU. The screams are more over the top and the songs are played faster, to the point where you think they're just gonna fucking collapse from exhaustion, Charles Maggio (vocals) in particular. In between songs and his laboured breathing he blurts out the ordering info for what was then their upcoming debut LP, Remain Sedate. There's a hunger in his voice as if he's saying to himself, "if enough people buy this thing we can afford to eat." Keep in mind too that this was done in a radio studio; there isn't a crowd there cheering them on, they were probably playing to one or two people sitting in front of mics and manning the soundboard. Still, they go through their material with an energy and urgency that most bands couldn't even touch in a traditional live setting.

I wouldn't suggest this as a good introduction to the band - get the discography CD, Autopsy, first if you haven't already. Chances are if you like the first half of that disc, this will blow your mind.

Don't mind the low bitrate - it was recorded off the radio so it's more than adequate.

Set List: Lightning Strikes Twice - Skin Culture - In the Year of Our Lord - Seconds in Hell (early title) - Laryngitis - Impressions - Pavlov's Dogs - No One Dies Alone - Clenching - So it Goes - Oppress

Rorschach - Live in December, 1990 on WFMU (128 MP3)