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Porcell says:

When Mike played drums for Youth of Today, he was a very reserved, quiet guy. You could’ve never pictured him in a million years singing for a band because we’d go on tour and he’d literally say maybe a few words a day. He didn’t seem angry then but there were a few instances on that tour where the “Mike Judge” of years to come reared his head. Once when YOT were playing a show with Uniform Choice, I think it was Detroit, there was a fight in the pit during UC between two skinheads. Mike actually walked over to try to break it up when the girlfriend of one of the guys fighting told him to mind his own business, pushed him and then slapped him FULL FORCE right across the face. Mike’s hands instantly flew up to punch her but then he stopped himself because, well, she was a girl. But he was in a rage. He just stood there, with a big red slap mark across his knotted face, breathing like a snake, just wanting so bad to haul off on that skinbird but somehow he was restraining himself. But there he was in the middle of the pit, teeth clenched, fists in the air, looking like a time bomb that would go off if somebody breathed heavy. The two guys instantly got scared and stopped fighting, and the one dude made a quick exit with his squawking foul-mouthed girlfriend in tow. I remember thinking “Damn, Mike’s actually a pretty intimidating guy.” Little did I know.

Cold Sweat, for me was the band more than any other in my era that could not catch the break they deserved. I first heard them when I bought a copy of their debut lp Severed Ties. For sale on ebay now is a sealed (???) test pressing of that lp.It came out of the gate scrappy and deranged, mixing up the noise attack of Rorschach’s best moments, with the straight forward anger of the first Infest lp, the misanthropy and bottled up anger exploding out of each track in a burst of chaos. I firmly believe that it’s still as potent today as it was then, whereas most lps I bought in 2002/2003 were a time and place, their potency waned by the passage of time. This wasn’t a time when we were all ass deep in “weird”/off-kilter HC and punk either. This music got played because it had to, which is obviously what makes it great.

Fuck The Flock opens the album with the kind of rabid, violent rush that I feel when I listen to Antidote or No Comment. Blazing, dangerous thrash. A vocalist in kill mode. Smashed up drums and random notes punctuate each measure when the breakdown comes, although they barely slow down for it. My Rights dishes out a staggering start stop end-piece, like an update on the classic Die Kreuzen sound. Kept In Chains lets the thrash assault start the proceedings but then starts dismantling it piece by piece. By the time the half way point comes, the song is reduced to swells of noise and cymbal crashes with ranting voice-in-your-head type vocals. Kicking and Screaming comes close to a Black Flag kind of tempo, but with less precision, teetering on the edge of collapse even as the band is trying to control itself. Still it manages to heighten the tension at the half way point effectively. Side B gets deeper and the thrashing continues to be pushed to the side for more heavy parts. Longer buildups, like Abortion Is Dinner, and lurching start stop action like Cross In A Bottle’s feedback blasts, finally ending with obligatory dirging outro.

Be sure to peep the seller’s other auctions too. A few good joints in there.

Occasionally I find myself struck with intense and/or frightening realizations of reality, and in these times there are only few a records I can listen to where I can get myself back to feeling normal and balanced. For some reason, Integrity is one. They shouldn’t be, due to the dark and intense nature of their sound, but somehow I find them calming.Integrity with the Melnick brothers is an all time favorite of mine, and so below I’ve noted a test pressing of the first full length release of that era: Those Who Fear Tomorrow. In truth I greatly prefer the work they did after this, however, for better or worse, since this is their first album it will always be the undisputed classic for most people. Almost every song starts with an open E-Chord ringing out, and basically every song sounds like it was based on 2 records: Bringin’ It Down & South Of Heaven. It’s cool, but the production is pretty dated, and some of the riffs are too. Starting with the Systems Overload lp I think Integrity became a rawer band, and really became a more interesting hybrid of metal+punk+hardcore. That’s not to diminish this album though, if you want some heavy E-Chord mosh and finger tapped arpeggios, this album’s got that non-stop. Don’t buy the recent reissue on Fractured Transmissions. It sounds like it was mastered off a shitty old DAT with the sound distorted and clipping, and I’m pretty sure none of the band members were paid for it except the singer.Weirdly I own a test press of this album and it doesn’t have Erika labels on it, however this one I’ve found for sale does. I’m not sure what the deal with that is, but I believe it was pressed two or three times by Toybox which may account for there being multiple test presses that look different. Its never been booted to my knowledge so I don’t think that possibility figures into it. Judging by the stickering on the cover this may have come from a band member.

The early 00’s were a fine time to be hanging around hardcore shows in the Massachusetts area. Plenty of shows going on, new demos, new records; good times through and through. XfilesX were a mainstay in the area at the time. As much shit as they got for having a dumb name, you really couldn’t deny if you were there that they delivered live. This is a test press of their 2nd 7″, NBC Mayhem, for sale,which is really when they started to come into their own live and on record. There was a split from this time too, and it was followed by a 1-sided 12″ which is just an absolute crusher. Files kind of stood on their own at the time as far as Infest descended hardcore went, because just no one else (besides Think I Care for a little while) was doing it. Certain labels now churning out dozens of records in this vein like so many flapjacks at ihop were busy releasing either really bad shit-grind, or even worse “bandanna-core”.

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.

I think my friend Timmy is having these items sold for him, or they used to be his. A couple of painkiller records rarities in here, including a test press of the Breathing Fire 7″, which was really only made in a large quantity for a show in Sherbrook… i’m not sure why really. Breathing Fire are the most powerful and brain melting band I’ve ever been able to “work with”, and by work with, I mean beg to reform and record an album (which will be out soon on Painkiller). There’s also tests of the recent Hard Skin 7″ on Feral Ward, The Government Warning lp, and the Doom/No Security split (which I’m under the impression there’s at least 50 of).

A good record that I expect is gonna set a new high due to the 80’s USHC craze we’re drowning in right now, is “F - You Are An E.P.” 12″. The first song on this one is really well written, a call response that is a little more advanced than many. It never really reaches the same heights after that but it’s a good record. I bought one for $6 once. It was a cool day although I got a parking ticket when that happened.

In a similar vein, and class, is Subculture - I Heard A Scream lp, on green vinyl (I feel like I see green more than black). This band as you might know had the singer of recently acclaimed, Double Negative. This really isn’t as good as Double Negative, not even close. It’s good, but I don’t love it. Sounds like the first COC album watered down by some Mystic style punk. A lot of songs about girls (do I even need to say how bad those lyrics are?), one or two mellow moments that kill the momentum, and is kind of long IMO. People are looking for this though, and with 80’s No Namer HC records all going for more and more loot, how long will it be before either A) you want to buy that Morrally Bankrupt album off me (members of DRI & Pissed Youth… lol) or B) the whole thing falls in on itself and $10 lps become $10 lps again. There was once a time when the first Token Entry lp was clearing $50… and I’ll take this moment to point out, it’s more worthy than a dozen Subcultures, Th Inbred’s, and whatever other mediocre crap someone’s going to dredge up. Then again, I’ve been known to rave about the Infection - “Legal Limit” lp (Deleware), and I may just be crashing from a sugar high (thanks for the cookies mom). I’m giving Subculture a hard time which isn’t really fair. It’s not a bad lp. But it’s also the kind of thing that should be found for under $20.

I’m kind of curious to see if this Fair Warning - You Are The Scene 12″ will start getting any value. After all it’s as worthy as whatever already is. I think the cover art is better than the actual music. It’s French Canadian, like The Omegas, and America’s Youth.

Lastly, don’t forget the Amebix - No Sanctuary on Spiderleg… not sure if it was ever issued on another label but probably. A veryfine non-punk, punk band. Seems like kind of a battered copy but maybe you’re looking for it.