bidhardcore.com

I like this seller’s listings. I’ve featured them before, but this set is kind of cooler because it’s several different things — a bunch of rap lps, a bunch of Japanese hardcore, some American grindcore, and a little bit of NYHC. I dunno, you could probably have a decent time hanging with this person.Here’s a tasty Japanese ripper… or something like that. LSD’s - Jast Last 7″. This is hardly the genre I’m most knowledgeable in, but this is one record that left an impression on me right from the get go. The vocals pour out in a mess of distortion and slurred growling, most likely double tracked (it could just me some kind of echo effect though?), but sounding pretty crazy. The music is kind of more controlled and somewhat metallic in the delivery, with fairly precise mid-paced type riffs. My favorite song is the 6 minute Karen Nash which begins with a clean guitar intro, and then builds up with a noodley riff, before kicking in full power with the most deranged vocal section on the entire record. The song pushes into hookier and more melodic territory, more-so than the other two on the record, or for that matter any other LSD song. By the time the maiden-esque solo kicks in 2 minutes deep it’s pretty obvious you’re hearing a masterwork. Finally at about the middle the sheets of distortion let up for a return to the same clean guitar work from the beginning. The buildup back into the song is cheesy and “of the time” as could be but it works because the band sell it, and to me it all sounds necessary, like there’s no fat to trim (which is absurd because in reality it’s a 6 minute song), they have me under the spell. When the speed really picks up again and the vocals come with tortured “whoas” echoing into 80’s reverb oblivion, it’s the payoff. I really have no idea what this song is actually about, but it just sounds moving. Maybe melodrama has a big effect on me. As a sequel to yesterday’s posting: a Crossed Out 7″. Of course if you know me at all, you know I’ve staked some of my creativity in this record’s legacy, much to the disappointment and annoyance of a person or three, but generally these are people that are old and/or Scottish. Seriously though, this one’s timeless. A template for a dozens and dozens of bands thereafter, none one tenth as good. Crossed Out said they were into Siege and the Skitslickers, it really can’t get much more straight forward than that. It’s that kind of simplicity that permeates the sound and style of the record. There’s nothing tricky or hard to grasp, it just sounds like a hammer beating against your skull really fast, and then really slow. There are a couple of 90’s bootlegs of this but the seller has taken care to list attributes that verify it as an original (matrix numbers being the give away). If you’re ever not sure about one of these, look at the between song gaps, the original pressing has long silences between each song, like 5-10 seconds, you should be able to see them just by looking at the vinyl.

One of the few bands to be explicitly named by the term’s originators as “West Coast Power Violence”, No Comment occupy a special place even among the PV genre elite. A group impossible to replicate, and one of so few to produce a truly perfect record that transcends the genre it’s tied to - DOWNSIDED. One of the things that set the group apart from many others were the relatively clear shouts of Andy Beattie, who would sound as comfortable in any number of other Hardcore bands, but sounds so perfectly suited for No Comment. The constant wash of riffing is really driven by the start and stop of the drums, which I’ve heard the drummer had to take speed to perform adequately (no idea if this is simply legend). The sound is almost the musical equivalent to someone having a seizure or something. Every few seconds the song changes direction, but never collapses under the weight of itself. Each track is relatively simple, but deceptively so, as each one takes skill to put together with more split second stops starts and twists than most other genre bands would bother with. I think that’s part of what makes No Comment who they are and were. The will to really stretch a 20 second song for all it’s worth. For many that just means a quick blast of crash and bash, but No Comment were able to take the same ammount of time and really make it feel like a whole song in that time. It’s this kind of razor thin percission that really defines them. In all they rip through 11 songs, the first 10 of which are covered, I think in less than 5 minutes, the last of which preserves the tradition of ending with a long heavy outro. Like some other entries on here, it’s sort of difficult to know what to even say about a record thats meant so much to me, and thrilled me so many times. It’s not even that Downsided is “this” or “that”, it just is,(for me at least). I remember when I finally obtained the actual 7″ (had a discography prior to that), and looking at the weird foldout sleeve. The collage on the front with the baby and all the drugs, the strange look of the members, the giant fold out of the arm on the inside, the cryptic lyrics. The final proof that No Comment were just their own island I guess.

Here’s a hot mess. Someone’s early 90’s shoebox of 7″s plenty plenty plenty of junk. But there’s some choice picks, like No Comment’s “Common Senseless” (why is this record so hard to come by?),  Trip 6’s one and only “No Defeat No Surrender”(plz don’t speak ill of the cover art), a bunch less remarkable things too like 7″s by Outburst, Against The Wall, Turning Point, early Seein Red, Confrontation. Also there’s 2 10″s, both by kinda weird bands, 1 is the post Brotherhood project, Resolution- foolishly this is not tagged as being pre-Sunn or Burning Witch. For all the bad music Greg Andersen has been involved with, he gets a pass for life for being in Brotherhood. Oh also there is the Demise 10″on Erich Keller’s Off The Disc, in fact it’s a rare variation limited to 100 copies. Demise were around the same time as Infest, and gigged around with some of the weird thrash bands in Cali but never found the same popularity that some of their peers did (I think in part because they took up some nationalist political views later on). This 10″, and their
Furnace of Tension 7″(which I believe is just remixed 10″ tracks?) are their best stuff which is still just OK at best. The clear gem in this stuff is the No Comment 7″. While it’s not an example of a perfect hardcore record (that would be their Downsided 7″), it’s damn near close. Andy Beatie (I think I spelled his name wrong), is one of the best vocalists ever to take up extreme music. Please someone - read this and get the Low Threat Profile e.p. released.  Trip 6 is a cool band probably most remembered for their track on the Revelation “The Way It Is” comp, and somewhat less so for being the band that The Psychos dissolved into. In fact the full recording session for this 7″ was actually a 12 song demo, about half comprised of re-done Psychos songs. Tommy Rat, the final singer for the Psychos has one of the burliest vocal styles in NYHC, kind of transposing the NY-Street vibe onto something that reminds me of Crucifix or some other such band… Trip 6 is hardly a peace punk band, but they have a dirty primitive sound and that’s what I mean when I say this.

Greetings… 2 picks for you today.

• First of all, if you’re a Misfits collector this Horror Business 7″ is probably one of your most sought after items. This has an a-side label on both sides, and as you can see the opening bid of $2000 has already been met. If someone’s got some Xmas money on their side this could maybe get up to $3000 but probably won’t. This is one of the stupider pieces of Misfits minutia, IMO, but I’ve bought things nearly as stupid I guess. You’re probably not going to buy this but you might as well have a look anyway. This one is my 2nd fav misfits single and layout btw (3-Hits is numero uno). I guess I should bust out the Misfits Xmas-day ‘79 boot, next week so I can have a Ghooooul Yule. Maybe not.
• Also seller kiitollinen_kansalainen has a fine spread of dirty hardcore picks. A few worth mentioning: Neanderthal’s life changing “Fighting Music” 7″ , as well as their split with Rorschach, which is where the song Fighting Music is actually found (”let’s fight!”). Outo’s “No Way Out” E.P., is a personal favorite and a great sleeve on it too. A Totalitar/Disclose split LP a true “d-beat” classic, and the best of a number of listend genre items. The Crucifix lp is not a first press so don’t bother, I’m not sure what the deal is with the Battalion of Saints 7″ either. What I wanna know is how this Floorpunch EP made it into the collection? It looks so lonely as the only record without a large ammount of black on the cover. I guess when it comes to genre boundries Mark Porter is just trancendent. In my mind though I’m imagining this crust punker heard Division 1 Champs, took a shower, went straight edge, and then bought 5 more copies of the 7″. Now he’s just selling off the remains of his punk collection, and throwing in an extra FP 7″ for good measure. I think he sings in a band called SobrietyXPoint that sounds like a harder Turning Point 7″ mixed with the Invasion demo, and are playing a show in fantasy land this weekend (see you there).