bidhardcore.com

This wins the award for
funniest auctions of the week . For Sale:
1 original Vile “Solution” lp, and a bunch of 90’s emo (in case you need a re-up on your Portraits of Past collection).  Vile is mostly infamous for the irreverent lyrical content on the record, although at least on person I know thinks they made the best Boston HC lp. Subtract the obnoxious, lyrics though and you’re left with an over-long, uneven snotty hardcore jam, better than say, PTL Klub, but not half as good as the FU’s. There are a few undeniable hits like 5 to 10, but there are so many great early 80’s Massachusetts HC/Punk releases that it really doesn’t matter much to me. About the only thing it’s good for is pissing off squares. My favorite Vile story is that they beat up their bassist on stage during a show, but that doesn’t really save the album as a whole. I guess this will probably sell for $300. Probably not worth your trouble, but there it is.

 Also funny, but not nearly as funny:
this seller with about a dozen Spazz records, and then the first press of the
Hard Stance “Face Reality” 7″.  Time for this jam to get a reissue, a total hard-edge classic. Btw the
Doom “Police Bastard” they got for sale looks to be either a 3rd or 4th press. Don’t miss that
Gordon Solie Motherfuckers “Chairshot Politcs” either (discography out this year on Painkiller!). Spazz has the best joke band riffs besides Straight Youth, and maybe something else I can’t think of.

Clevtoday is a 90’s Cleveland hardcore special, with a round up of items from the most polluted hell-hole in the midwest.

 Kickin’ it off with this Only The Strong comp on blue vinyl, 1st press. This is the most limited standard variation of the record, the b-side on this one is just a 1-2-3 punch of violent moshy hardcore — the undisputed best Confront song, the only recorded Meanstreak song (feat. Paul Inmate on guitar), and a classic take of Darkness by Integrity. Find me another comp that delivers that well… you’ll have a hard time. A-side has the only good Insight song (Utah? what?), a pretty good Even Score song (they’re called Life Cycle on some pressings) and a good Face Value song too. Speaking of Erba and Anthony Brown…

…Here’s a Face Value 7″ on clear vinyl. Coming Of Age. There’s some great unsung riffs on here, I think they kind of get a bad wrap as being too posi-core for cleveland, and also some of the drumming choices. The drummer obviously is rock-trained, and extremely proficient, but he uses some crappy cheaters beats during the fast parts. I don’t know if it’s laziness or he thought it would just sound better. Even so this was a good highschool jam, and has a cool vibe.

Total idiocy you’re looking for? How about the Integrity/Kids Of Whidney High split 7″ w/ Bloodbook zine. I think the Integs tracks is a demo take of Jagged Visions with some sound effects of pigs dubbed over it. I still have no idea if the KOWH side was actually authorized or what, but “I See Pretty Girls” was a highschool mixtape staple. I’m sure there’s a place in hell just for people like me.

 Here’s one sometimes overlooked, The Mormons self released 7″. This is Steve (9 Shocks & Homostupids) and Kevin (9 Shocks) high school band. I once bought a copy off Steve at a 9 Shocks show and he insisted I explain why I wanted to pay money for it. Honestly it’s a cool record, some of the songs have an early (read: good) Gang Green type sound. Some of it misses the mark, but this is one of the more collectible 90’s cleveland DIY releases. Actually it’s not too far off some of the Homostupids releases, so I guess things come full circle.  BTW: i think Jamie from Boulder/Midnight is the one selling this.

Lastly here’s an Upstab Stabbing The Church 7″, which was sort of a legit bootleg.I always liked this one a little more than their officially released 7″s which were a little cleaner (still good though). When Mind Eraser played with Upstab in Cleveland Chris was wearing a ski-mask and holding an open switch-blade. While it seemed par for the course for Cleveland, it was a far cry from anything on the east coast then, or now, which is too bad. At least there’s still real nihilistic punk music happening somewhere.

Some people have sort of equired as to why myself, and others like me, have such a fixation on this era of Hardcore and Punk, from this area of the country. I feel like there’s a lot of factors, obviously I think the music is generally good, and the cult vinyl pressings are fun to collect, but I really dig the meanspirited-ness that was on display by so many of these bands. Just utterly unconcerned with being offensive, or being friendly or even being noticed. With the exception of a band like Integrity, who were obviously big and opperating in a different scene, despite sharing memebers of bands like the Inmates, most of these dudes were just playing for each other, and as a result went unnoticed by the idiots buying southern crust metal and cut-rate grindcore instead. Of course I was too young to know the difference, but it’s all time and place man.

Yet another fine collection, some real garbage, but a lot of gems. Note there’s another
Poison Idea “Getting The Fear” 12″ in here w/ poster and it’s lookin like it will go high like the last one. IMO each of those songs is easily worth $40 American, so I guess $80-ish is reasonable.

Got a Blast “Power Of Expression” on Wishingwell in here. I passed one of these up like a fool recently because I just assumed it was the SST press when some friends and I were dipping through a personal record sale by an acquaintance. I’ve always kind of wondered how “Fuckin’ With My Head” didn’t get voted down at Blast practice. Like how was anyone able to defend it?

Clifford: I dunno guys, I mean, it’s basically just Can’t Decide by Black Flag.

Neider:  Dude c’mon, it’s not THAT much like Black Flag. There’s goes “dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun” but ours goes “”dun dun dun-DUN dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun”…

Producer of Ice Ice Baby (to self): Note to self, remember what that guy just said and use it as a defense later…  

 Bill Torgerson: You know what else? It’s sad that I’m going to be a severely under-rated drummer in 20 years. I have groove!

I’ll discontinue my Blast fan-fiction here, but why did they think no one would notice? Nevertheless, this is one of the very very best of the mid-80s in the USA. No one can deny the power or the way they play so deep in the pocket, that even the fast parts feel like you’re in slow motion (and that’s a compliment). Now someone please: reissue the M.A.D. demo (please not Brian GTA). 

Got a 
Murderers Among Us comp up in the mix there… Obviously worth it alone for the 2nd best Absolution song (Dead and Gone), which is also the best Absolution mosh part. The level of sophistication that they were able to operate at on a track such as this one, while still sounding so rabid and unhinged, is something I feel has rarely been matched since then, and there was really no comparison to at the time. If they’d chosen different songs for their 7″ ep (Fall Of A Nation, Take Control, Not This Time, Dead and Gone, Blessed With Awareness) their legend would be more properly cemented. Absolution is without a doubt the best example of a “should-have-been”. The  people that were there know, or if you were born too late, and have only had the videos and dubbed cassettes to study, maybe you know too, but for the most part, they can’t be talked about without discussing what a misrepresentation their e.p. is. Oh the rest of the Murderers Among Us comp? I guess if you want the worst Born Against song (yea I said it), an average Life’s Blood song, and a subpar Nausea offering, we could talk about it. But I’d rather just hear Dead and Gone 4 times in a row.
Some other cool stuff up in here…
Swiz, Judge, DRI, Warzone, Cro Mags, you can have a look for yourself.

Welcome once again to this snowy installment of Metal Monday. Right off the bat I will note that this dude is selling collectible money (no seriously), and also 2 big time black metal records that have already featured into metal monday: Bathory s/t with yellow goat sleeve, and Mayhem - Deathcrush. I won’t linger too much on those other than saying, if you love me, and you forgot to send a gift for the holidays, I’d suggest either one. Here’s 2 picks for you:Parabellum “Sacriligio” (1st press) - Basically this is the equivalent of giving a bunch of cavemen (from Columbia) musical instruments, and a Hellhammer record, and then making them record a 12″ on a 4-track. Rarely has a record been made that is so completely devoid of any common sense, and so sure to make you less smart from just listening. The attempts the band makes at mimicking typical metal conventions, like clean breaks, guitar solos, or for that matter making music in general are so strangely off, and for lack of a better word, “free”, it’s something like hearing a death metal equivalent to the Shaggs. Of the 2 songs Engendro 666 (the b-side), holds together slightly more, and sounds more like a conventional song, but still, one that’s performed by cavemen. The 8+ minute A-Side, Madre Murte (Death Mom?), really gets out there though, sounding like at least portions must have been improvised, because I just can’t picture memorizing them. Honestly this makes Bathory sound like Cream, and Venom like ELO.Rigor Mortis N.Y. 7″ on my favorite — Seraphic Decay/Skin Drill records. This is the more rare edition of the record on blue vinyl w/ skull sleeve. Eventually this band became Immolation, but this record, in my opinion stands on its own. The fact that this record (originally a demo tape) originates in NY is not lost on the sound of it, with a sound comparable to plenty of the primitive hardcore and cross-over demos that came out through the 80s. When the b-side, Warriors of Doom, drops into half speed after the first minute I was reminded a bit of Breakdown and the way they were able to bludgeon with such simple understated riffs, and crash-bash drumming. This ain’t to far off some of the classic Ripping Corpse stuff either, although maybe a little more straight death metal.

Now this is nice. Just some classic 80’s hardcore. Only 5 auctions here, one of which is a great lot containing no less than the following:

• Murphy’s Law “Back With A Bong” (still the best/funniest punk album title ever)
• Teen Idles/SOA/Youth Brigade/GI’s - 4 7″s on a 12″
• V/A - It Came From Slimey Valley
• Minor Threat - 1st 2 7″s collection
• V/A - Cleanse The Bacteria
• Verbal Assault - Learn
• Meatmen - We’re The Meatmen and You Suck
• Circle Jerks - Group Sex
• Suicidal Tendencies - s/t
• Dayglo Abortions - Feed Us A Fetus & Here Today Guano Tomorrow

Pretty much all original, if not first pressings. I’m not really sure why this dude wouldn’t wanna sell all those seperately but whatever, it could mean a good deal for you the buyer (reader).

Besides that there’s also auctions for these single lps: MDC - Millions Of Dead Cops (og. with white border), Christ On Parade - Sounds Of Nature (og. on Pusmort), AOD - Wacky Hijinks, Raw Power - Screams From The Gutter (og. on Toxic Shock). Personally I would say 3 of those are greatest of all time status, with MDC being an over-rated embarassing slab of white guilt, moronic political slogans, and generally uninventive song writing. Yea. I went there. Definitely for my money one of the worst “classic” hardcore records. I’m sure some old timer who saw them at Jack’s Crab Shack in nowheresville in ‘83 had a really powerful experience, but thousands of people go to NASCAR events frequently. Just because they’re having a good time, doesn’t mean I don’t feel like I’m watching cars drive in a circle, which is more or less what listening to MDC is like for me. True story. It doesn’t matter when you hear Silvio belt out the “RAWWWWWWWWW POWWWWAHHHH” yell on Screams From The Gutter.

Seller blueninja99 has always been pretty well known for wheeling and dealing Japanese hardcore and punk. The listings he has right now are no exception, a stack of the most well known records in the style mixed with a bit of newer stuff and this lone
Anti-Cimex “Scandanavian Jawbreaker” lp. Tons of marquee names like Bastard, Deathside, Acid, Disclose, Poison Arts, Gai, Gauze, Cobra, G.I.S.M., Stalin, Laughing Noise… just to name a handful. It seems like, especially over the last 5 years or so, Bastard’s Wind Of Pain 12″, has been the entry point for a lot of people’s interest in this genre in the United States. Aside from having production that seems to be perfect, and a running time that’s too brief for sure, there’s something about the way the riffs cut that’s maybe just a tad more accessible, than some of their peers. Or maybe it’s just that the opening riff to Misery is one of the most devastating show stopping riffs in all of rock music. Like up there with Back In Black, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and Born In The USA. One of those things that should be admired from a distance to really take its scale. Or maybe it was the popular opinion (which I believe originated in New Jersey) that the songs mine a post-Motörhead, Dischargy territory similar to the Age Of Quarrel (which surely offended many USHC haters who saw this as a short sell… idiots). This is one of those records that’s probably never going to dip in value again, unless there’s like a catastrophic event like a serious nuclear holocaust where people stop caring about entertainment, but barring that, the price is only going up so get it now or get it later on.

Okay here’s a new little feature I may do now and again: cheap picks. I don’t have a catchy name for it like Metal Monday, maybe from now on I’ll do it on Friday, and call it Frugal. Anyway… here’s the
Madhouse 12″ on Fountain Of Youth recordings that I find to be very under rated. Female fronted, and punky, not too far off the Avengers, or maybe like a better & American Vice Squad, it also features one of the guys from Youth Brigade (DC). As I remember it keeps up a pretty good clip in terms of speed, and never lapses into ballads or overly new-wave type tracks. There’s maybe a bit of goth like early 45 Grave mixed in but it’s hardly overbearing. I think it’s from ‘84? I’m certain at least that no one cares about it, and it’s a pretty good album. Total sleeper.

Alright, I feel slightly unsure of myself on this one, but I’m pretty sure I am right. This guy is selling a small amount of stuff and I noticed he’s selling boots of the Unity 7″, Skins Brains Guts, and the Cause For Alarm 7″, nonetheless, I am pretty certain this is a real Agnostic Front “United Blood”. You may want to email the guy and get some further photos to verify, but the sleeve looks right, the labels look right, and it seems to coincide w/ pressing info. One thing I find reassuring is that the sides are taped with scotch tape which is how a lot of the copies of the record originally came, because I guess there was a shortage of glue on the Lower East Side at the time or something? United Blood is the absolute ultimate proof that skill and ability are absolutely unnecessary to play convincing, memorable, and timeless hard core.

If skill is your thing though, there is this Judge “There Will Be Quiet” 7″ on gold vinyl. Forget This Time is a good, post Metallica jaded hardcore shit-kicker. 1,000 on gold vinyl btw. As good as this is (and it’s pretty good) it’s still no United Blood though.

Got a couple selections from M. Colin Tappe’s auctions here. Nothing too crazy for sale but some good picks, check ‘em all out. Looks like he’s just selling off a few things to buy other stuff.Numero Uno:Anti-Sect: “In Darkness There Is No Choice”- I guess this is one of the big milestones in anarcho-punk and “crust” music. For 1983 it’s frankly pretty shocking how polished it is, and how many bands it was the template for, not just in style but in the sound of the recording. It’s tricky because on the surface it’s basically just a metal album taking a lot from early thrash bands but with the realist/Discharge-style approach to horror and despair that Discharge mapped out. The songs take on a similar driving and hypnotic delivery, but being stretched much longer (the opener “THEY” runs like 6 minutes at the same tempo), so that it kind of reminds me in some ways of Crass (besides the obvious politics), and in other ways of something like Killing Joke (who I think were a big influence to a lot of peace punkers). It’s a pretty important album, and also at times I find it kind of boring. There’s something about an unwavering cockney accent just shouting and shouting and shouting for 6 minutes… I keep waiting for something else to happen. Still it sounds heavy, although I gotta wonder how he kept from getting tongue-tied, i guess they do have 3 vocalists on this album. A lot of the atmospheric shit like wind blowing and abstract wooshing noises that are meant to be dramatic on crusty HC and punk records also in part originate here, and maybe haven’t aged too well. I also feel like this might be a more overwhelming, powerful, and inspirational album if you hear it at a younger age, where I only really sat down and listened about 2 or 3 years ago. So in conclusion, while this is a stone cold classic to the peace punk crowd, and a “first of its kind” type release, it feels a little obsolete to me. I’d prefer the more rhythmic churning Amebix approach, or Sacrilege’s much more refined version of the sound on this lp. Btw this is the Southern pressing, I believe there is one on Spiderleg predating it.Underdog: “Demos”- Here’s one on the other side of the coin. Gotta love that this is the original press with the classic pool skater artwork. When I was really young Underdog just seemed weird and not that hardcore to me. All the groove and singy vocals confused me which is now kind of embarrassing and probably strange to some people in this day and age where weird-hc is the bread and butter of everyone and there’s a popular band named after Into Another’s shelved trip-hop album. Forget all that BS though, Over The Edge is just a very fine well nuanced song, and if half the bands that put Underdog on their list of influences could compose a song so advanced there would be a lot more good songs, and probably less wars or something. Revelation are the current keepers of these demos, but I think it’s time someone considered re-reissuing the Vanishing Point (w/ original artwork), restoring the original mix to the demos, and tying up loose ends, like the demo with Carl Mosher, etc, all on one disc, or maybe 2. Most records like this have turned 20 or are about to, and it’s time someone do a definitive historical package of stuff like this.  Far Out records back catalog is kind of funny as I remember, I think they did the 2nd press of the Fear Of God 7″ around the same time they did this Underdog 12″.

Metal Monday vol.333:

Oh my lord, blasphemy of blasphemies… this guy has a straight flush. Metal Monday aint gonna be this good again for a while; OBSERVE: Bathory - s/t lp, catalog number BMLP 666-1. The yellow goat on the cover denotes that this is the first pressing of what really is the first black metal record (in sound, not merely in name). 1,000 made, rare as hell, and frankly, out of my price range. The yellow on the cover looks so much better than the white you’re used to, it’s a shame it’s so rarely seen. But that’s not the half of it muthamuchachos… the very same seller has listed an Age Of Quarrel with Run-DMC label on one side. As you may know this is the most collectible Cro-Mags record, and even though it’s metal monday, I can’t NOT mention it (anyway they toured with Venom, among others). I’m writing this on friday and my hands are shaking with anger. Here are 2 of the coolest collectible records (in my book), that are going to pass me by. If you have the money, put it up. That’s all I can really say. The value is only going up on these records. This could end here. I mean the guy could be selling 3 dozen junker 90’s emo 7″s and he’d still be killing it. It ain’t like that though. Instead, it’s fine fine pedigree of “tasty bites” that he’s got on the unholy auction block. Right now, this is like Metal Monday took a trip to that shoe store that you can’t go in unless you’re a celebrity and make an appointment. Everything is under glass and they sell those Nikes from Back To The Future 2 right next to Darth Vader’s boots.

Just to give you a rough idea, we got Metallica - Creeping Death on Blue, 1st Mercyful Fate 12″ on Rave-On, Kill ‘Em All picture disc on Megaforce, Hell Awaits picture disc on Metal Blade, Black Metal picture disc on Neat, Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids on Noise/Metal Blade, Morbid Tales on Noise w/ poster, Saint Vitus s/t, Phantom Lord lp, a Cloven Hoof 12″… I’m out of breath here. Oh right in the middle of all that is a nice
Feederz - Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss, and plenty more. Absolutely overwhelming, if nothing else, click through this stuff and marvel at how almost nothing sucks.

I’m trying to scale it back a little here, sorry for the massive posts… hopefully this will be more manageable for us all.

We got a dude here selling the first Warzone lp on Fist (not Fist/Caroline) with the original handwritten letters on the back. Who the hell told them to change that? It looks much better this way. John Omen’s bass playing on this release never really gets brought up, but I always have thought it sounds great, very full with lots of chords, meaty tone, and after all, played by the guy who drew the sleeve on the Straight Ahead 12″.

Got 3 good compilations for you:

• Look At All The Children Now- In the form of a second, and more common pressing. Best Citizen’s Arrest songs, worst Rorschach songs, and a pretty funny Bugout Society song about the 80’s phenomena of the party line.
• NYHC: Where the Wild Things Are - Don’t have to tell you this is one of the greatest of all time.
• Connecticut Fun- Everyone knows this for the first Youth Of Today songs (which are great of course) to say nothing of the many other decent bands like CIA and 76% Uncertain, but the real attraction for me is the cover art. Look at that punk embarrassing that cop! It’s like a Heathcliff cartoon! “MY UNIFORM! THE CHEIF IS GONNA KILL ME!” Our man Joe Snow was involved in a CD reissue of this recently FYI.

Grab that Poison Idea “Getting The Fear” 12″ while you’re peeping. Maybe my favorite single by them and it looks cool as hell. Though I wasn’t surprised, I was pretty depressed the day Pig Champion was found dead. That was a guitar-player’s guitar player folks.

Here’s a link to all his auctions (some other cool stuff in there too).