One activity that seems to bring me joy (or at least some sort of excitement) is going to a record store and buying records based solely on their appearance and what I think will be contained in those dusty grooves. This is made better when they only cost 50 cents each. I went to my favorite record store in Philly, Long in the Tooth, and spent two and a half hours looking through cheap CDs and 7"s.
I picked up three used CDs, all of which I have been wanting to get for several years (see: Laziness): Zoo Psychology by Ex Models, Disgorge Mexico by Fuck the Facts, and Number 3 by Black Dice.
Ex Models started off as a skittery post-punk band, but over the course of their short discography traded melody and hooks for some of the most extreme noise-punk, taking a single fucked up riff and stretching it for up to 7 minutes to create an atmosphere that is almost singularly tense. In between post-punk and intense noise-rock is Zoo Psychology, and it bridges the gap perfectly. Starting with a guitar going through the most insane ring modulator settings playing a chord and stopping several times, drums come blasting in along with the other members, screeching and flailing their way through the song, gradually getting less and less coherent before everyone starts hitting every note at once for the last thirty seconds of the song.
And that's just the first song. The rest of the album follows with more of a continuation of their post-punk beginnings, but with more disgusting guitar tones and chords. Zoo Psychology can be thought of as the Hell Songs of post-punk instead of grindcore, and if you don't know what I'm talking about you should get educated. There are a few noise interludes that serve as some sort of release from the build of the "actual" songs, and these are more important to the flow of the album than I would sometimes like to think; 15 minutes of noise-punk can fly by pretty quickly if you don't pay attention, and the interludes make you aware that the album is comprised of individual songs. If you're at all into noise-rock/punk/post-punk/any sort of weird and spastic music, I highly recommend Ex Models, and this album is a great place to start.
Fuck the Facts is the long-running grindcore project of Topon Das, one that started with super-short and super-fast "here's the riff/here are some screams and blasts/end" songs and has become a five-member group writing some of the best grind/death metal today. Disgorge Mexico came out in 2008 and was their second album on Relapse Records (Relapse has since released the stellar Die Miserable, and they have since self-released the Unnamed and Misery EPs). Disgorge to me is like a metal riff rule book, covering generations of extreme music in a scant 43 minutes. From the thirty seconds of blasts and harmonized leads of "No Return" to the jazz interlude within "The Storm" to the crushing nine minutes of "Apathy is a Karma Killer," Fuck the Facts create an album that can be loved equally by fans of death metal and grindcore. Do yourself a favor and lend this your ear.
Black Dice started out as an extremely noisy hardcore band, and gradually worked their way to noisy soundscapes and pop songs gone through a blender. Being exactly what it is called, Number 3 (also simply being referred to as an untitled album) is Black Dice's third release, coming after two 7"s of hardcore punctuated by feedback. Rather than make another 5 minutes of punk, Black Dice go into full-on noise for the majority of these ten minutes. There are fifteen untitled tracks on here, but you wouldn't be able to tell just by listening. The first half of the album sounds like them trying to start a song, with feedback wails, drum crashes, and screams coming in and out of the chaos. The second half of the album contains three "actual" songs of their usual brand of hardcore, with plenty of noise and repetition to keep the mood destructive. I don't listen to Black Dice's early releases much, but I couldn't pass up owning a copy of this for a dollar.
The one 10" I got is the "Discovery of Iron Ore" EP by Sinking Body. The first side is ambient industrial noise, and the second side has some more distinct songs with burbling keyboards, atmospheric sounds, and some light percussion. I thought this was alright, pretty interesting but not something I'd want to come back to very often.
Six songs on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Janek Schaefer - "Recorded Delivery": This was an art project where Schaefer sent a sound-activated tape recorder through the mail, cutting the 15-hour trip into an hour-long sound collage. This 7" is supposedly the "highlights" of the hour-long piece, but I couldn't find anything of note on here. It sounds like (and likely is) someone taking the tape and playing a section for a few seconds, then fast forwarding several minutes, playing a different section for a few seconds, and then fast forwarding the tape. This continues for six minutes on each side, and I thought it was both boring and, for lack of a better word, a waste of time. There are moments on here that sound like something interesting is about to happen, but then it gets fast-forwarded. This is found sound music to the extreme, and it's not something I ever needed or wanted to hear. Toss.
Two songs on 33 rpm solid red vinyl.
The Gamma Kids/The Saskatchewan Trio - split: The Gamma Kids cram five snotty and sloppy pop-punk songs onto their side of this split. This might be alright if I saw them live and everyone was drunk, but on record it's just annoying. I'll put on Green Day's first album if I want to listen to a couple assholes sing inane lyrics over the same five chords. The Saskatchewan Trio's side is characterized by annoying pseudo-hardcore riffs and banshee shrieks that would fit better on an Orchid record than their brand of cleanly-recorded and sloppily-played hardcore. Both sides of this split drag on for about five minutes too long. Toss.
Twelve songs (five by TGK, seven by TST) on 33 rpm clear vinyl.
Dead By Dawn - "Demo": Dead By Dawn do mid-tempo crusty hardcore. I get bored easily with crust, and this is no different. It's alright, but it's something that I'd come back to time and again to try to like, but would ultimately be disappointed each time. Toss.
Four songs on 33 rpm black vinyl.
The Blessed - "Again, With Hate": The cover, title, and band name all made me think this was going to be some sort of emo record, but it turned out to be some piano-driven Beatles-worshiping shit that sounds like World Party. The music isn't awful, but it is pretty boring and does not at all fit the artwork. The Blessed desperately try to keep late-70s pop relevant without realizing that it died for a reason. Toss.
Two songs on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Tierra de Nadie - "Sordos a la Tierra": Crusty d-beat stuff that's actually pretty good. Tierra de Nadie are from Wisconsin but the lyrics are in Spanish and a Mexican label put this out. The guitars on this are really heavy, and while the songs go on a bit too long they manage to keep my attention. Reminds me a bit of The Holy Mountain, but without the cheesy lead lines. Nothing spectacular here, but it's enjoyable. Hold.
Five songs on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Cutter - EP: Cutter do harsh punk with a very sludgy feel. Reminds me of Harkonen or possibly These Arms Are Snakes, with alternating between hard-hitting discordance and punk riffs. This sounds like something that PRGNT Records or Feeble Minds should have put out: noisy, but with enough melody to be catchy and memorable. The last song has different recording quality, and it has a ton of needless shredding. Kinda wish that song had been left off, it's out of place in terms of both sound and feel. Hold.
Four songs on 45 rpm black vinyl.
The J.F.K.'s/Yukhonic - split: This is a split between two noise rock bands, The J.F.K.'s having a lot more emphasis on noise. Lots of gross tone and chords on both sides of this. I like Yukhonic's side more, they keep it simplistic being just a two-piece with extra guitar, bass, and keyboard overdubs. Hold.
Ten songs (four by The J.F.K.'s, six by Yukhonic) on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Trap Them - "Seance Prime": This wasn't a fifty-cent 7", but it was still a great price at $6. The songs on here are more mid-tempo than most of their material, and I'm honestly not too big on them. It's good for most bands, just not up to par with the rest of Trap Them's output. "Wafers and Wine of Sandblast Times" gets some blast beats and cool riffs in there, but overall this was disappointing. Hold unless someone offers the right price for this.
Four songs on 33 rpm purple w/ black splatter vinyl (second press).
Allergic to Bullshit - "If This is What We're For, This is What We'll Get": Allergic to Bullshit do some cool punx shit on here with a good mix of melody and noise, and they have a female singer who sounds great. Lo-fi but it sounds great. They do a Bobby "Blue" Bland cover on this EP, and it works; the 50s blues and rock influences are definitely present on here. Hold.
Four songs on 33 rpm black vinyl.
60 Cycle Hum/A Nation of Lepers - split: 60 Cycle Hum do Fugazi-esque post-hardcore with plenty of brooding bass lines. The second song is just bass and vocals, and it's good but I feel like the full-band song isn't good enough to have it be the only one. A Nation of Lepers drop the post- and go straight for hardcore, mixing in elements of thrash and grind in there. Sadly, the songwriting is weak and their side is pretty forgettable. Toss.
Four songs (two songs each) on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Shirk Circus - "Summer Sun": Three short powerpop songs from a NJ band. They're alright but don't do much for me. The songs are short, and are lacking in any sort of development; each one starts, goes by, and ends without variation. Toss.
Three songs on 45 rpm solid yellow vinyl.
Shadows and the Silence/Choke Their Rivers With Our Dead - split: Two emotional screamy bands come together for this very heavy split. I had never heard of either of these bands, and that's a shame because they are both really good and people who are into skramz shit and emotional post-hardcore would definitely dig this. Hold.
Three songs (one by SatS, two by CTRWOD) on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Zero Hour - EP: Four songs of anti-capitalist anarcho-punk. Pissed off and dark. I really like the vocals on here. Hold.
Four songs on 45 rpm black vinyl packaged in a folded up 14"x21" sheet of paper.
Gun Spiking - EP: Some more skramz shit. The second guitarist adds a nice texture, allowing for more dynamics especially if you listen with headphones. The recording quality isn't great (the left channel seems to clip a lot, especially whenever there are backing vocals), but the guitars are very crunchy and the snare has a really nice pop to it that reminds me of Helmet's "Meantime." Hold.
Four songs on 33 rpm black vinyl housed in two spraypainted pieces of cardboard.
Flying Saucer Attack/Jessamine - split: Two dreamy, spacey bands share this 7", Flying Saucer Attack being acoustic guitar, keyboards, and vocals, and Jessamine being a full band. Both bands remind me of Spiritualized, which is good because I like Spiritualized. FSA's song is more of a formal song, and is very pretty, whereas Jessamine lays down a 70s prog rock jam. Hold.
Two songs on 45 rpm clear vinyl.
Anal Throne/Black Putrefaction - split: Anal Throne is a one-man noisegrind/black metal outfit with absurd songs and song titles. Several of the songs on here fade out, which makes me think that Anal Throne doesn't know how to end a 20-second song, and judging by how similar all the songs are (one programmed blast beat is used in every song), it doesn't seem like Anal Throne knows how to write a 20-second song either. I don't mind if the songs sound the same, but when a bunch of songs fade out, it makes me hope for something new. Black Putrefaction does low-end noise with gurgled vocals that I never seem to enjoy, and it is somehow less interesting than AT's side. Toss.
Twelve songs (ten from Anal Throne, two from Black Putrefaction) on 45 rpm black vinyl.
Disease Called Man - EP: Crusty thrash that's pretty decent. This isn't anything special, but there are enough blast beats to keep me entertained.The song on the B-side is the highlight of the EP, with many different sections and some great blasting sections, proving that their full-on blast mode is excellent. Hold.
Three tracks on 45 black vinyl.
Guyver-One - EP: Guyver-One do chaotic screamo that borders on noise at times. This reminds me of Racebannon's earliest material, with shredding guitars and vocals, and a bass that slides all around the fretboard. The songs are broken up by old school rap songs being played very quietly, which I thought was odd. Hold.
Five songs on 45 rpm white vinyl with a bunch of inserts.
Hell of Highwater - EP: This is some metal-inspired punk shit that I could see a bunch of girls going crazy for at Warped Tour for reasons I couldn't explain. I'm having a hard time figuring out if the lyrics are really sarcastic or just bad. There's a ton of really stupid lead lines on here, and the bass drum is inexplicably loud. Toss.
Four songs on 33 rpm green vinyl.
Syzslak - "I Am Misery": Crust/pseudo-death metal that should be better than it is. The bass sounds excellent here and I like the vocals a fair bit, but the songwriting could be better. The bassist is laying down awesome lines and the guitar either just follows him or does dumb lead lines. This is one of the rare times when I think the guitarist is holding the band back, and is completely unnecessary; on top of all this, the guitar tone is total crap. Really bummed about this, because there's some interesting stuff going on. Toss.
Five songs on 33 rpm red vinyl.
Midvale - "First Aid For Airmen" - 90s indie rock with heavy guitars and whiny vocals. I get angry at this EP when I listen to it, because the vocals are annoying and super high in the mix, and the music is uninteresting. This is everything wrong with 90s emo in conveniently packaged in one 7". Toss.
Three songs on 33 rpm blue vinyl.
Exploding Corpse Action/Dead Baby - split: Exploding Corpse Action does some sort of grinding metal with gurgling vocals and lead lines. This just passes by me every time I listen to it, because it's all stuff I've heard a thousand times before. Dead Baby sound a lot like ECA, and are slightly more interesting. Whatever. Toss.
Eight songs (four from each band) on 33 rpm black vinyl.
Gunna Vahm/Fight Amputation - split: A split between two heavy bands that bring both sludgy and mathy riffs (math as in early Don Caballero, not Tera Melos). Gunna Vahm have one heavy and fast song, and one slow and brooding song, and Fight Amputation (later shortened to Fight Amp) bring hardcore that is not very reminiscent of the sludge metal band they became. It's pretty alright. Hold.
Four songs (two from each band) on grey marbled 33 rpm vinyl.
Well that certainly took long enough. I'll be trading in the "toss" 7"s soon to see if I can get anything better.
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