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Note - if you’re a little uptight about your hardcore, and don’t wanna get kinda touchy feely, DO NOT READ THIS POST. Instead, look at this: CLICK 

Some of the most intense and difficult conversations I’ve had about punk and hardcore and other signifiers like “post” and “emo” have stemmed from Moss Icon. They were a great band in their day. I know because they have one of the telling marks of great bands: that all of their imitators horribly SUCK. It’s not that you can never imitate great bands. The number of wonderful Discharge or Minor Threat imitations that the years have given us aer numerous, and plentiful. But sometimes there are bands that no matter how many people attempt to liberally borrow from them, are always done no justice by the gesture.

 Case In Point = Moss Icon. This is probably one of the first bands that you could classify as “emo-core”, they have a lot of sonic similarities to groups like Rites Of Spring & Ignition, later Articles Of Faith even. They grew up and entered the scene in Annapolis Maryland, near Washington DC, but removed far enough that at best you could call it a satellite. Annapolis is a weird town I visited a few times growing up. It’s home to the Naval Academy, and by my personal recollection, numerous antique shops. There’s something positively isolated about the approach to their music and delivery, and I think it coresponds in some way to the fact that they were an Annapolis band. I can’t explain it but I sense it there. Maybe I only feel this way because I know more about the band and their location. In interviews members talk about their lack of interest in many of the DC bands. They liked Void, and Beefeater, but felt indifferent towards Embrace and Marginal Man.

One reason Moss Icon has proven so inimitable for this might be that vocalist John Vance was a perma-stoned literature/poetry freak, and while his stream of consciousness yell/talk/shout style was earnest, and has been imitated by boatloads of horrible “emo” and “screamo” bands, he seemed to have some place in an actual literary and philosophical tradition. I feel kind of stupid bringing this up because:

1. Even though I write on this blog 5 days a week, I rarely read anything, and when I do, I prefer escapism.
2. This is a Blog about hardcore, punk, trading records, stage dives, leather jackets… not college term papers.

However, I think that this is important to understanding why Moss Icon worked, and above all they were a good hardcore band on this record. Whereas your average band imitating this style of vocal basically delivered a high school/coffee house level poetry reading riddled with disjointed imagery about ex girlfriends and distant parents, Vance was able to evoke imagery of solitude and nature. He is probably one of the only singers I’ve ever heard that could effectively empathize with, ahem, The Plight of the Native American. He could also relate, brilliantly, feelings of suburban anomie, and anxiety like no other. He quoted Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a distinguished philosopher and poet whom I know nothing about.

In some ways Vance is an American/Americanized answer to Ian Curtis. It’s filtering the same kind of sentiments of disconnection and melancholy through a different but similar cultural starting point. As a band Moss Icon has similarities to Joy Division too. While they don’t particularly sound alike, and are coming from different moments in history there’s a connection, especially as Moss Icon developed an approach of dirging, echoy repetition in their career. The first real example of that comes on this record, with the song “I’m Back Sleeping Or Fucking Or Something”. As the bass drones on one riff and the drums skitter and bang behind it, Vance rants a semi abstract tale of childhood, painful and agonizing in his delivery. Guitarist Tonie Joy squalls feedback between massive power chords and has a pretty good sense of when to play and when to hang back. You know that pretentious ol’ “he knows what NOT to play”. It’s a panic attack with a drum beat maybe.

Elsewhere the record finds the band less chaotic, but just as effective. The other 3 songs, all have a more typically hardcore tempos and composition, but with more intricate guitar playing, which is why they often get compared to the Rites Of Spring lp, although Joy is adamant that he had not really listened to them at the time. Some of the influence then, can at least be pinned on their peers The Hated, who in turn were sort of what would happen if Husker Du weren’t popular nationally, and got really into Simon and Garfunkel. Back to Moss Icon though, what sets this apart and makes it superior from Rites Of Spring to me, is that there’s still the anger and frustration of Hardcore’s past noticeable in the music (at least at this stage of the Moss Icon catalog). Rites Of Spring spent so much of themselves trying to escape the machismo that they felt was “ruining the scene”, that I believe they lost a lot of the anger too.

Moss Icon eventually took a more reserved approach, but never lost any of their emotional complexity. This 7″ though, often referred to as “Gretta Garbo” for the photo on the cover of the early movie star, or as Hate In Me for the first song on it, is still my favorite. It’s a clash of sloppy hardcore anger, and subtle melody, hoarse screaming, and thoughtful poetry…or something. Look I just think if you ever feel like listening to “emo-core”, this record beats them all. A scant few have been able to tread the line like Moss Icon did. There’s only 500 copies of this record pressed on the band’s own Vermin Scum label, and I suspect it may go for a lower price (under $40) because it has a high starting bid. Usually these top out at $60.

 Also I have to give some credit to Zac and Bobby Busch, as the observations in this post are at least partially inspired by a long Moss Icon thread we participated in on a message board.

I’ll try and post about something pertaining to skinheads tomorrow to make up for this.

“Mixed Nuts Don’t Crack”, is a really cool, lesser known DCHC compilation dating from 82/83 on Outside records. I think that label was run by people from Nuclear Crayons who are on this compilation, and have 2 other records on Outside. I guess a lot of the bands on here went to one High School, Bethesda Chevy Chase High (or so say those who were around at the time).

The most important thing on this comp in my view, are the United Mutation tracks culled from an ‘82 demo session.  All 4 are just thrashing guttural insanity, maybe their most out of control offerings ever in terms of speed and rage. The vocals deliver totally unintelligible nihilism and anger, the music shreds along, occasionally falling apart into an echo’d mess. These tracks are as essential as the deconstructed genius of Void’s Flex Your Head tracks.

Following United Mutation (who are actually on side 2), are Nuclear Crayons, who are at their noisiest on this release, giving a decent approximation of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. I’m not sure how necessary this stuff is really, but it’s kind of cool someone was at least trying it in DC in the early 80’s, I’d imagine they pissed off a lot of punks.

Hate From Ignorance unremarkable closes out this half of the record. Sort of melodic and angular, honestly it’s hard to remember I skip their tracks most of the time. Also-ran status.

Side 1 takes off with the little known Media Disease who played competent, though not particularly distinguished thrashing hardcore. These guys were tight with United Mutation and some of them went on to play with Malefice. They totally should have had a single on DSI although they’re not as psychotic sounding as any of the other bands, they were a Fairfax band. “Redneck Asshole” is a classic 20 second blast of hate. Media Disease knock out 6 songs in probably 4 or 5 minutes on here. These songs and a demo tape were comped on a bootleg double 7″ on Lost and Found in the early 90’s that’s semi cool if you can pick it up for $10>.

Chalk Circle comes next. I’m pretty sure this was an all female band, they play sort of mellow post punk/wave tracks.  It’s not particularly interesting and I think my ears are less forgiving because it can’t even make up for that with out and out abrasiveness. What can you do?

Finishing out Side 1 is a cool band basically no one knows about: Social Suicide. I’m pretty sure the drummer from Youth Brigade DC (Danny Ingram) was in this band. I’ve been trying to find out if they have any recordings besides these songs, because they’re totally great, sounding like a junior Scream. The last song is kinda ska-vibed which is definitely a Scream move to pull, but the first 3 songs are just raging tuneful hardcore punk. First tier kind of stuff, not throw away junk. Really interested in hearing more by this band if anyone knows of anything.

The jacket on this record is extra nice, with a cool tip-on style (like old rock lps), and a black on silver color scheme. There’s 2 inserts, 1 is a lyric book, the other is collages/photos for each band, and contact info. If you ever see a sealed copy, it doesn’t have the inserts in it, the people at outside had to unseal them and put that stuff in.

Everyone knows Flex Your Head is theDCHC comp with a a yearbook type compilation of the Dischord crew circa ‘81.  There were a couple other compilations from DC that came out around the same time that are also worth taking note of though, one of which is the Bouncing Babies compilation.

Bouncing Babies was issued on Fountain Of Youth records which was for a while kind of the other Dischord as they issued a number of key documents in DC by bands like Government Issue, Black Market Baby, and Artificial Peace. Unfortunately some bad creative decisions and a presumably bad distribution deal with Dutch East India sealed their eventual demise.

When Bouncing Babies was released it was over a year in the works and originally planned as half DCHC bands and half Midwest bands (supplied by Version Sound). The finished product was quite a bit different with all DC area bands, and a number of them having tentative at best connections to punk. Some of the high school kids from a couple years earlier had already outgrown their punk roots and were making “art” musics, others were laying out the foundation of what would be the “Revolution Summer” sound, still others were sticking to their guns with meat and potatoes hc/punk. I haven’t owned a copy of this comp in a while, but I’ll try and run through a breakdown of what’s on it here…

1. DOVE “Ambivalence” — Dove was the band that Double O eventually morphed into and this song is absolutely incredible. I’ve never heard other songs from this session but if they exist I’d really like to. This kind of predicts the super melodic but still fast and aggressive territory Swiz would tread a few years later. Sadly I think they went pop-rock shortly after this. One of the best tracks on the comp.

2. CRIPPLED PILGRAMS “Black & White” — Crippled Pilgrims were sorta easy listening post punk if I remember right. Fountain of Youth did one or two records for them too. Uninteresting.

3. BODY COUNT “Bull in a China Shop” — No joking, this is kind of like early Ska-Core. As you can see this compilation is all over the place from the outset. Seriously this is like Against All Authority or something.

4. LUCKY PIERRE “Looking Back” — Don’t remember anything about this track except how funny the band’s name is. Next.

5. UNDERGROUND SOLDIER “Sunday Slaughter” — Underground Soldier had an lp on some no-name DC label, this song is slower and moody i think. Might have female vocals. I remember being disappointed by this when I heard it because I heard they were hardcore.

6. ARTIFICIAL PEACE “Frustration” — An average offering by a 2nd tier band. Artificial Peace were big in their day in DC, but only had one actual record (a split), and haven’t aged terribly well. Fairly tuneful Minor Threat/Scream style but not quite as good. Eventually became Marginal Man.

7. EXILED “Guilt Trip” — Generic tier 3 DCHC. Right up there with Media Disease and Assault and Battery.

8. SCREAM “Ultra Violence/Screaming” — Hey here’s a jam! I think this is taken from a demo tape. Scream rules hard. I need a copy of their demo actually, I heard it once and it was maybe better than the lp.

9. GLEE CLUB “Disguise (A Lie)” — No idea.

10. BLACK MARKET BABY “Suzie Dear” — Here’s a pretty great Black Market Baby track. I’m not like some people who love every song they ever wrote, but they have some definite hits. Just don’t buy that piece of shit anthology on Dr. Strange. Great power-pop/punk hybrid.

11. REPTILE HOUSE “Talons & Claws” — Reptile House are known for being pre-Samhain. As such they’re kinda goth, and I’m pretty sure they’re on a Sisters Of Mercy vibe, but nowhere near as good. Then again I should revisit this.

12. 9353 “Ten Witches” — Known more for their excessive drug use than their music. Psychedelic-ish post HC noise stuff… I wish they were better though.

13. THE LAST MINUTE “Infinite Regression” — This is actually United Mutation, I forget why they’re under the name The Last Minute on here. Infinite Regression is a classic freak-out track by them, and this version is only available on here. NECESSARY.

14. BEAVER “Punch Him in the Head” — Beaver get filed in the same bin as Exiled, but this song aint bad.

15. ASSAULT & BATTERY “Evidence” — See Beaver description.

16. BRAILLE PARTY “Terrorist” — I seem to remember this song getting kinda ska unfortunately. Braille Party were from Maryland and also released an Lp on Fountain of Youth, which for the most part is pretty good Husker Du style melodic hardcore. Unfortunately there are a few tracks where they experiment with ska on the album, and I think that carries over to this track (at least from memory). Buy the lp if you see it though, it’s pretty cool.

17. VOID “Get Out of My Way” — Arguably the best Void song, this is from what was eventually issued in the 90’s as the “Condensed Flesh” demo. Originally that session was used as the source for a number of comp tracks including this song which just rips, with awesome feedback breaks and classic Weifenbach vocals. This version is a different mix with some added echo effects than the 90’s issuing.

18. GOVERNMENT ISSUE “Dead Dog” — Who the fuck left this song off the GI complete history discs? This is easily one of the best on the comp. GI composed it as a tribute to the Obsessed, and as such, it’s a 4+ minute doomed out dirge in the vein of their classic Sheer Terror. Seriously it’s a lost classic, and I don’t even like GI that much. Maybe I would if they did more tracks like this. If you’ve ever heard the first Upside Down Cross lp w/ J Mascis on drums, that’s what this song is like.

So okay, I admit this isn’t the greatest comp ever, but there’s a few tracks that I think are legitimately essential, and of course if you’re a DCHC completest, you’ve gotta have this.

Whoa sorry for the hate fest yesterday. See what happens when I don’t get enough sleep folks? In the end, it probably did more good than bad for yesterday’s seller. But that was yesterday. What have I got today? More like, what haven’t I got? The answer to that question, is most of the records this dude is selling. SHAMEFUL on my part.

These listings are not ace, and it makes you wonder about the validity of a few items like the NA 7″, Urban Waste 7″, 7 Seconds “Skins” 7″, especially because the labels are not visible in the photos. On the other hand the seller obviously knows the value of these items, and they seem to be in the company of many obviously legitimate pressings (you can’t fake a Floorpunch on gold people).

How about a top 5 ?

1) I gotta take the Urban Waste 7″here. Presuming that everything is legit about it, this is a hell of a clean copy. Contains an instert, the cover looks nice, unfortunately you have to speculate on the vinyl due to the photo which at the least may keep the price down. It’s kinda strange you know, Urban Waste is at this point just shy of a $500 record. If this one actually had a classy listing I think it could break it, but it’s not hard finding an Urban Waste E.P. It hits ebay seemingly weekly. With only 1000-ish pressed it seems like a large number have survived so it’s kind of surprising the price has been able to climb steadily over the past few years.

2) Even if it’s 2nd press, a clean copy of the Negative Approach 7″is a good investment and I really doubt the price is ever coming down (barring global economic disaster). You’d have a tough time arguing this isn’t the best hardcore E.P. ever, even people outside hardcore can appreciate this one. Best vocals in a punk/hardcore band ever maybe? Contender for greatest lead off track - without a doubt. NA is a band that I would argue outshines their influences (S.O.A., Blitz, 4Skins) on this record. Been listening to it for 9 years of my life now and it hasn’t worn out its welcome in the least. Too bad I’ve been listening on a dumb CD. Gotta change that this year…

3) Either Minor Threat7″ here could, in my book give the NA 7″ a run for its money. They’re both later pressings, but I guess could fetch maybe 2 bills each. There’s been a LOT of Fillers popping up lately, although it shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even blue covers are going for 150-200 now, and there’s plenty to go around. I think pretty much only the red sleeved ones go for more than 250-300 though. Btw, anyone that wants to trade a Red Sleeved copy, I hereby offer my Dogs - Slash Your Face (stock copy) in exchange for one. Maybe we could workout the difference after that, but the thing has been played twice ever so consider that. I love some Detroit Rock n Roll, but I grew up w/ the White House in my backyard, and I’m straight edge, so Ian and the boys will always be my first love.

 4) Antidote without an insert is still an Antidote 7″, so eff it. I give this my number 4. Probably will still go for more than the Minor Threat recs, and the sleeve looks better than some I’ve seen. Why are these things always trashed? At least there’s no handwriting or water stains on this.  Please lord someone put together a better Antidote release than the junk currently available.

 5) Last Rights 7″w/ a mic-stand-throwing cover. A riff like Chunks really only comes once a career, and a record this legendary probably not much more than that. No matter how much embarrassing shit Choke has pulled over the years with Slapshot, it can never diminish this single. HARD HARD HARD skinhead HARDcore. If there were oi bands that actually sounded like this I’d get a pair of boots and a razor shave on my dome.

See you folks on Marathon Metal Monday…

Everybody knows Void, DCHC’s infamously atonal acid-thrashers (read in Jackie Chiles voice). By far they’re probably the most championed DCHC band after Bad Brains and Minor Threat, and they receive considerable attention from enthusiasts of the non-punk world, which I guess in some way validates them in the larger musical tapestry. What I’m trying to say is even non-punks know Void shred. The same cannot unfortunately be said for United Mutation, who never get the same kind of credibility affirming praise that the likes of Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, The Melvins and other stone-aged, well respected indie rockers have willingly doled out for Weifenbach and company. Please don’t be angry reader; I’m not suggesting that Void sound the same as United Mutation, but they’re hardly far removed. Maybe they even had the same drug dealer?

United Mutation was founded by 2 brothers with the last name Fox, sometime in ‘81 or ‘82 I think. By 1983 (when their first 7″ came out) almost every band in DC owed a debt to Minor Threat in their sound, and were pushing towards an increasingly melodic delivery. United Mutation are one of a short list that were doing the opposite. This is sick, sick, introvert music. For a reference point see the first Die Kreuzen lp or the Scam 7″ (both of which were released after this but are similar). In “Banned in DC” there’s a quote that’s always stuck with me that, to paraphrase, says United Mutation just hung out in the basement everyday practicing their songs, but only left once or twice a year to play a show. It makes total sense when you hear them. They sound isolated, and unsociable.

Their chronology is confusing at best, but I think they did a demo or two, some of which were recycled into comp tracks (like the AWESOME Mixed Nuts Don’t Crack compilation), and then they delivered their first 7″ Fugitive Family a split release on Dischord, and their own DSI records. Let it be noted that this wasn’t deemed even significant enough to be a a half release, being relegated instead to being catalog #10 & 7/8th. What the fuck? It couldn’t get #11 1/2 or something? Whatever. Growing up in the DC area has left me with a soft spot for most of the bands of the time, even the less interesting ones, but for me, United Mutation transcend that. This is disgusting, fuzzed out noise that’s way ahead of the curve, cutting almost at a Siege-like speed, and dear lord the vocals! This may be the most inhuman vocals used in any style up to that point. 100% predicts the kind of things you’d be hearing on records by G.I.S.M. and Bathory records a year later, even though neither were probably aware of this record. This is a perfect example of a band refitting an established genre to their own twisted vision - it’s imaginative and stands alone.

Still, I can only lavish so much praise on Fugitive Family, because the crowning achievement of United Mutation, is their Rainbow Person 7″. Sadly if their first 7″ can be called under-appreciated, you might as well call this one unknown. I guess without the minimal Dischord endorsement people just aren’t as interested. There are some people in-the-know though, and they can tell you what a demented piece of psycho-core this is. It’s been a major influence on some of my song writing over the past couple of years, and is one of the most bizarre of its time. Between each song is a recording of a clearly mentally unstable person, speaking about time travel, setting the mood for the creepy music that follows. The band are slower now, the guitar is drenched in reverb and chorus giving it a psychedelic quality (and I’m sure there were plenty of drugs consumed of a similar classification). The songs are mid-paced, but still punk, with creepy echoing solos, and sections that start to break apart under the slowing tempos. The vocals are as rasping and demented as before, though at times they come close to singing on key, they only do so in the same demonic voice, often while being echoed and phased into oblivion. The weirdest and most eccentric aspects all come together on the song Zone, the only song on my ipod with the lyric “My eyes have laser vision to the sky”, as a circular bass riff creeps along with spare guitar guitar accenting before kicking into a total temper tantrum of psychotic rage. Right before the song starts the rambling mental-case declares “Reality makes me fucking sick, because it’s disgusting it’s perverted, okay. Obscene… okay. This reality.” It’s a good way to sum up the underlying sentiment of all United Mutation music.

Pressing info is as follows:

United Mutation - Fugitive Family 7″:

• 1000 copies on black vinyl w/insert
  Dischord 10 7/8 / DSI 1, 1983
• 500 copies on black vinyl w/extra track, xeroxed sleeve, no insert
  Dischord 10 7/8 / DSI 1, 1989

United Mutation - Rainbow Person 7″:

• 800 copies on black vinyl w/foldover cover and insert
• 225 copies on black vinyl w/pocket cover
• 75 copies on black vinyl w/xeroxed pocket cover
  DSI Records 4, 1985
• 500 copies on blue vinyl w/foldover cover and insert
  DSI Records 4, 1989
  

I’ve explained my feelings about the Necros before , and they more or less stand as they did then. They just don’t have the pizazz that their more well known peers did. As an example of ‘82-USHC archetypes they work well, and they even have some catchy songs on this 7″, and on their Conquest For Death lp (which I’ve taken a little more of a shine to recently), but they have nothing to really set them apart when compared to bands like Negative Approach, The Fix, or Toxic Reasons. Sorry 80’s hc purists. The Necros may have been cool at the time, but even when I was 19 I knew they were only kind of interesting. I love that the members are all still bitterly bickering over their back catalog though, which remains entirely out of print.

Anyway this is one of the earliest Touch and Go & Dischord rarities, only 100 copies made with this skate photo collage sleeve. How long before it starts breaking $500?

Greetings. This is a late post today because I was hardly around a computer at all. Thus it will also be a quick post, which sucks because I’m not going to be able to post the one I was working on, and the auctions it was for are nearly ended. Don’t be bummed though, I’m returning to Jeff Nelson’s Auctions, for a newly listed copy of the Flex Your Head comp, in TEST PRESS form. This is a definitive “scene-documenting” comp, along with jams like Yes LA, Together, and Process Of Elimination… to name just a few. It’s sort of funny seeing who did and didn’t make the comp here (how did they skip The Faith in favor of the worst Deadline songs?). The Youth Brigade songs on here nearly outshine their 7″, the Teen Idles ones feel like table scraps, although that was probably the closest they had to a “name” band at the time. Void - Dehumanized… find the Mudhoney cover - it’s the best. I’ll return tomorrow with a longer post. There’s not too much I need to say about this except that it’s gonna go for at least $300, although I think there’s at least 50 made.

Today shall be part 2 of unionpride69’s auctions, there’s still some really crucial items here. Before that, thanks to everyone for the really good response so far. I’m expecting there will still be a couple things to work out over the next few weeks to get everything looking and running smooth, and when he has the time I’m sure AJ (who birthed this site into being) will be on it, so hang tight, and we’ll try and keep the content coming.

There’s 5 more real cool items that I haven’t mentioned here yet.

• 3 of them are first pressing Minor Threat Records, the Filler 7″, In My Eyes 7″ on red vinyl, and Out Of Step 12″ w/ black back cover. This is it. The best pure USHC around, the best straight edge band. Just the best. I heard Filler when I was maybe 14 and it really didn’t make a bit of sense to me, but a couple years later things really clicked and its been important music to me ever since. I always sound like a douche talking about these records because I automatically revert to like, a 3rd grade essay on my favorite food. You can’t really say why pepparoni pizza is the best because you’re 10 and you just know you really like the taste. There is nothing but delighted bias towards that pie, and any attempt to reason out why purreed tomatos and melted cheese go together so well is swallowed just by the fact that they do. Price wise both of these 7″s are forging on and will probably hit $500 sooner rather than later, then again Nervous Breakdown w/ bricks on the cover was going for crazy ammounts for a minute and now it has cooled off big time. With any luck (for me) the same will happen here. I also feel everything here might go for more than normal because this is such a visibile set of items. When you sell a bunch of related stuff together it tends to go for more than if you sold each item alone. People get into the idea of just winning something from the lot even if it’s not their first choice. So… beware.
• Faith - Subject To Change Lot - Well I’ve never seen this. All four colors of the Faith lp in one place. I’m really interested to see how high this gets. Sami (of www.heatunitreport.com) says there’s nothing like the Faith, and he loves it. Me… I used to love it, and I kind of don’t anymore. This is a forerunner to like Marginal Man and Dag Nasty I guess, and there are some catchy tracks, but I just always wished it would either deliver something a little more complex, or a little more angry and unhinged. I feel it walks a middle ground just too middley for me, although I still have a blue vinyl copy in the archives. I think I definitely prefer their tracks on the split with Void (though it must be embarassing to be so out matched), you can’t deny a perpulsive riff like It’s Time. Btw if anyone has a good quality copy of the Faith demo, that’s another instance of the demo versions being better (rawer) than the re-recordings that made the record. There’s a shitty bootleg of them that the Grand Theft Audio guy did (SOA & Youth Brigade too) but they sound so generated and crappy they might as well be an American Tapes boxset. Here’s part of a Faith interview:

TS: Have you guys ever seen Trouble Funk?
All: Nope.
Alec: Like to. They used to play every Wednesday night a block away at the Paragon II. Ian and Henry and a whole bunch of people went to see them one night and some kid got killed–an 18 year old kid got shot. Shit like that happens.

Chris: I’ve driven through after a show.
Alec: I used to walk through that shit. A lot of those bands, like Mass Extinction, are supposed to be anti-drug in their songs but it’s supposedly a big farce, they’re really into it and shit. They played at my school and like four people got stabbed. So I don’t know, I don’t know what the deal is.

• Where The Wild Things Are test press - totally switching gears here. I actually owned one of these once although it looked like mine had been used to cut lines of coke up on. I traded it and then later took part in reselling it. This comp is legendary if you know anything about New York City Hard Core, or as we like to refer to it NYHC. NYHC: The Way It Is comp (the updated version of the Together comp) did have a little bit of the rougher side of the scene covered (Breakdown, Sick Of It All, YDL), and there were weird flukes (like Trip 6 and Nausea) included, but it was mainly a comp to spotlight the wave of straight edge bands that were coming out of NY (Youth Of Today, Bold, Side By Side, Gorilla Biscuits, sort of Warzone…). Where The Wild Things Are has a totally different side of New York and arguably a more accurate one on display for evaluation. You probably know this already, I’m not sure why I even need to say it, but there it is. The meat of this record is really the Breakdown, Raw Deal, Uppercut, and Outburst cuts (and maybe Maximum Penalty too). Bands that were chunkier, meaner, not straight edge at all, and probably more relavent to the future sound of NYHC. They all have a common sound, the kind of scooped metallic crunch that the guitars on records by Cro Mags, Crumbsuckers, AF already had, but with less attempt to mimic thrashy speed picking big on the crossover circuit, and more of just the musical equivalent to getting a brick thrown at you. It’s a paradigm shift for a lot of people when they get their first dose of Breakdown and Outburst, and many a positive youth never make it back, hate-moshing their way into the future. With all that though, let us not forget the Sheer Terror and Life’s Blood cuts here (frankly if I never had to remember Norman Bates and the Shower Heads or this throw-away Gorilla Biscuits cover, I’d be fine). Sheer Terror, pre-lp I think, still nihilistic, and still with the Tom Warrior crunch, I especially love. Life’s Blood, get a little to oi for me, but their 7″ sort of saves their legacy. On this here test press… well I’d imagine there’s a lot of them because the bands probably all got copies, I’d guess this will run about $150-200. The shreded one we sold got like $100, I bought it for $15 though. Great pick up.

I’m heading home for the holidays this weekend but plan to be posting during the week next week (and beyond). See you then!

Out of 13 auctions from user unionpride69 I can see a mere 3 that are not major marquee items. USHC is the specialty, for the most part Dischord. In fact I’m not exactly sure where to start here, so let me just say, I may end up bidding on at least one thing here. After some thought I may just ride this dude out for the rest of the week.  Here’s Part 1:

• Teen Idles - Minor Disturbance 7″  - not sure if this is the 1st or 2nd press but it is signed by all the members. Personally I’m not a fan of autographed hard core records, I think I’d rather have a clean mint copy. Geordie Grindle isn’t really a celeb, and his note of “why am I signing this” sums it up well. Nonetheless, it’s still sort of cool, and I mean, let’s face it, this is top shelf heat. One of the very first hard core records I ever heard, ”Sneakers” still amps me up, and on a side-note The Misfit’s “Nike-A-Go-Go” has a similar begining. Now that we’re talking about Nikes and Sneakers (well I am), let me mention www.heatunitreport.com. It’s much funnier than this blog, and it reads better too.  Anyhow, this record is essentially when the Teen Idles became a hardcore band, mostly by speeding up and playing about as fast as anyone in 1980. If you listen to their recordings from before then they have a scrappy kind of sub-Dangerhouse delivery, that I’m sure was ditched as soon as they’d seen the Circle Jerks on their notorious cali jaunt. Even though this record is remembered more for the iconic photo on the front, and the bands it begat, it is also remembered for the songs on it, which I think is attibutable to the fact that the music was originally written to be much more bouncy and tuneful, and then simply sped up to double time. This is why so few bands today that attempt to revist this style, can come up with anything worthwhile.
• State Of Alert - No Policy 7″ - Firstly let me note this is a first pressing on green vinyl. Secondly let me note I own this record, but I do not have a sleeve for it. If you have a spare sleeve, even for a different pressing of the record, I would like to trade with you! I have some good stuff, and a paying job. Okay so this record is once again kind of overshadowed by what it begat (namely Henry Garfield’s career as Rollins, but I guess also Iron Cross).  I said this in an earlier post, but I really mean it, the first time I heard this it was just a total paradigm shift for what “hard” sounded like, and it seemed like the coolest thing in the world that there was a lead-off song that was railing against drugs and booze. One thing that still blows my mind today is this music was basically written between 1980 and 1981 (most of these songs appear on their 1980 demo which I think is a better recording btw). There was almost no precedent for music this primal and primative, and this is a lot further removed from the punk before it than The Teen Idles. It’s like the 2 chord riff/1 note solo structure of Discharge, sped up faster, cut down to about 1/3 the length, and then injected with all the raukus knuckle-headed sentiment of British Oi bands, only I kind of think it’s cooler than both. This might be the first time a hard core band seemed to be purely hardcore, without much connection to the “punk sound” although that’s pretty debatable.
• Youth Brigade - Possible E.P. - Man. I love this record. In fact I may throw my hat in the ring here. So I could be blowing up my own spot, but fuck it, there’s a lot of them around I guess - well 1,000 anyway. One thing that always struck me about this record, and I guess the band in general is that it has a really heavy and driving sound, with thiiiiick bass, that’s a step apart from most of the other DC bands at the time, and thereafter (Minor Threat, Artificial Peace, Scream, GI’s, Faith, etc.). Did anyone else notice the Fight Back button on Nathan Strajeck’s jacket in certain photos in Banned In Dc? Youth Brigade tried to go on tour with Minor Threat but had to nix the whole thing a few days in because they had taken someone’s parent’s van without asking. The band disolved soon after, probably for no good reason, I really think they could have been contenders, but aside from this cult classic, the only other thing they can lay claim to are a demo, and a few comp tracks. Btw Cali-Youth Brigade never had anything on “Sick Of Things The Way They Are”. Some of the personel in the group made their way into other also-rans like Double-O, Second Wind, Madhouse (under rated lp!), and so on.
• Government Issue - Legless Bull 7″ - Ah Legless Bull. The John Stockton of the early Dischord “roster”. It’s not that it’s not very good, but when your teammates are Ewing,  Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Barkley, you just can’t expect to be a starter, but you can still make a career out of being on the dream team. Actually, that’s not fair, Stockton already had made a name for himself, if anything, the GI’s would be the Clyde Drexler or Christain Latener I guess (note: after some thought I’m going w/ Latener). I just always remember how short Stockton seemed, but only because he was dwarved by these giants (litterally as well as figuratively). My favorite GI’s album has always been Joy Ride which I have always thought would be good to skateboard to, and it’s at weird time when their Damned influence hadn’t completely taken over, but had been pretty obvious. I think Make An Effort is truely their shining moment though, with the best Stabb vocals, and the most memorable songs.
• Iron Cross - Skinhead Glory + Hated and Proud 7″s - I think if I continued along with the analogy in the Government Issue section above, it would make Iron Cross that Angolan dude that got elbowed by Charles Barkley. Ultimately a footnote, but noted nonetheless. Not known for being very good, but they were known to have been there. Leaving that behind, Iron Cross is one of the shittiest bands of all time. Frequently cited as “too slow” and as a “one-hit-wonder”, and rightfully so, though they’ve basically staked their legend on the fact that they were slow (citing various oi influences) and that their most popular song (Crucified) is still a punk staple today. They’re also a terribly confused mess, switching from a quasi-facist skinhead image replete with lyrics about gay-bashing, to a studs and bristles “look”, half way through their career, union-jack tshirts and all, and at least some attempt at more socially responsible lyrics.  At least YDL had English Nick to front their sketchy slow-core band. Seriously Skinhead Glory is one of the most ineptly performed, idiotic, atonal slabs to be remembered from the early days of hardcore BUT there is something I absolutely love about it. I could never pay the going rate for a copy, because somewhere in my brain I know it’s aweful, but there’s just a certain ignorant charm to the whole thing, although accounting for the wealthy backgrounds the members came from this may be the original suburban “thugcore” record. Hated and Proud finds the band trying to take a sensative stance on issues like… beating up the elderly, which you should NOT do I’ve learned. Also the recording is all treble, it sounds worse than the first record, but their guitar tuning skills have advanced. Still there is a cult around the band for being, I guess the first US Oi band, as well as intersecting with the early DC hard core scene.  Oh also the copy of Skinhead Glory is signed, which I will again note, doesn’t really add anything from my point of view. Is anyone kicking their heels for having Wendel Blow’s autograph?

So here’s a WIDE range of stuff coming from Jeff Nelson’s (of Dischord records & Minor Threat) archives. There is a lot of stuff to cover, but i’m going to lead off with the obvious here:

•  A black backed copy (first press) of the Minor Threat - Out Of Step 12″ that is SEALED and includes a signed (kinda lame I know) 1983 tour poster (but it’s in nice shape). Black back copies of Out Of Step are already dangerously heading towards the $200 mark, and this is one that obviously has a verifiable history (i.e. has not been resealed by some schmuck… unless Jeff is a schmuck). That’s some top shelf USHC. Let’s see who’s a baller…
• Next please turn your attention to some of the stuff like this God’s Favorite Dog compilation, multiple Scratch Acid lps, this limited piclp version of The Jesus Lizard’s “Goat” lp, and Big Black’s promo only interview lp. There’s multiple reasons I’m point this stuff out. First of all I know i can make Sami laugh by calling attention to a compilation called God’s Favorite Dog, as well as an album entitled Goat. The main reason for the rest of the people reading this, is this stuff is in demand again. Pissed Jeans, Snake Apartment, Clockcleaner, and to a lesser extent, numerous other bands, have basically brought, what was once affectionatly called “Pig Fuck” music, back into fashion. I hope I never have to explain that term to my parents. While these aren’t strictly hardcore lps, there is a connection, not the least of which that it’s abrassive and antagonistic in a similar way, whether high minded indie-douches can admit it or not (they’d like to think they’ve moved on from simple minded hardcore). The comp lp is IMO a big sleeper. No one ever talks about it but it has 2 exclusive Big Black tracks, as well as songs by Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, and Killdozer. That’s basically a who is who right there.  Scratch Acid lps I’ve noted simply for good measure and the fact that they’re top shelf material. The picture disc of Goat is not often seen. I’d imagine 1000-ish were made, and I’d also like to note the opening riff to Then Comes Dudley is lifted off some song on Miles Davis’ “Big Fun”. No one really mentions that. The Big Black interview lp will probably go for $100+, and it’s pretty funny as I recall, I think it has been booted too.
• Back to music that the douche you see smoking cloves on your block every day hasn’t heard of, I give you (continuing the animal theme), a Beaver 7″ and Demo (promo) tape!!! Okay in real life, Beaver are 3rd Tier (at best) DCHC featuring a pre-Government Issue Tom Lyle, however I’m saying, this is kind of cool for a couple reasons. 1) The Beaver 7″ is a cheap genre item. Even though it’s pretty average, it’s not bad and can be had for about $30 which is really low considering that it’s from like ‘80 or ‘81. At this point anything fast and hardcore-ish from that time seems to get at least a partial pass. 2) I’ve never heard of a Beaver demo/promo. This one seems to have tracks that were meant for inclusion on Flex Your Head (of which there is also a copy for sale). You probably know Beaver did not make the cut in the end, but it’s kind of interesting anyway.
• If you scroll through the auctions you’re also going to find cool shit you’d expect by bands like Double O, Scream, Marginal Man, Embrace, Shudder To Think, Void, NOU, Swiz, and so on. There are a lot of cool original offset printed posters getting listed too. I’ll go to the death with anyone for the Crucifix poster so step the hell off please. BTW - You’re going to see a ton of crap too (LOL at the Malestrom lp). Side note on the Void - “Condensed Flesh” 7″ that’s listed… Even though it was pressed in the 90’s, it’s generally considered an official release, and in the last few years prices have started to reflect this. It’s pushing up into the 40’s and 50’s probably mostly from younger folks not aware of when it was made. This one has a high start price, and thus may get only a few bids. If you don’t have it I consider it as essential as their side of the Void/Faith split — A MUST OWN.