Hello all! Second update this month, so it will be brief. Some great new stuff in the webstore in May, so I wanted to make sure everyone got a fair crack at it before it's all gone. However, before we get into the new release rundown, a couple of quick bits of news for you:
As you might have heard, the GDPR law in Europe goes into effect tomorrow - so for a handful of you reading this, this might be the last email update you receive from me unless you OPT IN at the Grave Mistake E-mail Sign Up form in the webstore. This is especially important for anyone in the EU who currently enjoys receiving these emails, I will not be able to send updates to you anymore unless you opt in. For a good chunk of you receiving this, if I can confirm that you are in the US / non-EU residents (if you have placed an order or set up an account in the current GM webstore) you will be fine - but to be safe and make sure you continue to receive Grave Mistake update emails, I recommend either signing up again via the link above, or clicking the box at checkout next time you place an order in the Grave Mistake webstore. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to drop me an email directly!
You can also follow Grave Mistake Records on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter if you want to stay up to date on the latest label and distro happenings!
Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, one quick announcement and that is the SUPERCRUSH / BIG BITE U.S. Tour that pops off next week! Supercrush will be hitting the Midwest and East Coast for the first time, so be sure to check out those bands when they hit your town. You can check out the full dates over at the Supercrush Facebook page. Also be sure to check out the new Big Bite LP that came out this month on Pop Wig! We will have copies in the webstore very shortly so keep an eye out next week if you wanna snag the vinyl ...
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!
As for the new stuff in the distro this month, you can peep the full list below - it's fairly short but we've got new wax from Tozcos, Liquids, Brown Sugar, Erik Nervous, Wound Man, Daudyflin, Gen Pop, Rina, Tim and the Boys, Suss Law, and more; a TON of killer tapes like the Fresh! Compilation, Lifeless Dark demo, "BeatSessions" tapes from Impalers, Fried Egg, and P22, a killer Siege "Drop Dead" 30th Anniversary compilation tape, and a bunch more in the demo catagory from Slant, Benderheads, Gumming, and more!
Also still fresh from earlier this month - the newest Supercrush 7" single ("I Can't Lie"), the Krimewatch LP, and 2nd Nandas 7", plus restocked on the RashomonDemo 7", Tozcos 7", newest Crude LP, and more! Check out the full list below ...
Thanks for reading!
Alex / Grave Mistake Records
New Webstore Additions for 5/24/18:
LIQUIDS "Hot Liqs Revenge" LP (Neck Chop Records)
Generally speaking, the punk rock ethos is one slightly muddled by its own paradoxical philosophy; the idea that, as an accessible do-it-yourself three-chord act, you’re expected to exercise the genre’s “devil-may-give-no-fuck” attitude in order to create confrontational bouts of raw, intimate music that barks in the face of your oppressors -- internal, external, or otherwise --, and celebrate everything that makes punk so intrinsically cathartic and empowering. But of course, all of this means jack-shit when nobody can make out what the fuck you’re saying. That’s why a band like Liquids -- brainchild of Indiana’s Mat Williams, best known for his time playing in The Coneheads, Dagger, The Fritz, Guinea Kid, Scabs, and Pukeoid -- is one whose worth as a garage-y, glam-like solo project is elevated so far beyond its immediate deluge of vibrant, squeal-prone hooks and brilliantly infectious rock ‘n’ roll melodies. Since the band’s debut in early 2015, Liquids has always been an honest, shamelessly human introspective projected through the lens of highly electrifying rock ‘n’ roll fits, beautifully melding garage, pop, blues, and even hardcore sensibilities into a perfectly condensed lo-fi punk rock chassis. It is music so unabashedly pained and discontented, with lyricism veiled in a venomous sheet of nihilism and destructive impulses craving immediate discharge, that it only serves to magnify the songs’ uncontainable amounts of upbeat, yet bittered passion. As intense as it is intelligent, Mat’s continual usage of the Liquids handle has culminated in a discography chock-full of songs guaranteed to be underground hits once we’re all dead and gone. “Hot Liqs’ Revenge” is no different, compiling an assortment of pre-existing recordings onto one convenient wheel ‘o’ wax, exemplifying the eclectic, savant-tier songwriting coming out from one of the most rightfully-revered D.I.Y. musicians of the Midwest. Long live Liquids. Matte jackets, risographed inserts done by Oddities Prints, Liquids bumper sticker and a DL code
LIQUIDS "Hot Liqs Revenge" LP (Neck Chop Records)
Generally speaking, the punk rock ethos is one slightly muddled by its own paradoxical philosophy; the idea that, as an accessible do-it-yourself three-chord act, you’re expected to exercise the genre’s “devil-may-give-no-fuck” attitude in order to create confrontational bouts of raw, intimate music that barks in the face of your oppressors -- internal, external, or otherwise --, and celebrate everything that makes punk so intrinsically cathartic and empowering. But of course, all of this means jack-shit when nobody can make out what the fuck you’re saying. That’s why a band like Liquids -- brainchild of Indiana’s Mat Williams, best known for his time playing in The Coneheads, Dagger, The Fritz, Guinea Kid, Scabs, and Pukeoid -- is one whose worth as a garage-y, glam-like solo project is elevated so far beyond its immediate deluge of vibrant, squeal-prone hooks and brilliantly infectious rock ‘n’ roll melodies. Since the band’s debut in early 2015, Liquids has always been an honest, shamelessly human introspective projected through the lens of highly electrifying rock ‘n’ roll fits, beautifully melding garage, pop, blues, and even hardcore sensibilities into a perfectly condensed lo-fi punk rock chassis. It is music so unabashedly pained and discontented, with lyricism veiled in a venomous sheet of nihilism and destructive impulses craving immediate discharge, that it only serves to magnify the songs’ uncontainable amounts of upbeat, yet bittered passion. As intense as it is intelligent, Mat’s continual usage of the Liquids handle has culminated in a discography chock-full of songs guaranteed to be underground hits once we’re all dead and gone. “Hot Liqs’ Revenge” is no different, compiling an assortment of pre-existing recordings onto one convenient wheel ‘o’ wax, exemplifying the eclectic, savant-tier songwriting coming out from one of the most rightfully-revered D.I.Y. musicians of the Midwest. Long live Liquids. Matte jackets, risographed inserts done by Oddities Prints, Liquids bumper sticker and a DL code
TOZCOS "Sueños Deceptivos" LP (Verdugo Discos)
Tozcos from Santa Ana is back at it again with more furious heavy hitting tracks on their "Sueños Deceptivos" LP.
ERIK NERVOUS "Assorted Anxieties" LP (Neck Chop Records)
You familiar with this, uh... this four-eyed yankee kid... calls himself Erik Neutron, or something of the like. Legend has it that at a very young age, Erik was forcibly uprooted from his suburban home by an intense gust of wind, propelling his infantile body in a near-perfect spiral towards America’s Rust Belt. There, he found himself lodged in a strange, mystical land, to which some leather-donning yokels have taken to calling... “NWI-cago”. Using a small, hexavalent chromium-stained seashell, Erik spent his youth studying music through the sounds of the ocean, recording rock songs of his own creation onto multi-colored floppy disks. He called it... “Devo-core”. All was peaceful in the land of NWI-cago, up until a small, green goblin-man, Limpy, and his friend, the ex-host of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare, scurried away with Erik’s floppies in hand, redistributing the music on their own respective record labels for the general populace to dissect. The rest, my friend, is history.
LYSOL "Teenage Trance" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
A band that calls themselves “Lysol” ain’t got no business sounding this fuckin’ filthy, but if this new single is of any indication, things are only gonna get far, far more filthier from here. These Seattle-based garage rockers have been playing a dangerous, potentially litigious game of footsie with this identically-named multi-billion dollar corporation for years, even going as far as to censor their name to “L.I.” (Lysol Incognito) on two select releases in order to avert suspicion, and ideally, a cease and desist order -- but if there’s one thing that should be made immediately clear by their continued deliverance of demented, psych-tinged jams under the Lysol name, it’s that this band is aiming to live fast and die even faster. They do not give. A. Fuuuuck. Lysol’s “‘Teenage Trance’ b/w ‘Chemical Reaction’” is yet another two-track, grease-sodden helping of rock ‘n’ roll slop served atop a seven-inch vinyl record, effortlessly incorporating elements of the group’s preceding efforts in Seattle’s Freak Vibes, with frantic slews of garage-like grooves propelled by a hardcore ferocity. Drumbeats restrained as the songs cautiously degenerate into psychedelic, noodle-prone moments of mid-paced obscurity, Lysol regularly dislodges themselves into a violent, bombastic concoction of causticized riffs and throat-rending roars, burdened by paranoia yet driven by sheer funk. The only thing that sucks about this record is that it’s only two tracks. But then again, that just might be all the human heart can take before it fuckin’ ruptures on itself.
KID CHROME "I've Had It" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
“I’ve had it!” Truly, these are words to define an entire generation -- a generation plagued by empty promises, emptier pockets, and even emptier skulls. Sometimes, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the palpable, burning desire to stomp your feet, gouge your fuckin’ eyes out and scream at the top of your lungs, “I’VE HAD IT!” Thankfully, for the benefit of all humanity, Seattle’s Kid Chrome has sonically centralized these sentiments onto one three-track, seven-inch, zero-fucks-given vinyl record, sparing everyone’s eyes from a socket-full of fingers -- and frankly, this clever fucker deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for that alone. The person responsible for Kid Chrome’s irresistible rock ‘n’ roll luster is none other than Chad Bucklew of Lysol, whose legacy as a solo-rock maestro trails back but a few years. And yet, the progress Chad has made since releasing his first hyper-lo-fi spasm of simplistic, drum machine-backed punk is nothing short of inspiring, as it would be for anyone capable of single-handedly writing snappy, bonafide songs of this caliber. Spurred by punchy mechanical drum-beats sure to get a crowd pogo-ing, Kid Chrome has re-recorded three flaming-hot takes on songs of past and present, toting a sharp, ultra-refined rock ‘n’ roll sound whose copious hooks, squeal-sensitive guitar licks, and rampant rodeo howls hearkens back to the great seminal proto-punk acts of yesteryear, complete with a contagious sense of enthusiasm set to enliven once-deadened senses. These are the type of songs you can expect to hear in “underground punk compilations” a few decades from now -- so don’t you dare fuckin’ sleep on it now. These songs are somethin’ else.
STIFF LOVE "Trouble" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Nevermind the weird phrasing: Olympia’s Stiff Love is a fuckin’ beautiful instance punk rock incestuation. Like, if there was some kind of omniscient deity responsible for eating grapes, chuckin’ down lightning bolts, and ensuring that certain groups of people got into rooms together and started up bands, they definitely would’ve had to pull some strings to get the stars to align over Washington that fateful day. Sampling members from Lysol, Lowest Priority, Beta Boys, Very Mental and The Vitamens -- the first three of which are Washington-based, and all four phenomenal punk acts of their own distinct, varying flavors --, Stiff Love is the aftershock following years of rambunctious reverberations spawned by their past musical efforts. Liberating themselves from the arbitrary limitations of straight-forward punk, Stiff Love has channeled decades’ worth of vintage garage rock into a shameless, glittery stint of glam-like moxie, complete with a presentation worthy of posters plastered all over a bedroom wall. This four-piece has curated a sound that’s distinctly their own, emanating sheer confidence and gusto through heavy-handed, toe-tap-inducing rhythms, spring-loaded guitar licks reminiscent of surf-esque sensibilities, crunchy, scuzzed-out riffage imbued with a metallic potency, and a kickass lead capable of inciting a fuckin’ riot. “Trouble” could not have been a better follow-up to the group’s original debut cassette of 2017, honing their once-coarse tones to an edge fit for a smiley face-embossed switchblade. Stiff Love is the exact type of band you wish you had back when you were in middle school. Because, well, maybe then you wouldn’t have turned out to be such a mess.
BROWN SUGAR "Long Strange Drip" LP (Feral Kid Records)
Here we have it fans, long running and newcomers alike. The ultimate in records by the almighty Brown Sugar. Almost ten years after the band formed Feral Kid Records now presents to you this experience of a collection LP compiling all tracks from the bands singles and compilations, as well as the unreleased 7th single, unreleased tracks, songs from the 'Songs About Birds' demo, and more. Essentially everything that the band ever did aside from the powerhouse LP also released by Feral Kid Records Scum Stats: 500 units - black vinyl, no variant
V/A "Teeny Tiny Records Presents: FRESH! Vol.1" Compilation Tape (Teeny Tiny Records)
Killer comp tape featuring: Result of Choice, Sin Cave, Rapture, Firewalker, Bacchae, Body Pressure, Khiis, Krimewatch, Luxe, Screw, Subspace, Prison, Big Boss, Mace, Outskirts, Tosser, Flower, and Game!
LIFELESS DARK "Who Will Be the Victims?" Demo Tape (Demo)
New band from Boston, MA. 3 tracks of UK 86 metal punk meets early US thrash. FFO: Sacrilege, Hellbastard, Detente, After The Bombs, etc.
IMPALERS "Beat Session Vol. 5" Tape (Shout Recordings)
Live set from TX's IMPALERS. Recorded live on August 28th, 2017 at The Golden Beat
FRIED EGG "Beat Session Vol. 4" Tape (Shout Recordings)
"The latest in the series of Beat Sessions produced and released by Mike Kriebel at The Golden Beat in LA. Having been able to actually experience one of these sessions as the bass player of Fried Egg, I have an even greater appreciation for how Mike's setup lends itself to the true live sound of a punk/hardcore band. The setup is very simple, Peel Session style - load in, get some levels, and hit it. We did the whole thing in maybe five hours including setup and breakdown, recording straight to 2" tape. Anyhow, if you enjoyed the previous sessions from Uranium Club, P22, and Urochromes, then have faith in Fried Egg! This batch of tracks represents a good chunk of our live set on that West coast tour - featuring a couple tracks off the previous EPs on Beach Impediment and Negative Jazz, plus three new ones that will eventually make it to our 12" on Feel It later this year. Oh yeah, and I'd say we did a pretty decent job with covering "Land of the Brave" by Mecht Mensch." -feel it records
P22 "Beat Session Vol. 3" Tape (Shout Recordings)
The third in our series of live session to 2" tape featuring an excellent band P22. Members of Wand and Behavior, they play crass records style early anarcho.
GEN POP "II" 7" (Feel It Records)
On not-so-distant horizons, when we've all heard everything, what aesthetic flavors will prevail? The era of good taste is upon us everyone. Your play-acting rendition of that Brazilian d-beat demo or British long-haired mace-wielders or Midwestern pocket-protector-perverts does not impress me, as I too have an internet connection and as a matter of fact my little sister uploaded all that to Youtube upon her 12th birthday. I swiftly gave them all a thumbs down. Gen Pop, on the other hand, gets a thumbs up. This band sounds like they've been raised exclusively on the synth/female-oriented KBD cuts, but with the confidence of those mid-00's Scandinavians who came over to our big trailer park knowing exactly how good they looked and sounded. It has some in vogue Australian elements, but luckily Olympia does not swelter to the point of their guitarists simply walking a clean telecaster around like a tenured poet at community college, butterfly kisses, pulling your knob switch foot. Catchy, snotty old-world flavors served up cold in the fusion restaurant that is our futureless American paradigm. Wonderful! - Brandon Gaffney
DAUÐYFLIN "Dauþiflin" 7” (Iron Lung Records)
Six tracks of incendiary Icelandic hardcore punk custom built to destroy even the sturdiest of preconceived notions. Have no doubts, these fierce women (and Fannar) of Reykjavík are laying down an unholy path to the icy acid bath that waits for us all. Hell has frozen over. Burn yourself all the way down with this one. Pogo to the prophecy beat.
WOUND MAN "Prehistory" 7" (Iron Lung Records)
The lyrics to the titular track beg the question: "What will evolution come up with?" Seeing people purposely devolve, becoming more stupid and cro-magnon by the year, provides the answer: Evolutionary life is a curiously destructive downward spiral ending back at the simian simplicity that started this whole planet draining mess in the first place. 'Prehistory' is 9 songs of blistering New Bedford style power violence complete with the stop start blaze and sludgery that makes their brand so brutally enthralling.
SIEGE "Drop Dead" (30th Anniversary Edition) Tape (Armageddon Label)
Restored definitive sound with all the original sessions’ outtakes. This edition features all four bonus tracks unearthed when the tapes were sent off for restoration, making this the most complete and definitive version of the release. Siege was an American hardcore punk band from Weymouth, Massachusetts. They were active in the 1980s Boston hardcore scene from 1983 to 1985, and reunited briefly in the early 1990s. Siege‘s unprecedented level of extreme hardcore punk was some of the fastest and heaviest of its time, incorporating lightning fast tempos, chord changes, vocal delivery, and blast beats into its style, thus setting the stage for the emerging grindcore scene. And though rather short-lived and little-known during their existence, subsequent musicians have cited the group as a profound influence, including the famous British grindcore band Napalm Death and the American hardcore band Dropdead, whose name was derived from the title of Siege‘s demo of the same name. An awesome document of SIEGE‘s Radiobeat recordings.
RIÑA "Aquí no eres nadie" 7" (Thrilling Living Records)
THRILLING LIVING and WORLD GONE MAD are excited to announce the release of the new EP from Mexico D.F.’s RIÑA, Aquí no eres nadie. The band's second EP, this record shows substantial growth from their already excellent demo (pressed to wax by Cintas Pepe in 2017). It perfectly balances the raw crudity and bouncy catchiness of classic Mexican or Colombian hardcore punk acts, delivering hit after hit of infectious and original hc-punk, in a style that’s harder to come by than it should be. RIÑA's vocalist Nadia venomously spits out the lyrics with consistent intensity and genuine urgency over the chainsaw guitar riffs. On this record, RIÑA somehow manage to top their already stand-out twist on classic Latin American hc-punk, in the process surpassing the lazy comparisons people will certainly make (see: SS-20 or CRIMEN IMPUNE or SOBERANIA PERSONAL). An essential modern band. Recorded just off the heels of their Summer 2017 west coast tour with ANTI-SEX and BLANK SPELL at High Command Studios. Olympia, WA.
SCRAP BRAIN "Unhappy Hardcore" 7" (Thrilling Living Records)
Composed cacophony, desperate dirges, pieces of the punk puzzle churning and crashing together to form one insistent and determined whole. This is brute force music, the sound of the claustrophobia of London, the claustrophobia of being a human being trapped inside of your own brain. First time on vinyl—400 copies on black vinyl in risographed sleeves designed by Leigh Arthur with a lyric insert illustrated by singer Camille Rearden.
TIM AND THE BOYS "Growing" LP (Meat Spin Records)
Tim & The Boys’ 'Growing' is a constant bait and switch. Songs swing from the satirical to the accusatory and back again, hook-laden intros blur into pointed aggressions, and honest sentiments soon reveal themselves as comedic slights. It’s a record that lives and dies on dichotomies and double guessing. The grunted question of “Do you wanna have fun with me?” soon gives way to the laughing retraction of, “I’m not that kinda guy!” The suggestive query of “Do you get off on weakness?” is countered by, “Do you come on too strong?” And just when you think you have them pinned down, you come to realise that even naming their first record ‘growing’ is a juvenile double entendre. 'Growing' features drum-machine controlled garage jams that disintegrate at the seams. Through the driving bass of Dan Grosz (Dead Farmers), agitated guitars of Will Harley (Housewives, BB & The Blips) and the one-note synths and haggard vocal of Tim Collier, come sounds that tease the interface between punk and pop. The tension of working at borderlines materialises in the band’s live shows, which vary from jovial fist-in-the-air affairs (with an audience member once handing Tim a freshly peeled hard-boiled egg) to an unwelcome violent element resulting in forced moshes. Their audience is often unsure of how to take the band, and it’s hard to blame them when Tim grins and jokes between songs, before viciously shouting stolen Spice Girls lyrics in the chorus to ‘Hey’ (“a ziggi-zig-UH”). With a mission to subvert and confuse, Tim & The Boys are one of the most interesting and thought-out members of a new crop of bands from the well-spring of Sydney, Australia. Through childish jokes and pointed commentary, they search for the grotesque in pop culture (in Spice Girls, in Cat Stevens, in Anastacia, in Gary Glitter) and re-fashion it through a distorted lens. Like Devo without the costumes, Country Teasers without the hate speech, Big Black without the whiny gear nerd at the front, and Black Randy without the repulsive back story, Tim & The Boys toy with form, style and structure to deliver a record that refuses to be pigeonholed.
SUSS LAW "S/T" LP (Extreme Headache Records)
Debut LP from this noise-punk band. Limited to only 250 copies. Pure insane distorted punk in the vein of Chaos UK (Short Sharp Shock era) meets thrashing hardcore kinda Sore Throat, Asocial and Heresy.
Tozcos from Santa Ana is back at it again with more furious heavy hitting tracks on their "Sueños Deceptivos" LP.
ERIK NERVOUS "Assorted Anxieties" LP (Neck Chop Records)
You familiar with this, uh... this four-eyed yankee kid... calls himself Erik Neutron, or something of the like. Legend has it that at a very young age, Erik was forcibly uprooted from his suburban home by an intense gust of wind, propelling his infantile body in a near-perfect spiral towards America’s Rust Belt. There, he found himself lodged in a strange, mystical land, to which some leather-donning yokels have taken to calling... “NWI-cago”. Using a small, hexavalent chromium-stained seashell, Erik spent his youth studying music through the sounds of the ocean, recording rock songs of his own creation onto multi-colored floppy disks. He called it... “Devo-core”. All was peaceful in the land of NWI-cago, up until a small, green goblin-man, Limpy, and his friend, the ex-host of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare, scurried away with Erik’s floppies in hand, redistributing the music on their own respective record labels for the general populace to dissect. The rest, my friend, is history.
LYSOL "Teenage Trance" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
A band that calls themselves “Lysol” ain’t got no business sounding this fuckin’ filthy, but if this new single is of any indication, things are only gonna get far, far more filthier from here. These Seattle-based garage rockers have been playing a dangerous, potentially litigious game of footsie with this identically-named multi-billion dollar corporation for years, even going as far as to censor their name to “L.I.” (Lysol Incognito) on two select releases in order to avert suspicion, and ideally, a cease and desist order -- but if there’s one thing that should be made immediately clear by their continued deliverance of demented, psych-tinged jams under the Lysol name, it’s that this band is aiming to live fast and die even faster. They do not give. A. Fuuuuck. Lysol’s “‘Teenage Trance’ b/w ‘Chemical Reaction’” is yet another two-track, grease-sodden helping of rock ‘n’ roll slop served atop a seven-inch vinyl record, effortlessly incorporating elements of the group’s preceding efforts in Seattle’s Freak Vibes, with frantic slews of garage-like grooves propelled by a hardcore ferocity. Drumbeats restrained as the songs cautiously degenerate into psychedelic, noodle-prone moments of mid-paced obscurity, Lysol regularly dislodges themselves into a violent, bombastic concoction of causticized riffs and throat-rending roars, burdened by paranoia yet driven by sheer funk. The only thing that sucks about this record is that it’s only two tracks. But then again, that just might be all the human heart can take before it fuckin’ ruptures on itself.
KID CHROME "I've Had It" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
“I’ve had it!” Truly, these are words to define an entire generation -- a generation plagued by empty promises, emptier pockets, and even emptier skulls. Sometimes, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the palpable, burning desire to stomp your feet, gouge your fuckin’ eyes out and scream at the top of your lungs, “I’VE HAD IT!” Thankfully, for the benefit of all humanity, Seattle’s Kid Chrome has sonically centralized these sentiments onto one three-track, seven-inch, zero-fucks-given vinyl record, sparing everyone’s eyes from a socket-full of fingers -- and frankly, this clever fucker deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for that alone. The person responsible for Kid Chrome’s irresistible rock ‘n’ roll luster is none other than Chad Bucklew of Lysol, whose legacy as a solo-rock maestro trails back but a few years. And yet, the progress Chad has made since releasing his first hyper-lo-fi spasm of simplistic, drum machine-backed punk is nothing short of inspiring, as it would be for anyone capable of single-handedly writing snappy, bonafide songs of this caliber. Spurred by punchy mechanical drum-beats sure to get a crowd pogo-ing, Kid Chrome has re-recorded three flaming-hot takes on songs of past and present, toting a sharp, ultra-refined rock ‘n’ roll sound whose copious hooks, squeal-sensitive guitar licks, and rampant rodeo howls hearkens back to the great seminal proto-punk acts of yesteryear, complete with a contagious sense of enthusiasm set to enliven once-deadened senses. These are the type of songs you can expect to hear in “underground punk compilations” a few decades from now -- so don’t you dare fuckin’ sleep on it now. These songs are somethin’ else.
STIFF LOVE "Trouble" 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Nevermind the weird phrasing: Olympia’s Stiff Love is a fuckin’ beautiful instance punk rock incestuation. Like, if there was some kind of omniscient deity responsible for eating grapes, chuckin’ down lightning bolts, and ensuring that certain groups of people got into rooms together and started up bands, they definitely would’ve had to pull some strings to get the stars to align over Washington that fateful day. Sampling members from Lysol, Lowest Priority, Beta Boys, Very Mental and The Vitamens -- the first three of which are Washington-based, and all four phenomenal punk acts of their own distinct, varying flavors --, Stiff Love is the aftershock following years of rambunctious reverberations spawned by their past musical efforts. Liberating themselves from the arbitrary limitations of straight-forward punk, Stiff Love has channeled decades’ worth of vintage garage rock into a shameless, glittery stint of glam-like moxie, complete with a presentation worthy of posters plastered all over a bedroom wall. This four-piece has curated a sound that’s distinctly their own, emanating sheer confidence and gusto through heavy-handed, toe-tap-inducing rhythms, spring-loaded guitar licks reminiscent of surf-esque sensibilities, crunchy, scuzzed-out riffage imbued with a metallic potency, and a kickass lead capable of inciting a fuckin’ riot. “Trouble” could not have been a better follow-up to the group’s original debut cassette of 2017, honing their once-coarse tones to an edge fit for a smiley face-embossed switchblade. Stiff Love is the exact type of band you wish you had back when you were in middle school. Because, well, maybe then you wouldn’t have turned out to be such a mess.
BROWN SUGAR "Long Strange Drip" LP (Feral Kid Records)
Here we have it fans, long running and newcomers alike. The ultimate in records by the almighty Brown Sugar. Almost ten years after the band formed Feral Kid Records now presents to you this experience of a collection LP compiling all tracks from the bands singles and compilations, as well as the unreleased 7th single, unreleased tracks, songs from the 'Songs About Birds' demo, and more. Essentially everything that the band ever did aside from the powerhouse LP also released by Feral Kid Records Scum Stats: 500 units - black vinyl, no variant
V/A "Teeny Tiny Records Presents: FRESH! Vol.1" Compilation Tape (Teeny Tiny Records)
Killer comp tape featuring: Result of Choice, Sin Cave, Rapture, Firewalker, Bacchae, Body Pressure, Khiis, Krimewatch, Luxe, Screw, Subspace, Prison, Big Boss, Mace, Outskirts, Tosser, Flower, and Game!
LIFELESS DARK "Who Will Be the Victims?" Demo Tape (Demo)
New band from Boston, MA. 3 tracks of UK 86 metal punk meets early US thrash. FFO: Sacrilege, Hellbastard, Detente, After The Bombs, etc.
IMPALERS "Beat Session Vol. 5" Tape (Shout Recordings)
Live set from TX's IMPALERS. Recorded live on August 28th, 2017 at The Golden Beat
FRIED EGG "Beat Session Vol. 4" Tape (Shout Recordings)
"The latest in the series of Beat Sessions produced and released by Mike Kriebel at The Golden Beat in LA. Having been able to actually experience one of these sessions as the bass player of Fried Egg, I have an even greater appreciation for how Mike's setup lends itself to the true live sound of a punk/hardcore band. The setup is very simple, Peel Session style - load in, get some levels, and hit it. We did the whole thing in maybe five hours including setup and breakdown, recording straight to 2" tape. Anyhow, if you enjoyed the previous sessions from Uranium Club, P22, and Urochromes, then have faith in Fried Egg! This batch of tracks represents a good chunk of our live set on that West coast tour - featuring a couple tracks off the previous EPs on Beach Impediment and Negative Jazz, plus three new ones that will eventually make it to our 12" on Feel It later this year. Oh yeah, and I'd say we did a pretty decent job with covering "Land of the Brave" by Mecht Mensch." -feel it records
P22 "Beat Session Vol. 3" Tape (Shout Recordings)
The third in our series of live session to 2" tape featuring an excellent band P22. Members of Wand and Behavior, they play crass records style early anarcho.
GEN POP "II" 7" (Feel It Records)
On not-so-distant horizons, when we've all heard everything, what aesthetic flavors will prevail? The era of good taste is upon us everyone. Your play-acting rendition of that Brazilian d-beat demo or British long-haired mace-wielders or Midwestern pocket-protector-perverts does not impress me, as I too have an internet connection and as a matter of fact my little sister uploaded all that to Youtube upon her 12th birthday. I swiftly gave them all a thumbs down. Gen Pop, on the other hand, gets a thumbs up. This band sounds like they've been raised exclusively on the synth/female-oriented KBD cuts, but with the confidence of those mid-00's Scandinavians who came over to our big trailer park knowing exactly how good they looked and sounded. It has some in vogue Australian elements, but luckily Olympia does not swelter to the point of their guitarists simply walking a clean telecaster around like a tenured poet at community college, butterfly kisses, pulling your knob switch foot. Catchy, snotty old-world flavors served up cold in the fusion restaurant that is our futureless American paradigm. Wonderful! - Brandon Gaffney
DAUÐYFLIN "Dauþiflin" 7” (Iron Lung Records)
Six tracks of incendiary Icelandic hardcore punk custom built to destroy even the sturdiest of preconceived notions. Have no doubts, these fierce women (and Fannar) of Reykjavík are laying down an unholy path to the icy acid bath that waits for us all. Hell has frozen over. Burn yourself all the way down with this one. Pogo to the prophecy beat.
WOUND MAN "Prehistory" 7" (Iron Lung Records)
The lyrics to the titular track beg the question: "What will evolution come up with?" Seeing people purposely devolve, becoming more stupid and cro-magnon by the year, provides the answer: Evolutionary life is a curiously destructive downward spiral ending back at the simian simplicity that started this whole planet draining mess in the first place. 'Prehistory' is 9 songs of blistering New Bedford style power violence complete with the stop start blaze and sludgery that makes their brand so brutally enthralling.
SIEGE "Drop Dead" (30th Anniversary Edition) Tape (Armageddon Label)
Restored definitive sound with all the original sessions’ outtakes. This edition features all four bonus tracks unearthed when the tapes were sent off for restoration, making this the most complete and definitive version of the release. Siege was an American hardcore punk band from Weymouth, Massachusetts. They were active in the 1980s Boston hardcore scene from 1983 to 1985, and reunited briefly in the early 1990s. Siege‘s unprecedented level of extreme hardcore punk was some of the fastest and heaviest of its time, incorporating lightning fast tempos, chord changes, vocal delivery, and blast beats into its style, thus setting the stage for the emerging grindcore scene. And though rather short-lived and little-known during their existence, subsequent musicians have cited the group as a profound influence, including the famous British grindcore band Napalm Death and the American hardcore band Dropdead, whose name was derived from the title of Siege‘s demo of the same name. An awesome document of SIEGE‘s Radiobeat recordings.
RIÑA "Aquí no eres nadie" 7" (Thrilling Living Records)
THRILLING LIVING and WORLD GONE MAD are excited to announce the release of the new EP from Mexico D.F.’s RIÑA, Aquí no eres nadie. The band's second EP, this record shows substantial growth from their already excellent demo (pressed to wax by Cintas Pepe in 2017). It perfectly balances the raw crudity and bouncy catchiness of classic Mexican or Colombian hardcore punk acts, delivering hit after hit of infectious and original hc-punk, in a style that’s harder to come by than it should be. RIÑA's vocalist Nadia venomously spits out the lyrics with consistent intensity and genuine urgency over the chainsaw guitar riffs. On this record, RIÑA somehow manage to top their already stand-out twist on classic Latin American hc-punk, in the process surpassing the lazy comparisons people will certainly make (see: SS-20 or CRIMEN IMPUNE or SOBERANIA PERSONAL). An essential modern band. Recorded just off the heels of their Summer 2017 west coast tour with ANTI-SEX and BLANK SPELL at High Command Studios. Olympia, WA.
SCRAP BRAIN "Unhappy Hardcore" 7" (Thrilling Living Records)
Composed cacophony, desperate dirges, pieces of the punk puzzle churning and crashing together to form one insistent and determined whole. This is brute force music, the sound of the claustrophobia of London, the claustrophobia of being a human being trapped inside of your own brain. First time on vinyl—400 copies on black vinyl in risographed sleeves designed by Leigh Arthur with a lyric insert illustrated by singer Camille Rearden.
TIM AND THE BOYS "Growing" LP (Meat Spin Records)
Tim & The Boys’ 'Growing' is a constant bait and switch. Songs swing from the satirical to the accusatory and back again, hook-laden intros blur into pointed aggressions, and honest sentiments soon reveal themselves as comedic slights. It’s a record that lives and dies on dichotomies and double guessing. The grunted question of “Do you wanna have fun with me?” soon gives way to the laughing retraction of, “I’m not that kinda guy!” The suggestive query of “Do you get off on weakness?” is countered by, “Do you come on too strong?” And just when you think you have them pinned down, you come to realise that even naming their first record ‘growing’ is a juvenile double entendre. 'Growing' features drum-machine controlled garage jams that disintegrate at the seams. Through the driving bass of Dan Grosz (Dead Farmers), agitated guitars of Will Harley (Housewives, BB & The Blips) and the one-note synths and haggard vocal of Tim Collier, come sounds that tease the interface between punk and pop. The tension of working at borderlines materialises in the band’s live shows, which vary from jovial fist-in-the-air affairs (with an audience member once handing Tim a freshly peeled hard-boiled egg) to an unwelcome violent element resulting in forced moshes. Their audience is often unsure of how to take the band, and it’s hard to blame them when Tim grins and jokes between songs, before viciously shouting stolen Spice Girls lyrics in the chorus to ‘Hey’ (“a ziggi-zig-UH”). With a mission to subvert and confuse, Tim & The Boys are one of the most interesting and thought-out members of a new crop of bands from the well-spring of Sydney, Australia. Through childish jokes and pointed commentary, they search for the grotesque in pop culture (in Spice Girls, in Cat Stevens, in Anastacia, in Gary Glitter) and re-fashion it through a distorted lens. Like Devo without the costumes, Country Teasers without the hate speech, Big Black without the whiny gear nerd at the front, and Black Randy without the repulsive back story, Tim & The Boys toy with form, style and structure to deliver a record that refuses to be pigeonholed.
SUSS LAW "S/T" LP (Extreme Headache Records)
Debut LP from this noise-punk band. Limited to only 250 copies. Pure insane distorted punk in the vein of Chaos UK (Short Sharp Shock era) meets thrashing hardcore kinda Sore Throat, Asocial and Heresy.
SIN RITMO "EP" Tape (Verdugo Discos)
Great hardcore punk from Mexico City. If you dig the sound of Herejia, Descontrol, and Sedición, then this will be your jam.
GUMMING "Human Values" Tape (Not Normal Tapes)
If you can't (or won't) play fast, you've got considerably less to hide behind. You lack of technical prowess and inability to write a discernible hook isn't just noticed, it's magnified. There's a rare number who can overcome these hurdles (and my insistence that punk-hardcore is meant to be played FAST), but Gumming is among them. The songs are clinically infectious, wound tight around just one or two ideas and repetitively pounded out with the glee of the smirking little shits forced to stand in the corner in elementary school. Music to squirm in your skin to. Thirteen track, full-length CS from these RVA bruisers. Red cassettes w/ cardboard texture, three-panel j-card.
BAD EXAMPLE "Tethered in Deviancy" Tape (Not Normal Tapes)
You gotta dig, punk is nasty. It's mean and dumb and hits ya hard in the gut. But that's just a few aspects of punk. For many, it's a way to feel a part of something. It's smart and witty and a way to finally move those parts of us that have always been restricted. That's all Bad Example. I see this band and I more than that, something familial almost, a united front against a reality that can only tear us apart. Bad Example is angry and frustrated in an attempt to tear that anger and frustration up and build up a new reality. Get in the pit with the baddest of examples, True Believers. Five track tape on rhodamine red, with insert AND lyric sheet (what a concept!) designed by BE's own Sammantha Garcia.
ACCELA Demo Tape (Not Normal Tapes)
Deluged by an overabundance of Old Guy, American style d-beat? Confused by the inclusion of a stitched on mosh part, differentiated by the scantest shaving down of BPM? The antidote is here: Accela! Loud, fast, angry, and bleak, this is five tracks of unadulterated midwestern idiocy at its finest!
SLANT 2018 Demo Tape (Headcount Records)
From Seoul, South Korea is SLANT. We bring you 6 tracks of furious hardcore featuring members of Bloodkrow Butcher, Scumraid, and more!
BENDERHEADS "Illusion Dweller" Tape (Vinyl Conflict Label)
Brand New Demo from Richmonds BENDERHEADS. Featuring members from Unholy Thoughts, Eurotics, Cherry Pits and more. Straight D-Beat annihilation reminiscent of your favorite Scandinavian bands and not just a buzzword for those who don't know how to describe punk.
SLAUGHTER RULE 2018 Demo Tape (Demo)
Slaughter Rule presents four fresh cuts of hardcore punk from Chicago. The approach is relatively simple: thrash and stomp til the tape runs out. Riff, distort, repeat. Closes with “Kill Him,” an anthemic plea to stop the endless rain of bullshit that’s been burying us all. The tape comes packaged with an enlightening 2-sided fold-out insert featuring art and lyrics.
WOLFBRIGADE "D-Beat Odessey" LP (Havoc Records)
Back in print for the first time in 10 years, this 2004 12” features Wolfbrigade deliving a crushing hardcore steamroller that flattens all in it's path. Heavy riffing and melodic leads with guest vocals from Poffen of Totalitar on a few tracks. Striking cover art by Marald. This 12” sold some 5,000 copies back in 2004-2005 and was meant to be re pressed as part of a singles and comp tracks double LP that never came together. So now it's back at the bands request in it's original format.
DISTORT #53 (Distort Tokyo) Zine (Distort)
Published for the OPENING NIGHTS in Tokyo April 2018, this 32 page issue of DISTORT features a cover photo / text by Haruka Hirata, drawings by James Vinciguerra, a poster of the upcoming TOTAL CONTROL / RIXE show in Footscray, and writing on death and music and technology and Sakevi / Kim Kardashian. US edition, half size.
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL #421 - JUNE 2018 (MRR)
Hot off the press, it’s the latest Maximum Rocknroll! Our June issue, MRR #421, brings you the hot gossip on all your favorite bands. Vancouver’s FASHIONISM has a nun fetish, for example, while Berlin’s CUNTROACHES shit themselves onstage, and New York’s MORAL PANIC may have pissed the couch. Too scandalous for you? Read APPRAISE‘s opinions on the Spanish sXe scene and Catalan independence, Portland’s MR. WRONG on their social responsibilities as a band, Mexico’s CRUZ DE NAVAJAS discussing the femicides in their country, or Australia’s EXEK contemplating tomorrow’s lunch. Plus we’ve got DURS COEURS on the Ottawa scene, North Carolina’s NO LOVE admitting their most embarrassing shows, and, oh yeah, Japanese legends FIRESTARTER preparing for their only US show! If that’s not enough for you, check out some sick photos from DC’s Damaged City festival, our new DIY recording tips section, and all the columns and reviews that you love to get mad about every month. It’s right here in the newest issue of Maximum Rocknroll!
Restocks for 5/24/18:
5.6.7.8.'s, THE "Bomb the Rocks: Early Days Singles 89-96" 2xLP
CRUDE "Drug Culture" LP
DESTRUCT "Human Failure" Tape
DISCHARGE "State Violence, State Control" 7"
FRIED EGG "Two Sides of …" Tape
Great hardcore punk from Mexico City. If you dig the sound of Herejia, Descontrol, and Sedición, then this will be your jam.
GUMMING "Human Values" Tape (Not Normal Tapes)
If you can't (or won't) play fast, you've got considerably less to hide behind. You lack of technical prowess and inability to write a discernible hook isn't just noticed, it's magnified. There's a rare number who can overcome these hurdles (and my insistence that punk-hardcore is meant to be played FAST), but Gumming is among them. The songs are clinically infectious, wound tight around just one or two ideas and repetitively pounded out with the glee of the smirking little shits forced to stand in the corner in elementary school. Music to squirm in your skin to. Thirteen track, full-length CS from these RVA bruisers. Red cassettes w/ cardboard texture, three-panel j-card.
BAD EXAMPLE "Tethered in Deviancy" Tape (Not Normal Tapes)
You gotta dig, punk is nasty. It's mean and dumb and hits ya hard in the gut. But that's just a few aspects of punk. For many, it's a way to feel a part of something. It's smart and witty and a way to finally move those parts of us that have always been restricted. That's all Bad Example. I see this band and I more than that, something familial almost, a united front against a reality that can only tear us apart. Bad Example is angry and frustrated in an attempt to tear that anger and frustration up and build up a new reality. Get in the pit with the baddest of examples, True Believers. Five track tape on rhodamine red, with insert AND lyric sheet (what a concept!) designed by BE's own Sammantha Garcia.
ACCELA Demo Tape (Not Normal Tapes)
Deluged by an overabundance of Old Guy, American style d-beat? Confused by the inclusion of a stitched on mosh part, differentiated by the scantest shaving down of BPM? The antidote is here: Accela! Loud, fast, angry, and bleak, this is five tracks of unadulterated midwestern idiocy at its finest!
SLANT 2018 Demo Tape (Headcount Records)
From Seoul, South Korea is SLANT. We bring you 6 tracks of furious hardcore featuring members of Bloodkrow Butcher, Scumraid, and more!
BENDERHEADS "Illusion Dweller" Tape (Vinyl Conflict Label)
Brand New Demo from Richmonds BENDERHEADS. Featuring members from Unholy Thoughts, Eurotics, Cherry Pits and more. Straight D-Beat annihilation reminiscent of your favorite Scandinavian bands and not just a buzzword for those who don't know how to describe punk.
SLAUGHTER RULE 2018 Demo Tape (Demo)
Slaughter Rule presents four fresh cuts of hardcore punk from Chicago. The approach is relatively simple: thrash and stomp til the tape runs out. Riff, distort, repeat. Closes with “Kill Him,” an anthemic plea to stop the endless rain of bullshit that’s been burying us all. The tape comes packaged with an enlightening 2-sided fold-out insert featuring art and lyrics.
WOLFBRIGADE "D-Beat Odessey" LP (Havoc Records)
Back in print for the first time in 10 years, this 2004 12” features Wolfbrigade deliving a crushing hardcore steamroller that flattens all in it's path. Heavy riffing and melodic leads with guest vocals from Poffen of Totalitar on a few tracks. Striking cover art by Marald. This 12” sold some 5,000 copies back in 2004-2005 and was meant to be re pressed as part of a singles and comp tracks double LP that never came together. So now it's back at the bands request in it's original format.
DISTORT #53 (Distort Tokyo) Zine (Distort)
Published for the OPENING NIGHTS in Tokyo April 2018, this 32 page issue of DISTORT features a cover photo / text by Haruka Hirata, drawings by James Vinciguerra, a poster of the upcoming TOTAL CONTROL / RIXE show in Footscray, and writing on death and music and technology and Sakevi / Kim Kardashian. US edition, half size.
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL #421 - JUNE 2018 (MRR)
Hot off the press, it’s the latest Maximum Rocknroll! Our June issue, MRR #421, brings you the hot gossip on all your favorite bands. Vancouver’s FASHIONISM has a nun fetish, for example, while Berlin’s CUNTROACHES shit themselves onstage, and New York’s MORAL PANIC may have pissed the couch. Too scandalous for you? Read APPRAISE‘s opinions on the Spanish sXe scene and Catalan independence, Portland’s MR. WRONG on their social responsibilities as a band, Mexico’s CRUZ DE NAVAJAS discussing the femicides in their country, or Australia’s EXEK contemplating tomorrow’s lunch. Plus we’ve got DURS COEURS on the Ottawa scene, North Carolina’s NO LOVE admitting their most embarrassing shows, and, oh yeah, Japanese legends FIRESTARTER preparing for their only US show! If that’s not enough for you, check out some sick photos from DC’s Damaged City festival, our new DIY recording tips section, and all the columns and reviews that you love to get mad about every month. It’s right here in the newest issue of Maximum Rocknroll!
Restocks for 5/24/18:
5.6.7.8.'s, THE "Bomb the Rocks: Early Days Singles 89-96" 2xLP
CRUDE "Drug Culture" LP
DESTRUCT "Human Failure" Tape
DISCHARGE "State Violence, State Control" 7"
FRIED EGG "Two Sides of …" Tape
FUTURA Demo Tape
KAAOS "Riistinnaulittu Kaaos" LP
KALEIDOSCOPE "2017" 7"
NERVES, THE "One Way Ticket LP" LP
NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES "S/T" LP
PANDORAS, THE "It's About Time" LP
KAAOS "Riistinnaulittu Kaaos" LP
KALEIDOSCOPE "2017" 7"
NERVES, THE "One Way Ticket LP" LP
NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES "S/T" LP
PANDORAS, THE "It's About Time" LP
RASHOMON "Demo" 7"
SERQET 2017 Demo Tape
SIEGE "Drop Dead" (30th Anniversary Edition) Tape
SERQET 2017 Demo Tape
SIEGE "Drop Dead" (30th Anniversary Edition) Tape
TOZCOS "S/T" 7"
V/A "Bughouse I Mixtape" Compilation Tape
VARUKERS "Die For Your Government" 7"
VARUKERS "I Don't Wanna Be A Victim" 7"
VARUKERS "Protest and Survive" 7"
V/A "Bughouse I Mixtape" Compilation Tape
VARUKERS "Die For Your Government" 7"
VARUKERS "I Don't Wanna Be A Victim" 7"
VARUKERS "Protest and Survive" 7"