Review: ECOLI - Rape EP

Here's the debut EP from El Granada, California's ECOLI. A great-sounding bedroom recording offering almost exclusively sub-minute blasts of fast hardcore punk. It's rooted in the sounds of 80's US hardcore but at the same time, there is some solid lead guitar work and actual song-writing that saves this EP from hardcore generica and lifts it beyond genre exercise, yielding 8 songs that are all immediately identifiable from each other. Lyrical topics, as the sleeve might (or might not) suggest, focus on racism, urban decay, police brutality and the evil US killing machine. Noam Chomsky it ain't but a record worth picking up and giving a spin it is.
(Stress Domain Records - http://www.stressdomainrecords.tk)

Track Listing:
A: "Big Stupid Ape (Police Test)" "Whites Will Inherit The World" "The Order" "Trammel"
B: "Social Anxiety" "Warts On My Dick" "Metropolis" "Shoot 'Em All And Let God Sort 'Em Out"

Review: DAVE E AND THE COOL MARRIAGE COUNSELLORS - s/t EP

Here's a bootlegged gem capturing the legendary Dave E with a post-ELECTRIC EELS endeavor. What you have is a studio cut ("Searching Through Sears", a spontaneous live performance sans band "Love Meant To Die", and a live cut "Psychology 101". All three tracks are equally brilliant, and not just for a passing novelty value chuckle. "Searching Through Sears" was originally featured on CLE Magazine #3's 8" flexi insert. 2000 copies were issued in 1981. The flexi showcased several Cleveland underground bands, including PERE UBU. Back to the first cut: An utterly depraved zombie suburban odyssey featuring heaping spoonfuls of xylophone; the instrument of choice for the infirm. Ingredients include: social commentary, children's TV show theme song, alcohol and electro shock therapy. Next up is the live and spontaneous radio performance of "Love Meant To Die". He performs a cappella, providing "doo dee doos" for instrumentation between verses. As off-the-cuff and incomplete as it is, I can only imagine this being a perfect rendition of the song, which somehow manages to yield a complete vision of what the song was to become, as well as a perfect display of Dave E's creative potential and a balance of humor and nihilism. "Psychology 101" continues this formula on the live stage. A laid-back jazzy number accompanied by saxophone. A tangled and tragic tale of man and woman. I haven't been able to dig up much information on this 7". My guess is that this is not a reissue but something that was assembled out of scraps of the band's ephemeral existence (even more so than the ELECTRIC EELS, who only performed live a half dozen times before imploding). Dave E does talk in the radio recording an upcoming release on his to-be label, Christmas Pets Records, but I gather this never came to be. A friend told me that Dave is now Born Again and performing in a church band. No clue as to this story's validity.
(bootleg)

Track Listing:
A: "Searching Through Sears"
B: "Love Meant To Die" "Psychology 101"

Review: DEATH TOKEN - 4 Track Attack EP

Even without a clue as who these Danish punks are, DEATH TOKEN give you a good idea of what to expect based on face value alone. The sleeve cover depicts a 4-track recorder immersed in a haunted swamp. And sure enough; throw the disk on and what you have is a tastefully raw and punishing recording of enraged old school hardcore that wouldn't have been out of place on Pusmort Records back in the day. You can hear the greats (SEPTIC DEATH, DISCHARGE, early CORROSION OF CONFORMITY) contributing to their metallic sound. The echo thrown on the manic vocals sends them even further over the top into derangement. Seven monstrous blasts are sealed off within the confines of rotting and mutating swampland with an atmospheric acoustic outro. I wonder if these guys will get around to doing a slightly longer recording; I'd like to hear more of these moody interludes contrasting with aggro thrash.
(2007, Even Worse Records - http://www.geocities.com/evenworserecords)

Track Listing:
A: "Behind The Mask" "Holy Shit" "4 Track Attack" "Horrified"
B: "Self Infliction" "Dead End" "Black Seeds" "Eye Hardly Exist"

Review: EPISODE - s/t EP

I heard a rumor that there was a rumor that this band was some "all-star" lineup of today's hardcore punkers and/or garage rockers. There isn't any information printed anywhere. Shrouded in mystery (of the band's own design?) and received with praise from friends and peers, I decided to give this one a shot. Who are these guys? Well, THE RESIDENTS they are not, although their recording is similarly thin and trebly. These characteristics are compatible with the Japanese hardcore worship that encompasses all of the songwriting on this EP, and so this EP is not a high concept but a singular one. The riffs are there and they're quite obviously doing as intended; performing a successful genre exercise. There is an enclosed lyric sheet with run-on comical (well, attempting to be) punk propaganda that I didn't bother trying to match with the vocals to see if they were lyrics. The songs here are definitely worth checking out if you aren't tired of bands not from Japan trying to pretend they are from Japan; bands that aren't concerned with leaving their own mark. I have a feeling I might enjoy this record a lot more when I happen to be in not such a grumpy and judgemental mood.
(2007, unknown)

Track Listing:
A: 2 untitled songs
B: 2 untitled songs

Review: VEE DEE - Glimpses Of Another World EP

I assumed Chicago's VEE DEE had broken up. It's been awfully quiet since the release of the Further LP and Blood Zombie EP in 2004. I'm glad they're back at it because VEE DEE are one of my favorites to have emerged in the past few years. With their earlier releases I could easily summon up their sound as bearing similarities with THE TESTORS. Singer/guitarist Nick's vocals don't quite have the range or power of Sonny Vincent but that is no knock on their ability to play with and build on the bountiful trashed-out guitar licks and wonderfully thick, throbbing, fuzzed-out bass lines. The bass in particular really pounds an imprint of a song in my head and keeps it there. Although not without a sense of humor, there is a darker edge to VEE DEE's sound that isn't often present in other similar acts of today. Now having said all of that, this EP is a bit of a departure. But just a bit. Understandable, especially after 3 years of studio inactivity. The TESTORS similarities aren't as prevalent--the title track, clocking in at over 5 minutes, comes closest in similarity to the older material--and there appears to be more of a psychedelic garage feel, particularly with the track "What We See". As a result there aren't any instant punk rock anthems like "TV Police" present but instead a progressing display of skillful songwriting. I have to wonder if this is a taste of what is yet to come on a forthcoming 2nd full length. I'm eager to find out. I just hope the wait isn't another 3 years.
(2007, Criminal IQ - http://www.criminaliq.com)

Track Listing:
A: "Glimpses Of Another World"
B: "Death Cult Kissing Booth" "What We See"

Review: BORN BAD - Moron Music EP

Released just in time for the Winnipeg band's 2007 X-mas tour spreading ill cheer throughout the US, Moron Music is BORN BAD's sophomore effort, and a solid one at that. Six tracks of nihilistic mosh-inducing hardcore punk, featuring UNDER PRESSURE guitarist Mike Requiema on vocals and Paul Phillips from SEARCH + DESTROY handling double duty behind the kit. The recording is improved over the first self-titled EP. I was fortunate enough to gt a copy of the tour press, which includes the standard issue sleeve but also a great layout illustrated by Ryan Trudeau (SEARCH + DESTROY). This is gruff and to-the-point shit. The first comparison that comes to mind is DEAD NATION. I think that has to do with its bountiful negativity towards everything. BORN BAD started off more of a studio project but has become more serious and is now a staple of the Winnipeg live experience. If you get a chance, check them out. They throw down with plenty of comedy and tragedy.
(2007, Fashionable Idiots - http://www.fashionableidiots.com)

Track Listing:
A: "Society Bullshit" "Follower" "Kill The Punks"
B: "Intro/Excessive Force" "No Tomorrow" "Washed Up"

MP3 blog coming soon...

Thanks to one of these, I'll be posting vinyl reviews with MP3 downloads shortly.