I got a stack of these in a trade back when it came out and I've been trying to turn people on to it all along! Most people don't seem to dig it as hard as I do, but I listen to this today and still think it's just perfect. FREEDUMB totally captured the classic Norwegian hc/punk sound of bands like SO MUCH HATE and STENGTE DORER on this EP. The pairing of sharp melodic guitar parts and desperate screams is just uncanny. I see this in dollar bins all the time and it's an unsuspecting scorcher, so pick it up!
I recently learned of this French anarcho band from my new pal Craig when I was in Seattle earlier this year. We were talking punk bands and found we had a lot of common taste, and he played me their LP from '96 and I thought it was great, so I made a mental note to seek out their stuff when I got home. No luck finding a copy of that LP yet, but I did manage to score this magnificent 7" from '92. Horrible cover-art, amazing melodic female-fronted punk. Not unlike POST REGIMENT and LA FRACTION, the vocalist really carries the whole thing while the rest of the band creates a driving melodic sound-scape. 4 songs, all hits, and I just keep flipping this thing over and over again!
Dark hardcore punk from Colombia. Very bass and drum driven with lo-fi yells and that classic scratchy guitar tone. KONTRAORDEN displays a lot more experimentation on this EP than I've heard from most other Colombian HC bands, mostly through effects pedals and some inventive arrangements. A couple of the songs have dirging dark melodic intros that remind me of certain UK anarcho bands from the 80's. "Pavement and concrete / where there used to be cows / is the masses era / everyone locked up in small and well painted boxes..." Just a taste (translated to English) of the dismal themes on here. Essential for fans of Latino punk/hardcore, or something that pushes boundaries.
Well thanks to our old enemy gentrification, I've been officially laid off and just filed for unemployment! You can do it all online now!! The building we worked in got sold so some shitbag to build more condos, so the dildo factory is moving to Texas! The past few weeks I couldn't get this song out of my head! NEWTOWN NEUROTICS, one of my all time favorites. One of the most moving and inspiring punk bands of all time! Always capable of giving me goosebumps or causing tears to well up in my eyes. Honest and smart. This is my soundtrack today. No download today, cuz I don't wanna do the work - in fact I don't have to work at all now! More to come soon though. I will now have lots more free time to share lovely punk releases with the world.
If I remember correctly, this is a side project from one of the folks from the Canadian hardcore band KREMLIN. And it fucking riiiiiips so hard and I definitely prefer this to KREMLIN. Think more in the DISCHARGE meets 80's Euro hardcore camp. Everything's perfect from the tone of the feedback to the doubled vocal shoutings to the speedpicking parts. One of the best demos I've ever gotten as an MRR reviewer.
I've decided to do a sort of double feature today - both because I haven't posted anything in almost a week, and it just makes sense to post them together seeing as how one 7" is a one-sided record. KOLOKOL was from Norway and active throughout most of the first decade of the '00s. At the time of the release of "Tilbake Til Start" I was heavily into Norwegian punk bands like SO MUCH HATE, as well as similar European stuff like UPRIGHT CITIZENS, JUGGLING JUGULARS, LA FRACTION, etc. So this EP grabbed me by the throat and has managed to keep its grip to this day! Ripping fast drumming with glorious melodic guitar riffs, but with mid-paced moments tempered in to distinguish all the elements. The vocals are high pitched and expressive much in the style of Gunnar Nuven of SVART FRAMTID/SO MUCH HATE/KAFKA PROSESS fame. Their recordings are consistently warm and wet sounding, but with a rare burning intensity. KOLOKOL's style is really just more contemporary version of these classic Norwegian hardcore sounds.
The second EP, "Grundrisse," is a one-sided 7" with a large label featuring an Oscar Wilde quote on the grooveless side. It's a beautiful record that makes up for the lack of playing time in it's generously laid out 16 page booklet and poster oozing with anarchist ideas and quotes from the likes of Emma Goldman, Bakunin, Elie Wiesel, Marx, and more, all creating a sturdy aesthetic that most releases never come close to. The tracks on here are fierce and tight, the best they ever did in my opinion. I'm a firm advocate of a record with a substantial amount of playing time, where you feel like you're getting your money's worth, but this one is the exception to the rule because it emanates a strong passion. Both of these EPs can be found easily in dollar bins and distro leftovers all across the world (well, the parts I've visited), so I strongly urge you to pick em up when you see em.
Here's a great tape from a new Swedish band. DATA CONTROL wastes no time getting to the hook in each song and then moving on to the next before ever becoming self-indulgent or monotonous. Melodic while still raging, but with an acute sense of catchy vocal parts and rhythmic hooks - think REGULATIONS + TOTAL CONTROL + HJERTESTOP! I live for well crafted punk songs, and I gotta say that DATA CONTROL has made one of the most memorable tapes I've heard in a long time! Apparently they have a very limited 7" including some tracks from this tape.
Long running anarcho-punk band from Poland here with their fourth full length, apparently only released on CD and cassette. I've enjoyed moments of many of their releases, but I think I prefer this one the most from all I've heard. Varied in style, all across the punk spectrum from reggae to hardcore, horns and various percussion instruments, but always with a punk-as-fuck backbone - very much in the spirit and sound of stuff like CONFLICT, but with that Eastern-Euro flair that I love. Released in 1999 by Nikt Nic Nie Wie, which, needless to say, is one of the greatest punk labels in the history of the world.
