Nemesis & Control full live set

It's that time of the year. Everybody write down their top ten. When I've started to think about it, I've realized two things. First, as usual in the last few years, I've bought more old records/represses than new ones. Second, all the new records I've bought were from already "established" bands, if you know what I mean. During 2012 there wasn't a single new band that impressed me so much like Fogna, Reckless Aggression, Himei or Nemesis did in the last couple of years. So what's the point of doing a top ten? Indeed I won't do it. Instead of it, enjoy a couple of entire live set from two of the most promising new bands from the land of the rising sun:

Nemesis live @ Yojigen, Fukuoka 24/11/2012

Control live @ Utero, Fukuoka 11/08/2012

Follia Verso L'Interno

The cool thing about italian 80s' hardcore is that every single band had its own peculiar sound. And like those bands they claim to be influenced from (and more than Wretched, I'd say Eu's Arse, Underage and Diserzione), Isterismo is an unique band. Indeed, if you compare them to all the other fuzzy bands outta japan, you'll recognize them immediately. First, there are no d-beats. It's way faster. Plus the sound. Everything is so distorted and confused that more than Disorder or Chaos UK, it brings to mind those messy home recordings from the golden era of our boot shaped penisula. Well, and Confuse too! The only difference is that while italian 80s' recording sessions sounded that raw due to poor equipment and lack of recording knowledge, here everything is planned & organized in a typical japanese way.  You know those bastards can take care of dectails like no one. But trust me, the energy is the same!

That being said, Isterismo debut full length "Follia Verso L'Interno" is the release where their chaos seems to be more "organized". Of course it's still a fuzz & blur fest, but compared to "Non Può Sopprimere Il Mio Conflitto" or the Kromosom split, here you can catch every instruments. It sounds closer to their tracks from "Yotsuva" comp. lp (their best material to date in term of sound and songwriting), but a bit more gloomy and dark. As expected, a pretty solid album (I refuse to call it mini-lp, sorry). It starts with a mid-paced song to quickly erupt in nine tunes of fast & violent distorted hardcore punk. With "Follia Verso L'Interno" they proved again to be one of the top-notch band in this sub-genre.

As you can say, I've been fast enough to get a copy on purple wax. LVEUM site says they had only 87 copies on this colour for sale. Being a split release with Crust War, my guess is that only 200 have been printed on this colour. Comes with a fold out insert with lyrics in italian, translated in japanese and english. Too bad the writing about them by Takayama (Fradmit/Nightmare) is in japanese only! I'd love to read a translation of it!!

NO COMMENT interview 2001

Here's probably the best and more in depth No Comment interview ever! Taken from #5 of great finnish 'zine Downsided from 2001.

B.S.N. live @ Ivo Romani

No Nukes

After way too much delay (Damaging Noise Rec. strikes again?), the long awaited second ep by Nagoya's Attack SS "no nukes ep!!" finally saw the light. Courtesy of Distort Reality Records outta Portland. Best ep of the year? Well, definitely a solid runner for that title. This sounds quite different compared to "no boss" 7" released three years ago by Detonate. The production is way stronger and less fuzzy plus the vocals are less reverbed but more yelled. The production reminds me a lot the one of their townmate D-Clone debut full lenght "creation and destroy". I suspect they recorded it in the same studio (I'm too lazy to check). These four tracks are extremely powerful and they have the BEST drum sounds in years. Seriously, all bands should have drums that sound this solid.

Like perfectly stated in the last issue of Distortion Faith 'zine, lately the quality level of noisepunk records seriously dropped down. But thanx visnù there are bands like Attack SS out there to prove that even if this sub-sub-genre is hyped and trendy, there's still space for interesting, solid and original records. So please do the world a favour: do NOT start a band that sounds like Confuse or Swankys. Thanx.

Tales of a pretentious asshole#003

This issue of "tales of a pretentious asshole" will bring us again in japan (next time it'll be another country, I promise) to talk about two bands that shared some members and, in my opinion, the second is just the natural evolution of the first one. I'm talking respectively about Bastard and Judgement. Two of my favourites ever, two classic bands that gave a huge contribution to define what is now called "burning spirits" hardcore. It took me years and a good amount to complete this collection (well, technically it's not completed yet but more about this later) but it was definitely worth it.

It all started back in 1989, when Bastard self-released their debut ep "Controled In The Frame". Line-up was Tokurow on vox, Zigyaku (ex-Gudon & Half Years) on guitar, Koba-Chan (ex Systematic Death) on drums and Iizawa (ex Tetsu Arrey) on bass. They played a downtuned mix of what now would be called crust and burning spirits hc. My guess is that they were equally influenced by japanese bands like Deathside and Acid as well as some english crust like bands ENT, Doom and the like. The songwriting is indeed too complex to be simply tagged as crust but, on the otherside, the atmosphere is your typical gloomy and dirty crust one.

While everyone and your grandma seem to be all about "Wind Of Pain", this ep doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves. The six tracks contained here are indeed as just as good as the lp so do yourself a favour and hunt down a copy or download it but please give this a try. If you have decent tastes, you won't be disappointed at all.

It was originally released by the band on their own Bastard Records label. 1000 copies made with a simple and quite ugly black and white cover. There's a limited version of this press called tour edition that comes with a xeroxed copy of the cover with "tour only E.P." written in the inner flap. I'm perfectly conscious that my copy is the bootleg version that came out sometimes in late 90s. I'm planning to update it to an original as soon as I can affort it. But at the moment I'm fine with it. In 2010 it has been officially repressed by 540 Records with screened cover and it came in at least 4 different vinyl colors (black, red, orange and blue).

Straight forward to 1992 and the world wouldn't be the same place after Bastard one and only full lenght "Wind of Pain" has been unleashed to the masses. Or should I'd better say to the lucky 1000 fellas who were able to put their hands on a copy. Again self released on Bastard Records. One of the most sought after japanese record ever. And also one of those few records that everyone, from sXe boyscouts to crusty lepers, seems to agree about its greatness. I'm pretty sure you've heard one or more person raging about it as "the best hc record ever". Not sure if it's number one, but definitely in the top 5. Everything from the opening line of "misery" to the chorus of "truth" is simply perfect in its sheer brutality. Ugly artwork again but at least better than the 7" one.

This one was the last piece of the puzzle to complete my collection. It was one of those records that kept eluding me for years. Even when I had enough money on my paypal account and it was on ebay, it seems like there was always someone who could shell out more money than me. A few months ago I've finally found a guy who wanted to sell his copy for a decent price. I had all the time to sell some old records to put together the money to buy it. Definitely the dumbest price I've ever paid for a record but at least it was better that what it goes for on ebay in these days. And worth every bloody cent.

This was bootlegged too in the late 90s'/early 00s'. That version contains the 7" songs as bonus. You can easily recognize it from the cover since it has "wind of pain" written in white letters (red on the OG version). People lately are paying crazy amount even for this, so go figure how important and rare this record is! In 2013 Feral Ward officially reissued it with a different (but still ugly) artwork. Two different presses, first on red (ltd edition) & black, second on white wax.

How cool does the back cover look in its b/w plainness?

Every pic you'll find has the side B label since it has all the infos. But side A looks way better!

Not sure when Bastard disbanded exactly. But axemen Iizawa and Zigyaku kept playing together and recruited under the skins no less than my favourite japanese drummer ever: the mighty Muka-Chin, who previously served time in awesome bands like Chicken Bowels and Deathside. This will remain the core of Judgement for its whole existence. Various people would hold the microphone in their various releases.

Judgement songwriting is more unique and complex but I'm quite confident that Bastard would have evolved in this way. Or maybe it's Muka-Chin contribuite that took the band on a direction more similar to later Deathside? Anyhow, no traces of crust here. Just solid and metallic japanese hardcore. Or "burning spirits", if you prefer this term. Aesthetically, while Bastard was all black and white, all Judgement releases come with full coloured sleeves with Sugi artwork and pictures of the band on the back (well, except for "Haunt In The Dark"). Also lyrically, while Bastard were more about common political theme, Judgement went more on a personal/instrospective level.

During their career they managed to release four single EPs and a miniCD (later repress as a 7"). All released by the legendary HG Fact label. There was a discussion a few years ago if the first Judgement release was "No Reason Why" or "Process". It has been stated that "No Reason Why" is the first one but its catalogue number is HG-071 while "Process" is "HG-070". A bit confusing, but according to discogs "No Reason Why" was released the 25th of December 1996, while "Process" on 12th January 1997.  Anyhow, both these were recorded with Nori (ex Cruck) on vocals during the same session and they are the best Judgement material in my opinion. 

"No Reason Why" is my favourite of their eps. Two tracks of pure and simple "burning spirits" hardcore. This is the record I would play to someone with no clue that needs to understand what this sub-genre is all about. Both the title track and "Kick Them Over" are fast and brutal hardcore with a metallic sound and complex but still direct songwriting. I love that the chorus at the end of "Kick Them Over" pronounced with the japanese accent sounds exactly like they are screaming some imprecations in Naples' dialect!
Not sure how many were pressed (1000?) but it's not that hard to find for a decent price. Some copies comes with a sticker.

Without any doubt, "Process" is Judgement's holy grail. It's a release that was sold only at gigs in japan and only 300 were pressed, making it the rarest of the bunch (1/11/'14 updated: I've been told by uber reliable sources that 1000 of these were printed). Plus many consider the title track to be the best Judgement song ever. Et voilà, you got a bloody expansive record. Never tought I would ended up owning a copy but last year I scored this one from Punk & Destroy for less than half the price it goes for usually. Both cover and record are in mint condition but it was missing the insert. The guys at the shop were super nice and provided me with a xerox of the original insert from their own copy. Of course if you happen to have an extra insert, please get in touch!

What can I say about the title track? It's a perfect and unique song that quietly starts with an excellent arpeggio that slowly erupts into one of the most powerful mid-paced song ever to get closed in the same way it started. Man, what a song! Side B has "The Situation" which is a more traditional burning spirits track like the ones on "No Reason Why". Excellent too but not on the same level as "Process".

Nori left the band so for their third ep "Haunt in the Dark" the vocals duty were committed again to Tokurow. So at this point Judgement was 3/4 of Bastard. He did an excellent work but I must admit I prefer Nori's vocals. Plus the sound is slightly less heavy and downtuned. Don't get me wrong, even if this is the record that marks a step forward from their "pure burning spirits" early days, both these tracks are incredible. But I think that if they were recorded with heavier guitars and Nori on vox, "Haunt In The Dark" could have been their best record ever! Comes in a beautiful full color gatefold sleeve. Largely pressed so this is not hard to find for a reasonable price.

At the point when "Night Brings..." was recorded in 1998, Tokurow already left the band so Judgement did their first and only recording session as a three pieces. Vocals were handled respectively by Zigyaku on "Night Brings" and by Iizawa on "Heart Of Darkness". Like for "Haunt In The Dark", the songwriting got more personal and different from the burning spirits classic formula. But with a better sound and more fluent tunes. Overall these are my fave tracks in the post-Nori era, making it my third fave Judgement release.

Widely pressed again but for some unknown reasons this one kept skipping me so it was the last piece of the Judgement puzzle that I was able to score. 

Finally, the "Just Be..." ep, originally released in 2000 by HG Fact as a miniCD and repressed for the first time on vinyl nine years later in collaboration with Prank Records. Maybe it was better to repress the whole Judgement discography on lp since people are paying crazy price for Judgement records but, hell, I'm happy to own this on vinyl. This time it has 4 tracks, recorded with Jhaja Iwaki on vox and a girl on bass. For years I thought this was the weakest Judgement material but after playing this all I can say is that it rules. Perhaps it's a bit more accessible compared to some of their previous stuff but it still has the trademark Judgement sound so I won't complain anymore.

Largely pressed for their reunion at Chaos In Tejas 2009. 200 on orange, 200 on green, thousands on black.

I haven't mentioned comp. tracks and cd discographies so here are complete discographies for both bands: 

 BASTARD:

-Controled In The Frame 7", 1989, Bastard Records, 1000 made

-Controled In The Frame 7", 199?, Bootleg,???

-Controled In The Frame 7", 2011, 540 Records,???

-Wind Of Pain LP, 1992, Bastard Records, 1000 made

-Wind Of Pain LP, ???, Bootleg, ???
-Wind Of Pain LP, 2013, Feral Ward Records, ???
-V.A. "Go Ahead Make My Day - Smashing Odds Ness 2" comp. LP, Smashing Oddness Rec.
-V.A. "Triple Cross Counter" comp. 7", 1989,  Kagai Monsou Rec., 1000 made
-No Hope In Here CD, ????, Bastard Records, ???

JUDGEMENT: 
-"No Reason Why" 7", 1996, HG Fact, ???
-"Process" 7", 1997, HG Fact, 300 made
-"Haunt In The Dark" 7", 1997, HG Fact, ???
-"Night Brings" 7", 1998, HG Fact, ???
-"Just Be..." miniCD, 2000, HG Fact, ???
-"Just Be..." 7", 2009, HG Fact/ Prank Rec., ???

If something's missing, if there are any errors of if you want to fill any missing infos, just drop a comment!!

Kill A Commie

You know, it's the same old story. The month is not over yet but you have already spent way too much in records. You promise to yourself that you're not going to buy another record or two 'till the new month starts. Then, suddenly, you got offered something you want badly. In mint conditions. For a bargain, too. If there's something I've learned over many years of record collecting is that if you want it, the price is ok and you have the money, just go for it. Otherwise, you'll regret it forever. I've made the error of not buying a record only 'coz I had already burnt my monthly record budget so many times in the past. And everytime I think again about a certain record that I could already own, all I want to do is to crush my nuts with a hammer for having been so dumb. Remember, certain records won't cross your path again so easily.

Well, luckily I've learned the lesson so, to make a long story short, I've ended up owning this:

The legendary "This Is Boston Not L.A." compilation lp released by Modern Method Records back in 1982. Second press (first has blue labels). Top conditions. This is my probably my favourite comp. ever. Definitely the best outta U$ofA. The most amazing thing is that, even skipping big names like SSD, DYS and Negative FX, it still remains a damn solid release. Well, I've always preferred the not-sXe bands from the Boston early scene, so this comp. is simply perfect in my eyes. Just think about the Freeze, FU's and Jerry's Kids material featured here. Not to mention Gang Green, the real winner here with their best tracks ever! Ok, I know it's not "all killer no filler" since there are a couple of mediocre bands but thanx shiva the best bands here are the one with more songs. For being a 30 years old record, it still sounds incredibly fresh and energic. But I'm talking about an undisputed classic, so you already know it!

This post made me think about my fave comp. ever so I got nerdy and ended up making my personal top 5 list of the best punk/hc compilations ever (chronological order):

-"This Is Boston Not LA" (1982)

-"Eye Of The Thrash Guerrilla" (1988)

-"La Ciudad Podrida" (1990)

-" Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! A Music War" (1998)

-"AxHC" Australia's Hardcore Compilation" (2007)

Of course there are way more important compilation out there that could have made it in this list (Flex Your Head or  Thrash Till Death just to say a couple of names), but these are the ones that mean most to me. So here's my list, what's yours?

Authentic Oral Communication

I'm pretty sure the latest effort by Hiroshima's People, the "autentic oral communication" cd that was released recently by Feminist Records, will at first disappoint a lot of people. Well, at least that's what happened to me! All I was expecting was nothing but another dose of their perfectly performed mid paced early Swankys workship. Exactly, just another "Fairy Tale". So you can easily image my reaction when I first put this into my cd player to discover that they've revolutioned their sound a lot. This album indeed show a big step forward for the band, from the noise-punk of their earlier material to a more "sophisticated" garage-punk, I'd dare to say. Well, not that different from the path followed by Swankys in their later days. So if you're expecting just a fuzz fest, forget about it. But after the initial letdown, the more you'll play this cd, the more you're gonna love it. The noise punk roots are still here, but they've added a lot of new influences and the final result is something unique that stand on its own. I'm a dumb cunt so I still think that "fairy tale" was way better but saying that this is not a solid release would be simply retarded. On of the best album of 2012?  
Their lyrics/artwork are still sex oriented, so if you've ever wondered how does a cock shaped bong look like, well here's your answer:

DETONATE RECORDS interview 2011

Kyushu, Denmark? Yep, you got it right. It might not be around for a long time and it doesn't have a lot of releases under its bullet belt, but the chainsaw logo is already synonimous of high quality hyper-distorted punk-hc mayhem in my book. Definitely a label that will get a cult status in a not so near future. Interview conducted with label's head honcho Lasse during August '11 and originally featured into PM#7.

Perro: Hi Lasse. Let's start from the beginning: how, when and why did you decide to start Detonate Records?
Lasse: Detonate Records was started in early 2007. I got the inspiration for my label after being into japanese hardcore punk alot, but not many labels in my area was focusing on these bands. Rather than just releasing bands from Scandinavia, I got in touch with Disdomestic Violence and asked if I could release a record with them. This happened after their first debut 7inch, which I personally thought was an amazing record. As it was my first release, there was alot of stuff I did'nt have a clue about. I did'nt know how to prepare the artwork for print and so on. I learned alot from that release.

Perro: It's 2011, people barely buys records anymore and there are way too many labels out there. But Detonate seems to do pretty well for a relatively young label, with a good portion of your releases that went sold out pretty quickly. What's the secret for running it "successfully"? Why do you think Detonate is doing better than other bedroom based hc/punk labels?
Lasse: For me it is important to release something you really like. All my releases means alot to me, both the music but also the people behind the bands. I believe most labels release records with bands they like. Atleast I hope they do. For a longtime I only wanted to release one record at a time and make sure to break even, before releasing a new record. I know it's different now, as I have more projects going on, but I have become better to work on more projects too.

Another important thing is the distros and stores that carries my releases. I have worked with many of them almost since I started. It seems japanese people will support their own bands alot, which is good.
I do agree that it's become harder to release vinyl. It just means pressings of records will become smaller. I will keep releasing records as long as I feel like it and as long as I work with bands that supports what I do. There is no heart in digital music. The process of making a record has alot heart I think. Both the process of making the record, but also the cover and so on. Something that you won't find on an mp3 downloaded from a blog.

Perro: Is there any record label that you admire or consider a font of inspiration for the way your run Detonate? If there's any, how do you think they have influenced you?
Lasse: Well I got the inspiration for releasing records from Kick N' Punch Records, but also Overthrow and New/Bad Smell Records. Personally I think Tommas and Jacob from now defunct Kick N' Punch, did an amazing job. They kinda put Denmark on the map again. Tommas was kind enough to help me out with info on how to press records and so on. Overthrow for releasing stuff I always thought was amazing bands, but not always easy to get. Especially here where I live. But most labels out there is doing an amazing job. Releasing music at least some people will appriciate. It's never easy to release a record that suits everyone and therefor it's great people will release records that means something to them personally.

Perro: What's your daily routine with Detonate? How many hours does it stole from the rest of your life? Did you ever feel tired/ disappoined and started thinking to stop doing it?
Lasse: It depends. I spend a great amount of time on each release by listening to the music, editing artwork and so on. I really have no clue on how much time I spend on each release I do. I love releasing records. I never really thought I would stop releasing records, but I sometimes feel I need a break from some of the stuff I do. Another reason I now release stuff through Dead Section.

Perro: Detonate catalogue is almost all japanese bands. Sometimes it's hard to communicate with them due to language barriers. Does it ever happened to have some difficults to get in touch with one particular band that you wanted to release on Detonate badly?
Lasse: Yes, I would lie if I told you, it sometimes was'nt a problem. In the end it still worked out great. I always thought it was pretty easy to work with japanese bands. Google Translate works alright, I guess :)
 

Perro: All the stuff you've released since now fall strictly in the Kyushu sound category and so what's coming out soon. Will Detonate always be devoted exclusively to this sub-sub-genre or will we see also burning spirits hc or something else released under the chainsaw label?

Lasse: The last release on Detonate was Nü-kl?-?r Blast Suntan - Arms Of Static 7". But to answer your question. No, I don't stricly release noise punk, I release whatever I really like and think deserves a slap-o-wax, so to say. Detonate will not be devoted to any specific sub-punk-genre, no. However, Detonate will be the primary label of mine to release hardcore punk. That being said, I really appriciate all the Kyushu bands and I think they were a huge inspiration to the japanese punk sound. Many bands are heavily inspired by Kyushu bands still now. Amazing. 

Perro: You've released three Noisecat eps and another one is planned. There's some sort of mistery that surrounds that band and you know I've even failed when I've tried to interview them. Can you enlight us a bit more about them?

Lasse: Noisecat have decided to be an anonomous band. I can't and won't change that. The fourth record will released later this year. It will probably be the last Noisecat record for now?

Perro: There's a bunch of Detonate releases planned for the future that are quite intriguing. Can you tell us something more about them? I'm particulary curious about VA - HAKKYO HAKAI COMPILATION 12": how long till it will see the light of the day?
Lasse: It's been almost two years, since I first agreed to release a record with Caravana Anarquista, a very noisy punk collective from Japan. It will finally happen very very soon. About Hakkyo Hakai comp it will feature bands from Nagoya and my good friend Jun from Attack SS, is the mastermind behind this project. It will feature D-Clone, System Fucker, Attack SS and Folkeiss. All bands I really love and admire. They all manage to add a very harsh noisy feel to their destructive music, that I just love. This 12" will be released later this year. As mentioned already, a Noisecat 7" will be released and a reissue of the Massgrave tape. The 7" will include 2 bonus tracks.

Perro: What's your opinion about all the reissues that are coming out these days? Is Detonate ever going to put out any reissues?
Lasse: I really like the reissues. It just means we can get our hands on records, that is very hard to come by. So no need to spend alot of cash on originals, even though, as a collector, I find it special to hold an original record in my hands. But for the music, a reissue is great idea. I'm a fan.

Perro: Recently you've also started another label, Dead Section Records (cool name, by the way). Why simply not releasing that stuff through Detonate? I mean, I know it's a bit different, but at the end it's all too noisy stuff that most people don't get...
Lasse: Alot of people asked me, why I formed another label. Simple because the stuff I release via Dead Section is not really suited via Detonate. I like black metal, noise, drone and so on and just don't want to mix these genres with Detonate. I wan't to keep Detonate "clean" and only do hardcore punk through it. I guess it's like having a 2nd baby. So far I have released two releases and two is at the plant. The genres is really very different from the stuff i've done in the past through Detonate. I like it to be separated. Logic or not, I like this way better.

Perro: It's record nerd time. Please gimme your top 10 japanese hc/ punk releases ever, both for full lenghts and singles...
GISM - Detestation LP
Zouo - The Final Agony 7"
Barigade - Dust Hero Flexi
The Sexual - Suicide Flexi
Death Side - Bet On The Possibility LP
Gauze - Kao O Aratte Denaoshite LP
Nightmare - Give Notice Of Nightmare LP
Bastard - Wind Of Pain LP
The Swankys - The Very Best Of Hero LP
Chicken Bowels - Keep Our Fire Burning 7"

Perro:   Thanx for you time, Lasse. Feel free to close this chat with whatever nonsense you feel to add...
Lasse: Thanks alot, Raffa! Kudos to the people that supports good music and supports their local record shop/distro.

 

Blodig Stad

As much as I do like scandinavian hc/punk, there's no way I'll ever start collecting originals from there. Australian, japanese and colombian records have already proved to be a money pit that my wallet can barely affort. So I'm glad that some years ago someone decided to boot the legendary one and only sweden's Absurd "s/t" 7" from 1982. Also known as "Blodig Stad", this is one of those swedish records that goes for buckets of money. I guess this and of course the fact that they sing is swedish is the only common point with bands like Skitlickers or Anti Cimex. If swedish trademark is the brutal and heavy sound, Absurd went in the opposite way. They indeed sound more like a way sloppier euro version of Minor Threat, expecially for the guitar sound. The singer left punk to become a bloody priest. Legend tells they did a reunion in early 90s' and he went on stage wearing his old spyked jacket over his priest suit, ahahah!! Anyhow, essential record! Matrix have been stratched so brutally that it looks like they did it with a pneumatic drill!!

Living In Chaos

While their name will always suggest they're only a copycat band, D-Clone debut full lenght "creation and destroy" proves exactly the opposite. Of course do not expect big innovations or a radical evolution. They're still raw as fuck, hyper-distorted, pissed off and of course there are plenty of d-beat parts to satisfy all the Discharge maniacs out there. Although, here they proved to have developed their own sound/style. First, I didn't remember them being that fast. No blast beats of course, but we're not that far from it on a couple of tracks. Plus they've thrown in an "experimental part" (for a lack of better words) at the end of side A that add a little of fresh air. It might sound like an oxymoron, but "creation and destroy" is a pure d-beat album where every track doesn't sound like an exact clone of the previous one. Sugi artwork. This is the european press on Agipunk. 100 on blue, 400 on black. This is going to sold out quickly so act fast or you'll regret it. One of the best album of 2012? I think so.   

I'm quite sure that sooner or later I will end up reading somewhere on the internet some morons arguing that this band is "hyped" and to "boycot them to preserve the purity of punk/hc" kind of bullshit...You know that kind of people. Now, I'm pretty conscious that life is easier for bands that come from US, Japan or Sweden. But to tag every bands that get a minimum of attention "hyped" is utterly ridicolous and childish. So please stop being a moron and understand a simple fact. Your crappy band sucks. D-Clone does not. That's why people prefer to spend their hard-earned cash for their records rather than on your useless unlistenable homemade totally DIY tape.

Stamp Out Disco

Like almost all the new HC bands that came outta Australia in the last couple of years, Last Chaos debut ep "kill dick control" turned out to be quite disappointing. Nothing terrible of course, but if you compare it to what the land downunder was producing between 2005 and 2010, you'll get the point. The music itself is not that bad, but the weak sound and the boring vocals are ruining it. Not to sound like a dick, but the demo was way more energic. When I listen to hardcore equally influenced by finnish and english classics, I want it to sound raw and distorted. And I want the singer to scream his lungs out for the rage. This ep is missing all this essential elements. Hardcore Victim. 500 made. 200 on clear, 300 on black.

"If Doc and Marty would ever offer me one only ride on their DeLorean, I'd go for Brisbane, 1977. In this period this tropical and isolated city, under the siege of Bjelke Petersen's iron first, was the perfectly boring and hopeless environment that forced young people to grab instruments and play the most angry, raw and pissed off music possible at that time. This was the inception of an extremely badly organized yet amazing small scene, where poorly attended gigs turned either in alcohol induced pathetic performances or police repression brutality. Of course it could have last only for a few years and most of these bands disbanded even before the new decade started. Band members moved away or OD'd in a dark corner. The few records that bands like Leftovers, Razar or Young Identities were able to put together, the only manifactures left for the posteries, were pressed in such small amounts that the few copies that have been able to make it through the last 30+ years are now highly revered collectors items that go for big bucks on todays eBay's frenziness. So I'm glad that 540 Records made these obscure classics available again for those that cannot affort to pay thousands of bucks for a record".

This is what I wrote in PM#7  about the Young Identities represses that came out last year. It seems like my prayers have been answered! Someone finally bootleged Razar's 1978 legendary debut ep "stamp out disco/task force". Two songs. One about hating disco, the other about hating cops. How could it be more punk than this? No lyrics and minimal infos, but I do really love that both songs have their own specific artwork.

DARVOCETS interview ('99/'00)

Taken from Traitors 'zine#2 from 2000. Do the crop circles!!

Violencia & Sobrevivencia

Nada Nada Discos do Brazil, after the excellent repress of the Olho Seco "botaz, fuzis, capacetes" ep of a couple of years ago, did it again. In the last few months they have reprinted both the other two classic brazilian hc eps from the 80s': Inocentes "miseria e fome" & Lixomania "violencia & sobrevivencia" eps. And they did again an excellent work. Both records are perfect reproduction of the originals and, to make things even more interesting, they throw in extra inserts with flyers, brief bios written directly by bands members etc. Label head honchos please take note: this is how reprints should be done.

Let's start with the first one:

Inocentes had all the ingredients of the classic brazilian sound: political attitude, gruff vocals, downtuned sound and mid paced, catchy but still agressive songwriting. Something similar to Colera but way more brutal! "Miseria e Fome" was supposed to be a 13 songs lp that the band planned to put out on it's own. But in 1983 Brazil was still under a military dictatorship and the censureship didn't allow the release since the lyrics were too political and outspoken. Out of the 13 tracks recorded, they let the band release only these 4 songs with lyrics and titles changed! The full lp finally came out in 1988, few years after the end of the dictatorship. Being a punk in the 80s' in south america wasn't a joke, so Inocentes and the other bands from that era get extra points for being politically active in a not so friendly environment like that!! 

If Inocentes sound brazilian 'till the bones, Lixomania were kinda unique. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this is the very first brazilian single ever recorded (but not the first to be released). Well, definitely not a bad start! Raspy and aggressive vocals, fuzzy guitars and mid paced drumming and a rough but at the same time catchy production made these six tunes brilliant. Vocals are absolutely their most unique element. Somehow they remind a bit the finnish vox style which wouldn't be a surprise considering that for some unknown reason the first wave of brazilian hc seemed to be deeply influenced by their finnish counterparts. Definitely my fave band from Brazil, too bad this is their unique release!!

RUPTURE flyers

The blog is almost one year old and I've noticed that I haven't posted enough about the best band ever: the almighty Rupture. Here's some of my fave flyers from their early days, stolen from Rohan/Extortion blog. Visit it for more!

LA PIOVRA interview 2006

Interview conducted via email with guitar player Marco during dec. '06. Originally featured in PM#5.

Perro: Since you've never answered to the LADM interview I sent you a couple of years ago, now you are forced to let me know why the hell did you break up so early? You were supposed to release a full length, touring etc...damn it, I still consider LADM one of the best italian bands from the '00s!! Is there any chance to bring it back to life?

Marco: No way...we are all busy with many other projects, we live in different places and now we have also different ideas...

Perro: Well, at least there's La Piovra now that seems to follow more or less the same direction...do you see any kind of connection between them?

Marco: I hope you are the last person that asks me that question!! The biggest connection is that both Alberto and I, we used to play in LADM and Marco had played with us in the last days just before we broke up. Some La Piovra tunes I wrote were rehearsed also by LADM and were supposed to be in the lp. I think La Piovra has a more punk rock feeling, less direct and simple and also less influenced by old school hc comparred to LADM.

Perro: La Piovra (which means "The Octopus") is definitely an original and weird name for a punk/hc band. How did you come up with it? Does it have something to do with mafia?

Marco: We came up with the name while we were having a break during rehearsal...we wanted an italian word followed by "boys", so it was "la piovra boys"...then it simply turned into "La Piovra". Of course we are involved with mafia but also with la piovra as an animal. Not to mention that the octopus is always the classic sea monster used in adventure/ pirates movies that we all love so much...

Perro: In your early days you described La Piovra as a mix of Life's Halt and Elvis Presley. After hearing a few samples I can only agree with that brilliant description since there's more than a r'n'r vibe in your dc fueled hc. How would you describe it today?

Marco: Let's call it hc/punk dressed with a good dose of rock, sometimes it's more 60s' garage and the others 70s' hard rock.

Perro: If I remember well, you had a serious car accident while you were on the way for recording your first studio session...

Marco: Yes, during our first long studio session our car was hitten in the back by another car. Half of the instruments were destroyed, as well as our necks. Luckily we got some money from it. Anyhow, that session was endless! Thanx to the car crash, a lost DAT and various health problems, we were thinking to stop La Piovra...

Perro: Your first release is going to be a one sided 12" on Youth Attack! How did you get in touch with them? You told me it's going to be a very deluxe release...

Marco: The 12" officially came out during early november. I simply sent the tracks to Mr. McCoy who immediately wrote back and offered us to put something out. In the classic Youth Attack tradition, it's a very deluxe edition: 4 colours artwork, no labels on the lp and one side is screen printed. First press on tan wax with gold ink, second press on clear wax with black ink. Both drawings are tentacles, of course.

Perro: There's also a 7" on Punk Before Profits...

Marco: The 7" has just been released for the american tour we just did during december, 1000 copies pressed. There's a limited tour edition as well as a mailorder one.

Perro: You just did a US tour during december. How was it?

Marco: The tour was great, even better than I expected. Our 12" was released just a month before we arrived, so a lot of people didn't know us but lot of people came to see us and bought the 12" and the new 7". We played with tons of excellent bands, including Government Warning, Cloak Dagger, Double Negative and Dustheads. We also played a couple of time with xBrainiax, we already met their drummer Lucas during the Ohuzaru tour (he was in Threatener). Awesome band, and nice people as well! We've been lucky even with the weather: we avoided snow and the 20th of Dicember I was in New York wearing a jeans jacket! If I could, I'll go on another tour tomorrow, ehehehe!

 
Perro: Talking about your other band Ohuzaru, are you still active or is dead again?

Marco: Now Ohuzaru aren't my main goal since La Piovra has maximum priority at this moment and it would be hard to keep both active. Anyhow, Ohuzaru are not dead but just have gone on hybernation...

Perro: We first got in touch thanks to the passion that we share about japanese hc, which is not something very popular here. Is there any cool new jap band that you would suggest us?

Marco: well...to tell the truth lately I've put aside my passion for japanese hardcore, there are not so many good bands around...I'm still a big fan of Jellyroll Rockheads, early Razor's Edge, Sprouts and some old bands like Gauze and Deathside but I'm not into new bands that are doing the old school thing (except for Crude, Etae and few others).

Perro: I know you have a huge records collection. Do you have any super rare records that everyone want to steal from your collection? What are your all time fave lps and 7"s?

Marco: The best 7" ever is Koro "700 club" without any doubt , I'll never be tired of it. Unfortunately I don't own the original, I have only the bootleg and the official reprint on Sorry State. I own lots of records but I don't consider myself a true collectionist, I don't think I've payed more than 60 € for a rare record that I love...

Perro: Sometimes I'm scared when I think that almost all punks think and look in the same way and have all the same ideas ect...I mean, isn't it just becoming another subculture with its own rules where people just conform with passivity to  the "punk law" without thinking too much about it? Don't you think a bit more of individuality would be welcomed?

Marco: I think you are right, it seems that a lot of people don't have enough time to think and choose by themselves what's wrong and what's right, they simply let their punk friend condition them. Just think how many vegetarian/ vegan we have in the scene and how many stop to be in that way when they drop out.

Perro: What's your worst nightmare?

Marco: Being buried alive...I dream it frequently and I'm quite disturbed by this...

Perro: What are you doing in your daily routine apart from music?

Marco: I'm a supply teacher in the elementary school and during summertime I work for Biennale di Venezia. These are the only jobs that allow me to go on tour a couple of times a year! Bigli is a joiner, Fede is still studying, Mattia is an electrician and -marco is always working in different factories.

Perro: Other plans for the future?

Marco: Doing a lp and playing around as much as we can! There are lots of places to visit all around the globe and tons of great people to meet.

Perro: Thanx for your time Marco, hope you've enjoyed answering my boring questions. Conclude with some words of wisdom.

Marco: Thanx Raffa for the interview, this time we did it! See ya around. To get in touch: slyactions@hotmail.com or www.myspace.com/lapiovra