Attitude Adjustment – No More Mr. Nice Guy EP (Beer City)
Nearly twenty years ago I waxed poetic about how fantastic this slab of feral Bay Area crossover hardcore was and lamented that it never got its due. Welp, thanks to the fine skate punk drunks at Beer City records, this long overlooked killer is getting some proper love so all is good in the hood, right? RIGHT? OK, well at least now you can blast this “Millennium Edition” with a louder mix, extra photo and liner notes that weren’t included in the cruddy xeroxed cover originally included with the 1988 release on A Matter of Image records. The tunes still hold up, sounding something like a gruff D-beat band throwing in some oddly swirling guitar with metal leads and killer double bass-fueled thrash, and the cover art accurately depicts the combative vibe that the vinyl delivers here, with a fellow backed into a corner and ready to explode. Another in a growing collection of fine reissues from Beer City Records.
Drunks With Guns – Fucked Up On Beer & Drugs (Self-Released)
Like any midwesern noisenik, the Drunk With Guns classic “Beautiful Happiness” rung in my ringing ears as news of this legit collection of DWG material was announced, once and for all eliminating the need to scour Discogs and the less legit corners of eBay, or even worse, the glitchy MP4s that’ve circulated in the internet since the dawn of the Winamp player for some snarling chunks of St. Louis’ finest misanthropic noise punk. Collected here and sounding more raw and vital than ever are such smash hits as “Dick in One Hand…”, “Wonderful Subdivision”, “Bloodbath”, “Leprosy”, “Punched in the Head” and more, with a crackling remaster courtesy of one Weasel Walter. Let us thank our lucky stars that 37 years after the first DWG recordings splurted out of the Lou, these midwestern miscreants are back out touring and spreading bad vibes with this proper release of archival audio antagonism.
Foetus – Ache (Self Immolation)
The Foetus reissue campaign continues after the 2019 reissue of the debut album Deaf, this time with a heavyweight white vinyl repress of the second album Ache. I’ve been after this one for a number of years as it’s been harder to track down than the other releases, so it’s extra nice to finally hear it. This new version was remastered by John Bonati and sounds great, although I haven’t heard the original so I can’t really compare it. It is a sweet package though, as it includes a reproduction of the original promo poster from the album and allegedly includes a signed sticker (mine was missing) and a download code (the tracks have yet to be posted) — but regardless it’s still a deal for a such a well-done slab of Foetus, and definitely worth the price compared to securing an original. Sound-wise, it’s all the psychotic sonic madness you want from J.G. Thirlwell, rife with layered big band/ragtime instrumentation deconstructed and rearranged with cutup industrial funk and martial drumming. The mad genius at work here is now recognized after numerous collaborations with underground cult heroes through the decades since this release, not to mention the highly-regarded scores for Adult Swim’s Venture Bros., so it’s joy to recall the sheer “what-the-fuck-is-this!?!?!” sensation that once assaulted innocent ears at the clued-in record stores of the 1980s. Pretty much any Foetus release is worth picking up, but this and Deaf make fantastic places to start the legend, and both are as startlingly original today as they were when they were first released.
Halloween Mix Tape #3 – Various Artists (Dirtbag)
A healthy skepticism for scene compilations has been noted here before when also mentioning a Kansas City-area compilation (2011’s Cheap Beer from Replay Records) that’s elevated itself into regular rotation and legendary status. And while the concern that familiarity and a dash of local pride could be flavoring the favoring of this particular collection from KC’s Dirtbag Distro, dozens of other KC scene comps can be used as evidence for the contrary. Most of these, like most scene comps in general, may offer a couple decent nuggets among a heap of forgettable blather and tedious mimicry. The third installment of Dirtbag’s Halloween Mix Tape series, thankfully, while rough and tumble, keeps the quality level high with some hella demented punk noise ranging from blackened hardcore (Sarin Reaper) to creeping bedroom freak psych (Harrison Hufman) to robotic synth punk (the impeccably-named Ghost Beef). The demented laughter on Total Sham’s track “Bloodsucker” is one of the greatest recorded moments of 2022, as is “Plastic PPL” by Kadaver Dogs, which might well be the single of the 2022 with its incessant and insane take on synthetic hardcore. Overall, this is mostly hi-octane and gnarly punk, but each of the 23 bands (!) have at least some quality that makes them interesting, be it insane vocals, speed, noise, aggression or freaky freak flags flyin’ high. Halloween and punk go hand in hand and if you think that statement begins and ends with the Misfits discography, you need to check out the wild racket this new breed of punk rawk is kickin’ up in the wastelands of the midwest.
Thomas Leer & Robert Rental – The Bridge (Mute)
Like the Foetus reissue mentioned above, this one had been on my wantlist for a number of years and was reissued on white wax in 2022. After the Dark Entries label reissued Rental’s 1978 Paralysis single as an EP with some previously unreleased tracks in 2020, I’d been looking for a good copy of this legendary collaboration with Thomas Leer featuring some groundbreaking primitive electronics that helped shape the sound of post-punk and early industrial music. Originally released on the infamous Throbbing Gristle’s Industrial Records label in 1979, the raw electronic sound sources on The Bridge are stitched together to form a disfigured version of synthpop with a dark edge that bridges the ethereal space between Cabaret Voltaire and Bauhaus. Side A closer “Fade Away” even evokes the fractured alien soundtracks of the stateside envelope-pushers Chrome, which will always catch my ear and receive a nod of approval, while Side B completely takes things into an avant garde and ghostly ambient direction with four tracks the seamlessly drift into each other and finally into silence. In fact, Side B is much more like Lalo Schifrin’s soundtrack for THX 1138 than the experimental DIY pop found on Side A. While there are some complaints in the Discogs reviews of this pressing, I found this pressing to sound quite good considering the 43-year-old source material consisting of rudimentary electronics and homemade effects.
Punk 45: I’m A Mess – Various Artists 2xLP (Soul Jazz)
It’d been a while since a Soul Jazz Punk 45 release hit the racks; in fact, the last release in this essential series was the 2018 7″ box set that basically pulled tracks from previous Punk 45 releases and recreated. This is some early-ass punk, so you can still quite clearly hear the protopunk glam influence of the NY Dolls on tracks like “Jerkin'” by The Drive and so on, but there are some wild standout tracks that’s hard to believe came out before 1980, such as my favorite track, The Carpette’s “Help I’m Trapped” from a 1977 single which blazes at hardcore punk speed years before that became a stylistic distinction of the genre. Other standouts include “Saints and SInners” by Johnny and The Self Abusers, which is a snappy 3-chord wonder, or “Priorities” by Trash, taken from a 1977 single that totally rips and has a sweet minor key riff and a bouncing bass line that telegraphs the fundamental DNA of the SoCal punk scene that’d follow a few years later. The Electric Chair’s “So Many Ways” is some primal, primitive electro dub that predates the A Certain Ratio, Pop Group, and ultimately LCD Soundsystem rhythm punk. And after some research it’s pretty fuckin’ cool to learn that Killing Joke/Ministry/Godflesh/many others bassist Paul Raven (R.I.P.) played on the amazing “Venus Eccentric” single from 1977 by the Neon Hearts, which bashes along with youthful energy like an early version of the Swell Maps with some sweet sax licks. Add another solid volume of finely curated first wave punk to your Soul Jazz library.
Sado-Nation – Sado Nation 7″ EP (Puke N Vomit)
Of the dozens of punk reissues the PNV label released in 2022, none were as necessary, in my eyes, as this holy grail of early Portland punk, which nowadays exchanges hands for hundreds of dollars among collector scum. The B-sides’ “Back “On Whom They Beat” and “Mom and Pop Democracy” were undeniable standout tracks on one of the Hyped to Death comps from the mid-2000s and were long overdue for a proper reissue along with the A-side killers “I’m Trouble” and “Gimme You”. This faithful reproduction of the 1980 release from Greg Sage’s Trap Records label includes a more legible lyric sheet with the collage art on the second side, plus a mini press release sheet with short bio of the band. Knowing that this came out on Sage’s label does reveal a slight Wipers influence on Sado-Nation’s guitar sound, which is a plus, and they’ve always struck me as being on the same sonic wavelength of all the great melodic SoCal punk bands that existed post-Dangerhouse towards the initial wave of what would become Orange County hardcore punk.
Savage Republic – Tragic Figures 2xLP (Mobilization / Real Gone Music)
One of my all-time favorite record store scores was picking up this 1982 debut from LA industrial/tribal/punk group sometime in the early nineties for a paltry $5 at Love Garden Sounds here in Lawrence, Kansas. I was familiar with the esteemed letterpress aesthetic of Independent Project Records as the label that’d released one of the best albums from my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, Echelons by For Against. I knew the Savage Republic name and figured that anything from IPR would be worth a 5-spot bet, and putting it on for the first time I understood why it was in the used bin for such a reasonable sum, especially for such a beautifully packaged artifact. The gnarled, howling pound of “When All Else Fails” cuts to the bone with a… savage intensity that’s only been rivaled by notorious groups like Swans or Missing Foundation. This record had limited appeal for 1990s audiences and I can only imagine how extreme this sounded in 1982, yet now 40 years after its initial release, it gets a deluxe reissue treatment with a bonus disc full of pre-Tragic Figures material from when the band was called Africa Corps.
Skin Graft Records Presents… Sounds to Make You Shudder! – Various Artists (Skin Graft)
With a label roster as scattershot and boundary-averse as Skin Graft’s, a hesitation to commit time and/or monies into fifteen tracks of outsider audio anarchy is understandable. But be advised: the payoff with this compilation is well worth at least a couple spins, as sonic treasures abound and as disparate as the bands and artists are, there is a high degree of listenability with the Halloween mayhem contained here. Plus, this release sees a triumphant return of Rob Syers’ art for a Skin Graft album cover and graphics, which make a physical copy of this haunted hullabaloo a worthwhile investment. Beware, as this kicks off with a collaboration between David Yow, doing his best cryptkeeper voice, and Yowie, followed up by another collab between Psychic Graveyard and John Dwyer, reconnecting some of the Fort Thunder Providence weirdo energy for the track “Is There A Hotline?” Other faves include solid pounder from USA Nails, bombastic jazz metal from The Flying Luttenbachers, ferocious noise rock from Cuntroaches, and the debut track from Nick Sakes’ (Dazzling Killmen, Collossamite, Sicbay, Xaddax) new outfit Upright Forms. And if that’s not enough, the Lovely Little Girls cover of Celtic Frost’s “Procreation (of the Wicked)” makes excellent use of their horn section and will make you appreciate the excellence of that song — something all cover versions should aspire to do. Skin Graft proves it’s still got a knack for finding the best mix of school band nerds gone berzerk and avant noise punk agitators from across the globe, and wrapping them all up in an irresistible package and concept.
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 – Strangers of the Universe (Bulbous Monocle)
If you dig deep enough into this site, you’ll see a suitably gushing mention of the Thinking Feller’s Admonishing the Bishops EP from 1993, which still holds true (and gushes) nearly fifteen years after it was posted. In 2022, the Bulbous Monocle label began to ensure that the legacy of TFUL 282 doesn’t fade away in the musty cardboard storage boxes holding the record collections rotting in Gen X attics and basements, remastering and reissuing their impressive body of work, including the aforementioned Admonishing EP as well as this, their stunning Strangers of the Universe album from 1994. At this point I’ve heard Strangers so many times that it’s almost part of my DNA; every banjo twang and warbling vocal imprinted on that time that it’s hard to hear this record with fresh ears. Luckily, the remastering job by Sublime Frequencies’ Mark Gergis helps punch up the details (see “Cup of Dreams”) and gives them new life with a bright, fresh mix that lets your ears feast on all of TFUL 282’s lovely instrumentation and musical ingenuity. Without a doubt one of the best releases by one of the best indie groups of the 1990s.
Also noteworthy:
Come – Peel Sessions (Fire)
The Ex – Tumult LP (Superior Viaduct)
The Lewd – American Wino LP (Puke N Vomit)
Rudimentary Peni – Rudimentary Peni 7″ EP (Sealed Records)
Ut – Griller LP (Out Records)
Voivod – Nothingface LP (Real Gone Music)