SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Well I have this platform so I might as well use it...

My new band SMOKE AND MIRRORS has just posted 2 songs from our debut EP "Fire Ashes Phoenix Rising" on myspace. You can check them out here... www.myspace.com/smokeandmirrors814

SCAPEGRACE & CONNIPTION

Coregasm got a great response to the HALF MAN post I did a week or so ago so I figured I'd post some other really good NYHC bands. Not really the typical youth crew Revelation NYHC you would think of (not that there's anything wrong with that!). This stuff is raw, ugly, and punk as fuck. Fast and with a tinge of crustiness... and boy do I love it. The bass sounds so distorted on the Conniption tracks and the singer has such a burly voice. Scapegrace just have this awesome vibe going with so much attitude and a bit more of a noisy, discordant, melodic guitar style with screeching vocals. Just check it all out for yourself and see what you think. I've included the other half to the HALF MAN split that was mentioned last week. Enjoy. - EMS

All 3 x 7"s listed can be downloaded here:
https://www.mediafire.com/?fnb4rhaf6efa4k8


SCAPEGRACE / CONNIPTION split 7"
Released by Reek Havoc & 01811 Records #002
1. Scapegrace - Crumbs of Crumbs
2. Scapegrace - Smokescreen
3. Conniption - Perverse Creation
4. Conniption - Negative Charge
5. Conniption - Culture of Hate
6. Conniption - Profane


HALF MAN / CONNIPTION "split" 7"
Released by Reek Havoc & 01811 Records #001
(Half Man tracks posted below 1 week ago)
1. Conniption - Gun Shy... and Hammer Down
2. Conniption - Contaminated
3. Conniption - Hopeless at 21

I also added the following (since it's so good) in the zip folder:
SCAPEGRACE "Plead" 7" (taken from their myspace page so it's not the best quality but still a great listen)
Side A: Suck the Dead / One Moment
Side B: Prayer / Sleepwalk

454 BIG BLOCK video

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

B'ZRKER "self titled" 7"

I just know that a bunch of people are going to love this 7". This shit is hard and pulls no punches. Yet again another band that was introduced to me from the "East Coast Assault" Comp just like my Bricklayer post earlier this week. B'zrker who were also from Massachusetts play a hard metallic style of hardcore along the lines of bands like Zero Tolerance, Icemen, Merauder, and Dmize. That's why I just know that some of you readers are going to be all about it. The harder a band is the more downloads it seems like they get. Lots of double bass drums, chunky bass guitars, and plenty of guitar chugs. My favorite vocal line from this 2 song 7" is the following:

"You fucked with the system and got off scott free. You claim you've got your ticket BUT NO ONE RIDES FOR FREE BUT ME!"

On top of all of that the 7" starts off with a sample from Nightbreed based on the Clive Barker book Cabal that I was probably reading around the time I got this 7". Although not an amazing movie it's still fun to hear the aptly used quote at the beginning. Anyone know if any other material from these guys exists? I'd love to hear more. B'ZRKER was: Tom Habelt - vocals, Alan Fisher - lead guitar, Joe Keinberger - rythm (sic) guitar, Charlie Steeves - bass, & Chip Adams - drums. This 7" was recorded by Ducky Carlisle @ Room 9 From Outer Space in Boston Mass.


B'ZRKER "self titled" 7"
Released in 1992 by Exchange Records
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6hstnqq62ghwq0n/Bzrker.zip
1. Taking the Law
2. It Never Bends

BRICKLAYER LOCAL 630 "Thought Process '92" 7"

Too Damn Hype released the “East Coast Assault” CD which was a bad ass compilation in the 92-93 eras. It made a lot of smaller demo and 7” bands well known. I mean think about it, this is pre-internet so exposure was really hard. All I had to go by at this time was a song on a comp, a thank you list, or even just an ad in a zine. I think I tried to get material from every band on that comp. A local Harrisburg area record store called “It’s Only Rock N Roll” would have a little shoe box worth of 7”s up by the register with small and unknown hardcore band 7”s. One day while flipping through I saw this Bricklayer 7” and got excited as their song “Release” was fairly decent on the East Coast Assault. So I snatched it up and listened to it fairly frequently back then. It’s funny because I paid $3.99 for this back in 1993 and 7”s today are still only being sold for like $4-$6. Inflation has affected everything in the world except for punk rock I guess. Anyway… Bricklayer was a 5 piece heavy hardcore band from the Medford, MA area. Other than this 7” I do not know how prolific this band was. I always thought it was a good listen for the ’92 era. Give it a try. There’s some great lyrics in “Welcome to the Real World” like; “So much censorship you’d think this was the USSR.”, “Treat some fat junkie entertainer just like a fucking god, worship his statues and his songs, even want his face on a stamp WHAT?” Bricklayer Local 630 was: Scott Turner – bass, Karen Bagrowski – guitar, Ed Bagrowski – guitar, Donnie Ferguson – Drums, & Dan Stagliano – vocals.


BRICKLAYER Local 630 “Thought Process ‘92” 7”
Released on Foundation Americia Records
http://www.mediafire.com/download/bx04lrdcdl2kndn/Bricklayer.zip
1. Regret
2. Welcome (to the Real World)
3. Release
4. Last Words

DISMAY "In Doubt" CD

When Brother’s Keeper signed our first “contract” (I use that term loosely) in 1995 it was with We Bite America. WBA was to be distributed in the US by Victory and was a new venture for the European based label. The only other label mates we had at the time were 25 Ta Life and Dismay. When I first heard Dismay I had that young naïve approach to it. I thought “man this stuff is slow and boring, this ain’t hardcore”. Yeah I was stupid and totally missed what they were going for at the time. I quickly grew out of that mindset and honestly Dismay’s style of slow grooving hardcore is actually what I prefer rather than cliché mosh or old school. The guitar parts have such a thick sound to them and the beauty lies in the simplicity of their riff. The drums stick to a mid tempo and plod along most of the time and really get my head nodding. It’s this type of dramatic angst that gets my blood boiling. Bands like Burn, Beyond, Eye For An Eye, Quicksand, and Hard Response all had elements of this style as well and it seems like a lot of current bands are picking up on this vibe. I decided to post this album as a tribute to the band as I had recently read that the singer had passed away this past year. I never knew the guy or anything but here’s to you man, you made some good music and left a mark in the pages of East Coast hardcore. Rest In Peace.


DISMAY "In Doubt" CD
We Bite America Records 1995
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q7qs07tg9gr0do7/Dismay.zip

-----------------------------------
In other news:

Coregasm turned 2 mid november. I wanted to post something ridiculous from my past but never got around to it because life has been hectic. Anyway, happy belated birthday CG. I can't believe it's all ready been 2 years since I started doing my random posts. Thanx to all who read and check out the bands.

Also, if you remember I had posted 2 different Icemen posts (R.I.P. / Buried Alive). Turns out some of the old members of the band have been posting responses to each other and it's a little heated. This was rather unexpected and weird and I'm not really trying to fan the flames but it looks like after many many years there's still some hard feelings.

XCESSIVE FORCE video

FORCED DOWN "Mortal" CD

If you listen closely to track 5 on this CD you'll notice it was also featured on the Voice of Thousands Compilation we just posted. I always thought that was one of the more original songs on the comp and found this CD lying around in my collection. Looking back this band seemed kind of ahead of their time. It's got a nice mix of the rawness of a lot of early hardcore, screamo, crust type bands like early Ebullition stuff but it also has elements of solid heavy hardcore like Inside Out meets Downcast. Who knows?... maybe I'm talking out my ass. Either way these guys could actually play their instruments and we're on what seems to be their own level. A lot of it is mid tempo and has interesting and intriguing guitar riffs as well as a cool sense of heavy melody and lots of predominant bass work. Members were from notable bands such as Amenity (also on VOT comp), Heroin, Pitchfork, and a slew of others. I believe that the band themselves had a lot to do with releasing their own records in true DIY form. This CD features a range of songs throughout 1990-91 and a few different recording sessions. All of which are an enjoyable listen and I can hear a lot of elements and musical approaches that popular contemporary bands are using right now.

Check out Forced Down on myspace by clicking here:
http://www.myspace.com/forceddown


FORCED DOWN "Mortal" 19 song CD
Released on Downside / Vinyl Communications (VC-45)
https://www.mediafire.com/?f127q95882k87zh

BLACK FLAG interview

BAD BRAINS vid

V/A "Voice of Thousands"

You might remember my rant when I posted the "Over the Edge" compilation; although the "Voice of Thousands" comp was a bit older (ranging from the 88-90 era) many of the same things can be said about this amazing piece of history. Releases like this were just vital in spreading the sounds for a virtually unknown group. Resources were extremely limited and getting your name out there took a lot more patience where as everything now is so immediate and over saturated. Anyway, I'll spare you the history lesson on the value of a good compilation from "back in the day". There weren't thousands of labels back then, pressing records was a lot more expensive, technology was limited, and basically the only way to get your name around was through comps, zines, and word of mouth. All you really need to know is that releases like this paved the way for many of these bands to expand upon what they were doing. In fact if you've never heard of some of these bands there's a good chance that members of these unknown bands went on to form other groups you've probably heard of. So I'll let some of you other historians fill in the gaps on any of the bands featured here. I'd like a little bit more reader involvement anyway! So yeah, chime in and let's hear some info!

V/A VOICE OF THOUSANDS
Conversion Records # 6
Released 1990-91ish
https://www.mediafire.com/?ezmcjqrhengch2t

Side WEST
1. Amenity "I"
2. Refuse "Trust"
3. Intent "Step Back"
4. Outward "Question to an End"
5. Insight "Get It"
6. Outspoken "Look Beyond"
7. Forced Down "Escape"

Side EAST
8. Integrity "Live It Down"
9. Relapse "Warpath"
10. Round 2 "Begin the End"
11. Force of Habit "Your Decline"
12. Endpoint "Model"
13. Raid "Liberation"
14. Face Value "Help Yourself"

---------------------------------------

On a side note, please don't email me asking to re-up things if it is no longer available. I've had a few things removed due to copyrights (even though they were out of print, go figure) and some older posts just weren't getting downloaded so sendspace deemed them inactive. If you miss it, you missed it. I'm not trying to be a dick but I just don't have the time or desire to keep reposting old uploads. Thanx for understanding.

SNAPCASE "Self titled" 7"

Snapcase started out a lot different than what many of us think of today. Prior to bassist Daryl Taberski taking over the vocal duties was the unique voice of Chris Galas at the helm. With a different line up and an intense case of Zero Tolerance worship (can you blame them?) Snapcase had a bit more of a harder metallic edge to them with more of a "sung" style of vocals. This 7" was their first major exposure to others outside of their area and I loved what I was hearing on this. Shortly after this release you could hear their original version of "Fields of Illusion" on the Only The Strong 1992 compilation with Galas's vocals. Snapcase later redid this song on "Lookinglasself" but for some reason I still favor the Compilation version. It wasn't soon after this that Daryl put down the bass guitar and switched over to vocal duties. Michael Kimaid played drums on this recording and he had a nice metal influenced style with lots of double bass flare throughout his songs. He even played on half of the tracks on "Lookinglasself". The line up on this 7" was: Chris Galas - vocals (who reportedly showed up to a show in a boyscout uniform when they played), Scott Dresler - guitar, Joe Smith - guitar, Daryl Taberski - Bass, & Michael Kimaid - drums. It was recorded June of 1992. Check out that lead guitar work in the beginning of "Comatose"! That used to be a crowd favorite back then. I just wish a few years ago I didn't ebay my SOLID STATE Demo cassette (their previous band) when I was low on funds.


SNAPCASE "self titled" 7"
Victory Records 009 - 1992
http://www.mediafire.com/download/0w0uer9uc0u8rsn/snapcase_SelfTitled_7.zip
1. Crown Of Thorns
2. Comatose

Although Snapcase just officially broke up 2 years ago they are reuniting one night for a benefit show in NYC. Here's some info copied from elsewhere:

"In celebration of the November release of The Anti-Matter Anthology, author Norman Brannon is having a release party, but rather than showing up at a local Barnes & Noble Brannon is doing something much more fitting to the book's tone -- he is setting up a benefit show.

On November 24th at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg, hardcore visionaries and progressives Snapcase, whom broke up in early 2005, will reunite for one night only. Joining them will be fellow Anti-Matter subjects 108 and Triple Threat. The show's proceeds will go to benefit Callum Robbins, son of Jawbox frontman J. Robbins. Cal Robbins was recently diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, an incurable nerve disorder that is hugely expensive to treat.

:DETAILS:
Saturday November 24, 2007
The Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N. 6th Street | Brooklyn, NY

A Limited Edition Presale Package will be available on September 28, allowing the first 55 people to buy their ticket alongside a stamped, numbered, and personalized copy of the The Anti-Matter Anthology at a combined reduced price of $29.99. Tickets for the general public will go on sale October 5. Complete details and presale information will be released through the Anti-Matter MySpace page: http://myspace.com/antimatterbook"

BRAILLE demo cassette

This entry kind of goes along with the Knotwork post and was from the same era. Braille was a band whose demo I really enjoyed & reviewed in the second issue of Surprise Attack in ‘93 or ‘94. I only got the chance to see them once and they really delivered. They seemed like they were from the same age group as me (in high school at the time) but could actually play their instruments unlike the horrible bands I was in. They were from somewhere in the South NJ area just outside of Philly. Other than the demo and another great track featured on an amazing and diverse Food Not Bombs LP compilation by Inchworm Records from that same time, Braille didn’t have any other recorded offerings available.

If I can determine whether that comp is out of print I will most likely post it. That LP features a great lineup such as Ten Boy Summer, Swing Kids, Campaign, Indian Summer, Starkweather, Franklin, Finger Print, Braille, Half Man (I loved this band!) Premonition, Railhed, & Current. Pretty crazy comp! Anyway, I think that Braille was rather short lived which is a shame because this demo is pretty raging. It’s definitely got an early 90’s metallic hardcore vibe to it. The tempos are nice and the intensity is there. The slap bass on the instrumental before track 2 is a bit much to take and the metalzone guitar pedal sounding distortion is ever so prevalent from that era. Overall this is another gem from a local band that some of you from far away might not have ever had the chance to hear. Check it out & let me know what you think. – EMS 100%


BRAILLE "demo" Cassette
self released 1993?
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2561atfffa6bqjh/Braille.zip
1. Struggle
2. Instrumental / Torment
3. Absence

GG Allin on Springer