Enter The Dragon
I don’t know why this memory popped in my head today but there used to be this guy who went by Malachi who would pop up at shows in Cleveland at Speak In Tongues - to look at him, he was just another older Clevo hardcore dude you might see hanging out at an Integrity show. Rotund, white, opinionated, loud - the sort of guy who’d be rocking a Cleveland Straight Edge shirt while smoking a cigar because they don’t count. I think at one point he went by something like Mike Nike or some other such nonsense, and remember him taking off his shirt while moshing once to reveal a poorly rendered Youth Of Today tattoo but, my favorite thing about him, was that he would jump on stage in between bands and start to ‘rap’ and every single time he started his flow with “Enter the dragon, my pants be a’saggin…” then would refuse to surrender the mic no matter the band was ready to start.
One time he cornered me outside, trying to sell me some sort of Trotskyist newspaper1 - which of course surprised me. Keep in my mind, this is the era of Cleveland hardcore that gave us One Life Crew and beefy dudes in “Cleveland Republican Hardcore” sweatshirts standing on stage at Integrity gigs so to find someone of that ilk being into communism was a bit confusing. So I asked him about, obviously. He revealed its just part of his whole philosophy - you see he was Cleveland’s only polygamous, communist, Islamic rapper. What he liked about communism was that it meant we should share everything, including all the women. Don’t worry, it worked the other way around too. My eyes rolled so far back into my head I passed out and didn’t get a chance to ask if he was joking. To be honest, I don’t think I ever saw him again after that interaction. I heard that he got arrested at some point for putting “Off The Pigs” bumper stickers on cop cars but I dunno if that’s true.
My friends at Microcosm did a book about the history of Speak In Tongues. While a lot of press about that fabled space focuses on the fact that Modest Mouse loved to play there and a mountain of 90s luminaries graced the stage (Avail, Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio, Milemarker, J Church, etc) for me the bands I most associate with the place are Grain (ex-Confront) and Nine Shocks Terror (ex-Face Value) - two bands that couldn’t sound more disparate but were so formative for me in my early to mid 20s. I can’t recommend checking them out if you’ve never done so. Also, if you’ve not seen this documentary about mid80s Cleveland hardcore, here’s a link so you can do so.
More Noise For Punx
ACCIDENTE / NIGHTWATCHERS - Split LP
While I have long fostered reputation for being into only the finest fetus melting crust and high speed blender-through-a-distortion-pedal thrash I have such a soft spot well crafted, dreamy pop provided that its well rooted in p-u-n-k. Hailing from Madrid, ACCIDENTE fit this bill well - hooky pop punk in that DISCOUNT meets PETROGRAD sort of way. Punchy riffs and lilting vocalizations with just enough aggro to it to make it a fun listen. On the flip, we have NIGHTWATCHERS, who take a bit more assertive approach in a style that marries the 90s era No Idea records thing with a bit of that 80s OC punk vibe (ADOLESCENTS, RIKK AGNEW, etc) and blasts it into the modern era a la SYNDROME 81. I absolutely love their side of the record - slashing guitars, melodic yet shouted vocals, and tons of punch. Great stuff here.
Thrashy, crusty hardcore from the Czech Republic filled with guttural, snarling vocals and layers of searing leads.
Jangly garage hardcore punk from here in Richmond - its more along the more midpaced CAREER SUICIDE stuff through a RAMONES filter than THE MUMMIES. There is a cool ominous to some of the song writing that I really like and this is more than worth your time.
BLOODSTAINS - Anti-Social EP
About three years ago BLOODSTAINS release a demo that just blew my mind - an OC band that sounds like an OC band! You know the vibes and the sound, DI, ADOLESCENTS, VANDALS, AGENT ORANGE and basically just sound within RIKK AGNEW’s brain. Its melodic but pissed and saturated with complicated songwriting. Three tracks of perfection.
CHUEKO - Tools Of Oppression EP
Portland pogoriffic punk with a nod to the schools of UK82 and the early era of USHC. There is a heavy GBH feel here in its assertiveness while maintaining a emphasis on the hooks. Quick paced and filled with plenty of great instrumentation - my favorite track is the pit swelling anthemic singalong “Out To Get You.” Killer stuff.
CONCRETE GRAVE - B.C. Skins CS
Mid-paced, skinhead rocknroll - heavy boot big thud sounds. I am a fan of lyrics about just being skinheads, flipping Motown singles, jamming out to Trojan Records releases, going down the pub etc. I’ve was unaware that Victoria, BC is known as the Garden City and I’d like to imagine the lads tending to their roses while blasting THE TEMPLARS.
Two tracks of ripping modern hardcore with bouncy breakdowns - the vocals here really sell it, its a little bit like Jake FILTH.
Heavy duty punk primitivo from the wilds of Spain - fuzzy as shit with creepy-eepy vocal approach soaked in reverb. This is a one person affair that leans heavy into the early GISM thing - a bit droney at times but not in a bad way.
Greek band that sounds like it could be straight out of 2001 era Copenhagen or 1982 era Los Angeles - powerful melodic punk with big choruses and an emphasis on even bigger hooks. This is great!
GRAVEYARD OF THE PACIFIC - Sorcerer LP
Weirdo rock from Austin in that LOST SOUNDS/JAY REATARD/THE SPITS line of thought - its an infectious, synth heavy garage rock mammajamma that I find myself putting on over and over. I like to think that, in someways, if PINK FLOYD were to be a band of the current era, and release Piper At The Gates Of Dawn it would sounds something like this - eerie while being catchy as hell.
Punchy garage punk - it gives me visions of dudes in black stretchfuckingjeans, striped shirts, cafe racer jackets, dark sunglasses and bad attitudes doing their own take on the STITCHES meets DEAD BOYS thing. This is killer.
MALCRÍA - Fantasías Histéricas LP
This fucking rules - ferocious blasts of high octane, 1000mph hardcore thrash collapsing into crunching breakdowns and mid-tempo stomps. Like what else needs to be said? Get into this and practice your stage dives off your mom’s couch into her glass coffee table as soon as possible.
Thumping hardcore in the OHLO SECO meets MG15 sorta style - its a sludgy, d-beat inflected pummel into your cerebral cortex.
Filthy, raw, and sludgy punk that answers the question: “What would it sound like if the orcs in the Lord of the Rings did a band?” A snarly pummel where everything is distorted and feels slightly off kilter. This is great.
Three more ripping, mid-paced, bulldozer hardcore blasts from these Seattle punx - thick as shit production which really drives home the power of these crusty little ditties.
Heavy as shit crust from the Czech Republic - its epic and throbbing in that mid-period WOLFBRIGADE meets TRAGEDY sort of manner but, with a smidge of chanting, ranting anarcho punk. Fast paced yet expansive with big melodic moments.
Primitive, 1-2-1-2 pooka pooka punk from Indonesia - raw recording and fairly straightforward approach but thats not me being dismissive at all. This is a fun listen for sure in the same way listening to those TEEN IDLES demos are fun - my favorite track is “Tak ada hal baik disini.”
SCRAPS - On The Edge Of The Abyss LP
French hardcore band with explicitly left wing and green political outlook. Musically this leans hard into the IGNITE/UNITY way of thinking. Fast and furious with plenty of dogpile, singalong moments.
Thudding British punk that sounds like it could be a long lost Riot City band that got lost wandering the forest in 1982 - includes a cover of the SATANS RATS classic “You Make Me Sick.”
STILL AWAKE - Watch You Corrode EP
Sizzling hardcore punk from German - three tracks of RKL style thrash through a Euro-crust filter. Shredded vocals over manic riffing with plenty of speed.
Powerful modern Detroit rocknroll in that Nuggets meets Killed By Death through an early SEGER, STOOGES and MITCH RYDER sorta filter, Fuzzy as shit guitars with amps cranked to 11 making the singer push their vocals to the breaking point. Killer riffs, raunchy leads and a heavy, steady back beat. Killer.
SVAVELDIOXID - Världselände LP
Massive Swedish hardcore punk attack in the early SKITSYSTEM meets early DISFEAR way of thinking. Crushing d-beat fueled velocity with heavy and expansive breakdowns enhanced by a thick as molasses production. A monster of a record.
Noisy and primitive punk in all the best possible ways - this jumps all around the influence tree with moments of fuzzed to shit angry pop a la HUSKER DU and then another where its just chaotic 1000mph thrash and then switches to reverb soaked d-beat and then back again. A super fun romp.
UPCHUCK - Bite The Hand That Feeds LP
Strutting, bopping punk from Atlanta that just oozes fun in that same manner as AMYL & THE SNIFFERS or HANK WOOD & THE HAMMERHEADS. Heavy fuzz rock leaning into a 70s trash rock sorta thing with a modern sense of dynamics and velocity.
Spanish crust that leans hard into the early TRAGEDY emphasis on being heavy while consciously melodic but with a bit of the crush metallic feel of EXTREME NOISE TERROR.
Mutant rock in all the best ways - staccato and robotic in its rhythms while the riffing is droning, repetitive and spooky which certainly helps to the enhance the sorta sci-fi angle of the song subject matter. I really like this.
I’ve long believed that he got that stack of newspapers from the basement of Speak In Tongues as the building was owned by the Communist Party of Cleveland. I think the space was originally an Armenian social club or some such.