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.