X-PULSION - You Are Nothing But Schmucks 2017

Holy Stratocoster, it's time for musical delicacies in this theater. Transported from the shallows of dirty stinky cellars, full with empty beer cans, and to my astonishment: all of this pretty rough and pretty amateurish, but enjoyable. Stuff by X-Pulsion from Brussels, the direct successor of the defunct Belgian combo Chainsaw and formed circa 1977. The band consisted of Peter (vocals), Jerry (guitar), Michel (bass), Klaus (drums) and their only release was a split 7Inch with Streets, released 1978 via Romantik Records. They played a few local gigs in their short lifespan and it's amazing that after so many years some lost recordings are still showing up. Persistently pursuing an idea pays off. This loud goodie was made by Belgian Waffles Records, pressed in an edition of 50 copies and all songs are '78 demos & rehearsals from different cassette tapes (except B6 from Follies TV Broadcast February 1978) and comes with a decent twenty page booklet. Fuckin' Great Record!

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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THE CROOKS - Just Released 1980

Hailing from North Londen and this is the only full-length by the Crooks on Blueprint with fourteen PowerPop/Mod goodies. Originally formed in late 1977 by Dino (vocals/guitar/), Tim (guitar/vocals), Chris (bass), Micky (drums). Well, this is the kind of music that passed me by and I can't review a lot. The guys are apparently to be assigned to the Mod revival Hype from 1979/1980 and I can read a lot in the net that they didn't really make the breakthrough. Probably it was due to the label or the strong competition, I don't know, but what I hear on Just Released are consistently catchy songs with power and excellent melodies. And next to the album they released two singles which are included here as a bonus. If you are interested, you can read a short review of the album on allmusic. I'm gradually becoming a friend of this sound and I don't wanna know, how many shiny 7Inches I missed.

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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AHEADS - Freedom Of Speech EP 1980

Rare self-produced debut EP from the Aheads, formed 1978 in Herdord by Andy (vocals), Bernd (guitars), Bernie (bass), Werner (drums), with four splendid tracks which not only me delighted, also a certain Mr. Walterbach, founder of the Aggressive Rockproduktionen label, because he put them with two songs on his first release, the great Soundtracks Zum Untergang compilation. Followed with their only album one year later. Musically not as hard as the other label mates, but with short melodic hymns Aheads played out their anger & emotions and belong for me to the most important German punk bands of that time. In 1997 another compilation with demos, the EP and album songs was excavated from Loud, Proud & Punk Records which is just as appealing. Great Stuff!

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V/A - Powerpearls Vol.3 1998

Uhh, damn exciting match yesterday at noon with a well-deserved victory for the SGE, the Champions-League is within reach. Now to the announced killer. In the nineties a wave swam over us with unofficial compilations that came up with rare punk classics of the early wild days, the well-known and certainly the best of them are the Killed By Death and Bloodstains series. But there is another interesting third: the Powerpearls series. Just as brilliant and significant contribute to resurrecting lost 7Inch nuggets and getting in touch with bands that nobody or only a few know these days, and whose music kicking just as much as the snotty punk buddies. My focus was more on the first two's and I didn't even know PowerPop that time, but now I like this genre, makes me feel positive and radiant, and it's close rooted with punk and sounds charming and lovely either. There are ten Volumes of these available, most at expensive prices, some with colored vinyl. So keep an eye out for them, it's definitely worth.

1.Bank Holiday Weekend - SEVENTEEN

2.Make The Rules - THE ORBITS

3.Crazy Today - UXB

4.Who's Gonna Tell Mary? - THE MOONDOGS

5.Tapan Aikaa - PROBLEMS?

6.John - VERTEX

7.Can't Wait 'Till The Summer Comes - RONNIE MAYOR

8.You Don't Live Here Anymore - THE FANS

9.Together - TESTORS

10.I Want My Woody Back - BARRACUDAS

11.Time - SPEEDIES

12.Degeneration - THE BLITZZ

13.It Shows In Your Face - THE GAS

14.No Man's Land - LEGENDARY LUTON KIPPERS

15.Björn Borg - GÖTEBORG SOUND

16.She's Too Clever For Me - T.P.I.

17.No Direction - START

18.No Way - THE DONKEYS

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V/A - Oi! Siamo Ancora Qui!! 1991

Welcome friends on this cool rainy Saturday, suitable for more interesting music. With the following compilation I am doing a favor to a friend who asked me to post this record, but first of all: it's not my rip and the quality is poor, what a shame. I wonder who is satisfied with something like that? Maybe someone has a better rip with scans for me? Anyway, I'll do it and there hasn't been anything from Italy here for a long time. This nice slab came via Havin' A Laugh Records and presents us fifteen solid Oi! tracks by fifteen bands and that good streetpunk created there is proven by relevant records that were released in the eighties. Energetic mid-tempo pieces how I know not any other way, spread a positive vibrations throughout and bring me in the right mood for the important match in an hour against Wolfsburg. Stay tuned in any case, after football follows a killer, promised!

1.La Gente Reale Non Muore Mai - ASOCIALE

2.Feccia - GHETTO 84

3.Birra Gratis Per I Lavoratori - ALKOOLNAUTI

4.Serenata - TEENAGE MUTANT

5.Oi! Siamo Tu Ed Io Vincenti - KLASSE KRIMINALE

6.Giudica - FACE THE FACTS

7.Restiamo Uniti (N'Oi!) - ROUGH

8.Oi! Rivoluzione - BULLDOG SKIN

9.Un'Altra Primavera - THE STAB

10.Iron Plate - FRONTE DEL PORTO

11.La Mazurca Dell'Uccellino - GHETTO 84

12.Non Contare Su Di Me - DOCTOR DOOM

13.Uniti Sempre, Divisi Mai - KLASSE KRIMINALE

14.Chaos! A Cicci (R.I.P.) - OI! CONNECTION

15.Per Favore !!! (Sparate Al Pianista...) - MAGIC MANLIO L'HERBERT

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DREIZACK - Großstadt-Nacht 12'' 1982

One more on this evening. This slab isn't punk either, but a well-known one for every fan of early German rock music. Dreizack is a new wave combo, I would say, from Düsseldorf originated from the German rock formation Sinclair and existed in the years 1982/83 and the formation consisted of Thomas (vocals/bass), Peter (guitar), Wolfgang (drums) and they only had one regular release with the single Großstadt-Nacht (via Welt-Rekord) which became a hit in the club scene over the years. Other titles had been written but never published. In 1992 the previous band, Sinclair, got together again for a few years with the original line-up and also had old Dreizack numbers in their program. The a-side is catchy and poppy with a solid guitar in a decent tempo, the flip 'Koma' doesn't stay in the ear immediately but is okay too.

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TRIAL - s/t EP 1983

We are now enjoying a quiet start to the weekend with the following slab, a bit atypical for me but somehow I got stuck with the music and that's why Trial is waiting for your appreciated ears, an early eighties punk band from San Francisco with their debut 7Inch on Freak Records and we all know from there's comin' lots of great combos. Trial were John (vocals), Rip (guitars), Desmond (bass), Jason (drums) and they don't play the classic, fast, snotty sound, they tend to be calm and melancholy, difficult to describe. In 1986 they made their album Moments Of Collapse on Communications Syndicate and a few compilation appearances and that's it. Enjoy the evening and tomorrow the gaspedal will be kicked trough.

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VOLKSWIDERSTAND - 1991... Noch Ist Zeit!

Thirty years ago, five gentlemen from Hamburg had the idea of recording an album with German punk classics, so I think "Aha, that could be interesting", and Volkswiderstand do it pretty well with steam and power on their only full length via We Bite Records. The musicians in charge were Edde & Matze (vocals), Rob & Ulf (guitars), Sven (bass), Carsten (drums) and their selection pimps the 'dusty' nuggets and shortly after the reunification it didn’t hurt to convey the feelings of the early days again. Most of the originals can also be found in this theater with a bit of searching. Three years later followed the Junge EP and then the band broke up. They were honored on four compilations and what remains: a furious, powerful, timeless and very good sound document has the band left for us, shoots me straight back to my younger days...

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SLITAGE - Farbror Polisen EP 2016

New lost material from Slyngel Rekords, #013 and it's Slitage, Norrtälje's first punk band, formed early January 1977 and the Ramones and Damned ignited the spark and made them want to start making noise in their rehearsal room. The band consisted of Petta (vocals), John (guitar), Ted (bass), Micael (drums). They did some gigs in folk house in Norrtälje and a tour to Småland's Lessebo. In 1979, a demo was recorded in Uppsala with the help of members of the pop band Hansa Band. Among the songs was "Stoppa Travolta", a song that felt just right in a time when disco and pompous symphony rock was a great contrast to punk. "Fort Men Fel" is about pickpockets who always fussed and wanted to whip the shit out of the punks. "Farbror Polisen" is about the nice uncles from the law enforcement officers. In the fall of 1979, the band was disbanded but members continued to play in other bands such as Studio Sex, Cherness, Blues Drivers, Mannish Boys, Generals and President Gas. This three track killer EP contains recordings from this demo, released in green vinyl in an edition of 300 copies. It kicks! So, please, either take the plunge or stop teasing me.

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SACKGASSE - Alles Klar?! EP 1986

Only record by Sackgasse from Duisburg which they published in an edition of 500 copies with four enjoyable tracks. The band was formed around the beginning of the 80s and consisted of Retzoi! (vocals), Schrammi (guitar), Titz (2nd guitar), Funky (bass), Hoscht (drums) and in their short lifespan they made besides the Single a tape Kohl Über Alles! probably before the slab was out, and you can find Sackgasse on a surprising number of compilations, including numerous cassettes, with songs from the demo or other sources. On vinyl I can offer you the excellent Fun's Not Dead slab from 1985 on More Fun Records. Further traces didn't leave the gentlemen, so they disappear into the dark silence of the calm deep ocean.

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