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?

Savory

From time to time my local record shop has had a few gems hidden in it's second hand bins. Picked this up pretty cheap:

The 1994 City Slang pressing of Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart. To my knowledge this is the first press (although they pressed quite a few copies, so that doesn't really mean anything) and i am pretty stoked. Classic record that I didn't own a copy of in any format. Came with the original insert and the record, sleeve and insert were all in excellent condition. Being a crate digger pays off sometimes.

"This won't hurt a bit..."

Picked up the Nazi Dentist demo tape from Delayed Response a few weeks back. This is from the first run of 50. I don't know whats going on over there but the Brisbane scene has been killing it recently with Nazi Dentist joining the ranks of bands to watch alongside Last Chaos (see previous post), Sick People and Heroin SS.

Nazi Dentist play a tough style of straight ahead hardcore with dual female/male vocals. I particularly like her parts, really agressive. She sounds like she is going to knife anyone who comes near. None of the tracks are named instead being identified by roman numerals. Track VI stands out for me, hitting a good mix of dirgey mosh parts and typical hardcore speed.

A second run has been released which you can pick up from either the band or Delayed Response. You can download it here but i highly recommend you pick this one up. A band to keep an eye on.

Crystal Lake Legacy

In my opinion Voorhees are the best UKHC band of the 90s. Picked up a first press of their debut full length 1994 record 'Spilling Blood Without Reason' with a bunch of other records, which i will post about in coming weeks. Plain Black vinyl.

Absolutely awful cover art. The guy getting his throat cut has a really huge misshaped nose which bugs me whenever i look at it. Voorhees make that perfect form of mid-paced hardcore that makes me want to jump into a pit instantly. I got into Voorhees through the singers (Ian Leck) newer band Meatlocker, who play a very similar style of hardcore.

Final Distort

Last Chaos' 2011 'Wild Men' demo.

Downloaded this on a whim and absolutely loved it. Japanese inspired distort hardcore. Really simple Discharge inspired riffing and completely blown out reverb drenched vox. Almost missed out on a physical copy, luckily all round legends Coffin Cut Records had one left in their Distro.

Mansonic Parasites!

Helta Skelta have been kicking around for several years, but only seem to have become more organised and active this year with the release of their self titled LP. I did catch one of their early shows but haven't had a chance to catch the rejuvenated band live yet. They play a mix of fast, loose, punk influenced hardcore. There is such a great fun vibe to this band, the riffs are so catchy and some could easily have slipped onto one of those garage punk records that were so popular 2 years ago. I have a complete (to my knowledge) cassette collection of theirs:

From left to right: Alternate Cover of Parasite, Parasite Demo and the Cassette version of the LP (available in limited numbers when you ordered the LP). Purchase the LP over at Helta Skelta Bigcartel & download the Parasite demo here.

Aquatic Equine

Drowning Horse are quite simply one of the best bands in Australia at the moment. Absolutely punishing live, they play a mix of drone/doom. Think Grief, Corrupted or Ocean. I picked up their live tape a while ago and I continue to listen to it on a semi regular basis. Perfect cacophonous and epic doom. Comes on a very cool pro-dubbed purple cassette (pic below).

  

Musicially this release reminds me heavily of Buried at Sea (whose 2007 Ep 'Ghost' is highly recommended). You can download pretty much their entire discography (including this tape) over at Drowning Horse. While you are there make sure you download "Live at Seizan". For a taste of the live experience there are a few performance clips on youtube, but it loses some of it's power without the experience of a live setting. I urge you to check them out if you get the opportunity. I also urge you to bring earplugs.