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HALF MAN 3 x 7"s

Half Man were a hardcore punk band from NY that had a great Ebullition / Born Against / Econochrist vibe going for them. I always really enjoyed their 7”s. I was first introduced to them on April 1st, 1994 when they played a local show in Harrisburg, PA. The show was Timmy, Half Man, Floodgate, and locals Mainliner. I didn’t really know about any of the bands other than Mainliner so I was pleasantly surprised by Half Man & Floodgate. Both of their sets really left an impression on me as over the years I bought all that I could from both bands.

The funny thing about this show is that I wish I could go back in time and meet who had booked it. I was rather young and didn’t really know a ton of people in my area in punk and hardcore other than a few friends and penpals. I could tell there were a few people at this show that came out just for Floodgate and were probably involved more so within the DIY punk scene. I wish I could have met some more people like that around that era as I bet they could have introduced me to a lot of other great stuff.

Tonight I dug up my 2nd issue of Surprise Attack that I had put out that year (1994) and there was a show review of this one. It was hilarious to read. It really jogged my memory on the events that took place. You see Mainliner were a local Harrisburg area band that seemed to really attract punkers who both the band and their followers seemed to emulate what they thought was punk. You know, wear a leather jacket, slick your hair back, fake like you know what Mike Ness is all about and drink lots of beer and be rude. So most of the show goers were there for them and didn’t really support or give two shits about the other 3 bands. Half Man played second and people were just moshing like goof balls and a bunch of arguments broke out amongst the leather coat punkers verses the more PC punks. It got pretty tense at times and I’m surprised real fights didn’t break out. People we’re just throwing beer around, the floor got soaked, and at one point I saw a 250lb man smash a small girl on top of the PA speakers. Real classy shit that made me very embarrassed to be from the area. Half Man ended their set with an Inside Out cover of “Burning Fight” which I think about me and my 2 friends knew. Floodgate wound up playing and just killed it. I picked up their LP that night as well as Half Man’s “Force Field” 7”. Both releases of which I have consistently listened too over the past 14 years since. Floodgate wound up cutting their set short because the locals were being so disruptive and rude. They just weren’t having it. I remember going up to the bands at their merch tables and apologizing and trying to convey that those kids didn’t represent everyone from the area. They were all real polite and understanding. My one regret of the evening though was they were selling the Ebullition press of the Judge “Rev can suck it” 10” on white for $3. Why the hell I didn’t buy one I don’t know. Anyway… after the show was drawing close to an end the cops rolled up and were arresting kids for underage drinking and it was just chaos at this point. We then realized that my car was broken into and someone stole my friends skateboard from it. We didn’t really have much time to look around as the cops were being real pricks so we just got the fuck out of there.

Overall I was real excited to be introduced to 2 new bands that really struck a chord with me. But in retrospect of the whole night it was a bit of a bum out as I wish more bands like that would have rolled through the Harrisburg area, but due to the action of a bunch of kids who thought that just by being drunk dicks was punk rock, not too much like this really occurred for awhile during this time. I would have loved to have booked shows back then but I was 16 years old and broke and just a bit green as to how it all worked. Either way, here are 3 of Half Man’s releases for you to check out. You can really tell on the “No Choice” tracks that it was recorded at the legendary Don Fury’s due to the chunky drum sound and killer guitar tones. A few of the recording sessions had more songs not featured on the 7”s, I’d love to get my hands on those. I know Half Man had another split 7” that I can’t remember with who right now (I want to say Honeywell but I could be wrong) [edit: i was informed that the split was actually with hugs & kisses]. I also really loved the fact that the 7"s were all silk screened and had interesting booklets with lyrics and writings in them. I left out the Conniption side of the split as I will post that with more of their stuff soon as well. Enjoy Half Man as they really made an impact on me back then.

3 x HALF MAN 7"s: https://www.mediafire.com/?hyd8drqdg0r60ig


HALF MAN "Force Field" 7"
Released on Mountain #002
Records @ Dare Studios April 1993 (tracks originally released on a 12 song demo cassette)
1. Force Field
2. Substitution
3. No Lunch Today
4. Change of Pace
5. Candle Stubs


HALF MAN "No Choice but to Learn" 7"
Released on Chicken Farm Records #004
Recorded @ Don Fury's November 1993
1. In Control
2. Welcome to the Insanity that I Created
3. Heritage
4. Lack of Order


HALF MAN / CONNIPTION "split" 7" (Conniption tracks can be found 2 posts after this one)
Released by Reek Havoc & 01811 Records #001
Recorded @ Tom K.s house January 1994 (3 of 6 tracks from that session)
1. Half Man - All Gone
2. Half Man - Scar(r)ed
3. Half Man - Flog

V/A "Lacking Mindset Compilation" 7"

This early 90's four band 7" compilation knocked me on my ass when it came out. Having been a fan of all 4 bands featured on here and always wanting to hear more, this was just the release I had been needing. The original version of Unbroken's "Blanket" was so heavy it had me and my friends seriously geeking the fuck out. I can remember seeing them twice around this time and going completely ape shit to that song. Honeywell, Groundwork, and Struggle all offer some of their harsh and abrasive punk meets hardcore meets (then) screamo. Overall this was a great release.



V/A - "Lacking Mindset Compilation" 7"
Released by Spoonfed Records - FED 002
https://www.mediafire.com/?l1xlsa3hhbonaic
1. Struggle - The Untitled
2. Unbroken - Blanket
3. Honeywell - Mesh Control
4. Groundwork - ???

INTO ANOTHER videos

I can remember going to the store right when Into Another's self titled CD came out. Upon getting home and hearing it I wanted to throw it out the window. I thought "that's no fucking Bold and that sure as hell ain't no Underdog". A few years later as my tastes matured and my barriers lightened up on what I allowed myself to absorb I realized that they were a total fucking force to be reckoned with. I got the opportunity to see them live plenty of times and the performances were pretty intense. This band was so ahead of the game...

Into Another - Poison Fingers

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Into Another - Splinters

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DISCONTENT "Chance to Live" 7"

I think this piece of Buffalo hardcore history might only appeal to a few due to the rawness of the production on this 4 track 7". I remember in 1992 one of my best friends Will picked this 7" up and we just loved it. In fact our band at the time even ripped off a bunch of ideas from some of the songs it's kind of ridiculous in hindsight. I was always jealous that he owned this record until one day I finally found a distro that carried it as well and I got my very own copy. The recording is very crude and the vocal mix is really loud however it was done on an 8 track at Action Recording Studios in August of 1991. This was released on Round Flat Records who also put out one of the Foundation 7"s that we just posted about. A band definitely couldn't get away with cover like that these days! If you can look through the sloppiness and poor production (It sounds like he did all of the vocals in one take) and you enjoy this era of hardcore you might like this. They were a pretty obscure band that I think only people from the Western NY / Great Lakes region might have heard of. Let me know what you think.


DISCONTENT "Chance to Live" 7"
Round Flat Records 002 - Released 1991 or 92
http://www.mediafire.com/download/he2pr76won9mskm/Discontent.zip
1. Living in Anguish
2. Compassion of the Soul
3. Open Wound
4. Seize the Day

AREA 51 RECORDS COMP "We Shall Fight in the Streets" 7"

I was feeling rather ambitious (don’t get used to it!) today and whipped up a 2nd post for you chums. Here’s a sweet 7” compilation that came out in 1995. It’s got some great bands on it. First up is an early Catharsis track from 1994, then an Integrity song from their 1987 “Off the Bat” demo, a pummeling track from NJ’s Backlash, and rounded out with a song from h800’s finest Congress. The 7” came with a cool 7” sized lyric sheet booklet complete with an Integrity interview and a brief interview with Backlash who mostly talked about the (then) current straight edge scene. The whole release had a very Inside Front (who conducted the interviews) meets Blood Book feel to it. I really like the grooving heaviness of the Backlash track (which was also on their CD) and the Congress track is a prime example of the predecessors of European metallic hardcore. Catharsis is pretty cool but the Integrity song, as interesting as it is, is pretty horrible. I definitely spun this record a lot when I got it. I can’t remember if Area 51 Records ever went on to release anything else. They were from Tempe, AZ.

Insert cover:



AREA 51 RECORDS COMPILATION "We Shall Fight in the Streets" 7"
Released 1995
http://www.mediafire.com/download/acuhots0p530sf3/Area51RecordsCompilation.zip
1. Catharsis - 100 Years of Solitude
2. Integrity - Enough is Enough
3. Backlash - Why I'm Mad
4. Congress - Acoustic Life

FOUNDATION "Purity" & "Triphammer" 7"s

This is an exciting first post for the new year. My awesome sister and brother-in-law gave me a great Christmas / B-day gift (I'm 31 today!). It is a USB turntable that plugs right into my computer. I am very excited about this as I hope my vinyl to mp3 transfers get even better! That will hopefully mean more frequent posts of killer hard to find stuff. Anyway, onto the music...

Foundation were a rather original band from Rochester, NY that had an interesting sound. It was a mix of heavy yet emotional stuff. Kind of like they grew up on Underdog and Gorilla Biscuits but decided to add some real slow and drawn out parts with a very emotional feel to it (note: i'm not calling this "emo" as i don't want to scare any of you readers away). I believe that both of these 7"s are from the same recording session at Suny Fredonia, NY in November of 1991. Fredonia is only a stones throw away from here in Erie, PA. Actually the "Purity" 7" was mixed by Fred @ Mark's Recording which is interesting to me because a few years later my band recorded there with Fred.

Foundation made the trip down many times to the central PA area and you would see their name on many flyers. I always really really liked these 7"s, some of the songs are really long but the playing on them is fucking top notch. All four members seem to be very proficient at what they brought to the table in the band. The line up consisted of; John Drenning on guitar, Mike Waney on vocals, Steve Korol on drums, & Bill Colgrove on bass. These 2 7"s might be over 15 years old but they still evoke a lot of the same feelings in me as the first time I heard them. Great stuff. I would love to get my hands on more material from them.



BOTH 7"S IN ONE ZIP FOLDER:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2b0elq5cx0lb6xa/Foundation_27inches.zip


FOUNDATION "Triphammer" 7"
Released 1992 on Significant Records
1. Down
2. Triphammer (instrumental)
3. Your Deception


FOUNDATION "Purity" 7"
Released 1992 on Round Flat Records / Fasthold Records
1. Disaster
2. Purity