REPLICA - Demo - Tape - 2011

   When I was growing up in Alabama, one of the first punk bands I got into was THE MINUTEMEN (unless you want to count the first VIOLENT FEMMES LP, which I got in 4th grade and thought was punk then). They opened up a whole new world to me and I soon started digging around and asking about any other punk bands. I soon discovered MINOR THREAT, who introduced me to the world of hardcore and split my mind open. I was coming out of middle school and the 1980's. Up until that point, the only aggressive music I had ever really heard was METALLICA......no, really (remember...Alabama...pre-internet...). MINOR THREAT changed everything for me in a number of ways that still holds true today. I wanted to see bands in my town who played that fast and sounded that pissed off. I started going to punk shows in my hometown, but I was usually greeted by so-called "emotional" hardcore, shitty bro-metal or just the worst pop-punk. Don't get me wrong...Alabama had a wealth of decent punk bands, including the weirdness of GNP, the straight up punk of WAFFLE HOUSE RIOTERS, the teenage punk band of Will Dandy (who later went on to play guitar in ORCHID and AMPERE...I don't remember the name of his old band but they were really good) and much more. Also, I was lucky enough to see bands back then like AUS ROTTEN, OI POLLOI and BLOWNAPART BASTARDS, who helped me to realize that there was something else out there. For the most part though, a lot of the bands that I saw who called themselves "hardcore" were just a bland soundtrack for shitty dudes to beat people up. Not knowing how to find out about the good bands with substance, I drifted more and more towards the melodic side of punk (yes, there are lots of pitfalls on this side of it too, but I was lucky enough to align myself with some real winners) while still keeping an ear out for true freaks playing vicious, inspired hardcore.
   Many of the towns I've lived in over the years didn't really have a hardcore scene to speak of. It usually consisted of one or two good hardcore bands set adrift in a sea of melodic punk. You could see the pain in their faces as they watched their friends go apeshit over every new pop-punk band that came to town. Meanwhile, they struggled for an audience, as they would end up playing with Christian metal bands since no one else would book them.
   It wasn't until I moved back out to the Bay Area that I found a hardcore scene that really piqued my interest. A lot of other places have better melodic punk, better garage rock and better indie rock, but (as fas as I'm concerned) the Bay Area has the best hardcore bands I've seen in years. Take REPLICA, for instance. I kept missing their shows for months. I would either walk in to a show as soon as they hit their last note or just miss them altogether, but everyone is always talking about how good they are. I bought their tape without ever seeing them and I was blown away. REPLICA is everything I like about hardcore. They are nothing like MINOR THREAT (at all), but they took me back to that feeling I had when I first heard hardcore. It's intense, ripping and destroys everything in its path. From the first crushing guitar riff of "Sycophant" to the last desperate growl of "Sandy Bottoms", REPLICA pulls me back into the world of hardcore for only five short minutes, but makes me wish that I had never placed that scene on the back burner for all those years.
  When I was on tour in Europe, my friend Flo asked me if there were any new Bay Area bands that I really loved. I looked at the ground for a short second and then replied, "REPLICA!" When we got back in the van, I blasted their demo on the stereo and before it was even over, Flo wanted to know how to get in touch with them to put out a record.

     Along with NO STATIK, HUNTING PARTY, OPT OUT,  EFFLUXUS, and PERMANENT RUIN (and many more), REPLICA is reinvigorating the hardcore scene in a way that I haven't seen in years. You would be a fool to miss out on any of these bands.

Download REPLICA on their Bandcamp page

Features members of INFECT, DUCK AND COVER, NO STATIK and fuckin' JUD JUD. Their demo was released on a flexi by Radical Punks Never Die, but I think it is already sold out.

EDIT 8/12/12: Here is also a link to a live radio show that REPLICA did in Portland last month. Right here on KBOO

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! - "The Loneliness of a Part-Time Dishwasher" - Tape - 2003

  ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!! thrashed around Richmond for the first few years of the 00's, playing manic hardcore that was informed by shitty kitchen jobs, falling down in shit and the fucking pigs. What more do you want to know? Two of the people in this band are some of the cooler people I have met in my life. You can read about one of them here. You can go hang out at the Bamboo Cafe in Richmond to meet the other one. Put it on your headphones and run down the street screaming the chorus to "Are You Fucking Serious?!!".

Download it.

COPYCATS - Demo - CD-R - 2011

   As I have said before, I agreed to write demo reviews at MRR a while back because their stacks of poorly recorded, shitty CD-R's were piling up and no one really cared to talk about them in print. Oddly, not many of the punks there are too excited to listen to the new 3 song demo by BUTT SMELLER or  the bedroom project of DON'T FREAK OUT THE BEARDED DRAGON (the latter is real, by the way). For some reason, I'm into it. A good friend of mine once said that the beautiful thing about punk is that anyone can start a band, but that doesn't mean that they should. I think that's a terrible thing to say, but it pains me to admit that I agree with her.
   In addition to the piles and piles of crap that MRR gets every month, there are also hundreds of incredible punk songs that fly out of their stereo speakers. One of the bands making those sounds is COPYCATS from Granada, Spain. They definitely wear their HEARTBREAKERS, WIPERS and GUN CLUB influences firmly on their ripped sleeveless t-shirts, but they do it well. While never reaching the greatness of the aforementioned bands (who can?), they still manage to crank out quality rock 'n' roll that sounds both timeless and crucial. When music like this is done badly, it can be the worst thing ever, but when a band pays attention to the details like this, it really shines. This is perfect nothing-to-do-all-day-but-sit-in-the-park music. Alternately, it also works well for a 5 am last-drink-of-the-night album or just to get you up in the morning. Take your pick.

Download COPYCATS

For fans of the aforementioned bands, FROZEN TEENS and good, straightforward punk.

7-11'S - Demo - Tape - 1997

   I was just reminded of this demo the other day when my friend, Chad put up a Youtube video of it. The story behind this band is a hazy one and one that I don't know too well. I imagine that it was a one day project between 3 friends when there was a four track and some instruments laying around. Carey, who also played in THE DRILLER KILLERS, took care of the guitar duties and complained about how much she hated Jerry Garcia. Eric (also from THE DRILLER KILLERS as well as JACK PALANCE BAND and now in DARK RIDES) sang, played the drums and the trumpet. Michelle, formerly of THE SHAFFERS, played bass and drank hot sauce.
    They were called the 7-11's because they liked 7-11 and sang about it. It's as simple as that. It's sort of dumb, but I've  had these songs stuck in my head since 1997. Sometimes, dumb works in the best way. Love it or hate it, it's only 3 songs and the whole thing lasts less than 4 minutes...about the same amount of time it would take you to lace up some knee-high steel toe boots and kick a skinhead in the face.
   I think this band only played two shows. One of them was at Bandito Burrito in Huntsville, AL where Michelle kicked off their three song set by downing a 4 ounce bottle of El Yucateco Salsa Picante de Chile Habanero in one gulp. The next 4 minutes were very uncomfortable. I don't want to even think about what happened to her bowels in the following 24 hours.

Download THE 7-11's
File updated May 2015

OFVITARNIR - "Stephen Hawking/Steven Tyler" - CD - 2011

   Last night, I went to see a few films at The Roxie that were loosely based on post-punk. The last movie they showed was a surprise screening of "Rock In Reykjavik", which is a all-encompassing overview of the scene in Iceland circa 1980 or so. It was so cool and sort of alien to see this scene flourishing in the early 80's while still being so remote and cut off from the much of the punk world. My only complaint is that there was no indication of the band names anywhere in the film during their performances. I know for a fact that I witnessed a teenage Bjork singing beautifully while fronting her band TAPPI TIKARRASS, but who were those prepubescent mohawked kids that could barely play their instruments and waxed so poetically about huffing gas and glue? Who was that band all cramped together playing power-pop in a basement that was so cold that they were wearing parkas and you could see their breath? Who was that fucking group that had nausea inducing strobe lights blasting the audience as they cut the heads off of live chickens and threw their carcasses into the crowd?! I don't know! What I do know is that it was a pretty cool time capsule to watch and it was almost quaint how the punks politely sat in their seats and raised their fists while a punk band played. It all felt so distant, so remote and like a history I will never truly know.

   Do you know how hard it is to press a record in Iceland? Well, first off, you can't get it pressed in the country because there are no pressing plants, so you have to ship it out to England or the US or somewhere else. You also have to fill out some annoying customs forms and then pay an exhorbitant amount of money on postage. So much money, in fact, that the postage costs more than actually pressing the record. By the time you finally get the record, you have to charge your friends and fans an outrageous amount of money to buy the thing. So, out of necessity, Icelandic bands still put out a fair amount of CD's, CD-R's and cassette tapes, which brings us to OFVITARNIR.

    OFVITARNIR is a young indie-punk band out of Reykjavik that plays mid-tempo, somewhat downcast melodic rock and features some of the nicest people I could ever hope to meet from that town. They draw inspiration from American indie-punk, Danish garage rock and their own long history of Icelandic punk. One of my favorite songs on here is "O O O O", a melodic, laid-back garage rock song with a distant backing vocal that reminds me of PJ BONNEMAN in the best way. Members of this band also run a label out of Reykjavik called PBP (I'm not even gonna attempt to actually spell the name on this US keyboard) that puts out cassettes and CD's by local bands. They also set up punk shows and keep up the struggle to find viable all-ages venues in their town. If you're ever in Iceland, be sure to hit them up for the good record store and cheap pizza. Here is a link to their record label.

Download OFVITARNIR

  I just wanted to add that I visited Reykjavik in May and stayed with 2/3's of this band in their small apartment with their nice cats. That country, while I saw a small fraction of it, is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. Expensive, but insanely beautiful. I highly recommend going to visit if you ever get a chance.

...and no, I didn't see Bjork.

JAMES F. BECK - "Forbidden Fruit" - Year??

   You might remember when I posted Jim Beck's cover album of "A Slippery Subject" a couple of weeks ago. Well, Jim got in touch and said he was happy that more people got to hear it. He also included a link to his lesser-known tribute to THE BANANAS debut album "Forbidden Fruit", which I've never heard until now. Like the other release, it accentuates the paranoia and malaise behind their lyrics while managing to stand on its own. Take a listen for yourself.

Link to James F Beck's Bandcamp.

MRR RADIO #1303 - 7/1/12

   I forgot to mention this a few weeks ago when it happened, but here is a late link to the MRR radio show I did recently with Hal, Merm, Rob and Ron. This one was a special one...It was the 10 year anniversary of Maximum Rock n Roll Radio being on the internet and the 35 year anniversary of the radio show. 35 years! Someone told me that MRR was the first radio show to broadcast on the internet, thus giving birth to podcasts and internet radio, but I'm not sure if that is true. Thoughts, anyone?

Follow this link to the show.

LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS - Demo - Tape - 2012

   I have to admit that I didn't have high expectations for a band called LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear 3 inspired, spastic, fucked up, sloppy, feedback-drenched, weirdo punk songs. Each song is reeling and spiraling, always on the verge of collapsing on itself, but held together loosely by a scraping guitar and a truly damaged, manic singer. It's dirty, fucked up and wrong. I love every second of it.
   Three songs may seem short for a demo, but I think this is perfect. If you'd like to get your own physical copy of this, send a lot of money to the band...I'm sure that something between $4 and $50 will work. Their address is 21 W Garfield, Belleville, IL. 62220. Belleville, Illinois? Is there anything going on there? What is in the water? Lumpy, can I play a show at your house?

Download LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS

"The world's an abortion!

The future is a lobotomy!!"

CHEAP VENTILATORS - Demo - Tape - 2009

   You know how when you live with a band and they practice in the basement, you always have all of their songs stuck in your head all the time whether you like it or not? That's how my life was living in Bloomington with Bobb, the guitarist of CHEAP VENTILATORS and drummer/vocalist of JERK ALERT. In this case, I lived with his old band, JERK ALERT. They would practice once or twice a week in our cramped, cold, moldy basement while me and my other roommates would be upstairs cooking dinner and mouthing the words to "Don't Stand Next To My Ride" seemingly against our will. When they set up their first show, they made a mistake with the dates and booked it at the same time that their bass player would be out of the country. No problem. I knew the songs so well by that point that I stepped in to play bass for them at that show after one practice.
    Depending on which side of the fence you stand on (and this fence is usually imagined by people who have never lived there), Bloomington, Indiana is either a utopian paradise populated by free-thinking acoustic punkers singing about their feelings on every street corner or some rotten shitpile where you can't go to a simple fucking punk show without being bombarded by the most banal goddamn folk punk you've ever imagined. In my reality of living there, I went to fun punk shows in basements that rarely, if ever, featured teenage boys strumming acoustic guitars while sheepishly staring at the ground. My roommate Bobb had been there long before me setting up fun rock n roll and punk shows and he's still there today playing music and running a record label. When he wasn't playing his M.O.T.O. and REIGNING SOUND LP's at top volume, he was in the basement writing new songs or cooking the most delicious food ever (he is also a chef).
   I was happy to get this tape from him in the mail and unlike the JERK ALERT LP, I didn't already know every song on it. In fact, I didn't know any songs on it. Bobb moved from the drums to guitar and took on the vocals in this band, delivering song after song of rock n roll bliss. They take cues from M.O.T.O., THE OBLIVIANS and just plain good garage rock...the kind you imagine being played in smoky bars, cramped basements and dirty living rooms swamped with beer cans. Arkansas transplant, Donovan bangs the shit out of the drums with a huge smile on his face. You might remember him from the early live version of FULL SUN...but only if you lived in Bloomington, probably. The trio is rounded out by Alex, who sometimes hung out at our house in B Town, but he is a quiet guy and I don't have any embarrassing stories about him...good work, Alex.
   I don;t think this tape is available anymore, but you should check out Bobb's record label, Eradicator Records and order some great Midwestern (and beyond) punk.

Download CHEAP VENTILATORS

SOCIAL CIRCKLE - Demo - Tape - 2006

   Sometimes, I get my hands on a badass tape and then I realize that I've never seen the band and I have no frame of reference for what this band meant to the people in their scene. That's fine. I realize that I could just leave it at that and give you the download link. No one would lose any sleep over it, but that's not really how I like to do things. I got in touch with my good friend, Terry to see if she could dig up some info and she was happy to talk about these dudes for a bit. You may know Terry from her completely awesome band, FOREIGN OBJECTS or you may remember her writing from this blog when she schooled us all on RED THREAD. Either way, the rest is all written by her.

   I feel like once, long, ago, there was a time when a new band didn't pop up every weekend...at least around here ("here" being Boston). It's hard to remember but I swear it happened. Summer of 2005. when the now-long-gone (at least as a show space/record store) Regeneration was getting ready to start doing shows upstairs, three new Boston bands played their first show together in the basement. It had been a while since a bunch of new bands had started, so having three play one show was exciting. One of the new bands was called SOCIAL CIRCKLE (POISON CONTROL and CONVERSIONS were the others.) I'll never know what the deal with that extra "K" was, but SOCIAL CIRCKLE ripped through their set with a bunch of fast sloppy songs...punk with a Southern California edge that teetered on the punk/hardcore line, clean guitar tones and snotty vocals. Their original line-up (which changed after the first EP I believe) was a lanky, weird bunch. Boston has always been notorious for having fairly divided scenes. Hardcore kids are hardcore kids and the punks are punks. But, when SOCIAL CIRCKLE came to be, there was suddenly this band that toed the line; a band that both hardcore kids and punks liked. Spikes and flip-flops. The gap was a little smaller and, dare I say, it closed up when the band played. With lyrics about people who make you want to throw up, not wanting to go to work and fucked up cops, they became an instant Boston favorite. Everyone can relate to that. Similar to what I said in the write up about RED THREAD, there was something charming about a lot of Boston bands at this time, something about the way they played and the things they talked about that made people flip out, made people feel like friends and made their shows a sweaty mess. Something about the way everyone came together to see them play. It was a thing and we were making it happen.

"Standing on the corner,

 Blue shirt, red face

 No such thing as law and order,

 You're just a big disgrace!"

 Need I say more?

Download SOCIAL CIRCKLE

Thanks to Barker Gee for loaning out the tape.