ANTI-HUND MINA / PÖBEL MÖBEL split 12"

I somehow managed to survive one more holiday in the Dallas suburbs, and I'm desperately grateful to be back in my radical/progressive Bay Area bubble! To celebrate, I bring you this Swedish punk gem from Pissed records, circa 1984. ANTI-HUND MINA takes the cake with some upbeat and gruff melodic punk - some for the best early Swedish stuff in my opinion! The PÖBEL MÖBEL side isn't quite as memorable, and the lyrics follow pretty silly cliche "evil" topics, but it's still a good listen. Good friends of mine could tell you that A-HM's "Hon Är Med Barn" has made it onto many mix tapes I've made in the past. Good splits don't always feature obvious or well-known bands!

AHM / PÖB MÖB

V/A - Underground From Spils 2

Latvian punk compilation. All material from the 90s. Lots of cool stuff to discover on here. Sorry for the short posts - I'm outta town, so these were put together in a bit of a rush, but with lots of love, of course. I would wish everyone well for the holidays, but fuck 'em. I hereby wish you all well every day!

UNDERGROUND FROM SPILS 2

TALES OF TERROR - S/T Cassette

From Sacramento, TALES OF TERROR lived a short existence due to the death of their guitar player Victor Wong in 1986. This album shows them playing kind of immature and goofy, but great skate punk. This cassette actually contains a couple extra tracks that weren't featured on the LP, including a cover of THE STOOGES' "Search And Destroy." 

"I've got an Elvis tattoo, down on my cock..." Huh?

TALES OF TERROR

STRES - S/T LP

Experimental, wild, jarring hardcore punk from Czech Republic. I don't really know anything about this band, but it's a pretty obscure LP and there's not much out there more intense than this. Not for the toe-tappers and head-bobbers. Prepare to be aurally challenged. 

STRES

MILISI KECOA - Kalian Memang Menyedihkan!

Ten tracks of Indonesian hardcore punk (and one BAD BRAINS cover) beaming with charisma. Rather than choosing a classic band or specific sub-genera to emulate, MILISI KECOA creates their own version of galloping, slightly out of tune racket with plenty of guitar leads and huge vocal hooks. If anything, I can liken it to some the magical drunken sloppiness of old Finnish hardcore bands. "Ini Bukan Arab, Bung!" is the catchiest on them all, and features what sounds like all of their friends singing along in the studio. Is this band still active? I'd like to hear more. 

MILISI KECOA

GEIZZ - We Wait For Song Of Geizz EP

One of the many bizarre but ruling Japanese hardcore EP's from the 80s. A touch of metal is present, but not enough to make this more of a metal record than a punk record. "Wild Boy's" would fit nicely anywhere on any hardcore mix tape. I'm not really sure what else to say about this because I don't know shit about the band...all that matters is that it's kinda rare and it rips. Think Lemmy really lent these guys his leather jacket???

GEIZZ

Αδιέξοδο - .38 LP

I haven't posted anything Greek in a long time, which is a shame because it's one of my favorite regions for old punk! ADIEXODO translates to "Dead End," and they were one of the forerunners of anti-authoritarian dark punk in Greece. Shrouded in obscurity for years any mostly only known by avid collectors, this "dirty diamond" has finally been reissued on vinyl by B-Other Side and Scarecrow Records in Greece. Unique punk with rolling bass lines, scratchy guitars, throaty-booming vocals, covered in a layer of filth and grit, but with an undeniably pleasurable and dance-able result.  

.38 LP

ZERSTÖRTE JUGEND - s/t LP

Possibly my last post starting with Z for a while because I'm finding myself wanting to post bands beginning with other letters of the alphabet. This is a stand-up German hardcore record from Berlin featuring folks from the almighty VORKRIEGSJUGEND. It's got that classic rigid and storming quality that many of the German hc/punk bands had in the 80's, with a touch of melody and awesome gruff vocals in German. The crudely drawn black and white cover art is alluring....until you realize that it's just a violent image of a punk cutting off a little girl's arm? Huh? Well, a very nice sounding record anyway. The fast songs are blazing and the slower ones are particularly remarkable. Perfect balance. 

Sorry about the glare on the photos. I'm not taking em again...

ZERSTÖRTE JUGEND

ZERO BOYS / TOXIC REASONS split 7"

Here's a not-so-rare 7" featuring 2 of the greatest punk/hardcore bands to emerge from the Midwest. I know I cheated just a little bit with this one it when it comes to including it in the Z seies, but when I flipped past it I realized I hadn't played it in such a long time and decided it makes the cut. Both ZERO BOYS tracks were recorded in '82, presumably during the same session as their flawless Vicious Circle LP. The TOXIC REASONS tracks are different versions of previously released tracks "No Pity" and "White Noise," recorded "somewhere in England September 1986." Sounds like a really good radio session to me. Not the best material by either band, but definitely great and essential for fans of the stuff. 

ZB / TR

Noise of ZMIV - 1979-1984 LP

ZMIV hailed from the northern countryside of Holland and released on of the most raging and collectible euro hardcore EP's. The Banzai! EP features a strong ruckus of pogo blended with early thrash, but with gruffly-sung vocals and neat guitar lines. It's an 8-song banger without a single boring moment - a perfect hardcore EP. In addition to that EP this collection contains some live tracks, a rehearsal recording, and their awesome tracks from the Als Je Haar Goed Zit LP compilation. I find those 3 comp tracks equally as compelling as their Bonzai! EP, but in a much different way. They're much more MOTORHEAD/metal influenced in melody and in the riffing, but still fast, urgent, and with a unmistakably punk production. Such a great band! Shame about the terrible looking art/layout on this reissue though! No doubt it's deterred a few potential ZMIV followers from buying this release! Time to reconsider!  

ZMIV

ZIELONE ŻABKI - Live Jarocin '88 Tape

Remaining faithful to my promise of "Z" bands (this one actually has TWO Z's!), I bring you a live recording from Polish punk band ZIELONE ŻABKI. There are no vinyl documents of this band to my knowledge, just a few tapes and a CD. As clearly indicated in the title, this recording catches them live at the legendary Jarocin Festival. Unfortunately I don't understand Polish, so I don't know what all the in-between song banter is all about. Judging by the crowd responses I'm guessing it's great! ZZ combines urgent punk with dashes of other influences like reggae or pop at times, but mostly stays on point throughout the set. Likeness to DEZERTER is very evident at times. 

                         ZIELONE ŻABKI

ZYNTHSLAKT - Hit Med Stålarna EP

Let's see how many posts I can do in a row that start with "Z." ZYNTHSLAKT was a Swedish punk band and this EP compiles material from 2 different split 7"s in 1983 with  N.O.S. and THE PAST. Side A is mid- paced and dirty with some lovely magical drunken gruff vocals. Turn up the tempo a bit on side B for 3 more tracks of catchy Swedish punk rock. More on the HUVUDTVATT side of Swedish punk than the ANTI CIMEX side. As is the case with most of the things I post, a criminally overlooked band!

ZYNTHSLAKT