A
WHEN.HARDCORE
WAS.HARDCORE.
DOWNLOAD.
May 22nd, 2008
CLASSIC..D.C..HARDCORE.
Scream was formed in Northern Virginia in 1981 by singer Peter Stahl, his brother Franz Stahl on guitar, bassist Skeeter Thompson and drummer Kent Stax. They are considered one of the benchmark bands in the history of the Washington, D.C. hardcore music movement. Along with bands such as Minor Threat and Government Issue, Scream ultimately merged the attributes of the movement, which were blinding speed, heavy political and social connotations in the lyrics, unpretentiousness of attitude, and shunning of commercialism. Their music is faithful to the roots of rock, but spun itself into other genres by employing sounds that predate the raunchiness of grunge, while saluting reggae and speed metal. Scream hated the classification of bands into certain types and considered what they played as simply ‘music.’ Recording their music in the basement of the now legendary Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA, Scream became the first band on the Dischord label to release a whole album, Still Screaming, as opposed to singles or 12 inch EPs. Like the world-renowned hardcore band Bad Brains, they could play clearly at breakneck speed, but also played mid-tempo songs like “American Justice” and “Hygiene,” which were metal-tinged reggae.
ARTICLE.OF.FAITH.
PROTEST.4.SURE.
The second disc sums up the final chapters of the life of Articles of Faith , and it is as good as the first installment, but for very different reasons. While the first posthumous compilation bristles with the energy of young punks finding their voices, volume two sees Vic Bondi coming into his own as a musician and songwriter. A decent amount of the record is still loud, but enough of it isn’t, and all of it is smart and compelling. Most importantly, the lyrics have transformed from the usual dogmatic exercises in political and social bleating to tracks such as “Wait for Me” and “You Will Never Understand,” originally released on the band’s In This Life full-length (and fleshed out here with the Wait EP, a few tracks from a period compilation, and a trio of previously unheard bonus cuts), which shows maturity and depth. This personal and introspective approach would go on to influence his work with Jones Very , and eventually the whole emo movement, making this an essential piece of work whose documentation was long overdue.
THE.PROLETARIAT.
U.S.A.POST-PUNK.CLASSIC.
Maybe the best band to come out of Boston hardcore, Proletariat eschewed the thug postures and anthems about standing hard in favor of jagged, droning bursts of song in the spirit of Gang of Four and Mission of Burma (Roger Miller plays on one song). This LP found them adding a lot of melody to their already cutting, intense diatribes. “Homeland” and “Uneasy Peace” especially take them to new musical heights and distinguish them as a hugely powerful and crushing punk band. Singer Richard Brown spits out his biting political rants like a madman screaming from a streetcorner - beginning calmly enough but building with each song into a venomous fervor. When, near the end of “Homeland” he begins to desperately chant “singing anthems in the rain,” you can feel the icy drops on your face. The Soma Holiday LP was intellectually and musically invigorating, but it was only on Indifference that the Proletariat ripped full-on into the depth of pain and emotion behind their amazing lyrics. Having only heard their early stuff, nothing prepared me for how good this LP was, and I still haven’t recovered from the shock.–JEFF[KFTH]
ANTI-CIMEX…
CLASSIC.CRUST…
Anti Cimex were a Swedish hardcore punk band from Gothenburg that got together in the early 1980s. They were one of the first bands to define Scandinavian D-beat. The second 7″ they released, Raped Ass, is considered to be a genre defining Scandinavian D-beat record. Their name is taken from the Swedish pest control company with the same name, the name of this company, in turn, comes from the Latin name of a particular type of bedbug; Cimex.
Formed in 1981, the original line-up was: Jonsson - Bass, Nillen - Vocals, Charlie - Drums, Jocke - Guitar. After rehearsing for a while they released their first 7″ EP Anarkist Attack. In 1982 they kicked out Nillen. Jonsson took over the vocals part, and Conrad took over the bass playing. The next 7″ EP, called Raped Ass, was released in 1983. In 1984 they released another 7″ EP Victims Of A Bomb Raid. In 1986 they released a mini-Lp (12″) called Criminal Trap. (This 12″ is also included as a bonus on the Absolut Country of Sweden CD). At this time Jocke had got tired of the band and they asked Cliff if he wanted to join the band but he said no, and the rest of the band members got tired of the problems and it resulted in the band splitting up.
In 1990 they decided to start the band again after Cliff had agreed to join, and they say that its thanks to him that they regrouped. They released the comeback album Absolut Country Of Sweden the same year, . In 1993 they released a raw live album Made In Sweden. The show was also shot on video but never released. They later released a new live 7″ single Fucked In Finland and later on they released the album Scandinavian Jawbreaker. After the release of this album the band split up and the members started in other bands such as Driller Killer (Cliff), and Wolfpack (Jonsson). In 2005 Dead City records released the A Tribute To Anti-Cimex LP, featuring a line up of D-beat and Crust bands from all over the world that were influenced by Anti-Cimex. Notable bands include Disclose (Japan), Wolfbrigade (Sweden), Ratos de Porão (Brazil), Doom (UK), and many more.
