THE CREED

THE CREED 'Up Against A Brick Wall' CD

This album was actually one of my first posts on this blog way back in 2009! Since I deleted about 1500 posts/albums on here cuz of Mediafire nixing my account, i figure I can repost some of them now.

The Creed were a Japanese Oi band that existed in the mid to late 90's, put out this record, two 7's & a split 7". Unfortunately, thats all I know about this band. Their CD goes for a pretty penny, dunno about their 7's though, prolly them too.

Anyway, what we have here is 12 songs of nearly perfect Oi/StreetPunk. It's one of my fave CDs that I own, I just love this juicy lil nugget. The singer has the monotone voice that he uses in every song, and normally I'd hate that lack of range, but it just works so damn perfect to the songs (the gang choruses make up for the lack of range). File this next to Blitz, Gruesome, Snix, Rixe, Criminal Damage, Cockney Rejects, ya know, the best of the bunch. The last song is an amazing cover of a Humpty Dumpty song (a Japanese Oi band that preceded The Creed).

Choice cuts: Easy Way or Hard Way/Nonsense/Western Leaguers/Fucking Fashion Punks. the real jewel, for me, is the cover song and "Western Leaguers".

INSANE YOUTH

INSANE YOUTH 'Burn Em Out' Demo Cassette 1991

Burning Spirits!! Raging Hardcore ala that classic late 80's/early 90's Japanese sound. Insane Youth went on to do a bunch of splits (2 with the mighty Disclose), a couple 7"s, then around 1999 they changed the name to INSANE YOUTH AD WILD THINGS and developed a more polished & accessible HC sound before changing the name once more to INSANE YOUTH AD. Four songs. 10 minutes or so. Fucking Burn Em out & Play Loud!!! (And FUCK the hoarders!!)

GLYCINE MAX

GLYCINE MAX "DEMO" Cassette

Long Beach, SoCal's Glycine Max, the Mighty Glycine Max, with their 1989 (?) Demo tape. Six songs of that killer late 80's/early 90's chugga-chugga SoCal Crusty fuckin Punk! This scene (w/ A//Solution, Apocalypse, Confrontation, Pestilence (OC), Body Count) is criminally overlooked and under appreciated these days. But back then, these maniacs sure made a stink! Members also played in Apocalypse, Dogma Mundista, Scarred for Life, Deadly Reign, and more. Top shelf stuff!

METAL MASSACRE

V/A "METAL MASSACRE" Cassette
Side A
Side B

Killer old school cassette from late 80's with a little bit of Punk, a bit of Crust and a bit Metal. The stand outs for me are, of course old faves, Axegrinder, (RipperCrust-era) Hellbastard, (early) Boltthrower. Obliteration kill it with some lo-fi inept Crusty, Doom-tinged Death Metal. Rattus are in their 'Metal Years' so thats a take it or leave it & the unknown Agressa are a King Diamond/Motley Crue but harder hybrid that i hated at first but dig now. Really the only duds are Rattus! Most people know most of these bands, if not, heres a good primer, and those in the know, a good reminder.

Also- My pal who gave me this tape all them moons ago, get ahold of me, lost your info.

S 21

S 21 "Demo Tape"

Been a long time so I'm naturally rusty at this. But here we go....

S 21 from Philly and their 2016 4 song demo tape. I wanted to post S 21 for my first post in ages for several reasons. One it wasn't on any of MRR's staff 'Best of.." lists for 2016 and thats a crying fucking shame. The other reason is this shit needs to be heard, fuckin relevant & poignant shit! Almost an all-female band, the singer just belts out these songs with a furious ire! She is Cambodian and you can hear the angst n anger n betrayal in her songs. Being Cambodian, I'm sure Khmer Rouge's terror had a direct affect on her, as the country aint that big. And you can hear it. She spits venom man! She has that same way about her that i hear in Sothira's Crucifix, just pained and pissed off. Again, poignant. Passionate. Frenzied. Pissed off like Cal's (early) Discharge & Daryl Kahan's Citizens Arrest, and shit, even DeNunzio's INFEST. The music is as serrated as the vocals, chunky and galloping at parts, but not in a Stenchcore kinda way, but in the best possibly Hardcore Punk kinda way, its dirty, its abrasive, and  is a goddamn tornado!

The first song has a clip from, I believe, Ros Serey Sothea, a 60's Cambodian pop singer who was murdered,  along with a lot of other musician "subverts" by Pol Pots Khmer Rouge. That's how this demo starts....

This demo & the e.p. "Year Zero" are my top picks for 2016!!! S 21 is what I want to hear in Punk. Angry. Meaningful. Passionate.

To me, S 21 is the most relevant band playing right now in this Dark New Age.

Words from Cella (vocals): "42 years ago, the Khmer Rouge commenced one of the most brutal genocides in history, deeming it as Year Zero, a total eradication of its own past, people, traditions, and advancement. Their four years in power claimed two million victims, including multiple members of my own family. With President-elect Trump's impending presidency and it's fear-driven politics, with threats of mass deportation, mass incarceration and innumerable attacks on black and brown bodies everyday, and taking in some of our own experiences as women of color, my bandmates and I can't help but think that another Year Zero-like era is looming. The past few months have been extremely trying for a lot of us and it's hard to fathom what the next four years will bring. It is clear we still have a lot of work to do, but with this band, I feel more empowered than ever. Thank you to everyone who has ever supported us and for giving me the courage and strength to find my voice."