ACCÜSED - More Fun Than An Open Casket Funeral 1987

Back in 1987, Seattle crossover/hardcore ragers the Accüsed put out their second album via Combat and on this brilliant record were Blaine (vocals), Tommy (guitars), Alex (bass), Dana (drums) involved and they created a form of sound called "Splatter-Rock" which was screaming, speeding punk/metal. Led by their knife-wielding, justice-avenging mascot debut, Martha Splatterhead, their lyrics range from politics to cartoon-like death and destruction. Five more albums followed and after an eleven-year hiatus in 1992, with members taking time to play in other Seattle bands, they re-formed in 2003, playing live shows in the Seattle area and in 2005 they released their eighth album Oh, Martha! on the band's Condar label. This 'comeback record' landed on Revolver magazine's Top Ten Albums of the Year and writer's lists from Metal Maniacs zine. Well, I think their first album is dirtier and more excessive, here they have slowed down a bit which is also noticeable in the length of the songs, but the gnarled sound and Blaine's vocals make up for this small flaw.

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V/A - German Mystic Sound-Sampler II 1991

Now a request post from my WDM Crew and I start with the prologue: In the 80s, the darkwave and gothic scene was significantly influenced from outside, but at the end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s many bands and projects from Germany came to light and woke up the local fanbase with their new powerful and independent sound. Artistically and musically they approached the level of foreign bands as well and created amazingly good songs and the whole thing was fueled at the time by committed fanzines such as the Zillo from 1989. They started this compilation series called German Mystic Sound-Sampler, and in twelve years thirteen volumes have been released, one of them strayed to me. Enjoy!

1.Metropolis - SCHWEFEL

2.Somebody - ESCAPE WITH ROMEO

3.Amore, Fede, Speranza - MADRE DEL VIZIO

4.Blue Eyed Nation - THE ECHO

5.The Tempest Romanesque - FAHRENHEIT 451

6.Nightmare Home - LE COUP SAUVAGE

7.Dance Or Die - DANCE OR DIE

8.Suicide Commando - NO MORE

9.Mescal - ARTS & DECAY

10.Disconsolate - ANGINA PECTORIS

11.Themes Of Muldoror - CANCER BARRACK

12.Push Me Away - THE COLOUR OF SPRING

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DEBILS - s/t LP 1981

OK my friends of delicate taste, we are going to take a short trip over to the alpine country and meet the Debils, Toxic (vocals), Rex (guitars), Laps (bass), Christ (drums), from Biene, and they were the only band from the second generation, that did release an album in the early 1980. Their direction was resolute: autodidactic, nonconformist, and apolitical. This was contrary to the intellectual Punk from Geneva or the vain "real and hard" Züri Punx. And, more akin to the Bernese groove, with a touch of francophone mixed within and all songs in french. It's a 100% Swisspunk record and every song on it is a banger and the original record from 1981 is almost impossible to find and therefore it's a bless, that the Berlin label Static Age in cooperation with Swisspunk have reissued this treasure in 2017 in a limited pressing of 488 copies in a delicious gatefold sleeve with a solid insert which contains flyers, pictures, lyrics and some history, of course long ago sold out. Eleven simple, sympathetic songs with fine female vocals in French make this record interesting and its catchy melodies remind me that the Eintracht only played a draw again and I finally have to make my breakfast.

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ATTAK - Zombies 1983

We stay tough and spray a touch of streetpunk with the following comrades but we swim back to Europe and land on the British Isles and meet Attak, formed early eighties in New Mills/Derbyshire (the same town as the Blitz) as four piece by Gary (vocals/guitars), Woody (guitars), Chad (bass), Lindsay (drums) and reverted to a trio when their singer left for annoying school commitments. They released two incredible singles in this form, with Lindsay, sister of Mackie from Blitz, being the drummer. A new guitarist was recruited for their underrated classic album before they split up in late 1983. All releases came via No Future Records and they celebrate a decent mix of typical UK punk with Oi!, they on many compilations represented, some are rather superfluous and that's what I call cannibalizing. A small review excerpt from the re-release of their record on CD in 2017 by Ian: "Attak may not have been at the pinnacle of the UK82 scene but their singles were loud, fast and enjoyable and the album showcased some new ideas that were ultimately never followed up...." full length, click louderthanwar.

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PISTOL GRIP - Another Round 2003

Slept a long time but woke up again and now crossing the Atlantic to the west coast of the US and we visit five nice people there: Stax (vocals), Hollywood & Chris (guitars), Slowey (bass), Boxcar Kelley (drums) = Pistol Grip. Allow me some infos from the great interpunk site: "Founded in 1997, they arose from the depths of the Los Angeles underground scene, as an answer to all the Ska and Pop bands that were saturating the underground and calling themselves "punk." Their sound is a mixture of the U.K. and L.A. styles of punk fused with anti-religious and quasi-political lyrics. Nothing preachy or politically correct, just raw, in-your-face street poetry. They are steadily building a strong following while showing the masses of our deluded pop-culture that the roots of "Punk Rock" started before they were probably even born. Pistol Grip is a breathe of fresh air in a scene of posers and wannabes and on BYO released Pistol Grip's second full-length, an awe-inspiring testament to true punk rock n’ roll. Teeming with sing-along choruses, infectious hooks, driving beats and socially conscious lyrics, this album proves to be a much more mature follow up to their debut 'The Shots From The Kalico Rose'." - There is nothing to add, the five know how to do it and impress with their fresh sound and their enthusiasm for playing. Very good stuff!

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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ETA - Történelmi Nazugságok 2016

💣 Weekend and we'll get a bit exotic and I haven't heard any tone from this band yet. Info: ETA, the name of the band comes from the abbreviation of the Basque terrorist organization (Basque Country and Freedom), was a Punk band founded 1980 in Budapest by Péter (vocals), Viktor (guitars), Róbert (bass), Gábor (drums) and in the beginning they played Hungarian versions of well-known classics by bands like Damned, Agent Orange or U.K. SUBS and released their first tape in 1982 also with own songs. The band was an original force in the Hungarian Punk movement in beginning of the eighties and persecuted by the cultural policy of the time, ETA was an open and total attack on the system by musical means, they couldn't do it for long and so they broke up around 1984. The banned band couldn't release any vinyl at home, but 1984 they made it on the 1984 The Second compilation on New Wave Records and 1985 a song was recorded for the Vilag Lazadoi Harcra Fel EP on Primitiv Cozak. A second tape followed in 1997 and they come back on stage again in Gödör 2010, slowly they picked up speed again and gave one or two concerts a year with ancient fan Zana Zoli on drums. From 2015 the new line-up stands with László (vocals/guitars), Róbert (bass/guitars), Tibor (drums) and Történelmi Nazugságok is the first official ETA album with twenty powerful numbers, which summarizes the band's history classics so far, but also includes new pearls... since then, it's been running, CHEERS! 💣

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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DEAD CAN DANCE - Mosaic 2013

We remain gloomy and floating and come to a bootleg that is disappointing in every way and Mosaic is announced as early demos, but what you get here are Peel Sessions from Dead Can Dance and demos of poor quality. "First the tracklist is completely wrong, many of the songs listed are not on this release and a better buy would the The Garden Of The Arcane Delights re-issue that has all of the Peel Sessions in immaculate quality. The Inner Life and untitled tracks are in rough shape, and in all honesty the versions out on youtube sound better", so a discogs user quoted and I agree, not even the title song is included on this compilation and the artwork is just as poor and unimaginative (I recommend to listen to the debut first). Responsible for this is the Belgian label Arkain Filloux who are certainly known to one or the other, but what they have done with Mosaic is a real Fiasco. I like bootlegs and they are usually not perfect, but I expect more than such a loveless, jaded record. Anyone thinking of buying should definitely listen beforehand, only hard/lost/souls will spend their money for shit. 2 points out of 10!

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ARTS & DECAY - Trail Of Tears 1988

Well, yesterday I wanted to do another post but couldn't find the time and threw away the band I was talking about because it is really lame and sucks in every way. Instead a rather unknown band in terms of punk, but a record which is audible. Arts & Decay are a Gothic combo from Kaiserslautern and were founded in 1988 by Roger (vocals), Voodoo & Halbi (guitars), M.W. (bass), E.L.Hesky (synth). They released four albums until they dissolved in the mid 90s. In the early years their music moved between punk and darkwave using a drum machine. They first got a lot of attention with the song 'Mescal' when it was released on the German Mystic Sound Sampler - Volume II and with their concept album Shadowjesus they caused quite a stir in the black scene. The debut Trail Of Tears was released via Dreamhouse Records and has seven decent dark goodies in the pocket and I can't remember when & where I bought this record but there was a short phase in my life, that was in the mid 90s, I liked to move around this scene and go to the discos, but only for a short time because I'm not the type who paint himself and mop up, NO! But some bands got stuck and are still interesting. But I've talked enough shit again, check out this stuff & enjoy your freedom.

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HOODOO GURUS - Stoneage Romeos 1984

Today two new bands that say zero to me and I'm always grateful for that. It starts by a well-known band from Down Under who got a pretty positive response. Hoodoo Gurus were formed in Sydney 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner (vocals/guitars) and later joined by Richard (bass), Mark (drums), and Brad (guitar/harmonica) and they recorded their debut in 1984 and the title came from a 1955 Three Stooges short Stone Age Romeos and was awarded 'Best Debut Album' of 1984 at the July 1985 Countdown Music Awards. When Stoneage Romeos was released in America it stayed at #1 in the Alternative/College charts for seven weeks, becoming one of the most played albums for the year on the college network. Initially a cult inner-city act, their popularity expanded due to regular airplay on radio station Triple J and nationwide pop TV show Countdown from mid-1983. Their breakthrough single "My Girl" was accompanied by a video clip featuring a dog trainer with his once champion greyhound. Members of Spiderbait described seeing the video for the first time as "a beautiful, classic pop song". Some viewers insisted the song was "written about a dog". This was closely followed by "I Want You Back", which featured animated plastic model dinosaurs. Both videos were aired frequently raising the group's profile around the country. The band made seven albums until they finally took a break in 1997 and since 2003 they've been back and making concerts and records. The Hoodoo Gurus' were inducted into the Australia's 2007 ARIA Hall Of Fame. The band's induction announcement stated that the Gurus were one of the most "inventive, lyrically smart and exciting" bands from Australia. From 1960s power pop and garage punk to hard rock and funky psychedelic kitsch, the group's music stood out from Sydney's Detroit-inspired bands.

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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V/A - Can Of Pork 1992

Another Lookout! release is the epic -Can Of Pork- compilation, a great document of the thriving early 1990's punk scene in the East Bay and other pocket scenes around the US including The Lookouts final recorded appearance, Kick Me In The Head, truly one of their more loose, rocking tracks. Also featured are Fifteen, Blatz, the first recorded appearance of Lag Wagon among the rest of this top notch comp along with nuggets from other Lookout! artists. Another achievement of Can Of Pork, was to capture on record a number of other unsung punk treasures of the day, such as One Man Running, Vagrants and The Porcelain Boys. Legendary ex-OPIV outfit Downfall contributed North Berkeley, teasing interest in one of the most anticipated bands that was to never be. Housed in perfect Lookout trademark style artwork, Can Of Pork stands the test of time as a document of its day - covered in punk landmines, and littered with the right attitude. Originally released as double vinyl, a nice booklet which contains band infos, lyrics and some writing and comics. The spine lists this as Lookout Rekkidz #44 and is one more important chapter of punkrock history blah, blah, blah @#$%&*?!!!"

1.Bad Trip - POUNDED CLOWN

2.Trinidad - BRENT'S TV

3.A Promise Is A Promise - LIZARDS

4.Evolution - ENGAGE

5.Redneck Woman From Planet Mars - HORNY MORMONS

6.Gotta Get A Job - ONE MAN RUNNING

7.Kick Me In The Head - LOOKOUTS

8.Void - ANGER MEANS

9.Piano Song From Hell - KRUPTED PEASANT FARMERS

10.Whiners - PREACHERS THAT LIE

11.Sidetrack - PORCELAIN BOYS

12.Hole - DRIPPY DRAWERS

13.Noble End - LAG WAGON

14.Martian - LOS RUDIMENTS

15.The Future - RICE

16.Learning How To Smile - BLATZ

17.Parents Are Really Weird - JACK ACID

18.17 Reasons - FIFTEEN

19.College Town - JUKE

20.T-Shirt Commercial - MR.T EXPERIENCE

21.Berthe - VAGRANTS

22.Benicia By The Bay - PINHEAD GUNPOWDER

23.North Berkeley - DOWNFALL

24.Break - WYNONA RIDERS

25.Dysfunction - SPITBOY

26.Why Quit? - GOOD GRIEF

27.Other Day - FREE FALL

28.Two - SAWHORSE

29.Viva La France - MR.T EXPERIENCE

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