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Last December I actually got to see the Abused, reunited after 25 odd years of not playing. I couldn’t believe how good they were (blowing Antidote and Urban Waste off the stage in terms of performance) after 25 years. Kevin Crowley’s barking, teeth gritted delivery was still perfectly intact. Raf Astor’s guitar playing was still spot on, including his solos which might have even been more fluid than the ‘83 live ape I have. Dave Colo’n and Brian Dundon still brought the savage and primitive stomp of their glory days. I really mean it, I’ve seen plenty of reunited hardcore bands, plenty stink, and most are merely passable but the Abused were one I’ll always remember for utter greatness. I responded in the only way I could of course, slamming my brains out till I was panting, hanging off the bar, and grabbing for water while my heart tried not to explode.

Of course it wouldn’t have mattered how good they played if it weren’t for their lone (and still not properly reissued!!!) “Loud and Clear” E.P. (as well as their rare and oft bootlegged demo). Loud and Clear is one of the first pure hardcore records to come out of New York City, and also one of the first anywhere that was more Hardcore than Punk. In 1983 this was the new sound. The sound of the youth rising up. The Mob still had some of the old NY Punk sound in their pedigree, AF were basically just cavemen bashing and thrashing in 30 second bursts, but the Abused were a band that could have both the compositional maturity and genius of the Mob, and the crushing brute force and power of AF.The opening cut, (the title track) opens like Sabbath’s War Pigs rewritten for the A7 crowd. Massive power chords crashing down through all the overdrive a cheap amp can muster, cymbals and drum fills match the guitar attack, and even though there’s no air raid siren, there might as well be, because this song hits like a bomb. Kevin Crowly’s inimitable bark kicks in declaring things like “Won’t be pushed around no more, cause I know I’m not alone”. Dead serious and loud as fuck. Of course it’s 83 so this one’s over in 1 minute but not before a proto death grunt that simply proclaims “YESSSSS” under a wash of endless reverb. A few seconds later “War Games” is coming down on you with Raf Astor busting a Ron Ashton quality, fret grating guitar solo over another bomb raid level intro. It helps that the song actually contains lyrics like “flying low your target’s set” and “blow them up and shoot them down”. It’s an anti war song, but it sounds so violent it’s easy to forget. It’s also maybe the first song by an NYHC that has a pretty pronounced heavy metal influence. Metal in NY was also exploding around this time, and these solos must have singed the eyebrows of any metal head who happened to be lucky enough to lay ears on this. The Krakdowns, Sick Of It Alls, and Warzones of the world used a similar formula of simple heavy hardcore with metal accents a few years later, so in some ways this is (as well as probably Antidote’s 7″) is the first instance of the typical 80’s NY sound.And what else…

And what else? 6 more songs of perfect thrashing, stomping, barking mad hardcore punk. Want to hear one of the most perfect songs ever written (of any genre) - check out “No End In Sight”. I could have wept hearing this one so perfectly executed live, but I was busy throwing myself across the dance floor like a maniac. It’s so simple just a mosh part and a thrash section that each repeat twice, but just listen… everything just perfectly falls into place like every other perfect song on Earth. It’s far more than the sum of its parts. The thing is though basically all the songs are this good.

Oh and btw, I think this copy might end a little low because it’s in Japan and has a high opening bid. Who knows though…

The Abused - Loud and Clear 7″