Friday, December 16, 2016

WEBSTORE UPDATE! New Releases from SHEER MAG, KRIMEWATCH, OMEGAS, KRIEGSHOG, and MUCH MORE!

GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS AND MAILORDER
Webstore Update - December 16, 2016
 
This is looking like the last Grave Mistake webstore update of 2016! First off, thanks to everyone who picked up some records during last month's Black Friday sale - hopefully you were able to grab something cool at a good price!
 
In new release news, in case you missed it last week, we've got a new release out now on the Vinyl Conflict Label - the debut 7" EP from Richmond, VA's Memory Loss. You can scoop up a copy of the EP in the webstore (we have a small number of the Purple vinyl left for mailorder), and you can give it a listen over at our Bandcamp page as well (it's also available for free DL). Here's a write up of the EP for you:
 
"First vinyl offering from MEMORY LOSS, one of Richmond’s newest and most exciting hardcore punk acts. On “Blackout” you get four songs that mine from the golden era of early 80s hardcore punk and 90s-era noise rock but with a very unique and individual take. Each song is the equivalent of a dark path we’ve all been down, but never talked or written about. Fear not though, MEMORY LOSS is there to speak for you. They’ve placed their finger right on the pulse of just how difficult it is to live in the age of anxiety and dread. If you like your punk with a general feeling of despair and disillusionment, look no further."
 
Thanks to everyone who has checked out the EP or picked up a copy so far! Memory Loss will be heading down south for a little tour from December 31st-January 8th, and you can check out all of the dates and info on the tour event page. They will be accompanied by Nosebleed, another sick Richmond band who also has their debut 7" in the works on Vinyl Conflict for early 2017 (keep your eyes peeled for more info on that next month), and if all goes well the band might have some copies on that tour as well.
 
There is a ton of stuff in this latest webstore update, so I'm going to forego the distro rundown, so check out the full list below and thanks for all of the support in 2016!
 
Alex / Grave Mistake Records
 
 
For quick browsing of recent additions to the store, you can check out all of these titles mentioned below in the New Arrivals and Recent Restocks sections!
 
New in the Webstore for 12/16/16:
 
SHEER MAG "Compilation" LP (Wilsuns Recording Company)
Sheer Mag’s Compilation LP features the Philadelphia rock band’s three seven-inches, released between 2014 and 2016. All twelve songs were recorded onto the same vintage 8-track tape machine, carted to various locations around Philadelphia. The first two were produced in a makeshift studio wedged between two bedrooms in the band’s former South Philly house, while the third came out of a practice space in the Port Richmond neighborhood. Sequenced chronologically, the newly remastered songs reveal a young DIY band finding its sound.

OMEGAS "Power to Exist" LP (Beach Impediment Records)
Much anticipated answer to 2011's 'Blasts of Lunacy,' the Omegas leave off where they picked up, coming back to their personalized vision of the nooks and crannies of early NYHC and proto hardcore cum Darby Crash cum Nollywood prankster at ever more obtuse and challenging angles. The riffs implode and the changes are impossible to follow without a map that probably leads somewhere unpleasant. Even still, the confusion feels like a stroke of luck. The gift is not knowing what you're hearing yet but knowing you've wanted to hear it your whole life. Duck, dive, spit, slam, kill: Makes you go Boom Boom. Flash forward, the power to exist. FFO: getting stop and frisked by the NYPD and having them find a giant lollypop in your otherwise empty bag/wondering who killed Tony Frenchman -Jonah Falco, 2016

KRIMEWATCH "Demo 2016" 7" (Lockin' Out Records)
New from NYC - Japanese punk meets American hardcore; keeping it simple with shouty vocals and driving beats. Demo recording remastered and pressed on vinyl.

KLEENEX / LILIPUT "First Songs" 2xLP (Mississippi Records)
Legendary Swiss punk band from the late '70s. 'You can't dispute Liliput's status as pioneers of feminist art-punk. Along with fellow travelers like The Slits and The Raincoats, this (mostly) female Swiss group took advantage of punk's anything-goes attitude and created jittery, spirited pop that was both in step with the times and completely singular. The early material is a riot of exuberant energy, taking stylistic cues from peers like Gang Of Four and Wire -- propulsive bass, skittering pop rhythms, slashing guitars -- and adding distinctive overlapping vocal patterns, which are sung, shrieked, and hiccuped in three languages and made-up dada slang. More than 20 years on, it still sounds fresh.' --Lisa Gidley. All material has been previously released as Liliput on Kill Rock Stars as a double CD, and a 4 LP box set on Mississippi Records, 1977 1983.First Songs combines all the pre-1982 material. All three Kleenex singles, the first two Liliput 7"'s and all the originally unreleased material prior to Liliput's debut LP.

V/A - "Killed By Deathrock Vol. 2" Compilation LP (Sacred Bones Records)
After the initial blast of punk rock bands made their impression on the youth of the late 1970s, subgenres quickly emerged. Some preferred the faster, louder aggression of hardcore, others the angular danceability of post-punk, some the raw and more personal home-made sound of DIY, and so on. Looking back among and between these genres we now recognize various blends of punk, post-punk, goth rock, industrial, and DIY as “deathrock." In 2014, Sacred Bones Records launched the series Killed By Deathrock to document an entire scene of bands that haven't yet received proper recognition. This is the second volume. The thread that holds these groups together as deathrock bands comes down to their willingness and sometimes compulsion to reveal and explore the darker side of their psyches. Night-soaked dirges of fatality, despair, and horror were rampant, rooted in that sublimity that is found on the edge of the horror genre, as famously developed by Edgar Allan Poe — an edge that relished in misery and openly recognized the inevitable end of any human life.

SIEVEHEAD "Into the Blue" LP (Milk Run Records)
Sievehead come straight out of Sheffield’s The Lughole, a DIY space “run by the punks, for the punks”. With a perfectly honed sound of a band that have been playing together for many years, Sievehead are a relatively new band in Sheffield, but that hasn’t stopped them creating a strong following with a sold out debut cassette on Evil Hoodoo, a 7" on The Lughole's very own label, Kids of The Lughole and a string of packed out shows both in the UK and Europe, and after much anticipation, now have their debut album, Into The Blue coming out 4th December. A joint release for Evil Hoodoo and Milk Run Records and recorded at The Audacious Art Experiment Space by the talented Ben Hunter. With a sound that nods towards some of UK post punk forefathers such as Joy Division / Echo and The Bunnymen and The Cure as well as sounding like they’re straight from the soundtrack to Salad Days alongside bands like Fugazi and Minor Threat, Sievehead have carved their own sound, transferring they’re energetic, raw live sound perfectly onto record.

BREAKDOWN "The 87 Demo" LP (Painkiller Records)
Painkiller and 540 Records have teamed up once again to bring you the other half of the legendary “Breakdown; Both Demos” series: the legendary ’87 Demo. Breakdown’s original 1987 lineup was only together for a few short months, but in that time they produced one of the most legendary and influential recordings in the history of New York Hardcore. Paving the way for every hard and heavy band to follow, Breakdown’s take on hardcore was balanced with the perfect mix of hip hop’s bounce, the power and dynamics of heavy metal, and an unmistakable New York accent laced across a tough, streetwise sound that could only have come out of 1980’s New York City. This LP contains the full 9-song ’87 Demo, released here for the first time on vinyl in its entirety, backed with a crushing live set recorded on WNYU radio’s Crucial Chaos during the summer of 1987. Both recordings have been faithfully restored from original sources and sound better than ever. Includes a full color 12”x24” poster insert with extensive notes and anecdotes from members of the NYHC scene.

NYC HEADHUNTERS "The Rage of the City" 7" (Painkiller Records)
"New Breed" style NYHC has now been entrenched as a stylistic mainstay for hardcore bands longer than the original Lower East Side heyday actually lasted, and it will probably remain that way as long as hardcore continues to be a means of expression for young people. But while plenty of bands continue to dip into that plentiful well, few do it as well as NYC Head Hunters, who have an uncanny knack for knowing the right times to dress things up and when to dumb them down. Comprised of personnel from the Rival Mob, Step Forward, and plenty more, and backed by the expected, period-appropriate production, NYHH debut 7" manages to tap the vein of raw late 80s NYHC without sounding rote or tired 30 years after the fact. Not retro, just timeless.

KRIEGSHOG "S/T" 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Tokyo’s KRIEGSHÖG return with a three new track EP of distorted Japanese hardcore. Catchy bass driven diabolic hardcore with a vocal style that brings to mind “Who the Helpless” era KURO and the LSD flexi as much as the relentless LA’s ICONOCLAST D-Beat attack creating a background soundtrack for the insanity that is Tokyo’s existance. The 7” is housed in a DISCHARGE EP style sleeve with flaps on the outside and thumb cut and comes with a lyric insert. All designed by Bass player Shingo.

MYSTIC INANE "Ep’s of M/I" LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Nine track LP collection including MYSTIC INANE's three out of print previous seven inches. Freaked out FLIPPER meets RUDIMENTARY PENI acid punk from New Orleans who channels the weird vibes of earlier SACCHARINE TRUST and battles them against modern distorted hardcore creating a hybrid soundtrack to a bad trip. Whether it is accidental or on purpose MYSTIC INANE are as confusing as they are exciting.

SEMI "Go Viral" 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus)
A chance meeting of GLOOM, THROBBING GRISTLE and DISORDER. Treading the fine line between genius and parody, London's SEMI deliver four tracks of pure noise hardcore punk which will fit right in between a Crust War or Overthrow band from the mid 90s and a MB or Hermann Nitsch collection. Too clean for the crusties and too noisy for the hardcore scene, SEMI bring performance back to the stage, making sure no-one is ever indifferent to their live antics. Go Viral documents the band at its peak and shows a conceptual band of the kind a city only produces every decade. The record comes housed in a 12 panel CRASS style sleeve designed by singer Ben Fordree giving you just a peak of the trip the band is in.

ULTRA "España Invertebrada" 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Young Barcelona band made up of half ABSURDO and half ANARQUIA VERTICAL members. Their debut EP is pure fire, idealistic hardcore with venom and punch. Sonically clashing the golden years of Spanish or Italian hardcore with early NYHC and even Midwest hardcore while lyrically carrying the torch of anarchist Barcelona bands.

BELGRADO "Obraz" LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Obraz is a deconstruction of reality to its basic forms and most primitive elements. The starting point after maximum destruction. A reconstruction towards a new reality. The world of images and a thousand spectacles, fragmented, dismantled and reassembled. Dynamism, rhythm, energy and movement. Creative sense over technique. Reality is a construction that we ourselves create. Belgrado delivers a blend of post-punk that takes its influence from many different styles and combines them together into a new form and rhythm. Carefully constructed sound compositions driven by feelingand the senses. Geometrical figures set in motion. Inspired by the mechanical pulse of minimal synth, the hypnotic sounds of dub, the atmosphere of psychedelic and African music, French cold wave and the post-punk classics. The artwork is a collaboration between Jonathan Sirit, Camila Dunster and Patrycja Proniewska. It includes a 28 pages illustrated booklet and comes in a 350 gsm reverse board sleeve.

ES "Object Relations" 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Object Relations is the debut by Es, four women based between London and Glasgow making 'mutant synth-punk for our dystopian present’ (Jes Skolnik). Tense, bass driven and synth heavy with frantic drumming and cold, direct vocals, the 12" delivers 4 tracks of gelid guitar-less post punk that is equal parts sparse and cosmic. Think of a mix of KUKL with NO DEFENCES jamming with X-MAL DEUTSCHLAND and you may be getting there. The 12” record comes housed in a sleeve designed by Es and comes with a lyric insert and download code.

KRIEGSHOG "S/T" LP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
The New Wave of Brutality and Hardcore Massacre has arrived. Tokyo punks KRIEGSHÖG are back with their first full length. After 3 7”s that we love at LVEUM they finally went for the album. Thirteen tracks of extremely bass driven hardcore destruction. The recording is relentless, full of energy and distorted. Yet moving from the ultra blown out recording of their earlier output. This is the band’s most dynamic recording so far and in our humble opinion is destined to be a classic and genre defining album. Second press of KRIEGSHÖG LP which we released back in 2010. Released in time for Static Shock Weekend 16 where KRIEGSHÖG will play their first ever European show. This time around the LP comes housed in a heavy duty paste on board sleeve with heavy weight  inner sleeve . Overall a top quality packaging for a top quality record.

LOS CRUDOS "Doble LP Discografia" 2xLP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Finally a European version of the long overdue LOS CRUDOS Discography collection. LOS CRUDOS, formed in Chicago's Pilsen neighbourhood in the early 90's, are a Latino punk band with a strong socio-political message and an extremely militant DIY attitude. During their first incarnation, spanning the years 1991 to 1998 the band self-released their own records, printed their own merch, booked their own shows and toured relentlessly around the world. From South America to Japan including a 3 month European tour in the winter of 1996. They spoke to the freaks the outsiders and the minorities and were not afraid of confronting the white middle class punk who reigned supreme during the terrible 90's. A time which will not be remembered for their hardcore output except for a few exceptions, in which CRUDOS are surely included. Their sound, far from being a copycat of whatever flavour of the month was reigning at the time was heavy rooted in the golden years of European and Latino American ferocious hardcore punk. With bands as IMPACT, WRETCHED, OLHO SECO, TERVEET KADET or MASACRE 68 as obvious influences in a time when the simple mention of any of those bands (or any non English speaking bands really) was usually met with a laugh or a joke. They sang in Spanish, with aggression and conviction and that made their message spread out widely, reaching thousands of Spanish speaking punks both in Latino America and Spain as well as inside USA where third generation Latino kids surely were missing a voice within the punk scene. The band split up in 1998 after a really intense year of touring and reformed in 2008.

JANITOR SCUM "S/T" LP (Lumpy Records)
Very sick one woman group outta Calgary from Arielle, the guitarist of Glitter. Punchy new wave punk with a drum machine. Listen to a song here: https://soundcloud.com/lumpyrex/janitor-scum-corned-beef

LOWEST FORM, THE "Personal Space" LP (Iron Lung Records)
The second album from UK hardcore engine The Lowest Form, Personal Space sees the band cutting through a comedown fug of feedback, sharp butterflyknife guitars flashing deadly over a wasteground rubble of noise.  Songs drawn up from discord, songs of marshalled cacophony, coils of scritching guitars break apart and reform, coalescing around insistent basslines and heavy drumbeats, before splintering again. It's hardcore constructed from textured noise as much as from breakdowns and riffs, rumbling infectious chants emerging from the wavering clamor, the vile keening of consciousness's half-known edges, noise in the grain of it all, noise as bedrock, an abrasive acid bath of fuzz, susurration and machinewhirr.  SMASH MY FUCKIN' HEAD AGAINST THE WALL" is the line that opens it up, rising out of Interplanetary Bad Boy's hissing swell. Driven through the album are anguished explorations of interior/exterior limits, whirling around viciously in the grubby borders of your skull, spinning hopelessly in the cosmic of the aether, untethered, higher than the sky but way down in the muck. From Gak Attack's claustrophobic pogo or Last Smash's drawling thump to Star Slammers manic tumble and Dread Future's rolling barrage, The Lowest Form have brought together another LP of murdered-out panicattack punk, lithe and unleashed, born of bad vibes and background radiation, an album at once uncomfortably close and fully heavy." -Joe Briggs

KLOUT "Demo" 7" (Not For You Recordings)
Brand new band out of South Florida. Think 86 MENTALITY with some d-beats here and there also taking cues from classic 80's hardcore bands. Klout is hard hitting and in your face. Pick up a tape before they're all gone.

FLASHER "S/T" LP (Sister Polygon Records)
Vinyl version of the debut EP from Washington, DC's FLASHER. A bionic electricity from the parallel timespace of 30 years before and since, who is Flasher? What did unnaturally scripted television programs about man as robot have to say about cybernetics? The future is an x-ray machine and this movie is about seeing through your own body. 7 songs to soundtrack what's happened to the city before and since. Flasher is a music group from Washington, DC featuring Taylor Mulitz, Emma Baker and Daniel Saperstein.

ERIK NERVOUS "Teen Distortion Art Junk Music" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Remember what it was like being a bored teenager? The awkward feelings of being frustrated and anxious all the time. Most of us just took it out on our friends and parents, not Erik Nervous. The self-described “Loner with a four track” lays it all out in his music. His spastic jerky delivery (on all the instruments he plays on this 7”) combined with his apprehensive vocals are the perfect combination! Punk is built on this formula but rarely do we have somebody like Erik to execute it in the way it should be done. Building on what he started with the Warm Ratio 7”, this EP certifies that Erik is right where others strive to be. Don’t snooze on this one!

BETA BOYS "After Dark" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Finally, it’s here! More new music from the Beta Boys! After a standout 7” on Eat The Life/Lumpy Records and some demos the world has been thirsting for more. Beta Boys have a sound that is a call back to when punk was fresh without sounding like a boring rehash band. All of their songs have a rhythmic echo that stays in your head for days after hearing it. The inconsistent sloppy delivery over a classic mid-tempo 80s punk sound make for an excellent combination. This band fills all the void in your records right now.

WOODBOT "Krang Gang" LP (Neck Chop Records)
WOODBOOT'S ON THE STREET AGAIN!!!! There is no better way to introduce the Neck Chop Records label than to do it with a limited vinyl pressing of the first WOODBOOT demo cassette from 2014. WOODBOOT have been compared to The Ramones and The Spits but they are much more than that. Each song is a one to two minute blast impregnating your ears with sing-along rage! This demo serves as the foundation to WOODBOOT's takeover of your turntable - then the world! This demo was followed up by the catchy "Crime Time" LP on Erste Theke Tontraeger and a brilliant 7" on Total Punk (both available in the shop as well). Get off my street motherfucker!

ACRYLICS "S/T" 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Acrylics change the hardcore game with their sound while everybody else is trying to sound the same. There is a fun sound brewing in the bay area right now and Acrylics are at the forefront of that! I couldn't be more proud and excited to release this S/T EP on a one-sided 12". Previously released on cassette on Discontinuous Innovation in a run of 150 that were gone in a blink. We've now had it remastered for vinyl by the great Will Killingsworth and put it on a one sided 12". Very proud of this one!

PMS 84 "S/T (2nd)" 7" (Nightmare Records)
2nd proper vinyl release from this Portland-based hardcore punk band featuring 4 brand new tracks!  On this new EP, PMS 84 has gone through a lineup change with Jesse (formerly of Koward) taking over vocal duties.  The difference in the vocals makes the band come across more tough and less snotty, but they still stay true to their brand of bouncy, bass-up-front, UK82-style punk that you'd come to expect after hearing their first 7".

NURSE "S/T" 7" (Scavenger of Death Records)
One asskicker of a hardcore 45. 4 tracks, bleak and catchy. A vocalist that lives his lyrics, just Blind Lemon Jefferson. Someone called them funeral hardcore and I heard that in retaliation the singer ACTUALLY killed them.

DD OWEN "Violent Pacifier" 7" (Windian Records)
What happens when SICK THOUGHTS' Drew Owen finds a keyboard and a SCREAMERS record? He adds three more distortion pedals and calls it DD OWEN … The first of many releases under this moniker, Drew's cover of GARY WRONG's "Setting Fire to Your Loft" may make for the best B-side of this entire box…

FLASHER "S/T" Tape (Sister Polygon Records)
The debut EP on cassette from FLASHER. Cassette comes with a digital download code. A bionic electricity from the parallel timespace of 30 years before and since, who is Flasher? What did unnaturally scripted television programs about man as robot have to say about cybernetics? The future is an x-ray machine and this movie is about seeing through your own body. 7 songs to soundtrack what's happened to the city before and since. Flasher is a music group from Washington, DC featuring Taylor Mulitz, Emma Baker and Daniel Saperstein.

ANUSOL "Extra Strength" 7" (Dark Raids Records)
Heavily influenced by the Kyushu City Hard-core scene that was around in the mid 80's Anusol has catchy bass lines and constant drums beats that will play over and over in your head. Top it off with a howl of screams that crashes over the entire sound! It has catchy hooks similar to classics like the "Extermination" or Nuclear Addicts" flexi's but it holds it's own modern identity within the "noize-core" sound.

DISGUISE "System Shock" 7" (Milk Run Records)
Debut 7" from Disguise, with 7 blistering tracks of Japanese influenced hardcore punk, for fans of Execute, Bastard and Kuro. Limited pressing on yellow vinyl 500 only.

CHEENA "Spend the Night With…" LP (Sacred Bones Records)
Don’t sleep. Don’t retreat. Stay a while. Let’s spend the night together. Cheena testify to a long history of New York nights, trading insults and borrowing beer at rooftop parties that began years ago. There’s plenty of New York in this band – Lou Reed’s better glam punches found a jawline or two among them, the heavy handed playing of the Dolls, and that particular manner of NY glam you can hear in Kiss – that’s all in Cheena. Spend The Night With… is a soundtrack to nights where revelry and lust are never isolated from poor decisions and vanity, where the grave sincerity of a bathroom confession explodes into cruelty and hysteria, nights on busy streets or crowded subway cars coloured with elegant ambition and constrained by the practicality of street smarts. – DX

MIKEY ERG "Tentative Decisions" LP (Don Giovanni Records)
Having played on numerous records, accompanying so many other artists on the drums, Tentative Decisions is the first true Mikey Erg solo effort. It's Mikey down to the nuts and bolts. It's also the first album of original material he's released since The Ergs "Upstairs/Downstairs", nearly ten years ago. The familiar, second-generation Ramones worship is in tact, which will satisfy the diehard fans hoping against hope that Mikey will get the old band back together. But there are nuanced touches that make Tentative Decisions wholly unique in the canon of Mikey's prolific output. Moments that touch on almost Celtic and British folk influences in their melodic structure act to refine the blaring down-stroked power chords and driving mid-tempo pop punk drum patterns. Most of the songs were written in the latter half of last year, Mikey says. It came together pretty quickly which I love. Everything about the record fell into place totally organically. For a musician with as many notches in his belt as Mikey Erg, it can be difficult to determine the impact of, and weigh the meaning behind each particular release. But Tentative Decisions is the closest thing you can get to an unaltered Mikey expression, maybe even moreso than some of the most celebrated albums he's released over the years.

SLAPSHOT "Step On It" LP (Taang Records)
In 1988, with the youth-crew movement in full swing, Slapshot was just breaking out up in Boston, MA, fronted by Choke of Negative FX and Last Rites fame. They took the straight edge theme and put a much more negative spin on it than what was going on in New York and Connecticut, and had a decidedly more punk sound too. "Step On It" was the first LP from this now-legendary crew. Now available again on vinyl.

LIFE / INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL "Life Survival" Split 7" (Desolate Records)
Two bands that have refined their respective sounds from noisey punk and metallic grindcore into genre expanding contributions to DIY punk rock. Instinct of Survival (Hamburg, Germany) continue to flavor their stench core influenced punk with a industrial melodic sensibility reminiscent of early Killing Joke. LIFE (Tokyo, Japan) again proove they are the best thing going in crasher crust style punk with three tracks that deliver all the pounding, reverb drenched bombardment you need from the genre while finding room for some amazing melodies and guitar work. Essential material from both bands. Artwork by the Human Warhead Yeap. Screen printed covers.

INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL "North of Nowhere" LP (Desolate Records)
Nine hymns of misanthropic nihilism, unmatched in the present landscape of underground music. It’s got the brutal-as-fuck atmosphere of the early Death Metal ala Autopsy, Entombed or Death, crossed with the aggressive fuck-off riffing of Deviated Instinct, Sepultura or Hellbastard and the miserable, chained to oblivion sound aesthetics of Amebix and Axegrinder. With riffs that nearly fucking snap your neck and a guitar sound that is blunt and bludgeoning, simultaneously raw and cutting, the axe is at the forefront of these songs. The vocals are snarls of loathsome desperation, the production simply immaculate. The drumming is martial and pounding; adding depth and contour to what are essential simple Thrash riffs, yet the key to this is simplicity in execution and complexity in structure and composition. The self titled track is unlike anything I’ve heard in crust for years, whilst the venomous barbarity and razor-sharp guitars of ‘Human?’ and ‘Suffocation’ are simply incredible.

DISCREPANCY "Where the Strength Lies" 7" (Youngblood Records)
Discrepancy's absolute powerhouse of a demo pressed onto vinyl. 4 tracks of intense O.C. Hardcore. This is a one-time pressing strictly limited to 500 copies.

ADVAETA "Death and the Internet" LP (Firetalk Records)
Advaeta is the collaborative project of Brooklyn based musicians Lani Combier-Kapel, Amanda Salane and Sara Fantry. With a complex sound that is heavily melodic, loud and textural, they grind velvet harmonies and lush noise into a landscape that is both evocative and wholly enveloping.
 
EXCEL "The Joke's On You" LP (Southern Lord Records)
Originally released via Caroline Records, and produced by Randy Burns (Megadeth, Kreator, Possessed), The Joke’s On You, is the band’s second full-length which saw wide acclaim from thrash, punk, metal and “skate rock” circles (members have been known to have shared a ramp with pros Christian Hosoi, Eric Dressen and Tony Alva). Drawing influence from a diverse range of artists including Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Jimi Hendrix, and early era Corrosion of Conformity, people often talk of ‘crossover’ genres but none quite do it as exceptionally well as Excel. The Southern Lord reissue, remastered by Brad Boatright, includes the 12 tracks featured on the original CD edition. The closing track 'Blaze Some Hate' was not on the original album  (it was released as a 12" single via Caroline) , it will appear on this LP reissue/remaster. This isn’t the first time Southern Lord have documented the importance of Excel either with their 2014 reissue of the band’s first album Split Image.

DESECHABLES "La Maqueta" LP (Munster Records)
Desechables formed around 1980 in Vallirana, a village in the Barcelona suburbs where three friends got together to create one of Spain's most visceral and dirtiest primitive rock groups: Tere (screams), Miguel (guitar), and Dei Pei (snare and tom). Tere was 14, Dei Pei was 17, and Miguel was the oldest of the three at 22. Without any musical knowledge, Miguel established a unique personal guitar style that would define the Desechable sound. Pei recalls, "Our way of rehearsing was like eternal zeroes, like mantras... Tere was especially amazing because Miguel was constantly having a go at her; come on baby, come on, come on. He got the shyness and childishness out of her teenage beauty, so blonde and so perfect." Jaime Gonzalo, music journalist and the band's friend, remembers the first time he saw them live: "It was spectacular. Spectacular in the sense that it was still a mirror copy of The Cramps and it didn't go beyond that ... But Miguel's guitar was hellish. They used their limitations well and achieved great chemistry." One day Pei went by the office of Ernest Casals, who ran the independent label Flor y Nata Records and wrote for the Radio Carolina fanzine, to tell him that the fanzine was shit, and left a low-fi demo on his desk with three tracks Desechables had recorded in a dubbing studio. The cassette was sent to Jesús Ordovás, a Radio 3 presenter in Madrid, who broadcast Desechables nationwide for the first time when he played "Fuera de la ley." Casals persuaded his partners that launching Desechables would be beneficial, and the first Desechables demo came out in 1982 (in an edition of 750) as the first release of the Anarchi Records sublabel, run by brothers Ferran Sahún and Joni Destruye and mainly conceived to release cassettes. It was recorded in just one evening without any kind of production, in a gloomy Barcelona studio in October of 1982. "There was a total connection the whole evening, we all had a great time and Miguel gave us a lot of confidence... We felt at home. From beginning to end, everything came out seamlessly," remembers Tere. The demo became the best Spanish garage punk artifact from the '80s and the best legacy from the original Desechables trio. This first vinyl edition includes "El peor dios," recorded at the same session but not featured on the original cassette.

GRATITUDE ZINE Issue #2
Hardcore zine for the hardcore. Featuring interviews with Red Death, Intent, and Depths of Reality - full size 36 page zine jam packed with HC goodness paying homage to the past several decades of HC greats, while keeping things relevant with some modern day hitters. The review section features some in depth (and fairly lengthy) reviews of everything from the Warzone S/T LP to the A-Team LP to the Give LP. Definitely reminds me a lot of a zine I would have picked up at a Posi-Numbers fest in the early-00s (lots of discussion that brings me back to what I'd frequently see on the Rev and Mullet boards, plus there is a fair amount of Mental/Lockin Out coverage in this as well). A great cross section of HC for the ages, keeping with the lineage of zines like Schism, Hardware, Contention, Town of Hardcore, or more recently Hashtag Hardcore or Mosher's Delight. Highly recommended for both scene newcomers and hc lifers alike.

MAXIMUMROCKNROLL #404 - January 2017
Maximum Rocknroll #404, the January 2017 issue is here! In light of the impending Trump presidency, we have a very useful guide to basic cybersecurity, revolutionary reading lists, Q&A’s from Transgress Fest, and more. We have photo spreads from Static Shock Fest and the current Mexico City punk scene, plus interviews with Copenhagen/worldwide queer art punks PRISON, Kansas City freaks PHANTOM HEAD, and everyone’s favorite Berlin-based phenomenon DIÄT. Dublin post-punkers the BLOW INS talk about carving out space for Polish punks in a new country, Baltimore’s QUITTER share the trials and tribulations of gas station food and sweaty jumpsuits, and Oakland’s HARD LEFT can’t decide if they are hard mod or utopian Oi! (maybe Turbo can help?). It all wraps up with Canadian raw punk band PARASYTES, a joint interview with LAKES and TOL (two Australian bands that share members), and Scottish vegan straightedge riot grrrls BRATAKUS. Get it today!

PRIMAL RITE "Complex Life of Passion" Tape (Pop Wig Records)
Tape version on Pop Wig Records also features two additional tracks from Primal Rite's debut EP.The second offering from San Francisco's PRIMAL RITE. Following up an impressive debut single, "Complex Life of Passion" delivers a barrage of pure sonic brutality, drawing on an array of influences ranging from classic thrash and OSDM to Japanese and Clevo Hardcore. From the EP's looming intro to its pulverizing close, Primal Rite manage to bring nothing less than sheer hardcore devastation from start to finish, firmly asserting their position as a band to watch for in 2017.

V/A - YOUNGBLOOD RECORDS 2016 Sampler Tape (Youngblood Records)
New sampler tape from YOUNGBLOOD RECORDS featuring tracks from both current YB roster STAND OFF and DISCREPANCY, plus upcoming bands DC DISORDER and LINE OF SITE.

B.D. Demo 2016 Tape
B.D. is from the Bay Area and features members of Midnite Snaxxx and Baus. B.D. had a song on last year's Typical Girls comp LP, which was compiled by Camylle, B.D.'s singer, and released by Emotional Response. B.D. has also released records under the names Bad Daddies and The Reynolds Family.

JOINT D "Intelligence" Tape (Scavenger of Death Records)
The third and finest full length from Joint Damage. Ten sonic punksplorations charting the growth of the manimal, the withering of the state, and humanity's collective hurtling towards planar emigration.  125 copies on tape.

NAG "S/T" Tape (Scavenger of Death Records)
7 tracks from the songwriting machine behind Predator & GHB, marching into new territory with the same Spartan kit. Dark, gritty, and suffering from terminal aggression, this tape plays like the fait accompli of a lifetime of anxious isolation. Comes with a digital download.

WASTE Demo Tape (Get Up and Fight Records)
Straight Edge from Sweden FFO youth of today, urban waste, straight ahead, impact unit etc.

GOVERNESS "S/T" Tape (Sister Polygon Records)
Mothers claim formidable space in rock and roll's greater body of subject matter (from Outkast's "Ms Jackson" to Danzig's "Mother" to the Shirelles "Mama Said" to Can's "Mother Sky") but rarely do the mothers get to speak for themselves. Governess' self-titled 8 song tape is a portrait of the traditional nuclear family through a lens often erased in the greater sociological landscape. What does it look like to be responsible for the unwaged labor of childcare and partnership? "We did not see our experiences being represented in any music we came across and wanted to create an honest and real representation," Says drummer Erin McCarley. She adds, "[The songs] may sound poppy and have some sweet melodies, but they are dark and come from a taboo place that most women and mothers do not speak of even amongst themselves." McCarley, Kieca Mahoney (bass) and Kim Weeks (guitar) live in the same neighborhood with their families. They met while organizing a parent-run cooperative preschool for their children and decided to write songs together. "Science was my savior until I turned nine," the trio begins on "Broken Glass." "I thought I wanted a test tube baby." McCarley's musical work has contributed much in the ways of vivid lyricism and sonic depth to Washington, DC's underground catalogue (see: Hand Grenade Job, Pygmy Lush, Hey Girl) but Governess is, collaboratively speaking, arguably her riskiest project yet. Of her bandmates, she says: "I think it's punk as fuck that Kim and Kieca were willing to pick up an instrument and join a band at this point in their lives, having not done something like this before." This kind of attitude and explorative musicianship is rarely paired with the insights of adulthood, let alone through such a socially prohibited narrator as a mother voicing misgivings, rage, desires and sadness. Weeks' guitar is sparse and sharp recalling inventiveness of projects in which the instrument isn't a given, but a choice. Mahoney's bass is similarly taut and responsible for many of the song's hooks. My favorite track is the last, as there is something about the chorus of "let 'em go, fucking runaways, they can't ever understand this feeling" that rings infinitely more true than if it were sung by teenagers in love. Governess is probably not interested in the punker-than-thou olympics, but would likely take home a prize.

KAG "EP A" Tape (Sister Polygon Records)
KAG 'EP A' is a 15 minute EP of music inspired by weird suburbia, formidable famous women, and the 1947 film Black Narcissus. KAG is a solo moniker for Katie Alice Greer (Priests) who began writing and recording these songs at home after moving outside of a city for the first time in a decade.

RUBBLE Demo Tape (Dark Raids Records)
Brand new band out of Portland, OR debut demo of UK82 / Anarcho inspired punk! Rubble has a fantastic sound with songs that will have you instantly singing along. Think somewhere in between The Expelled, Action Pact mixed with the first Honey Bane 7". UK82 in 2k16!

SCYTHE Demo Tape (Dark Raids Records)
New band from the Bay area playing gruff hardcore-punk. Scythe's sound is something like the grim vocals of Tranquilizer or Zouo with the stompy corroded sound of United Mutation & Gasmask.

SCHIAVI "Locked Inside E.P." Tape
New tape from Richmond, VA's SCHIAVI. Ripping hc punk.

UNKNOWN THREAT, THE 2016 Demo Tape
New DC hcpunk band.

LAUGHING BOY Demo Tape (Slow Death Records)
New band featuring members of Koszmar, Disgusti, Oaf and others. Mix of Swedish d-beat with aggressive US hardcore.

CRUMB Demo Tape (Slow Death Records)
New band made up of young bloods who have also done time in Oaf. Mid-temp hardcore but with almost a spacey post-punk vibe at times.

WATCHDOG Demo Tape (Slow Death Records)
Members of Goms changed their name to Watchdog to reflect their newer musical direction. heavier and angrier than the Goms EP that came out earlier this year.

POLICY OF TRUTH Demo Tape (Slow Death Records)
Another new band that have played a handful of excellent shows so far. stripped down east coast inspired hardcore.

V/A "Dangerhouse Vol. 2" Tape (Burger Records)
Compilation of early DANGERHOUSE RECORDS singles, featuring Randoms, Weirdos, Black Randy & The Metrosquad, Deadbeats, Eyes, Dils, Avengers, Rhino 39, Bags, Alley Cats, Howard Werth & X. 12 tracks.

MEAN JEANS "On Mars" Tape (Burger Records)
Portland's premier party punks The Mean Jeans return with their long-awaited follow up to 2009's Are You Serious! This is a different album, though, more mid-tempo catchier, and poppier (but less "pop punk" if you know what we mean) than their debut. In addition to the standard 3 piece instrumentation, Mean Jeans On Mars also features, at various times, acoustic guitar (!), keyboards (!), drum machines (!), empty Jaeger bottles (!) and boxes of macaroni (!) played as extra percussion. Oh and it also features the debut of new member Jr. Jeans on bass! (Howie Doodat is busy tearing up Portland in the Suicide Notes!) This is a fantastic, exhilarating summertime pop album, so down a couple of jaegy bombs and get ready to moonwalk into the unknown with the Mean Jeans!

Restocks for December 16, 2016:

ANTIDOTE "Thou Shalt Not Kill" 7"
BAD BRAINS "Pay to Cum" 7"
BIG EYES "Almost Famous" Tape
LEMONHEADS "Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners" 7"
NEGATIVE FX "VFW" 7"
PENETRATORS, THE "Teenage Lifestyle" 7"
RIXE "Coups et Blessures" 7"
RIXE "Les Nerfs A Vif" 7"
WETBRAIN "S/T" 7"
ZERO "Paradox" 7"

ANXIETY "S/T" 12"
BATTALION OF SAINTS "Second Coming" LP
BELGRADO "Siglo XXI" LP
BIG BOYS "Fun Fun Fun" LP
CHAIN OF STRENGTH "The One Thing That Still Holds True" LP
DARK THOUGHTS "S/T" LP
DISCLOSE "Yesterday's Fairytale, Tomorrow's Nightmare" LP
FLEX, THE "Wild Stabs in the Dark" LP
G-GAS "Generation Gas" LP
JUANITA Y LOS FEOS "Nueva Numancia" LP
LATISHIA'S SKULL DRAWING "Romanticized" 12"
LEEWAY "Born to Expire" LP
LEEWAY "Desperate Measures" LP
PART 1 "Funeral Parade" LP
POISON IDEA "Record Collectors are Pretentious Assholes" LP
PRIESTS "Bodies and Control and Money and Power" LP
SIDE BY SIDE "You're Only Young Once" LP
SLANT 6 "Soda Pop Rip Off" LP
V/A - "Killed by Deathrock Vol. 1" Compilation LP
V/A - "New York City Hardcore: The Way it Is" Compilation LP
V/A "Flex Your Head" Compilation LP
ZERO "S/T" LP

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

WEBSTORE UPDATE: New WARTHOG, BLAZING EYE, MOMMY, LIQUIDS, BIB, and MORE!

This month has been nuts for new distro stuff! Quite the haul in this update that's for sure, and we'll get to that in a sec ...
 
A quick bit of label news first - the newest Grave Mistake release, Primal Rite's Complex Life of Passion 7", is officially out now (as well as the cassette version which is available through Pop Wig). We still have a few color copies up in the webstore, so if you still haven't picked up this EP then you haven't missed out on the fancy limited purple vinyl we pressed up for mailorder.
 
Primal Rite and Mad Existence (who have their debut EP out on Vinyl Conflict) finished up a short but sweet east coast tour a few weeks back, and reports are that it went really well - so thanks to everyone involved in making that happen (promoters, bands, anyone that came out) - very excited about this new EP, as well as their upcoming releases on Revelation Records in 2017!
 
Complex Life of Passion should be hitting your favorite stores and distros this month so keep an eye out, and if you want to pick up copies wholesale then just email me and I'll get you sorted.
 
GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS - WEBSTORE UPDATE 10.26.16
 
 
For quick browsing of recent additions to the store, you can check out all of these titles mentioned below in the New Arrivals and Recent Restocks sections!
 
A jam packed update featuring a ton of new stuff, so let's get into it. So technically, the new Warthog 7" on Beach Impediment isn't exactly "new" seeing as it was released at the end of August - but the first press came and went quicker than I could get it into an update! Now that it's back in print, decided to throw it at the top of the list for any of you who missed out on the first go around! Killer hc out of the big apple, definitely their strongest material to date.
 
One of the releases I'm most stoked about in this update is the new Liquids LP - I was able to import a handful of copies from Drunken Sailor in the UK, so you should definitely check it out while you can. I also picked up a couple copies of the Marvelous Mark Crushin' LP (also on Drunken Sailor), which has been on constant rotation here at GMHQ for a while now - two completely different sounding bands but both HIGHLY recommended.
 
In other new releases, stocked up on the Mommy LP on Toxic State - we also still have a few copies of the Haram 7" as well as restocks on LPs from La Misma, L.O.T.I.O.N., and Hank Wood and the Hammerheads; grabbed the latest slab of wax from LA's Blazing Eye - their Ways to Die tape from last year finally getting the vinyl treatment; the debut EP from Cleveland's Vanilla Poppers; two great reissues from Brazil's Nada Nada Discogs - the 3D Vortex #1 7" and the Os Replicantes Compacto 7"; and the first two releases from the new VA based Dig! Records - those being a brand new 7" from power-poppers Patsy's Rats and a quality reissue from early 80's VA based power pop band The Strand.
 
A handful of new releases from Deranged Records in this update as well - we've got brand new EPs from Bib, Color TV, and Youth Avoiders, plus new LPs from Mongoloid and Worse, as well as a reissue of the first Violent Minds LP Eyes of Death; four new releases from Iron Lung Records - Latishia's Skull Drawing 12", Private Room LP, Intensive Care 7", and Wound Man 7"; and new stuff from Lumpy Records - Hairlong N Freeky 7", Uranium Club 7", Dangus Tarkus 7", and The Wad 7" (not to mention a restock on the Lumpy and the Dumpers Collection LP).
 
Finally - some cool new tapes and zines, like the Hotheads demo, the Fried Egg mixtape comp, Culprit and Payday demos out of the UK, the first issue of Low Fidelity out of the UK, and the latest issue of As Bad As It IS Zine. Not to mention, a handful of restocks as usual.
 
Full list with descriptions is below, check it out!
 
GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS
Site | Webstore | Bandcamp | Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram
 
 
New Titles in the Webstore for October 26, 2016:
 
WARTHOG "S/T" 7" (Beach Impediment Records)
NYC hardcore punks WARTHOG return with what could possibly be their best recorded output yet. It's been a couple years since their EP's on Katorga Works and Iron Lung Records were unleashed upon us all and in that time the members of the Hog have perfected their particular formula and have finally delivered four more tracks of pounding hardcore savagery that stands out ten fold from most of the bullshit that fans of the genre are bombarded with on a regular basis. Are you a functioning human in a functioning world? Each record comes in a glue pocket sleeve along with a two color risograph printed insert.

BLAZING EYE "Ways to Die" 7" (Overdose Records)
New vinyl release of Blazing Eye's "Ways to Die" tape from 2015. Four songs about pigs, stabbings, beatings and the morbid fascination. Hailing from Los Angeles BLAZING EYE sound lay somewhere between ZOUO, THE SEXUAL and QLOAQA LETAL. That is Japanese inspired hardcore punk with demonic vocals and hard as nail beats which is extremely hard to shake once you hear it.

MOMMY "Songs About Children" LP (Toxic State Records)
"This might be the most singular and unique punk record to be released in 2016. An incredible example of the true spirit of what made the contemporary NYC punk scene so special, as it is a completely enveloping experience that brings the listener into the harrowing an unwelcoming world of mental illness in ways few bands ever have, which spiritually aligns Mommy with a bands like Rudimentary Peni without feeling the need to try and sound like them. Punk should be difficult and challenging, not tepid rehashings of former glory, and this record is certainly challenging. Essential."

VANILLA POPPERS "Lurking in the Corner of Cleveland Ohio" 7" (Negative Jazz Records)
Debut ep from Australian/Ohio quartet Vanilla Poppers. Coming off of a very successful US tour, Vanilla Poppers offer up 6 blistering tracks of raw, unhinged, in your face punk.

OS REPLICANTES "Compacto" 7" (Nada Nada Discos)
REPLICANTES is probably the most famous punk rock (not hardcore) band from Brazil, their three first LPs were release by major labels, but before that in 1984 they recorded a, very rare, self-released 7" on their label, Vortex. On the 7" you can hear much rawer versions of songs that became classics on their first LPs, "Surfista Calhorda" and "O Futuro é Vortex," and two other songs that were never rerecorded. This reissue was remastered from the original tapes and comes with an extra 16-page booklet full of info, flyers, text and photos by Rochelle Costi, a great brazilian artist that made the artwork for the 7".

3D "Vortex #1" 7" (Nada Nada Discos)
Three girls from the South of Brazil, that never touched an instrument entered the studio and made a few songs, than invited a friend that's a classical acoustic guitar player to join the band and the result is the punkest thing that ever came out of Porto Alegre. The music is punk rock, but you can hear post-punk, hardcore, and even a bit of UK DIY. It looks terrible but is completely great! This 11 songs are the first band recording, from Vortex Studios and was released as a split tape with THE COBAIAS in 1988.

LIQUIDS "Hot Liqs" LP (Drunken Sailor Records)
16 brand-spanking-new recordings from this fantastic Indiana punk rock n’ roll group “Hot Liqs” is a total god-send. Sixteen new Liquids recordings, making a return to approximately 75% of their songs that have found their way onto cassettes in the past, along with what I believe to be a completely new instrumental, “Howdy”. By now, everybody is already way past-familiar with the Liquid’s splendor, but be prepared to be impressed even further with the majority of these recordings.  A number of these tracks have such radical changes that can instantly revitalize year-old material. “Sick Shit”, “Dumb as Fuck”, and “Heart Beats True” are the first few songs with significant changes that come to mind, but a number of other tracks follow suit by further embellishing the already brilliant music through additional chords and hot, hot licks. The Liquids has never sounded so fresh before. It may only have one new song, but this is easily my most favorite Liquids release, hands down. So many gems make a much welcome return, like “I Killed Donald Trump” (now stylized as “I Killed D.T.) and “Permission Slip”. Hell, “Dumb as Fuck” only appeared on their “Live at Mat’s House” cassette, meaning this is the song’s first real appearance on a stand-alone release, as far as I can tell. I think it goes without saying about how good this release is, it’ll be sure to woo anyone who considers themselves a Liquids fan."

BIB "Pop" 7" (Deranged Records)
Omaha, Nebraskas BIB presents POP. Their follow up release to their 2015 Demo. POP takes you on a panicked journey through a wormhole of anxiety and isolation. BIB continues their wall of noise style production on this release, with delayed vocals that sound like they're being tossed off of a mountain. BIB mixes quick, full chord riffs with crushing breakdowns. Vocals weave between child like shrill barks, primordial grunts, and pressure reducing singing. The final track, P. M. F. ends the record with a chaotic blast of organ that perfectly captures BIB's pop and hardcore sound.

COLOR TV "S/T" 7" (Deranged Records)
Hailing from the Twin Cities, C-TV is new band featuring some of the folks who brought you The Retainers, W.H. Walker, and Cheap Time, among others. They play dynamic, hook-laden punk rock that is tight and to the point, with raw production that harkens back to the sounds of yesteryear. You can hear a range of influences that can be traced to the KBD bands, Good Vibrations label, assorted Oz punk, the Red Snerts: Sound of Gulcher comp, and an undeniable early Minneapolis sound via Suicide Commandos. Music that is short and sweet with a black eye.

MONGOLOID "Plays Rock and Roll" LP (Deranged Records)
BIG UGLY ROCK MACHINE rears its disgusted head out in a 17 minute fit of speed and beat. MONOGOLOID MONGLOID MONGOGLOID play to the tune of you spilling your drink as you fumble for your footing. Blitzed out guitars play in an echo of this world's upset youth- bringing a giant wake up call to the vapid and empty headed rather than the more common "MA AND PA SCREW OFF!!" Yeah some how that collosal man with a skin head found a marching whistle and the beat to back it all up in this upset display of HARDCORE played the way it was meant to be.

VIOLENT MINDS "Eyes of Death" LP (Deranged Records)
Repress of 2007 Eyes of Death album previously on Parts Unknown. The original recording was remastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege and now also includes two bonus tracks from a 2012 Paincave recording session. The repress also features new artwork by Raf the Might/Too Many Skulls.

YOUTH AVOIDERS "Spare Parts" 7" (Deranged Records)
Spare Parts is the new recording from Paris’s Youth Avoiders. The EP offers 4 new songs in the same vein as their 2014 album (also on Deranged) where the band perfected their brand of fast melodic hardcore like Career Suicide meets hook driven punk of the Red Dons.

WORSE "Rubber Burner" LP (Deranged Records)
New York City’s WORSE have made an LP of noisy rock’n’roll songs that don’t shy away from being punk. The band relies heavily on pop sensibilities while having guitars that blare through sounding not unlike the classic 90’s bands HARVEY MILK and HAMMERHEAD. The slugging-drawls of the instruments bleed into the two-singer vocals and what you’re left with is a puddle of punk rock goodness. The arrangements are complicated even in their brute force and the quick psychedelic dives show just how compelling a two minute, three chord song can be. The band has been compared to “Floyd the Barber”-era NIRVANA and FLIPPER, but this LP draws more from bands like COWS or even BUTTHOLE SURFERS than it does the Pacific Northwest sound. The hardest part of describing “RUBBER BURNER” is that all nine songs stand alone independent of each other. The members of worse have been in bands like NOMOS, BATTLETORN, GRIDS, and SYPHILITIC LUST and all three members played together in NYC’s unforgiving SHOXX. “RUBBER BURNER” was recorded by BEN GREENBERG and mastered by WILL KILLINGSWORTH.

MARVELOUS MARK "Crushin" LP (Drunken Sailor Records)
Amazing debut LP from the former Marvelous Darlings man. After his debut 7" earlier this year 'Bite Me, Mark is back with his infectious pop. Marvelous Mark is the moniker of Mark Fosco, formerly of the band Marvelous Darlings, which also included Matt Delong from No Warning and Ben Cook who plays guitar in Fucked Up. Essentially they were a Toronto punk supergroup "before they were famous", but their limited catalogue - a string of seven-inches - stuck like staples within a cult fanbase long after they called it quits. "Sounding a bit like Big Star with power-pop overtones and a pop-punk driving force, Crushin' is a collection of songs bursting with feeling that sound like they were written while the sun was either going down or coming up." FFO Weezer, Tony Molina, Teenage Fanclub.

MARVELOUS MARK "Bite Me" 7" (Drunken Sailor Records)
Marvelous Mark is the moniker of Mark Fosco, formerly of the band Marvelous Darlings, which also included Matt Delong from No Warning and Ben Cook who plays guitar in Fucked Up. Essentially they were a Toronto punk supergroup "before they were famous", but their limited catalogue - a string of seven-inches - stuck like staples within a cult fanbase long after they called it quits. Now Mark has a solo project. With the title track previously released on Ben Cook's own label Bad Actors, Bite Me is made up of three succinct tracks so infectious they should come with their own NHS advice leaflet. We’re talking power-pop with punk roots. It's every bit as brilliant as you'd expect from a guy who uses "Marvelous" as a prelude to his actual name.

PATSY'S RATS "Burnin' Honey" 7" (Dig! Records)
Who is Patsy and what’s up with her Rats? Patsy is Patsy Gelb, formerly of Scavenger Cunt and occasional collaborator of her father, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. Her Rats consist of main-squeeze Christian Blunda (erstwhile Billy Jeans of Mean Jeans) and a rotating door of rock ‘n’ roll vermin-for-hire. DIG! RECORDS is pleased as spiked-punch to present PATSY’S RATS second sizzlin’ slab of RAW POWER POP greatness as a one-time pressed 45 (limited to 300 copies). A-side “Burnin’ Honey” is a bona fide glam punk stomper, while B-side “Nowhere Close” is an epic pop nugget set to cruise control! RIYDig: SUZI QUATRO, THE SHIVVERS, THE STRAND

STRAND, THE "Seconds Waiting" LP (Dig! Records)
Classic power pop reissue from ’83 with unreleased studio track! DIG! Records is proud to announce the archival reissue of THE STRAND’s debut album, Seconds Waiting, originally released by Wasp Records in 1983. An unlikely piece in the underground rock’n’roll puzzle – as much so then as it is now – THE STRAND hail from Old Town, Virginia, a city known more for it’s Presidential Masonic temple than an original independent music scene. Situated on the Potomac River across from D.C. and its much-lauded hardcore scene, its no surprise that with the exception of diehard music nuts the THE STRANDS recorded output has remained an obscurity. NO MORE. By design, pop back-catalogues are a mess of two-or-so minute sides: one-hit-wonders, near misses and flat out failed attempts. SECONDS WAITING, recorded in ’82 at Hit & Run Studios (yeah, like the early Void demos), makes good on POPS PROMISE with a full album worth of hits – take your pick! It’s a rare instance of the power pop gestalt fully realized.

BAD NOIDS "It's a Doggie Bag World" 7" (Feel It Records)
Cleveland's resident punk geniuses and troublemakers are back with a new EP, possibly the best sonic reductions that BAD NOIDS have committed to vinyl. “Into The Future” is a strikingly simple, yet instantly memorable and aggressive punk hit, bearing torch to the top shelf lineage of Cleveland punk doled out over the decades by labels like Drome and Non-Commercial. Side B features two quick and snappy blasts of perfectly disaffected hardcore punk slop, a bit more of a recognizable BAD NOIDS sound from previous outings on Katorga Works and Saucepan, yet even tighter and further refined with age. With clever lines such as “I hate water, it makes me wet” you can bet that BAD NOIDS haven't drifted too far from the Cleveland water supply, though they will be touring Europe for the second time on the heels of this 7”. Recorded by the same folks that brought you Cruelster/Perverts Again and with stunning artwork by W.Mass legend Tony Pasquarosa (SQRM, Gluebag, Burnt Envelope) this is a real gamma ray blast into the future.

COLD MEAT "Jimmy's Lipstick" 7" (Helta Skelta Records)
The debut 7" from this new band from Perth, Australia. Cold Meat bring you four tracks of snotty, snarky feminist punk which takes cues from somewhere in between the Electric Eels and the Nixe, as well as contemporary London punk. Although, really, this is just raw terse punk played with a certain amount of aggression and despair. You can feel years of anger and frustration condensed down into a four track / nine minute fuck you to toxic relationships, subjection and self doubt.

NANCY "With Child" LP (Eat the Life Records)
Finally these Brooklyn based power-pop blockhead goofballs have brought us With Child. Yes, yes it's true they are now with child and it's quite...pretty. You may be familiar with them from their quality 2013 demo tape that featured such smooth hits as I Want One, Midnite, and Holiday. Well there are eight new songs for the glam punk side of your brain to hear. There is one cover song and it's done the NANCY way.

CCTV "S/T" 7" (Lumpy Records)
Debut 7" from this Coneheads-affiliated band from Northwest Indiana. 2nd press.

URANUIM CLUB "Who Made the Man?" 7" (Lumpy Records)
More often than not, a good punk 7” is exciting rather than ambitious—a couple minutes of guitar-heavy aggression that generally stick to their lane. But Uranium Club don’t keep things simple with the A-side of their new single. “Who Made the Man?” opens with joyous, frantic punk that belongs in the same camp as their NWI punk counterparts or the band’s Lumpy Records labelmates. The sunny start doesn’t stick around for long, as a bit of wild drumming shifts them toward a dour churn. By the end of the song’s five minutes, it makes the long, gradual transition from upbeat punk jam to jagged, existential post-punk panic. They pose the titular question a few times (“Who made the man???”), and while their voices have this lighthearted nasal quality, it’s an interesting thought—how much of a person’s success is built from someone else’s work? “You tailored the suit/but I make the loot,” they sing, defiantly. As the song winds down, the band’s words fall away in favor of a whirring noise and the continuous ding of a bell. Maybe it’s a cash register—the unwavering sound of the service industry. The synthesizers bring in a psychedelic sci-fi quality. The song fades out after five minutes, but it’s easy to wonder how much longer they could’ve stuck with it—to continue pursuing different moods. The length of a 7” is finite, but punk rarely feels this expansive.

HAIRLONG N FREEKY "S/T" 7" (Lumpy Records)
Splendid new wave from CODY featuring Marky on vocals. It is no accident that this is LR #69

DANGUS TARKUS "Binky Boy" 7" (Lumpy Records)
Commendable mongo new wave/punk, I am thrilled that this is finally out ! Stamped sleeves/center labels.

WAD, THE "S/T" 7" (Lumpy Records)
Outstanding new wave EP from rural Missouri. The world is not ready. Screen printed sleeves.

LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS "Collection" LP (Lumpy Records)
From time to time, LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS prove themselves to be the terminus of the Slime Punk Express. Blown out and covered in slime, Lumpy gnashes his way through these 12 tracks about ghouls, gnats, piss, sex pits and bad breath. In the realm of screaming, searing "throbbing idiot punk" (as LUMPY calls it), this is gold. It's fast, it's vicious, and it does not give a fuck. Total raw, warped punk just like I love it! LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS sound exactly like what you'd imagine Ren & Stimpy's latin-jazz freakout band! This band is about the filth inside, which is not to be confused with the darkness, it's not mental anguish and black godlusts that are spewing forth here, just the natural logistics of flesh, the slippery smelly stuff, honesty of form in the chitterlings and the old shambles. Semi-solid beings playing songs of uncomfortable physicality. Wrap this whole package up in an absolutely gorgeous 2-color, screen-printed sleeve (art by LUMPY himself) and you have a 100% essential hardcore LP.

WOUND MAN "Rolled" 7" (Iron Lung Records)
WOUND MAN is the fevered brain child of BREATHING FIRE’s Trevor Vaughn and continues to bulldoze in that harrowed vein. Steel heavy and nimble as a fox, with punishing blasts and wicked pounding sludge interlaced.  Recorded in New Bedford, My America on a 4 track by the man himself. Classy pocket sleeve and stickered bag house the limited blue vinyl or unlimited black. Get creepy.

INTENSIVE CARE "This is Exactly Who You Are" 7" (Iron Lung Records)
INTENSIVE CARE is the phoenix from the ashes of COLUMN OF HEAVEN, a band we all loved and few understood. Bright and angry. Don't relax and think this will be any easier for you to figure. Pure bitterness, cynicism and furor here. The amount of idiocy in the world is confounding. Let this reset your barometer.

LATISHA'S SKULL DRAWING "Romanticized" 12" (Iron Lung Records)
Do any of these apply to you? •Constant irritability •Significantly reduced interest or feeling no pleasure in all or most activities •Significant weight loss when not dieting, weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite •Insomnia or increased desire to sleep •Fatigue or loss of energy •Feelings of worthlessness, or excessive or inappropriate guilt •Trouble making decisions, or trouble thinking or concentrating •Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide, or a suicide attempt … If so, you are listening to the right record.

PRIVATE ROOM "Forever and Ever" LP (Iron Lung Records)
Forever and Ever, the debut album from Pacific Northwest power-trio PRIVATE ROOM, is a terse and tense record. With its discordantly bent notes, shots of industrial clang, atonal noise washouts, and boneheaded punk, the album cultivates a forbidding atmosphere for the sardonic lyrics to comfortably reside. With stunning album art provided by Justin Gallego (DREAMDECAY),  the stark future-vision of PRIVATE ROOM is immediately apparent. Although a charred cynicism colors Forever and Ever,  the music itself elbows at the boundaries of whatever genre - punk, hardcore, noise-rock, or any micro-niche thereof -one might apply to it. It suggests that patterns, be they imposed from above or within, are binds to be broken.

TORTURE CHAIN "Wasting Syndrome" LP (540 Records)
For the better part of the last decade, Torture Chain has consistently, if infrequently, released a succession of tapes, each more captivating than its predecessor. While garnering considerable praise from those who have taken notice of the band’s activities, Torture Chain has kept the scene at arm’s length, affording the band considerable latitude for its musical explorations while also ensuring a degree of mystery and anonymity surrounding the project. Having honed its approach, Torture Chain now presents “Wasting Syndrome,” the first proper full-length vinyl release in its catalog. This recording consists of just three tracks, and, like the band’s previous material, each one is sprawling, multi-dimensional, and variegated. Indeed, this album reflects the band’s most ambitious work to date. Stylistically, Torture Chain effortlessly bridge the chasm between the dramatic harshness of Second Wave European Black Metal and the compositional rigor and focused precision of traditional American Death Metal. One gets the impression when listening to Torture Chain that the band draws upon a far broader range of musical influences that add depth and complexity to the songwriting; however, the music remains appropriately tethered to tradition. The instrumentation on “Wasting Syndrome”—particularly the guitar work—is superb; melodies are strategically woven through a densely arranged latticework of riffs and percussion, and interspersed throughout the songs are sharply delivered and well-positioned guitar leads that forestall any compositional monotony. Effortlessly, the band navigates seemingly incompatible time signatures and shifts in tempo. Shifts in mood are equally abundant. At times, the band revels in depressive and melodious atmospherics, while other passages are frenzied and unhinged, stretching to the edge of chaos—disparate pieces artfully stitched together with masterful precision. For Torture Chain, these extremes are not merely endpoints on a linear continuum. Rather, they represent vertices about which the band constructs a more complicated structure, the shape of which—indiscernible up close—reveals itself most clearly when observed from a distance. Though the performance is often abrasive, the production on the album is warm and sharp, owing to the role played in the recording by Arthur Rizk, known for having recorded Inquisition and Prurient among others. Darkest Heavy is honored to release “Wasting Syndrome” in this single edition of 500 copies featuring artwork by Josh McAlear and Will Boone.

CHAOS UK "Shit Man Fucker" 7" (540 Records)
Over the past 35+ years, Bristol’s Chaos UK have helped to pioneer so many different styles that it’s difficult to keep track. Getting a handle on the embarrassment of riches that is their discography is difficult enough; mapping the influence they’ve had on worldwide punk and hardcore would be a herculean task, though one would be remiss not to mention how central their sound is to the development of Kyushu-style noise-punk and Burning Spirits hardcore in Japan. Now they’re back with a brand new 4-song EP, and it’s as loud, political, and uncompromising as anything they’ve done before. You can hear strains of their old stuff throughout these tracks: the catchy choruses of their earliest Riot City-era singles; the noise and the manic pogo beats of their Short, Sharp, Shock period; the metallic crunch of their 90s material. While it’s tempting to call this new EP a distillation of everything that’s come before, in reality it’s simply a band who has remained consistently innovative and exciting for nearly four decades doing what they do best.

HUMILIATION "4 Song" 7" (Warthog Speak Records)
The vinyl debut from this Arizona powerhouse is a noisy, claustrophobic cacophonic amalgam of 1990s discordant freedom, the '10's acceptance of noise rock-ery, and the current crop's ability to re-shape hardcore into a slithering amoebic serpent. Akin to a mix of Groundwork, Rorschach, Walls, and some other modern HC giant that I can't put my finger on.

HOTHEADS Demo Tape (Just a Audial)
New band / recording from NYC’s Hotheads. Members of Brain Slug, Deflect, Krimewatch, and NYC Headhunters.

FRIED EGG Mixtape - V/A - Tape (Fried Egg Ltd.)
FRIED EGG steps into the mixtape game with this 16 track volume of new/exclusive tuneage. You get two outtakes from the FRIED EGG "Incredible Flexible Egg" session plus one track each from a strong cast of North American rockers including DEFORMITY, H8, RUBBER MATE, RIK AND THE PIGS, and QUITTER plus Australian heavies (STRAIGHTJACKET NATION, TOMMY T AND THE CLASSICAL MISHAPS, and PRIORS), and a strong regional representation of vintage and contemporary Virginia punk (HAPPY FLOWERS, LACKEY DIE, CRETINS, RHDP, NOSEBLEED, and IRON HORSE). Over 30 minutes of music and other hilarity across this mix.  Professionally mastered and duplicated with a four panel J-card featuring artwork from Shiva Addanki of DEFORMITY and accompanying liner notes.

CULPRIT Demo Tape (Quality Control HQ)
New UKHC band Culprit's demo shows members of Shrapnel transitioning their songwriting from Breakdown/Raw Deal to Sheer Terror and Killing Time territory. This is gonna make you drop that twoey like no other! FFO: Shrapnel, Killing Time, Sheer Terror, NWOBHC

PAYDAY "Beyond Your Bond" Demo Tape (Quality Control HQ)
Late 80s/Early 90s Clevo style hardcore done right by UKHC upstarts from London. Straight Edge. Members of Blind Authority, Mankind and Frame of Mind. FFO: Early Integrity/Die Hard/Confront/Only The Strong Compilation 7". Recorded by Tom Pimlott of Violent Reaction.

AS BAD AS IT IS Zine - Issue #4 (Zine)
Latest issue - full size featuring GLUE, INSTITUTE, ODD MAN OUT, SOFT KILL, and MENTHOL, plus photos and other cool writings.

LOW FIDELITY Zine - Issue #1 (Zine)
New hardcore zine out of the UK done by Tom from Violent Reaction. Featuring Red Death, Protester, a Violent Reaction / The Flex US tour diary, and more.

Restocks for October 26, 2016:

ALIENATION "2016 EP" 7"
BIB "Demo" 7"
CONCEALED BLADE "Demo" 7"
MYSTIC INANE "Deep Creep" 7"
RED DONS "Pariah" 7"
WARTHOG "Prison" 7"
WARTHOG "S/T" 7"

ARCTIC FLOWERS "Weaver" LP
BIG BOYS "Fun Fun Fun" LP
BLACK PANTIES "Dead and Gone" LP
CONDITION "Actual Hell" LP
COWBOYS, THE "S/T" LP
HANK WOOD AND THE HAMMERHEADS "Stay Home" LP
INSTITUTE "S/T" 12"
L.O.T.I.O.N. "Digital Control And Man's Obsolescence" LP
LA MISMA "Kanizadi" LP
MERCHANDISE / DESTRUCTION UNIT / MILK MUSIC "USA 2013" Split LP
RAKTA "S/T" LP
TENEMENT "S/T" LP
TENEMENT "The Blind Wink" LP
TOTAL ABUSE "Excluded" LP
TOTAL CONTROL "Typical System" LP
WARHEAD "S/T" LP

RINGER 2016 Demo Tape

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

New PURE DISGUST, VANITY, HARAM, TURNSTILE, WARZONE, and More!

GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS AND MAILORDER
Webstore Update - October 4, 2016

Here's another long overdue Grave Mistake Distro/Webstore update for you! Some awesome new releases in the distro for this update so I'll get to those ASAP, but before we get started on that ...

The Primal Rite Complex Life of Passion 7" is out this Friday and will begin shipping this week! If you haven't checked out the EP yet, we currently have the full release streaming and available for free download on the Grave Mistake Bandcamp, so give it a listen.
 
There are still some copies on limited PURPLE VINYL for mailorder so scoop one up if you haven't yet, and check out this rad write up from Tony Rettman over at the recently launched music site Clrvynt!
 
Primal Rite are heading out on their East Coast tour with Mad Existence this week as well - you can find all of the tour info Primal Discipline East Coast Tour Event Page. Be sure to hit one of the gigs if they come your way!
 
Now with that said, here's the webstore update ...

WEBSTORE UPDATE 10/4/16: New Releases from PURE DISGUST, TURNSTILE, VANITY, CROWN COURT, HARAM, GENERACION SUICIDA, and Much More!
 
 
For quick browsing of recent additions to the store, you can check out all of these titles mentioned below in the New Arrivals and Recent Restocks sections!
 
I'll keep this short ... a ton of great new records and tapes in the webstore this update! A few titles to mention include new LPs from Pure Disgust, Crown Court, Vanity, Generacion Suicida, Culture Abuse, Violence Creeps, plus an awesome reissue of Warzone's classic "Don't Forget the Struggle..." LP; new EP's from Turnstile, Haram, Pollen, Rik and the Pigs, Left Cross, and Wetbrain; a ton of tapes and demos from the likes of Chew, Enzyme, Blazing Eye, Deathly, and Prision Postumo, plus a bunch of restocks and new tapes from Voice From Inside Tapes. 
 
Also restocked on a bunch of killer stuff, like the Arms Race LP, both G.L.O.S.S. 7"s, and Fury LP to name a few.
 
Full list is below, check it out and thanks for reading!
 
Alex / Grave Mistake
 
GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS
Site | Webstore | Bandcamp | Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram
 
 
New Webstore Titles for 10/4/16:

PURE DISGUST "S/T" LP
(Katorga Works Records)
With an ideological stance that is both topical and timeless, Washington, D.C.'s Pure Disgust combats racist AmeriKKKa with both lyrics that border on uncomfortably real and a masterful approach to hardcore punk that has planted them firmly in the vanguard of the new era of DCHC. Their debut LP sees the band expanding their musical palette to incorporate elements not unlike those that birthed Feel The Darkness and creates one of the most vital punk releases today.

VANITY "Don't Be Shy" LP (Katorga Works Records)
Putting aside some of the driving Oi! sound from the Vain In Life LP in favor of a more Britpop influence, all while developing the hints of glam from their subsequent 7 single, the songs of Evan Radigan and Colman Durkee are now less late 70s/early 80s Poulton-le-Fylde and more early 90s Manchester, propelling the band into bold and exciting new territory. In this day of flaccid plumage, Vanity stands tall above every and all street rock & roll disgrace."

CROWN COURT "Capital Offence" LP
(Katorga Works Records)
More trouble from London from the UK's premier contemporary Oi! unit. After unleashing a slew of powerful singles, each one better than the last, these chaps effortlessly demonstrate why they're so highly rated with their debut LP, Capital Offence. Crown Court transcends all contemporary trappings of the genre with a truly classic sound and firmly establish themselves as the world's premier Oi! band with this monolith of an album, which stands as a modern classic.

TURNSTILE "Move Thru Me" 7" (Pop Wig Records)
Defined by perpetual motion and dedicated to personal freedom, Turnstile requested in 2011 that we play by “New Rules”; in 2013 that we Step To Rhythm and “Keep It Moving”; and in 2015, to strive for Non-Stop Feeling. Always more appeal than demand, more liberation than limitation, Turnstile extend their hand in 2016 with Move Thru Me. Three new songs: “Come Back For More”, “Harder On You” and a title track, rounded out with a cover of “Fuck Me Blind” by Washington, D.C.’s Give, incite complete physical and emotional carte blanche. As the band says, “The cover fit so perfectly with the idea of the record as, to me, it is about the freedom to be who you are, love who love, and not living within limits created by society or by yourself. It’s an important song in hardcore for our generation so we wanted to cover it.” Born in Montgomery and Prince George’s, the two most important counties in the world bordering the most important city in the world, with aide from Columbus, Ohio, Turnstile’s brand of youth-minded, youth-driven hardcore punk intend on breaking down barriers, sonically and ideologically. Constantly growing, constantly changing, super motion.

HARAM "What Do You See?" 7" (Toxic State Records)
NYC’s Haram continues in the tradition of the classic Toxic State sound, playing masterful dark and bouncy hardcore punk you would come to expect in 2016. To further propel Haram into “essential” status, Lebanese frontman Nader barks out Arabic vocals touching upon topics such as his native land’s devestating civil war and existing secularly in an age of Islamopohbia. As the West’s colonial war with the Middle East rages on, Haram’s existence is as necessary as ever.

GENERACION SUICIDA "Sombras" LP (Going Underground Records)
Sombras is the third LP from Los Angeles' Generacion Suicida. Jangly guitars, male/female vocals, the group is obviously influenced by the Vicious and Eskorbuto, but retain the sound they have been playing for years, and once again keep that classic sound fresh, exciting, and most importantly relevant. 10 new tracks recorded in 2016 and finally available on vinyl. Each copy includes a 10 page zine insert.

WARZONE "Don't Forget the Struggle, Don't Forget the Streets" LP (Revelation Records)
Out of print for over 25 years, the debut LP from the legendary WARZONE is finally available again. WARZONE were a cornerstone of the NYHC scene, sharing the stage with AGNOSTIC FRONT, CRO-MAGS, MURPHY'S LAW, YOUTH OF TODAY and many more. Led by the influential and charismatic Ray "Raybeez" Barbieri, WARZONE entered the studio in 1987 and produced Don't Forget The Struggle Don't Forget The Streets which many consider their greatest release. Often imitated but never duplicated, WARZONE had a sound unique to the NYHC scene. Coupled with vocalist Raybeez' uplifting and incisive lyrics, WARZONE's sound influenced generations of bands and kids across the world. Revelation is incredibly proud to present this newly remastered and repackaged version of this important hardcore record, including liner notes by "Lukie" Luke Abbey, new artwork by John "Omen" and many never-before-seen photos.

POLLEN "7 Track EP" 7" (Brain Solvent Propaganda)
Total chaotic mangel destruction. 7 tracks of blown out raw punk in vein of Frigora or Defector. Crasher crust out of Philly with ex members of Aseptic, Ectoplasm, Pissbath. Comes with an insert in a pocket sleeve. 500 total copies.

ENZYME Demo Tape (Brain Solvent Propaganda)
Noise punk ala Confuse and Lebendon Toten played via ex Kromosom and Unknown to God members. This is a pro made cassette on purple tinted tapes and vile green J card. Limited to 300 and co released by Distracted by Reality.

LEFT CROSS "Hell is Hell" 7"
(Vinyl Conflict Label)
Left Cross has been consistently pummeling audiences across the Mid-Atlantic since early 2015, and we are proud to share with you their first vinyl offering: “Hell Is Hell.” With these three tracks of crushing death metal, this Richmond band both strips the genre down to its bones and still bring ripping solos, thunderous drumming, and engaging songs that prove Left Cross is as informed by Discharge as they are Repulsion.

BLAZING EYE "Lonely Corpse" 7" (Overdose Records)
L.A.'s BLAZING EYE return with two new tracks of devilish hardcore punk in the vein of MOBS or ZOUO. The Japanese hardcore influence is prevalent on "Brain" which has an infectious guitar riff- vocal scream dynamic punctuated by a perfect Bristol Beat which will have you screaming like a bloody mess without you even noticing. "Lonely Corpse" on the flip has a stomp dirgy beat perfect to dance like a worm on a devastated city ran by cyborgs. A perfect punk single with two really catchy and memorable songs which show BLAZING EYE at the top of their game.

PRISION POSTUMO Demo Tape (Overdose Records)
Members of Tozcos doing punk similar to Siniestro Total

RIK AND THE PIGS "Life's A Bust" 7" (Feel It Records)
The second 7” from RIK AND THE PIGS is finally here, a smoking follow-up to 2015's "Pig Sweat" single on Total Punk. “Life's A Bust” features three new tracks recorded between Rik's time in Portland and his new home base of Olympia, WA. Side A boasts two cuts of completely savage and hook-filled punk – exactly the kind of snot and filth that you'd expect from Rik & Co. On the flip, “Life's A Bust” is a completely different animal, a loose and driving five minute tune featuring incredible guitar work and drumming from Michael Liebman and Corey Rose of Olympia's VEXX. Cut loud at 45RPM by Josh Bonati and housed in a full color glue pocket sleeve, this just might be the ultimate Pigs release to date.

WETBRAIN "S/T" 7"
(Residue Records)
Straight out of Cleveland, WETBRAIN new 5 song EP kills everything in its path! Pure degenerate punk hardcore with the hooks of ADOLESCENTS mixed with the insanity of the CRUCIFUCKS. Maniac music that will break your IPhone 88 and make your Grandma pee out of her depends… ah, yeah, that good. Members of all the great Clevo bands- DARVOCETS, GSMF, INMATES, 9 Shocks, ANNIHILATION TIME etc… Cleveland punk hardcore veterans of 100 Proof insanity! Fans of early 80’s So. Cal hardcore and good-old fashion Mid-West punk makes the cream rise to the top. Amazing original artwork (includes obi strip) by Shaun Filley.

CULTURE ABUSE "Peach" LP (6131 Records)
Culture Abuse dare you to try categorizing them. On their debut full length, "Peach," the San Francisco Bay Area band drop hints with every song — power pop melodies collide with punk grit, garage rock swagger meets hardcore aggression, and there's even an upstroke or two — but never give the listener enough to definitively put them in a box. And that’s just the way they like it. Recorded with Scott Goodrich at Nu-Tone Studios, "Peach" is an eclectic album that represents a band finding their sound, and that sound is anything they want it to be. The album sees the band lean full tilt into the Nuggets-inspired garage punk only hinted at on their more hostile early work, throwing keyboards and even the occasional string arrangement on top of their distorted attack. The result creates a barrage of outsider earworms that might be hard to label, but aren’t hard to sing along to instantly. This refreshingly try-anything approach to songwriting makes for an unpredictable listen that is somehow simultaneously cohesive, a testament to Culture Abuse’s ability to wrestle disparate styles into something all their own.

DARK THOUGHTS "S/T" LP (Stupid Bag Records)
FINALLY this LP is available! Fast as fuck Ramones worship punk. 12 songs in a little over 19 minutes. You won't stop flipping this record over and over. sorry.
 
LAKIA'S ORBIT "No Matter What It Takes" LP (Total Negativity Records)
Debut LP from Boston's Laika's Orbit. "No Matter What it Takes" is a love letter to 70s power pop that avoids falling into the whatever-trendy-recently-re-issued-band worship category. Brilliant song writing, hooks, ripping solos, and great lyrics. Just solid fucking rock and roll. 300 pressed.

BÖRN "S/T" 7"
(Total Negativity Records)
Repress of Total Negativity’s first release! Four new tracks from the best going Icelandic punk band. Dark post-punky stuff that sounds something like CHRISTIAN DEATH with a love for the WIPERS. The first press went fast, don’t miss it this time!
 
KOWABUNGA! KID "Wasting My Time" LP (Rat King Records)
This long anticipated debut full length is out this friday, June 10th, on vinyl and cd formats via Rat King Records. Recorded by Luke McNeill (The Copyrights, Hospital Job), these 12 tracks bend the genre of pop­punk, contorting it in to a genre the band called punk­pop.

KOWABUNGA! KID "It Ends" 7" (Rat King Records)
Champaign, IL band Kowabunga! Kid’s 2013 EP, It Ends, features four punk­pop songs. This fast paced EP is a document to closing the chapter on college life. Limited to 200 on black vinyl. Art by Kamila Glowacki

SINGLE PLAYER / NECTAR Split 7" (Rat King Records)
Single Player and Nectar are from Champaign. These songs are the cream of the crop for these bands, the recording and production is bar none. Single Player offers two songs that go by quicker than ripping a band­aid off leaving the listener begging for more. Nectar’s side is comprised of three songs featuring thriving riffs and well placed harmonies.

SCABS, THE "Amory Building" 7"
(Hosehead Records)
Authorized reissue of the Scabs debut and lone 7", originally released by the band in 1979 on Club Land Records in Exeter, England. Recorded in nearly 2 hours in North London, The Scabs originally released this 7" themselves and resorted to selling copies to their fellow students at the school cafe. The band broke up after a year and half, leaving nothing but the Amory Building 7" behind. First time ever reissue of this record. "Leave Me Alone" was included on the iconic Soul Jazz Punk 45 comp of underground and rare UK punk 1977-1981, as well as a few Killed By Deaths. Includes brand new liner notes from singer James Young and band photos. Deluxe pocket sleeve restored by Ken MacLaurin, mastered by Dave Williams.

VIOLENCE CREEPS "Gift of Music" LP
(Total Punk Records)
Following a string of flexis and a self released 7", Oakland's Violence Creeps are back with a brand new 12" on Total Punk. The Gift Of Music is not a party album and Violence Creeps are not a party band. Six tracks of lurching gnarly punk about isolation, sexual frustration, and rage. Cave man drums, bass skronk, and squelching guitars, all being reluctantly pushed forward by Amber’s commanding growl. Brutal in honesty and tone and filled with top notched hooks. These aren’t songs to be sung along to, these are songs to be shouted out your window. 100% TOTAL PUNK

BASEMENT "Promise Everything" LP (Run For Cover Records)
Since abruptly announcing an indefinite hiatus only weeks after the release of 2012's breakthrough LP "Colourmeinkindness," Basement's intensely devoted following has only grown. "Promise Everything" is the full-length return to writing and recording since the break. Challenged by the spacing out of members not only across the country, but across the globe, "Promise Everything" was written by piecing together songs without the luxury of a space or even a time zone to share. Perhaps this is why upon listening, "Promise Everything" feels like a conversation between different people, revealing different moods and feelings throughout. This conversation shifts and evolves, filtering subtle, tasteful alternative rock touchstones through the band's unmatched melodic lens. More clearly aggressive songs like "Brother's Keeper" and title track "Promise Everything" situate Basement at the forefront of the rock world, pairing that aggression with an inherent sense of melody. On the standout track "Aquasun," lyrical flow and melody overtake the listener while overt meaning gives way to musicality and its nuance. Despite years spent apart, it would seem Basement's musical conversation has been one that has lingered even when after it was interrupted too soon by their premature and luckily temporary break - and as their first true cohesive document, "Promise Everything" is only the beginning of what Basement has to say. Vinyl version includes digital download and a 24" x 24" poster.

PINEGROVE "Cardinal" LP
(Run For Cover Records)
After a number of different EPs and years of touring, Montclair, NJ's Pinegrove have offered their finest work to date on their debut LP, "Cardinal." The band's captivating blend of indie rock, pop and country elements is more vivid, fine-tuned and addictive than ever before. Painting his emotions onto these songs with colorful and kinetic strokes, vocalist and guitarist Evan Stephens Hall moves through the eight songs on "Cardinal" with an unforgettable energy and passion, with a vocal performance that is pleasantly reminiscent of Will Oldham and Built To Spill's Doug Martsch. Highlighted by the downtrodden nostalgia of twangy opener "Old Friends" and the climactic refrain of "Size Of The Moon," where the confession "I don't know what I'm afraid of," is just as much of a sing-along as it is an emotional breakdown. Moods don't stay in one place for very long on "Cardinal" - they are carefully crafted and revisited throughout to continually evoke the album's central themes of memory, longing and deep introspection.

PETAL "Shame" LP (Run For Cover Records)
Petal has always been a deeply personal project for songwriter and lead singer Kiley Lotz. "Shame," the band's debut LP three years in the making, is an honest and perceptive exploration of the album's namesake. These 12 tracks recall the elastic indie rock of Death Cab For Cutie and Pedro The Lion - sometimes somber, sometimes upbeat, but always beautifully and thoughtfully crafted. The range of songs and emotions on "Shame" are notable: tracks like "Heaven" and "Camera Lens II" are indie-pop pleasures, brimming with nostalgia, while one of the album's brightest moments comes on "Nature," a brave song lyrically and vocally, as Lotz sings unaccompanied over a singular drum beat, proclaiming fearlessly, "I want to be part of the nature you were born from." The most rewarding part of listening to "Shame" is realizing that as Kiley Lotz looks inwards and honestly reveals what she sees, she shows everyone else that those anxieties, doubts and longings that come with the territory of love are universally felt.

PITY SEX "White Hot Moon" LP (Run For Cover Records)
Ann Arbor, MI's Pity Sex built the world of "White Hot Moon," their second album, inch by inch. The band is using the foundation of 2013's celebrated "Feast Of Love" as the framework for something bigger, stronger and altogether more monumental. Coming off of tours with Ceremony, Eskimeaux and Colleen Green - including a run in Australia - the band dove into the studio with "Feast Of Love" producer Will Yip to harness that momentum into an album to showcase Pity Sex's growth. And if "White Hot Moon" wears its ambition on its sleeve, that's by design: the band looked to wide-screen albums by Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth for inspiration in finding a bigger sound. And it shows: Britty Drake and Greaves spin huge webs of sound, anchored in shoegaze but branching off in a dozen directions, from fuzzed-out power-pop ("Bonhomie") to shimmering balladry ("Dandelion") and back again, while St. Charles and Pierce lock into step with subtly counterintuitive rhythms and floor-shaking low-end. The result of this playful but dedicated approach to their craft: Whenever you visit "White Hot Moon," you'll come away refreshed, revitalized and ready for Pity Sex to guide you along the rest of the trip.

ADVENTURES "Supersonic Home" LP
(Run For Cover Records)
Supersonic Home, the anticipated debut full-length from Pittsburgh, PA's resident musical wunderkinds Adventures, is an ambitious blend of powerhouse influences: these ten songs reimagine the best parts of '90s alt-rock and infuse them with the cathartic energy of punk.

BLAZING EYE "2013-2016" Tape (Overdose Records)
Collection tape from LA's BLAZING EYE - Includes S/T Demo, S/T EP, Lonely Corpse EP & Ways To Die EP

DEATHLY Demo Tape (Overdose Records)
New demo tape on the Overdose label. 5 songs total.
 
CHEW Demo Tape
Killer HC PUNK out of Chicago!

LIZ PANELLA / MARK PLANT "Two Solo Pop Musics" Tape
Liz from Earth Girls and Mark from Broken Prayer deliver a split solo tape!

PMS 84 2016 Demo Tape (Voice From Inside Tapes)
Portland boot punks strike again with brand new demo, straightforward UK82 in best traditions of Varukers, The Partisans, Attak, G.B.H. and Ultra Violent! The sound is so fucking natural especially knowing the guys are in Koward, Vivid Sekt, Spetsnaz, Combat Knife and Franky!

SUSS LAW Demo Tape (Voice From Inside Tapes)
9 tracks of pure insane distorted punk in the vein of Chaos UK (Short Sharp Shock era) meets thrashing hardcore kinda Sore Throat, Asocial and Heresy! The demo was recorded as there piece but now they have singer and sound way more punker!Cassette comes in two colors of the covers and collage/lyrics sheet

SUICIDAS "No Nos Mata La Muerte" Tape (Voice From Inside Tapes)
4 track tape of spanish sung catchy and a bit melidic punk from Barcelona! Includes former/current members of Belgrado, Barcelona etc

INDIGNATION Demo Tape (Voice From Inside Tapes)
Straightforward d-beat hardcore attack outta NYC including members of Nomad, Perdition, Infernöh and L.O.T.I.O.N. For all fans of plain UK and Swedish punk like Discharge, Disaster, Shitlickers, Mob 47 etc! Essential punk demo from 2015.

VIOLENCE "Complete Control" Tape (Voice From Inside Tapes)
New female punk band with first 5 track demo. All girls, no guitar, double bass attak straight outta Oakland, raw and primitive energy as it needs to be! Also my version is slightly different from other ones being released worldwide, it includes cut-n-paste back cover art with lyrics and pics.

MAQUINA MUERTA / D.H.K. Split Tape
(Voice From Inside Tapes)
This split 12" is named like Hardcore Radikal LatinoAmerica and it completely reflects this title in both bands who are Maquina Muerta from Mexico who are currently located in Barcelona, Spain and peruvian DHK (Destruye Huye Krea). Maquina Muerta, including Bernat from Orden Mundial on guitar is really well done spanish version of Discharge, I wouldnt say its fast paced, more rather middle tempo with d-beat drums (a bit faster though than you might think about) punk structure of the songs similar to Hear Nothing LP, with simply but pretty energetic and catchy guitar riffs, I'm sure lots of you might hear some MG-15 influences as well, but yeah thats pretty obvious, isnt it? As for the DHK they sound way more different from Maquina, rawer and more primitive with firm South American feel, would think like Anti-Cimex (Raped Ass and Victims of the Bombraid era) played more primitive way haha! Locos !!!

GIFTGASATTACK "Moraliskt Forfall" Tape
(Voice From Inside Tapes)
Goteborg's noise addicts Giftgasattck with latest LP released on tape. Classic swedish kang with japanese noise vibe - Totalitar & Mob 47 meets Disclose/Gloom!

HALSHUG "Blodest Band" Tape (Voice From Inside Tapes)
Latest stuff from Danish d-beat hardcore punk act, for all fans of Anti-Cimex, Totalitar, Infernoh, Mob 47 and other scandi punk gangs!

MIL-SPEC Demo Tape (Mosher's Delight Records)
The band you've been wondering about since you first laid eyes on their GI Joe shirt that appeared at AHC fest last year is finally here and they smack hard as fuck. You didn't know what it was, but now you will. Straight out of Toronto, they're hitting the world with 4 tunes chocked full of grit and groove replete with reflective and tasteful lyrics. Little nuggets of wisdom interwoven with a sense of youthful urgency make this a masterfully crafted demo you don't want to sleep on. Check it out!

LINE OF SIGHT "Life Series" Tape (Mosher's Delight Records)
LINE OF SIGHT SIDE A: LIVE @ THE PINCH - WASHINGTON, DC - 05/13/2016 SIDE B: INTERVIEW

ANCIENT HEADS "Live Series" Tape (Mosher's Delight Records)
ANCIENT HEADS LIVE @ ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH - WASHINGTON, DC - 05/14/2016 SIDE B: INTERVIEW

UNIFIED RIGHT "EP Promo" Tape
(Mosher's Delight Records)
3 new songs from Unified Right that will be featured on their debut LP out on Triple B Records later this year.

PRAISE "Live Series" Tape (Mosher's Delight Records)
PRAISE LIVE @ ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH - WASHINGTON, DC - 05/14/2016 SIDE B: INTERVIEW

MAXIMUMROCKNROLL #401 - October 2016

Here it is, Maximum Rocknroll #401, October 2016. This special edition is our ART ISSUE—how much can you take? We’ve got an interview with Olivia Gibb, who came all the way out from Kansas City as our very first MRR artist-in-residence to design this issue’s cover, and conversations between Tokyo photographer Chiro Yoshikawa and Los Angeles artist/designer Sonya Sombreuil (of Come Tees renown) as well as between Toronto’s Lia Lepre and Sebbe Melbourne. Plus: interviews with Los Angeles-based artist Jess Scott, New Orleanian comics artist Ben Passmore, and Indiana’s Alex Micallef; a convo between Osa Atoe and video artist Perry Holstein; and a feature on the “This Record Changed My Life” exhibition at Copenhagen’s K-Town Hardcore Fest. Other artists represented in this issue include Sarah Sequoia, Ashley Hohman, Apolo Chaco, Sam Wallman, Shitboy Face, Trevor 32, Mónica Di Francesco, Luke Kislak, Aaron Demuth, Cecilia Calidera, Joseph Heuermann, Keith Caves, Josh Feigert, and Rael Brian Rau. On top of all that, we’ve got a photo spread from a gig at the Casa Club Ramones museum on the outskirts of Mexico City, the latest dirt from our columnists, and more reviews than you can handle.

Restocks for 10/4/16:
 
AJAX "S/T" 7"
ALL OUT WAR "Hymns of the Apocalypse" 7"
CHRISTI "Cry b/w Get You Off My Mind" 7"
DUMP TRUCK "Feelin' Good Demo '03" 7"
G.L.O.S.S. "Trans Day of Revenge" 7"
G.L.O.S.S. "Demo" 7"
INCENDIARY / UNRESTRAINED Split 7"
MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD "Demo" 7"
PATSY "Eat It" 7"
WOLF WHISTLE "The Present Disturbance" 7"

ABSOLUT / PARANOID "Jawbreaking Mangel Devastation" Split LP
ARMS RACE "New Wave of British Hardcore" LP
BLOOD PRESSURE "Need to Control" LP
FURY "Paramount" LP
GENERACION SUICIDA "Con La Muerta A Tu Lado" LP
GENERACION SUICIDA "Todo Termina" 12"
HOUNDS OF HATE "S/T" LP
SUPERHEAVEN "Jar" LP
TRAUMA HARNESS "Tried My Hardest" LP
TURNOVER "Magnolia" LP
WETBRAIN "S/T" LP

BLOODKROW BUTCHER "Nigh Hell" Tape
FREEDOM "U.S.A. Hardcore" Tape
GLORY "3 Song Promo (2016)" Tape
HANK WOOD AND THE HAMMERHEADS "Stay Home" Tape
LEATHER DADDY Demo Tape
SAD BOYS "Cry Now Cry Later" Tape
STUCK PIGS "Bleed Like …" Demo Tape
WARFARE 2016 Demo Tape

NUTS ZINE Issue #14