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