Let's celebrate my recent birthday by stepping away from Mojo Mondays to share a pair of comps that, frankly, I'm kind of shocked I've not written about yet. This was my first exposure to the first wave of American hardcore, entering my tiny collection the same year as "Never Mind The Bollocks..." and "Steady Diet Of Nothing" did. An auspicious trio, all things considered. This is one I immediately taped onto a C-60 and played half to death throughout my teenage years.
You can get nitpicky as fuck about the track selection on Volume 1, but I think it's unimpeachable. The first half are just S-class: you could start your mixtape with any of these first eight tracks, from "Holiday in Cambodia" to "Get It Away", and the recipient would know they were in for a very good time. The second half, in 2025, could feel a bit more thematically disjointed. But Redd Kross were once Red Cross and shared members with Circle Jerks, Negative FX opened Mission of Burma's last show, D.O.A. released "Hardcore '81", and the Stains moved to San Francisco, became M.D.C., and released one of the all-time great international HC comps in 1984's "International P..E.A.C.E. Benefit".
This was a mind-melter at the tender age of 15. While missing a trio of key names of that early scene in Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Misfits, this was a key introduction for me, along with the second volume (also released in 1993). Plus: Gary Panter artwork! It'd be cool as hell for a Real Gone Music to reissue this one on vinyl, especially considering I'd love to frame this cover.
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