Punk/Hardcore

[Andrew McIntosh]

Fair enough, can't argue with that.

[Zeno Marx]

I have a long, weird, feelgood history with The 4 Skins - A Few 4 Skins More Volume 1 (a re-release of The Good, The Bad, and The 4 Skins & A Fistful of 4 Skins).  While I'm deeply into hardcore and have been since a teen, some of the most loathed music I've heard in my entire life is of the punk variety.  It created a nice boundary for not believing more is better.  If I sensed something was going to be too punky, I kept far and clear of it.  Other than this The 4 Skins, I've heard The Business a couple times (couldn't have told you what they were like) and possibly an Italian oi compilation.  I'm told early Oi Polloi could loosely be in this oi category, but that never occurred to me.  I like early Oi Polloi a bit, but they don't mean much to me until their Fuaim Catha (1999) album and to a much lesser extent, In Defence of Our Earth (1990).  Always liked their lyrics and Pagan/hippie angle, but musically, until they got crunchy and crusty, they weren't memorable.  Until recently, even though I really like those first The 4 Skins albums, I didn't wonder if there was anything else oi that I should hear.  Now I'm curious.  I'm looking for recommendations and leads.  Anyone?

groups recommended so far that I'm not interested in:  The Adicts, Oxymoron, Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer, Major Accident, Blitz, Camera Silens, Bombardiers.

from recent listening, I've liked:
The Business - Suburban Rebels
The Business - Saturday's Heroes
The Business - Singles & Rarities
The Ejected - A Touch of Class
The Last Resort - A Way of Life - why can't there be more like "Freedom"?
The Oppressed - Dead & Buried

[Andrew McIntosh]

That material from The Oppressed is great stuff. Earlier material that didn't rely so heavily on Moreno's RAR sympathies, consequently a lot nastier lyric wise ("Turn around and get stuck in/And kick that cunt to fuck fuck fuck fuck!"). Their first album, "Oi Oi Music", with the electronic drums, is probably the best one to get. "Magistrate! Magistrate! You're the cunt that we all hate! Maaaaagistraaaaate!". They were too heavily into doing cover songs, though - recall a later ep with covers songs with lyrics changed that was a bit naff.

It looks like you've got the essential of The 4 Skins - there aren't a lot of full length releases anyway, they seem to have released more compilations than full albums of original material - but you might be interested in "From Chaos To 1984" which is a live album with their later singer. Preferred the older one, myself. Liked the live stuff on "The Good etc." "I don't wanna die/You can ask the reason why/And I will not tell a lie/I don't wanna die (you do the way you're going out there!)". There's also an album from 2010 which I know nothing about.

I prefered Oi Polloi when they were Oi. I remember getting "No Compromise..." and even though I was into the politics at the time it did seem to come across as a bit too much anarcho-punk, especially all those talking bits and that stupid pie recipe song. For a while there they were to go-to band for releasing benefit singles for whatever was going at the time (their "Axe the Poll Tax" was bloody terrible).

Don't like Cock Sparrer? Fucking loved that "Shock Troops" album, but each to their own. Agree with you about The Addicts, though, never saw what anyone else saw in them.

[Zeno Marx]

That material from The Oppressed is great stuff. Earlier material that didn't rely so heavily on Moreno's RAR sympathies, consequently a lot nastier lyric wise ("Turn around and get stuck in/And kick that cunt to fuck fuck fuck fuck!"). Their first album, "Oi Oi Music", with the electronic drums, is probably the best one to get. "Magistrate! Magistrate! You're the cunt that we all hate! Maaaaagistraaaaate!". They were too heavily into doing cover songs, though - recall a later ep with covers songs with lyrics changed that was a bit naff.

I can't stand the electronic drum sound on that first album.  I modified my post above, because Fatal Blow also has that awful drum sound on the first couple of tracks.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Have you heard much of The Exploited? Their album "Horror Epics" also had electronic drums for some reason. One of their better albums, song wise. The Exploited were pretty good for the first few albums but ended up living off their own image, I think. That's okay, but not always my thing. By "they", of course I mean Wattie.

Funny, there was a time when every second punk had The Exploited on the back of their leathers, then they just fell from grace.

[tiny_tove]

Como's best and only fat punk band are touring the west coast.
http://mag.livetrigger.com/2015/08/the-leeches-punk-rock-italian-heroes-ready-for-their-first-tour-in-usa.html
I did several sessions with them live on stage in several occasion and witnessed some amazing food fights.
Despite not being the most aggresive band around, they have a unique energy which made them one of the most important Italian punk rock bands.
If you dig into adolescents, angry samoans, etc, nonsense lyrics, horror references, and catchy singalong they could be your cup of tea. If you see them, say hi to them :)

They also did some sountracks for porn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-KaHX8vY7Y



THE LEECHES , Heavyweight world champions of fat rock from Como Italy, are ready to conquer the U.S. West Coast this summer!!!

Here are all the shows:

8/13 Seattle, The Funhouse w/ Piston Ready / The Stuntmen and Torch Burner
8/14 Olympia, The Obsidian w/ Piston Ready and The STUNTMEN
8/15 Portland, The Panic Room w/ Piston Ready and The Lovesores
8/16 Grants Pass, The G Street bar and grill w/ Piston Ready, and guests
8/17 Ashland, Club 66 w/ T.B.A.
8/18 Off
8/19 Oakland, Leo's music w/ Dinosaurs
8/20 San Francisco, Hemlock tavern w/ Dinosaurs
8/21 off
8/22 Los Angeles, Redwood bar w/ the Hellions
8/23 San Diego (t.b.a.)

a couple of dates may change

www.theleeches.it

[Sturmfieber]

For me it would be stuff like Discharge, GISM, Siege, Black Flag, Confuse, Anti Cimex, Terveet Kädet, Olho Seco, Minor Threat, GG Allin, Amebix, The Germs, Grazhdanskaya Oborona, Tožibabe, Dead Kennedys, old Agnostic Front, Crossed Out, and Rupture.

As for RAC... Triebtäter, Macht & Ehre, Ovaltinees, Bound for Glory, Infantry, Public Enemy (the Paul Burnley one), Skullhead, Ethnic Cleansing, Open Season, and Intolleranza.

My background was more or less death metal so I first heard about noise from a Relapse newsletter someone showed me years ago.

[tiny_tove]

Limp wrist a go go, not as brilliant as Los Crudos, but Martin knows how to kick asses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRk7vtQAjZo

[a_2_g_2]

is anybody here into japanese punk at all? GISM and Confuse were just mentioned so I thought I'd make this post about some of my favorite japanese bands
First up:
The Stalin. Fronted my Michiro Endo, he has tons of other projects but The Stalin will always be my favorite. Really ahead of its time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfdFC7VJsjM

QP Crazy. Fronted by The Crazy SKB. had one of the previous guitarist of The Stalin at one point (not a lot of stuff on youttube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUmVQ1Th_A8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6SApeIjqsg

Kyoaku Kyojindan (恐悪狂人団) The first band of The Crazy SKB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxGwjX8OaZo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNaAK9T5XU4

The Swankys. Recently got into these guys. really good noise punk but sometimes they sound clean on some albums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTSkw9sU928
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bR4o9ZyV9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpeH-ihbidA

The Sadist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wErAVXHtD6o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZfrxpYr7f8

I could go on and on. So many other bands that only released a 7" and maybe have a comp out. GHOUL, Tranquilizer, The Clay, The Sexual, Gudon.. so many others.

[AXNAAR]

is anybody here into japanese punk at all? GISM and Confuse were just mentioned so I thought I'd make this post about some of my favorite japanese bands

Big fan of Japanese stuff!

Japanese SODOM are great:
Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVZ6MaBPMMU
Album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdYmmkawmw8

ACID also great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYaYYibVr2A

LSD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrQ7QSg9OI

ZOUO!!!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bavbNYSA8_s

SIEG HEIL!!!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnEBvPKKMdc

Other favourites: Gai, Confuse, Execute, Lip Cream, G.I.S.M, Ghoul, Kuro, Liberação, Death Side...there's loads more, got a shoe box at home with quite a few Jap bootlegs will have to dig out soon.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

I'm a huge fan of Japanese hardcore punk as well but I always feel weird discussing it on messageboards. 98% of the time, people say they're fans of this stuff and their lists are the most random I've ever seen, and I can't help thinking they've been "fans" for three months thanks to Soulseek. While it's great they're getting into Japanese bands, I feel like this is one of the last scenes in which, same as noise, there's still lots to discover, and I don't really like to see it spread out there ready to consume through shitty Youtube rips when it took years of hard search and way too much money for a few dedicated hardcore maniacs to grab their hands on amazing and obscure recordings from  bands nobody has heard about. I'm all for sharing music and knowledge, but not like that. And I'm not into Japanese bootlegs at all. Whenever some greedy Euro boots a Japanese record, 10 classic Japanese bands decide they won't reissue their material anymore.

[AXNAAR]

I'm a huge fan of Japanese hardcore punk as well but I always feel weird discussing it on messageboards. 98% of the time, people say they're fans of this stuff and their lists are the most random I've ever seen, and I can't help thinking they've been "fans" for three months thanks to Soulseek. While it's great they're getting into Japanese bands, I feel like this is one of the last scenes in which, same as noise, there's still lots to discover, and I don't really like to see it spread out there ready to consume through shitty Youtube rips when it took years of hard search and way too much money for a few dedicated hardcore maniacs to grab their hands on amazing and obscure recordings from  bands nobody has heard about. I'm all for sharing music and knowledge, but not like that. And I'm not into Japanese bootlegs at all. Whenever some greedy Euro boots a Japanese record, 10 classic Japanese bands decide they won't reissue their material anymore.

Weird attitude mate. Personally my interest began a few years ago when some key 7"s got "fan club" reissues, LSD and ZOUO being the main ones - though I think the ZOUO were legit. Passing Japanese bootleg tapes/youtube links should not stop bands reissuing their stuff + I'm sure these are not made for profit. Besides that, most of us don't have £100's to spend on rare Japanese tapes/7" - not sure why you have problems with others wanting to learn more.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

The Zouo records were on Crust War, so totally legit, yes. And Japanese punks see bootlegging, the sharing of MP3s, etc... in a totally different way from ours in general. There are also very strong cultural traits we're usually foreign to that get involved in the manners things have to be handled whenever one wants to deal with them, etc... There are reasons why many 90's classics have never been reissued, for instance. And I don't have problems with people wanting to learn more, I actually never do. But I do have problems with sharing stuff on websites some people use for dick contests with other people (like the posters whose only contributions are the same pictures in the different record scores threads on the various messageboards we all read. Fuck that shit.)

[HongKongGoolagong]

Have you heard much of The Exploited? Their album "Horror Epics" also had electronic drums for some reason. One of their better albums, song wise. The Exploited were pretty good for the first few albums but ended up living off their own image, I think. That's okay, but not always my thing. By "they", of course I mean Wattie.

Funny, there was a time when every second punk had The Exploited on the back of their leathers, then they just fell from grace.

The later Beat The Bastards and especially Fuck The System are albums with a whole lot of thought put into them, much as Wattie may really enjoy playing the thick cunt to the press. FTS has incredible multilayered vocal overdubs and samples, a gabba influence and surprisingly thoughtful yet still foulmouthed words and ultra aggressive/nihilistic attitude. The guy (and his long-term bandmate and brother, the drummer Wullie) is a kind of artist, albeit a hugely self-effacing one. Just eight albums over 35 years and each of them unique and each of them pushing boundaries of music forward somehow. I like the Cockney Rejects and 4 Skins and The Business and Cock Sparrer fine but they've all turned into cliches or made awful false moves where The Exploited haven't. As real artists I'd now place The Exploited's output above their original rivals Crass to be honest. As moneymaking live performers they do what they have to do for the rent - 'Sex And Violence' every night -  but the records are fucking amazing - hoping they can get the long-promised new one finished before long.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Uh oh. If there's one thing that puts me off it's this notion of being an "artist". The last thing I want to think of The Exploited as is a group of artists pushing the boundaries of music. When it comes to punk I like my brow as low as possible. Just the pure raw energy and fuck-off contempt, thanks. I could say the same for a lot of Noise and PE, with honourable exceptions.

It's probably just a matter of perception, though. Punk, for me, was always a kind of anti-music, or at least always with the notion that "anyone can do this so why the fuck aren't you?!". That was part of it's great attraction, that while in the wider realm of rock it was important to know how to play and sing and perform and the rest, here was something where you needed energy and impact first and foremost. I got up to about the "War Now" ep before I lost interest, "The Massacre" just didn't do anything for me. I've tried giving them a go every now and then but the impact is lost. If they are getting more careful in the studio that's probably why the sound is getting too clever for me to get into.