Primitive Underling

So here we have it. Flesh Police's second demo. Had this one for a little while and I've been stupidly slack in posting about it. I heaped hyperbole upon their previous demo here and this new demo is just as deserving. The whole demo hits like a dirty bomb.

Dug the artwork and hand assembled/cut sleeve. DIY as fuck. Time consuming and tedious work but that personal touch makes a lot of difference.

As many others (Skullfucked, Operation Grindcore) have noted the recording has improved a tonne. Which, before you cry foul, works in their favour. Adam Findlay did a good job recording this. Personally I liked the absolute raw as piss, blown to hell shitty sound of the first demo - but this new recording really cleans up their sound giving the songs (many reappearing in slightly altered form) a bit more room to breathe.

The whole bands performance feels a lot tighter this time. Seeing as I have followed a bunch of his bands over the years I can confidently state Lee Yoresh's bass remains as solid and reliable as ever (read: awesome, do not read: boring). I don't think I mentioned the drummer (Olie Rundin) previously. I feel I should rectify this. Keeping the songs grounded with his pummelling, guy can really blast. There is a lot to be said about a good drummer and it's damn tough to find one who can both blast and swing.
 
Duncan's excellent guitar playing is in the fore of this mix and it's nice to pick out the riffs. "Consequence" & "Hour of the Goat" are standouts both featuring uranium soaked filthy mosh parts. There are a lot more grind parts and a lot less slow parts on this demo, which means when they do happen those slow parts really stand out.

What makes this band stand out so much for me is that they don't wear their influences so obviously on their sleeve. Too often "influences" is code for "bands we've most obviously stolen from" and you can't really say that Flesh Police sound like band X or band Y because they use their influences as just that, influences.  They weld, beat and graft those sounds into something new. A rarity in this genre which relies so much on recycling past glories.

You can listen to the demo here.

All in Deeper Shit.

I spoke about AIDS in an earlier post. Was stoked to score this on Ebay a few months ago as it is pretty hard to come by. That said I have seen it pop up a few times. Definitely happy to have this as I really like the way they pull off their brand of fast hardcore.

The 'Fuckface' CDR put out by the now defunct (or at least very very quiet) Fuckface Records in 2003. My copy is part of the machine stitched red fabric sleeve with hand stamped face edition of 100. Another 25 exist in yellow envelopes and the material here was also pressed to flexi in 2004 and limited to 40 copies. I have missed out on the flexi version a couple of times on Ebay as it tends to blow up way outside what I am  willing to pay. Unsurprisingly the songs here are very similar in style and structure to the material on the Infection CS (recorded a year earlier). Extremely fast hardcore. One major difference is the vocals are shared between members on this release due to the departure of the former singer and as such vary depending which member is emptying their lungs. You can read more about this release at the bassist Rohan's blog here.

Condensed Flesh

This, monoxide inhalers, is The Flesh Police rehearsal tape. Had this posted to me by the guitarist (and all round legendary bloke). Feat. ex and current members of a bunch of notable and upcoming Perth bands (Grandmother & Suffer to name two) and limited to around 20 copies send out to friends, affiliates and total assholes around the country. To put it simply this tape RAGES.

Flesh Police play that special brand of hateful hardcore with dirgey slow parts that tickles my fancy. With catchy, hooky riffs and an absolute rabid dog vocalist (Berkay of Slays4Days fame. Buy his excellent zine here) I think their own description of West Coast Grind Violence does the job nicely of summing them up. When they lock into a groove you can feel the sweat of a pit closing in. More obvious reference points are Crossed Out, SQRM and the new crop of Australian powerviolence influenced hardcore (you know who they are).

Rumour has it of a split 7" due 2013. Really keen to hear what these cats do next. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.

UPDATE: The CS is also available to pay your filthstained dollars for HERE.

Check out a recent set here:

Gus Chamber.

Rupture. The band that continues to divide fans of fast obnoxious hardcore worldwide. For a great overview of their career read the back issues of Seven Inches to Freedom that give an interesting and informative overview of their varied career highs (and many many lows). This is one of a glut of releases (of varying quality) that have seen the light recently.

This is the limited to 60 (30 black, 30 clear) 'Shat From the Tomb" 5" Acetate cut by Rest In Punk records in 2011.  I really dig the design on this release. The black on the thick clear plastic looks really great. The same label also put out the Disease Process tape (R.I.P. records having a member involved with that band) using the same look and it looked just as good on their tape. Both of the songs on this release are covers given the Rupture treatment. Side A being "What the Fuck" originally by Black Easter and side B "Job" by The Nub. Listening to the originals you can see how Rupture would have taken influence from these bands as both tracks are obnoxious, rude and straight forward no bullshit punk. Not their finest material (IMHO the'Lust and Hate' or 'Corrupture' LPs) but definitely worth tracking down.

Death Before Dishonour. Dead by Dawn.

With an order from Coffin Cut Records recently they threw in this:

A test press of their upcoming Chickenshit - Death in Battle 7". Forming in 93 and being over and done by 98 Chickenshit were just a wee bit before my time (but not a lot before) but being a bit of a Perth hardcore historian I was planning on picking this up. The 7" is half unreleased tracks (Side A) and half of a live set (Side B) previously available (good luck finding a copy!) on the "Live at the Castle" cassette released by Pagan Waste Tapes in '95.

They describe themselves as being "influenced by the sounds of anarchy and violence, Japanese Blastcore, old UK Crust & Scandinavian Hardcore, cold beer and a good time" which I think sums their sound up pretty nicely. Thrashy, chaotic and fast crusty hardcore. I might spend some effort tracking down their other releases (I already own the split with UG Man) as i really dig what I have heard.

I got a kick out of the run off groove pictured below which reads "CCHC 1% A Toohey Red".

Subhumanoid Worship

Found this little gem in Missing Link and snapped it up immediately. The Dead Ends - Artificial Unintelligence cassette put out by N.H.S Records in 2000.

The Dead Ends were a Misfits and Ramones worshipping punk band from Perth circa 2000-2003. They sound pretty much as you would imagine they would sound with those influences. Fun and infectious. I caught a few of their shows as a youth at the local theatre (The Pit Theatre) that was putting on all ages punk shows back in the early 2000s. As is the case with a lot of local bands their stuff (especially the cassettes) is pretty hard to come by these days. All the tracks reappeared on the odds and sods collection "Dead & Buried" released on CD by Rabbit Records 2003 and now re-released on their Bandcamp. Listen and purchase here.

As seen in the pic below mine was 31/100. I don't know if every copy has this but on the information insert the drummers name is whited out (originally said Goonie?) and Tristan hand written in. Can anyone shed any light on this?