Sheer Terror - Old, New, Borrowed and Blue 10"

Label: Blackout! Records; Year: 1994; Format: 10" Vinyl EP

Sheer Terror is one of those bands that in many ways bypassed me throughout the decades. I never dismissed their existence but for some reasons they never grabbed my attention as much as they probably deserved to. A few days ago I listened to a recent podcast interview with Paul Bearer (link at the end of this post) and I must say I not only had a good laugh but also learned a bit about the band's history which I always find fascinating. That was reason enough to pull out my only Sheer Terror record this morning and play it loud while exercising my arthritis knees to the mean beats blasting out of the speakers. What a shame that so many of these records have become so expensive if you want them on vinyl as this little 10 inch containing four songs is definitely well worth tracking down. What I probably like the most about it is that no song sounds like the other one and the three Sheer Terror originals deliver everything people expect of the band. While the typical brutal and mostly fast "Walls" is probably my favorite song on the record, the other two are equally great but slower, darker and heavier. Last but not least the record also contains a great cover version of the Saints' hit "Everything's Fine". Well, this leads me to the conclusion that at least when it comes to their old material I hope to find some more of it out there in the wild. 

Update August 1,  2023: Blackout! Records has reissued the 10" as of last week. 

Link to the Post-America Podcast with Paul Bearer

https://soundcloud.com/the-post-america-podcast/160-paul-bearer

Steve Ignorant with Steve Pottinger - The Rest is Propaganda

Publisher: Dimlo Productions Norfolk (3rd Edition); Year: 2020; Format: Softcover Book

I was very excited to finally get to read this book as it's been a bit of a journey to finally get to that. First I missed out on the first two editions and was definitely not going to pay some outrageous prices for a book. Then at the very beginning of the covid-19 pandemic when we all (well, most of us) sat on our asses no matter where in the world we were I shot a brief message to Steve on FB asking whether the book will ever be available again. Steve's reply came quick and not long thereafter the third pressing became available as Steve was already in the process to have a third edition being printed. This time around I acted promptly and ordered it immediately, but due to the pound being somewhat high at the time and the postage outrageously expensive I had the book mailed to a dear friend in London. Two years after that my friend from London visited Chicago and mailed the book to me here in Buffalo and I swore to myself that when done reading I will immediately write a review as I can't stand writing these reviews having read a book years ago. So, here we go and I just finished the book last week and to tell you the truth I haven't laughed so hard in some time. You'd think reading about Steve's life and Crass in particular there wouldn't be much to laugh about, but that's entirely not true. First and foremost this book is about Stephen Williams aka Steve Ignorant, and not Crass. Sure, Crass play a role in the book and the book is divided into three parts; BC, DC and AC (before, during and after Crass). Steve was born in late 1957 in Newcastle-under-Lyme in the West-Midlands but spent most of his life in Dagenham, East London, and was partly raised by his grandparents. Dagenham plays a big part in the early parts of the book and takes the reader back to the days where the pub played an integral part of everybody's life and where life was simple and revolved around the community where one lived. From the very beginning of the book Steve has a way of telling stories with such detail and a great sense of humor that sometimes one can almost feel like being taken back in time. I myself spent some years in East London - way after Crass and all - but nevertheless with me having worked at Southern Records during the time the band was preparing for the Shepherd's Bush "Feeding of the 5000" gigs in 2007 I was able to relate to a lot Steve has to say. It is pretty clear that those years in Dagenham before Steve moved into Dial House were in many ways formative years and have shaped the person he has become in many ways. In the book's introductions Steve sets out that it is not about Crass hence don't expect a detailed history about the band. Instead what I really like about the Crass part in the book is the very beginnings of the band, the bond between Penny and Steve and the hilarious stories revolving around the first few gigs. I also love Steve's honesty about the band's own failures by creating a stifling environment eventually leading to the demise of the band in 1984. The years after Crass are without doubt no less interesting than the years leading up to Crass as Steve struggles finding his way after years of touring and a structured life within said group. What I find fascinating about Steve is his ability to reinvent himself and to take on life no matter how desperate things might seem. As Steve puts it in the introduction it's about his journey to become the lead singer in Crass and the life thereafter. And let me be clear it's a journey filled with great stories, which at times are told in a refreshingly somewhat non-PC way. I can only imagine that the Punk-PC-Police had some cringe moments reading this book but that's life. If you want to learn about true friendship, some horrible aspects of the DIY touring circus, growing up and surviving East London, Schwartzeneggar, and above all who Steve Ignorant really is then do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this book as you will not regret it for a minute. Cheers for the laughs Steve! 

Steve in front of Shepherd's Bush Empire in 2007. Source: steveignorant.com

Ross Lomas with Steve Pottinger - City Baby (Surviving in Leather, Bristles, Studs, Punk Rock, and GBH)

Publisher: Bazillion Points; Year: 2015; Format: Softcover Book

Apologies for the winter blues, but January can be a tough month for not just getting out of bed every morning but especially for doing much once home from work. Since the days are slowly but surely getting a little longer maybe I am feeling slightly more energized. With age I have become someone that thrives on routine, and one of them is to always carry a book in my backpack which I read on my bus trips to and from work. Currently I am reading Steve Ignorant's book with Steve Pottinger and so it dawned on me that some time ago I have also read Ross Lomas' book with Mr. Pottinger, hence a perfect opportunity to get another review up. I am going to sound like a broken record here but the fact remains that it's tough to review books I have read a long time ago hence I revisited certain chapters a bit here and there. The good thing about this book is that it's divided into about three dozen small chapters making it easy to read the first time or when revisiting. According to an interview with Ross with Spanish blog 'Adios Lili Marleen' the original idea was to involve the entire band for the book but apparently nobody was interested bar Ross. In the end it worked out fine me thinks as it's a great read not just about Ross' involvement with GBH but about his private life as well. Quite often with autobiographies I enjoy the first third or so of the books the most as the author usually digs deep into their upbringing and the environment they grew up in. The fact that Ross and the rest of GBH hail from Birmingham makes it for a fascinating glimpse at life in Britain's "Second City" during the '70s, and it certainly is refreshing to hear about the early punk days with a view of someone from outside of London. As you will know though GBH really took off in the early '80s, and it certainly helped that their label mates Discharge pretty much took them under their wings. Many tours and records followed and it's all there throughout various chapters. And as you will surely also know is the fact that GBH still perform to this day hence the book continues all the way up to more modern days. The last time I saw GBH was in 2007 when I lived in London and when they performed at the Purple Turtle playing with their '83 line up if I am not mistaken. It was a fun and chaotic show and sums up the feeling this book delivers from the beginning to the end. But most importantly if you haven't already done so, grab your own copy and find out how Ross never became the milk delivery boy he set out to be way back when. 

Photo Credit: Frank White (Ritz, NYC, 1987)

Pohjasakka - Kidutusta Ja Pelkoa EP

Label: Finnish Hardcore Records; Year: 2022; Format: 12" 45 RPM EP

Pohjasakka hailed from the small town of Rauma on the West Coast of Finland and for all I know were active from 1983 - 1987. In all honesty they were a really unknown entity to me and I do like my hardcore punk from Suomi-Finland, that much is for sure and shall never change. Sami of the Finnish Hardcore label has made it his job to not just reissue rare recordings of long forgotten acts from the land of the thousand lakes, but to equally play an archival part in the restoration of tape releases in particular. Such is the case with this release as Pohjasakka entered the studio in January '86 to record these five tracks as a demo in the hope to release them later said year on vinyl, something that never came to fruition until 2022. Let me tell you one thing straight away, all five tracks are killer but the two sides vary a little bit in style and execution. The two tracks on Side A are my preferred ones as they are just simply perfect hardcore punk songs in the sense that they are nicely settled in between melodic and more straight forward aggressive and fast hardcore punk. Think of bands like Lama, Kohu-63, DOA, Toxic Reasons and such and you get the perfect picture for those two songs. On Side B the band raises the speed levels up by a notch but nonetheless the loud and carrying bass guitar and the equally aggressive drumming never veer out of control so that these three songs are probably best compared to the likes of Riistetyt or Bastards at their very best. Jari Mikkola of Aivoproteesi has done a wonderful job mastering the tape and giving these songs a new life thirty six years after its original release. Great record to have and so should you! 

V/A - Let's Get Pissed - It's Christmas Volume Two LP

Label: Cult; Year: 1986(?); Format: Vinyl LP

Tis' the season they say hence I opted to pull the second Volume of the "Let's Get Pissed" Compilations off my shelves to put you dear readers in a festive mood. Let's just say that in case you have this at home or you listen to it through some streaming device, or even better on a cassette made by your friend then your drink of choice should never be too far. As for myself I haven't listened to this one in a long time but wasn't expecting any surprises as the bands on this Compilation are pretty much all well known to me. The one thing about Rot Records, or in this case Cult (a sublabel of Rot), is that their releases are really cheap and often without any information about the bands. Such is the case with this LP as there is no insert nor anything pertaining to actually anybody involved with this record, and that includes the label itself, and that's just bang out of order and I think Santa would agree with me. But, enough of my moaning here and let's get down to the music on this piece of vinyl as the nine bands from around the globe delivering you for the most part unhinged hardcore punk attacks should help you to warm up to the Christmas spirit. I must confess that I was pleasantly surprised hearing the three tracks by Yugoslavian band U.B.R, a band I remembered just being a bit too noisy even for my liking, but the songs on here are just great noisy hardcore without any hint of grindcore. Also outstanding are the two tracks by Brazilian legends Colera and Finnish Hardcore Punk gods Rattus. Killroy from Southern California and Germany's Normahl and Maniacs deliver solid and more melodic hardcore punk whereas Sweden's Fear Of War crank out tracks in Anti Cimex fashion but just really not as good. The two Italian acts Rappresaglia and Pedago Party round off this international affair that should have you slam around your Christmas tree while knocking back some tall ones. Burn down the tree! 

PS. The track by Italian band Pedago Party is not to be found on the back side of the sleeve.

T.S.T - S/T LP

Label: River Records; Year: 1982; Format: Vinyl LP

T.S.T (The Shock Treatment) formed in the spring of 1977 in Vasteras, Sweden, about an hour west of Stockholm. As you can tell by their band name they must have been Ramones fans but by the time their first titled first LP came out in 1982 their influences have shifted drastically towards the underground sounds from the UK. As a matter of fact listening to the record tonight I would say the members of the band must have bought and loved records by the following bands from the British Isles: Discharge, GBH, The Business, Violators, Red Alert and Anti Nowhere League. Before this first LP the band released two EPs and after having split up for a while they reformed with the idea to take the band in a more electronic direction having been influenced by acts like Fad Gadget or Human League according to the info in "The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977-1987" book. The UK82 sound must have changed their minds as this LP is a truly good mixture of either Punk/Oi influenced tracks or songs more in the Discharge/GBH vein. River Records was apparently a record store in Vasteras and released some of the band's catalogue which is unfortunately hard to obtain on reissues hence my hope is that I will get to hear the rest of the band's output on some reissue in the near future. According to the book mentioned above Nalle (Bass/Vocals) was quite a character and at one point wrestled a cop into a fountain and on another occasion at a Peace Festival pissed on the stage ensuing in a fight with the sound engineer. Got to love the Swedish Drunk Punks. Many years after T.S.T's demise Guitarist and Vocalist Jarmo Makkeli became a member in Swedish Punk'N'Roll outfit Psychopunch, a band my friend and I actually organized a gig for in Switzerland some good twenty years ago. Shame I didn't know about his T.S.T past that night and I would have talked his ears off....

Targets - "Schneller, Lauter, Haerter" and "Menschenjagd" EPs

Label: Aggressive Rock Produktionen; Year: 1984; Format: 45RPM EP

Out of the ashes of legendary Hamburg Punk Rock act Slime came Targets and just a few months after Slime played at the time their last gig Targets released their first EP "Schneller, lauter, haerter" on the well known Berlin based label Aggressive Rock Produktionen. Even though I grew up in Switzerland and was exposed to Punk Rock from Germany at a young age I could often not identify with Deutschpunk. As for Targets though I discovered them through a Mix-Tape a friend made me back in the '80s and loved them dearly ever since. Both of their sought after EPs I was able to get on the cheap in London of all places from a private collection and I shall never part with them. Both of the band's EPs came out in 1984 and they were definitely a continuation of where Slime have left off, lyrically and sonically speaking. The four songs on this EP are all straight forward, well executed hardcore punk tracks in the German language with great lyrics on top of the excellent songs. Terrorism and multi-national corporate greed for instance play an important role in the songs "Geld regiert die Welt" and "Massenhysterie", topics that would gain much more importance decades after the release of this EP but were equally important to the time this EP was released. Sehr gut!

Label: Aggressive Rock Produktionen; Year: 1984: Format: 45RPM EP

While there is no real difference in the quality of the songs between the first and this second EP, the main difference is that this one was recorded and mixed by Harris Johns at Berlin's Musiclab-Studio and one can tell the difference immediately. The sound levels are higher and everything is just much crisper and clearer. On top of that "Menschenjagd" is without doubt one of the best songs Targets have ever written, a song dealing with people feeling paranoid while on the run from the government. "Nie wieder Krieg" is equally great and the cover version of Germany's Schlager King Udo Juergens "Der Teufel hat den Schnaps gemacht" rounds up the second and equally great EP by Targets. While getting the originals is by no means cheap I just checked whether these two EPs have been compiled onto an LP and yes that is very much the case in the form of a compilation released in 2017 on Coltureshock. If you are relatively new to the world of Punk from Deutschland get your hands on said LP as you won't regret it. 

Naked Raygun - Basement Screams LP

Label: Haunted Town Records; Year: 2007; Format: Vinyl LP

It's not only time that the Thanksgiving break is a thing of the past and this blog comes alive again but it's also time for me to start reviewing bands from my collection that I own several records of. Chicago's Naked Raygun is one of those bands and it'd be only fitting to start off where they started off. Basement Screams was originally released back in 1983 as a 45RPM 12" on Ruthless Records, a label started by members of another well known Chicago band, the Effigies. The 2007 reissue from my collection also includes the 1982-83 demos on Side B and while those songs are not as strong as the original 12" on Side A I for one think they were worth to be included and are still a great listen. Naked Raygun started off in 1980 and by the time Basement Screams was released the line-up has changed already quite a bit. While a lot of bands from the early '80s Hardcore Punk movement played their instruments at a neck-breaking speed Naked Raygun had a much artsier and different approach to their song-writing, especially on Basement Screams. Take the pop elements of a band like the Buzzcocks and mix it with the weirdness and heaviness of bands like the Wire and Killing Joke and you get a good idea how Basement Screams sounds. The tribal and loud drumming is omnipresent on all songs and drives the melodic songs forward while Jeff's vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Glenn Danzig. John Haggerty who would later join Naked Raygun on a permanent basis ads backing vocals and saxophone duties on two songs providing something some punk rock acts have successfully done before them. I am not entirely sure as to why Trouser Press would consider the Basement Screams songs to be a "hodgepodge of underproduced and under-conceived songs" as in my opinion the result is quite the contrary. As mentioned above the quality of the songs and recordings on the Demo Side are a notch lower than Side A but to give the band credit where credit is due the songs are just proof that the band was already reaching a high level and ready to take on any challenge headed their way. Be sure that Naked Raygun will feature again on this blog, and if you don't have Basement Screams do yourself a favor and get this highly influential Midwest masterpiece one way or another. 

V/A - Nightmare Vol, 1 EP

Label: Unknown (Unofficial Release); Year: 1997; Format: 33 RPM EP

In August of 1997 I visited Tokyo for two weeks and judging by the little flyer for Peace Punk distribution I am certain I had gotten this little introduction to Punk and Hardcore from the Philippines in Japan. Since not too long ago I reviewed the Chinese Punk Compilation EP I felt like I give this little platter a spin as it's been a while since I heard this the last time and I was in the mood to explore my horizon further when it comes to the history of hardcore punk from Asia. The Philippines should be considered as a highly intriguing and interesting place when it comes to hardcore punk due to the fact that a scene started to flourish there as early as 1981, that is according to two online sources with one of them being "A Short History of the Hardcore Punk Underground in the Philippines" on bandcamp which I can recommend if you just want to get your teeth into the subject matter. Provided this boot was released back in '97 before the internet exploded I would think that the EP really helped to spread the sound of hardcore punk from the Philippines to the point that over the years since the interest in bands from the small island must have spiked judging by some of the official reissues of bands contained on this EP. On Side A we get to hear two songs by Betrayed, initially started by four high school friends in Queens, NY in 1980, off of their originally in 1986 issued cassette on Twisted Red Cross, run by Tommy Tanchanco of Third World Chaos fame. Betrayed were equally influenced by US Hardcore and more traditional UK Punk as the two songs on this EP prove, including a great cover version of The Damned's "Love Song". On to R.D.A. with three fast and furious songs off of their 1987 cassette on Twisted Red Cross. Think of Stark Raving Mad or Impulse Manslaughter as an influence for R.D.A. while  I couldn't find any further info relating to them. On Side B we first get three songs by I.O.V. (Intoxication of Violence) which as the rest of Side B are definitely more in the UK82 vein in my opinion. Next up are Philippine Violators with just one song from their '87 cassette "At Large". Next to Third World Chaos they might very well be the best known band outside the Philippines, at least I seem to remember hearing about them over the years and the song is killer. Last but not least are Urban Bandits with one song from the originally in 1985 released "Independence Day" cassette, and in my opinion "Hoy" is the best track on this EP, just a brutally executed hardcore punk smasher that could have just as well come out of the UK, Brazil or Finland. If you find all of this interesting and would like to find out about all these bands and the diverse '80s hardcore punk scenes from the Philippines then the good news is that there are now more official reissues available with the bad news being that they are not exactly easily available outside the Philippines. I will need to dig deeper as this EP is for the most part really great and got me hungry for more. 

SPS - Jsme V Hajzlu LP

Label: Globus International; Year: 1992; Format: Vinyl LP

SPS stands for Snizena Pracovni Schopnost which in English would translate into Diminished Work Ability and the band started out in 1988 in Prague, at the time the capital of Czechoslovakia. The band consisting of three members recorded their first demo in 1989 but it wasn't until 1992 and the years after the fall of communism in former Czechoslovakia for the band to be able to release their first LP on Globus International, one of the very early independent record labels started in Prague. In the early '90s SPS also briefly featured in the British Channel 4 documentary "Punks In Prague" highlighting the increased shift of young people who were punks under communism and drifted to the right after the fall of communism. The documentary can be found on youtube and is an interesting watch if you are curious to learn about international punk scenes you might not be knowledgeable about. But on to the music on "Jsme V Hajzlu" which would translate to "We're deep in shit". One of the main reasons I do this blog is to sit down and actually listen to my records and to top it off I try to find information pertaining to the band and other musically historical facts. SPS are still going strong to this day with guitarist/singer Zdenek the only remaining original member left, and as a matter of fact they are currently playing shows in the Czech Republic in celebration of the 30th anniversary of this album, which in my opinion is one hell of a great record. If you like your punk being played straight forward with lots of drive, a heavy bass and a good production then you really need to seek out this album. There is not a single weak song to be found on this platter and while I sat in the recliner enjoying this record I tried to pin down the influences the band used to come up with the sound and the songs for this LP and I couldn't help thinking of One Way System from the UK, good German 80s punk like Canalterror or Bluttat or French bands from the Chaos En France era. What you get is really outstanding old school punk that will have you raise your fist and sing along no matter whether you speak Czech or not. According to the SPS website the album sold over thirty thousand copies when it came out highlighting how popular punk rock was for young people in the early post-communism years. Punk on! 

Early photo of Zdenek, founding member and only remaining original member left in the current line-up. Source: Official SPS Facebook page.

Tony Rettman - Straight x Edge - A Clear-Headed Hardcore Punk History

Publisher: Bazillion Points; Year: 2017; Format: Book

It's time for another book review as I haven't done one in a while and trust me there are many to get through and as it happens to be with a lot of books I have read in the past the one being reviewed tonight I have finished some time ago, well back in 2020 to be exact. Straight Edge in general is not a lifestyle that ever really appealed to me but there were times in my life when I didn't drink booze at all or when for a relatively short time I was a vegetarian, but to be really honest with you I could not give up drinking alcohol nor eating meat for ever. I look at it from a point of view that always do what's best for you and what you enjoy the most while not forgetting to have some fun. In general I am not against Straight Edge per se but have my limitations as to understand why a subcultural scene as the punk and hardcore scene ended up being split into even more fractions and sub-fractions based on whether one drinks or smokes, or not. I fully understand that that's not exactly what Minor Threat set out to achieve and I enjoyed reading the first two to three chapters of the book. I must admit though that it is at a very early stage of Rettman's Straight Edge bible when I started to struggle more and more and with each page turning as most of the quotes of the people being interviewed just become repetitive and boring. In my view books written in the oral history format are just not that good in general, something I have noticed over the years reading many books on punk history written in different formats. So in that sense even for a non Straight Edge guy like myself the experience could have been much different had this book been written and researched in a different way. Tonight I sat down and briefly reread the chapter about Straight Edge in Europe and the UK. While I was able to relate to a lot of it as I lived there in the past, I also realized that for someone else who didn't grow up in Europe and maybe has little knowledge about the scenes there probably a lot reads like gibberish as there is little to no context to the quotes provided. Reading the European chapter again it made me think about those times around '87 when I was living in Zurich, Switzerland. While we had a few Straight Edge people at shows I personally recall very little in terms of friction between the drinking crowd, which was the vast majority, and the Straight Edge crowd. Personally I thought it was a shame that towards the end of the '80s the Straight Edge kids started to splinter off and create their own scene, a scene I never had any interest in as it was exclusive and had a specific agenda, something I could not embrace. Of course it's just human nature to be wanting to be involved with like minded people, and I am not here to judge but in hindsight I think it turned many people off and away from hardcore, including myself. But, back to the book and the early days of Straight Edge where I thought that the chapter on Boston serves as somewhat of an appetizer of what is to come when some people just take their own convictions a bit too far but obviously nowhere near as to what would follow in the '90s with bands like Earth Crisis and militant outliers within the Straight Edge scenes. After some mostly interesting chapters concentrating on scenes in Southern California, Nevada or New York City the book becomes a fest of repetition and umpteenth renditions of Youth Of Today clowns spread around the globe and that's really about it. To wrap this up I recall that about twenty years ago I interviewed Slapshot after a show in Germany and made a joke about it being no surprise that Choke turned Straight Edge with the prospect of having to drink crappy beer like Budweiser. Let me tell you that if looks could kill I certainly wouldn't be typing this here tonight. Time for a beer now. 

Poison Idea - War All The Time LP

Label: Alchemy Records; Year: 1987; Format: Vinyl LP

To all the losers out there in the gaping world of the intranet I would like to send out a heartfelt apology for not introducing Poison Idea earlier to this little blog of mine. Your cries have been heard and "War All The Time" was after all my introduction to one of my all time faves back when this LP was released in 1987. Somehow - and I am not sure I am in the minority with my feelings here - it seems that this LP positioned between the two classics "Kings Of Punk" from '86 and "Feel The Darkness" from '90 is not getting the much deserved recognition and admiration in my honest opinion. Call it a great hardcore punk record, or one of the best crossover records ever made, both would be fitting descriptions as this LP hits the nail from the second the needle is dropped. With the introduction of Eric "The Vegetable" Olson of Portland Speed Metal band Mayhem on second guitar and Steve Hanford aka Thee Slayer Hippy on drums   naturally the band's sound moved in a more metallic direction but it has to be said that Poison Idea mastered the fusion of mean old school hardcore punk and Heavy Metal to perfection. Name me one band that would record a cover of the Hawkwind and Motorhead classic "Motorhead" and actually turn it into a version superior to the original. The rest of this rather short but on every level intense LP includes masterpieces when it comes to nihilistic song writing with the title of the LP being informed by Charles Bukowski's '80s collection of poems by the same name. I'll keep it short and encourage all of you out there to grab your copy and crank it up loud and should you not own one yet remember it's never too late. War All The Time!

Fatal Erection - Castrated by Love 7" Single

Label: Fatal Erection Records; Year: 1994; Format: 45RPM Single

Sometimes you just have to be thankful for the intranet. The other day I was on Discogs kind of aimlessly looking at stuff and I came across this band by the name of Fatal Erection. Now mind you some people would just keep strolling whereas this loser here of course had to do some investigative work about this band only to come to find out that the band was basically Poison Idea minus Jerry A with Thee Slayer Hippie, Mondo and Pig Champion being the rhythm section and John Lyons on vocals and guitars. This little platter came out in '94 and is unfortunately the only release by Fatal Erection and I say unfortunately for a reason as the two songs on this single are both incredibly well executed Punk'N'Roll smashers obviously not too far away from the Poison Idea sound of that era. While the traditional song "Lorena Lorena" will get you in the mood it is "Castrated Love" on the flip side that will want you smash things up in your living room. As if the record wasn't enough you'll also get a neat little comic book with a wild story about castration in 18th century Russia illustrated by pretty well known poster artist Wayne Shellabarger. I wish they had recorded a full length! 

Rattus - Hilipili Records 7"s Reissues on Hoehnie Records

Label: Hoehnie Records; Year: 2008; Format: 45RPM Single

When I discovered Rattus from the small town of Vilpulla in Finland it was through their brutal hardcore punk assault on the Ratcage LP back around 1987 as a friend of mine had a copy of said record and we were just in awe of the sheer brutality of that LP. But more about the Ratcage record when I get to it in the future. Before Rattus ever produced a slew of classic records throughout the first period of the '80s they started out as a somewhat classic '77 punk outfit and in 1980 self-released on Hilipili Records the first single with Khomeini-Rock and Muotipunk being equally strong late '70s influenced punk rock numbers. Think of really early Angelic Upstarts or Buzzcocks before they released records on majors and you get a good idea how this one sounds sung in Finnish. Come to think of it probably the first time I heard these really early recordings was on the GTA Taalta Tullan Kuolema CD which had come out in 1996. If you don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars for an original grab one of the few copies around of this Hoehnie Reissue!

Label: Hoehnie Records; Year: 2008; Format: 33RPM EP

Unlike their first output the second Hilipili 7" came in form of the Fucking Disco EP in 1981 with five tracks representing the band in somewhat of a transitional period. No longer are the tracks just straight forward late '70s punk but other styles are distinctively to be heard. The opener "Sietamaton" and my favorite song on this platter "Taalta Tullan Kuolema" are definitely songs in the '70s punk vein but the band does not shy away from Reggae and Post-Punk influences on the other two main tracks with the last "Stop Start" just being a thirty-seven second joke song. Quite a number of years ago I interviewed Rattus for a German fanzine and I recall that the band was at a difficult cross-point after having released this 2nd record. With the '70s punk sound having died out the band was close to throwing in the towel until they heard Minor Threat from across the pond and the rest is history as one would say. I leave you with an existential question from the back cover of this EP then... 

Spermbirds - Something To Prove LP

Label: Boner Records; Year: 1988; Format: Vinyl LP

For the past year or so every Tuesday I listen to a German podcast called "Und Dann Kam Punk" and on last week's show the two hosts interviewed the Spermbirds drummer Matthias Goette. As always it was a fun, entertaining but also informative talk hence I thought it was about time I played my copy of "Something to Prove" again as it's been ages since the last time. With most of my records I remember where I bought my copy and the year, or at least thereabouts. With my "Something To Prove" copy I really can't place it as it's the US version on Boner Records and when this LP came out I was living in Switzerland and would have surely picked up the We Bite pressing. My guess is that I found this one in Toronto when I briefly lived there in the early '90s, but that's just a wild guess and doesn't matter at all. Many of you out there interested in European Hardcore Punk will surely know that the Spermbirds singer Lee Hollis is an American based in Germany and was at the time of when the band was started stationed with the US Army in Kaiserslautern, Germany. According to the interview with Matthias Lee came from a difficult home and used the Army as an escape route to get as far away as possible from his parents, or his dad in particular. Since he has already been introduced to early US punk and hardcore Lee brought a fresh wind to the very provincial small town scene of Kaiserslautern. As a matter of fact before there even was the Spermbirds the band the other members were more keen on getting ahead with is Walter 11, a band vaguely speaking more steeped in traditional UK punk with its members being also big fans of their hometown football club FC. Kaiserslautern. So, when Spermbirds were started the band wasn't even aware that their brand of hardcore punk with a heavy influence of bands such as Angry Samoans was very popular in the underground scene of Southern Germany hence their first record, a Split 7" between Walter 11 and Spermbirds, was released on X-Mist, an influential label to this day. A year after that We Bite Records picked up the Spermbirds and "Something To Prove" was released in 1986. It should come as no surprise that it was licensed to the UK and the US as it's an excellent record that stands the test of the time. When I listened to it today it sounds just as fresh as it always has and the songs haven't aged at all if you ask me. What you get are fourteen original songs and a great cover version of Agent Orange's 'Bloodstains'. The production on the LP is great considering the band recorded and mixed everything within a few days and the LP is a mixed bag of either fast and furious songs or more mid-paced melodic tracks with great hooks. Considering where the band members came from musically the sound on this record makes perfectly sense with Lee's love for early Southern Californian bands and the rest of the band having more of a traditional early UK punk background the two main influences are perfectly blended into a unique sound. For some unfortunate reason I have actually never seen Spermbirds live, and I sure as hell don't know why. A classic record indeed!

Stigmathe - Suoni Puri Dalla Liberta and Lo Squardo Dei Morti EPs

Label: No Plan Records; Year: 2013; Format: 45RPM EP

Little to nothing is known to me about the history of Stigmathe, a band that hailed from the Northern City of Modena in Italy. Rest assured though that the two EPs reviewed herein though are a little different from what one would expect when it comes to '80s hardcore punk releases from Italy as neither is full-on Italian Hardcore the way we all love it. The first EP was originally self-released by the band in 1983 and the copy I own is a 2013 No Plan reissue, a label known for releasing great but mostly unknown gems. The band's first output is first and foremost very much influenced by what had musically happened in the UK underground scene from '79 to '82. The two tracks on Side A are solid UK82 influenced smashers and if they were not sung in Italian they could just as well have been recorded by the likes of GBH, Discharge or Dead Wretched. 'Italia Bruccia' on the B-Side is a little different in the sense that it is very melodic, mid-tempo and takes cues from 2nd Generation Brit bands like Angelic Upstarts, the Ruts et al. while a big Clash influence cannot be overheard either. Overall this is a great little platter. Mille grazie! 

Label: Meccano Records; Year: 1985; Format: 33RPM EP

Two years after having self-released their 1st EP Stigmathe released a 2nd EP, this time on Meccano Records from Torino. Worth mentioning is that the person behind Meccano Records, Giulio Tedeschi, was born in 1952 and could hence be considered "too old" to give a band like Stigmathe a chance but Giulio was always a man in pursuit of giving bands with a true DIY spirit a chance hence Stigmathe's 2nd EP landed with said label. Compared to the first one the 2nd EP is somewhat different yet again as the two songs on the first side are no longer just UK82 influenced but draw equally from post-punk and gothic as well creating an interesting mix with echoey vocals over dark and fast sounds while Side B is a great upbeat punky reggae track. In my opinion the 1st EP is the winner but both are equally strong outputs and  worth tracking down if said above is up your alley. 

Dezerter - Underground Out Of Poland LP

Label: Maximumrocknroll; Year: 1987; Format: Vinyl LP

Say what you want about MRR but back in the '80s they really made the world of international hardcore punk a smaller one, including for people in countries that were stuck behind an iron curtain at that time. I was born in Eastern Europe hence I always had an interest in punk originating from places such as my birth country Czechoslovakia. Poland's best known punk export is without doubt Dezerter and the band formed in the spring of 1981 in Warsaw by the name SS-20 referring to the nuclear missile used by the former USSR. It should come as no surprise that the name got the band into serious trouble not just in Poland but also in the USSR and by 1982 the band was banned from using it. From 1983 the band was called De Zerter aka Dezerter and by that point the members have also established their fast and furious sound. As a matter of fact in 1984 the band released a 4-Song EP on the state-controlled label Tonpress with song containing lyrics that were deemed as acceptable by the Polish government. In 1985 Canadian lumberjack hardcore punks D.O.A toured Europa and agreed to play in Poland, which is important in the sense that it made the release of "Underground Out Of Poland" possible. Joey Shithead smuggled the recordings contained on this classic LP out of Poland and in 1987 MRR released this LP which contains above mentioned four songs from the first EP plus other recordings (live and studio) from the years 1981 up to 1985. I had bought the LP back in 1988 if I am not mistaken and unfortunately I missed seeing Dezerter in Zurich, Switzerland in 1989. This LP can and should be regarded as one of the most important releases in hardcore punk history not just because of the highly fascinating background story as to how it came to be released but also because the music on it is just so damned good. The tracks on Side A are from 1981 and 1983 and are just mind-blowing well played fast and brutal hardcore punk smashers that can compete with any bands from the US, UK or Europe. The Side B tracks mainly from 1984 and 1985 show that the band has progressed musically and while the tracks are still harsh and at times fast influences from art rock and other styles are clearly not to be overheard. What I also like about the original MRR release is that the insert includes photos of other Polish bands from that time (see photo). My insert used to hang on my wall back in Europe a long time ago and I admire MRR and D.O.A for putting bands like Dezerter on the International map. This LP has been reissued some time ago and apparently also just this year for its 35th anniversary and should be treasured by anybody with love for international hardcore punk. The band is still going strong to this day and more Polish punk will appear on this blog for sure. 

Krieg Kopf - War On Terrorism LP 

Label: Radio Raheem Records; Year: 2021; Format: Vinyl LP

I think you would have had to have grown up in the New York City area to know Astoria, Queens based hardcore punk outfit Krieg Kopf back in the day. Funny enough just like with the Italian band bahnhof reviewed not long ago on this blog I have learnt about Krieg Kopf years ago through a friend of mine back in Europe who has one of the two rare tapes released back in '84 and '86 respectively. So for all those years since briefly hearing their music their name registered with me since how can anyone forget such a band name meaning Warhead in German. Well, last year Radio Raheem released an LP compiling 20 songs originally appearing either on the "Passen Sie Auf Es ist" cassette from 1984, the "S/T" cassette from 1986 or the tracks that were recorded for an unreleased LP back in 1987/88. It is obvious that this NYC quartet must have been ready to put its mark on the NY hardcore punk map with an LP release for quite some time back in the '80s and it remains unclear as to why it never worked out. 

I for one think that either of the two tapes would have made for a great record back in the day as the songs on each one of them are definitely worth hearing on vinyl, hence better late than never. Some songs are typical fast paced hardcore thrash while others are mid-tempo and leaning more towards traditional '80s UK punk not dissimilar to Cockney Rejects et al. Stand out tracks for me are 'Terrorism', 'The Work Song' and 'Immortal' to name a few from those two tapes. The songs recorded in 1987/88 which were planned to end up on an LP are a little different in the sense that they sound more muffled and played with slightly less energy in my opinion. Nevertheless they are still solid and good hardcore punk tracks with the typical New York sound. If you like your NYHC to sound like Kraut, Even Worse or Nihilistics you will dig Krieg Kopf as some of the songs on this LP are truly outstanding and definitely need to be heard by a wider audience interested in New York's rich punk rock history. Grab a copy while you can!

Icons Of Filth - "Brain Death" and "The Filth & The Fury" EPs on Mortarhate

Label: Mortarhate Records; Year: 1985; Format: 7" EP

Immediately what's really striking about this EP is Squealer's artwork, just brilliantly morbid. Icons Of Filth hailed from Cardiff, Wales and were part of the Anarcho-Punk scene of the '80s. To be honest with you I was late to catch on to those bands but Icons Of Filth, Conflict and Rudimentary Peni were on my radar quite early on after having gotten into hardcore punk. 'Enough is Enough' is nothing short of an absolute scorcher of a song and 'Brain Death' on the B-Side is an equal contender along the short 'Success on a Plate'. The lyrics are just as expected loud and aggressive rants about the meat industry and the music is pounding with anger and harsh beats out of the boxes. This is definitely a winner and ideal if you want to piss off your neighbors. 

Label: Mortarhate; Year: 1986; Format: 7" EP

It's a real shame that this EP's production and mastering is just beyond bad because the songs are just as good as the ones on the "Brain Death" EP. I think it would be fair to assume that by this point Icons Of Filth were really fed up with the Punk Scene on a whole and really take a piss on this platter, and as bad as the production of this EP may be the lyrics and the artwork really make up for it. 

"Hello & Welcome To the Filth & The Fury Punk Rock Revolution? What started out to challenge social regulations & values turned out to be a right joke. There was & still is much more to be challenged than the clothes you wear or the music you listen to. Stereotyping goes much further than this. Your clothing doesn't automatically change your personality. This sort of change is purely external. Admittedly it is one way of saying 'No' to stereotyping of clothing but ask yourself Bisti enough?" 

Above text from 'Sunk Rock' is just a tiny snippet of the entire rant and goes to show how genuine bands like Icons Of Filth and others from the Anarcho-Punk scene were in their approach to music and the scene on a whole. There is never a bad time to make people think about their actions, no matter how well intended. Again, I just wish the production on this EP was on par with the music and artwork & design  as it would make it into a master piece. Never the less it's still a keeper and worth every penny of your hard earned money should you not have it yet. More Icons Of Filth reviews to follow in the future. RIP Stig.

Update 9-20-22: RIP Squealer having passed away last week. Your art will live on forever.