177 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
177 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
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| | c o m m u n i c a t i o n s | |
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| |________________________________________________________________| |
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|____________________________________________________________________|
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...presents... cDc core #8
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original music reviews by The Pusher
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>>> a cDc publication.......1991 <<<
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-cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc-
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______________________________________________________________________________
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Note to readers: Not everything reviewed here is out yet. As I'm writing
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this in late July, the MURPHY'S LAW album won't be out till November, C.O.C.
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won't be out until October, and the "Live In N.Y.C. '91" video won't be out
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until September. So don't go badgering your local alternative record shop for
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the above releases....
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AGNOSTIC FRONT, SICK OF IT ALL, GORILLA BISCUITS: Live in NYC '91 video
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(In-Effect)
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In January of 1991, the fourth annual "Superbowl of Hardcore" was held at
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The Ritz in New York City. Three of the bands that played, AF, SOIA, and GB
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were filmed for this video. You should know that it was done on video and not
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film, so don't be expecting grade-A quality from this. The live segments are
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solid, good sound, many different angles, fans of the bands will love it.
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Plus, you get interviews with members of the above three bands, along with
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Nuclear Assault, Cro-Mags, and Murphy's Law talking about everything you ever
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wanted to know about hardcore. At fifty-eight minutes, this is a must for any
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NYHC fan, not to mention a good introduction for anyone curious about hardcore.
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CORROSION OF CONFORMITY (Combat)
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C.O.C. were always on the metal side of hardcore, and now, with their
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first new album in four years, they've gone way metal. There is some good
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material here. Slow, creepy, BLACK SABBATH stuff, but a lot of it is just
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METALLICA rip-offs. This is going to sell solely because of the band name, not
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the songs. Still, I have a hunch that I'm really going to love this six months
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from now.
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DOWN BY LAW (Epitaph)
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What you've got here is hardcore legend Dave Smalley (DYS, DAG NASTY, ALL)
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teaming up with members of the band CHEMICAL PEOPLE. The result is a very
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catchy bunch of melodic hardcore tunes. It's all pretty poppy, most of the
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songs have sappy little hooks, everything moves along nicely paced by a speedy
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surf beat. If anything, it sounds like early Dag Nasty. The main fault I see
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with this is that it really doesn't break new ground. Smalley (who wrote
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practically all the music and lyrics) is just re-hashing old business. This
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would have been a lot more exciting five years ago. Still, I can't deny the
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fact that this album rocks!
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DYS: Fire & Ice/Wolfpack (on compact disc) (Taang!)
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This isn't new material but a re-issue of the two DYS albums. For all you
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youngsters out there, DYS were one of the first major straight-edge bands,
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along with fellow Bostonians SS DECONTROL. So, on this compact disc you get
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the first album, "Wolfpack", which is really the "Brotherhood" 12" with 3 extra
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tracks. "Wolfpack" is some really gnarly insane hardcore. Horrible playing,
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horrible production, horrible singing, but hey, it was 1982, what did you
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expect? It's pretty crappy by today's standards, but a classic nonetheless.
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It definitely provided the blueprint for future SE bands like YOUTH OF TODAY.
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Around 1984-85, most of the big Boston HC bands like DYS, SSD, FU's and Gang
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Green incorporated a metallic influence into their sound. A kind of
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SABBATH/MAIDEN 70's metal sound. "Fire & Ice" is the infamous "DYS metal
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album" which everyone really HATED when it came out. However, listening to it
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in 1991, DYS were definitely ahead of their time. Just as their first album
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inspired countless SE bands, "Fire & Ice" no doubt inspired numerous metallic
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hardcore outfits. You also get a booklet full of lyrics, but no pictures.
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JAWBOX: Grippe (Dischord)
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Dischord never ceases to amaze. I thought the HOLY ROLLERS debut was
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good, but this album is incredible! I suppose you could describe Jawbox as
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hard-driving college rock with good hooks and a Dischord feel. This is a
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must-have. The one liability to this band is bassist Kim Colleta. She can't
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play for shit, but don't worry, the bass is mixed way down. If they're willing
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to give up their D.I.Y. ethics, Jawbox could probably get signed to a major
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label within the next few years.
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LEEWAY: Desperate Measures (Profile)
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Leeway, along with AGNOSTIC FRONT and CRO-MAGS, was one of the first
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hardcore bands to come out with a strong metallic sound. Leeway's 1987 debut,
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"Born To Expire", didn't impress me too much but I thought they had a lot of
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potential. Now with this new album, they progressed greatly, but I'm still not
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satisfied. The song "Stand For" is the best song on the album, and an example
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of what they should try to do more of. When they want to, Leeway can come up
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with some really dynamic original material, but too many times they resort to
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the old "stomp stomp mosh" chugga-chugga guitar parts which have no
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personality. This is enjoyable, but I'm waiting for the next one.
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MURPHY'S LAW: The Best Of Times (In-Effect)
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New York's Murphy's Law return with their third LP, and if you thought the
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last one, "Back With A Bong!" was wild, this one is ten times better than that
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album (which is ten times better than the first one). The two brothers from
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FISHBONE, Fish and Norwood are producing, and other members of Fishbone play
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horns on some songs. Also, Angelo of Fishbone sings "Ebony + Ivory" with
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Jimmy. Other covers include the "Monster Mash" and even a James Brown song!
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There're only two songs that can be considered hardcore, "Did You Play War",
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and "Harder Than Who", the rest is a combination of rock, ska, and funk.
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There're also two "screwing around in the studio" songs at the end. This album
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is seriously recommended for a raging party, as with this release, Murphy's Law
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firmly establish themselves on the A-List of party bands along with Fishbone
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and the Red Hots.
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PRIMUS: Sailing The Seas Of Cheese (Interscope)
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I don't have a lot to say about this. One thing I can say is that this is
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NOT, I repeat, is NOT "metal-funk". For some reason, Primus have been lumped
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in with RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, FAITH NO MORE, FISHBONE (not that those bands
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sound anything alike) as "funk". Primus have a truly unique sound. There is
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no adequate term I can come up with to describe the music. There is no band
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that sounds anything like Primus. I'm not even sure if I like this album, but
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it's certainly original.
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CHUCK TREECE: Dream'n (Caroline)
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Chuck Treece has been in so many different bands (most notably UNDERDOG)
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playing so many different instruments that it was only a matter of time before
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he recorded a solo album. This is certainly a solo album. He produced it,
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wrote all the songs, played all the music, and did all the singing. Well, it's
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hard rock, kinda like the last BAD BRAINS album. Some reggae and ska, this is
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really more impressive than good. I hope he gets back in a band soon.
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YOUTH BRIGADE: Sink With Kalifornija (BYO)
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Following Dischord's example of putting everything a band has ever
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recorded (or in this case, almost everything) on one compact disc, BYO presents
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the YOUTH BRIGADE discography. Made up of the three Stern brothers, Youth
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Brigade will always be famous for appearing in the "Another State of Mind"
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movie, and they were always an extremely popular band in LA. They play a basic
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punk style, nothing really too distinctive. The best part about the band was
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Shawn Stern's voice. On the CD you get the "Sound and Fury" LP, "What Price"
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EP, tracks from various BYO compilations, and songs from Youth Brigade's last
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show in 1985. Included is a booklet with lyrics and a history of the band.
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Luckily, The CD completely ignores the putrid THE BRIGADE, which consisted of
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the three Stern brothers trying a radically different sound.
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_ _ ____________________________________________________________________
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/((___))\|Demon Roach Undrgrnd.806/794-4362|Kingdom of Shit.......806/794-1842|
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[ x x ] |NIHILISM.............517/546-0585|Paisley Pasture.......916/673-8412|
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\ / |Polka AE {PW:KILL}...806/794-4362|Ripco.................312/528-5020|
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(' ') |Tequila Willy's GSC..209/526-3194|The Works.............617/861-8976|
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(U) |====================================================================|
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.ooM |Copr. 1991 cDc communications by The Pusher 08/31/91-#183|
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\_______/|All Rights Pissed Away. FIVE YEARS of cDc|
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