various artists - Home Alive: The Art Of Self-Defense

Here's what I remember about when this came out, through the eyes of an 18-year-old who lived on the other side of the country from the circumstances:

• Most of the folks I knew were more interested in this for the unreleased Pearl Jam song, the live Nirvana track, and Joan Jett & Kathleen Hanna performing with the remaining members of the Gits than the genesis why Home Alive was created.
• I had no clue what sort of violence women encountered in the world at the time. I would learn.
• I remember thinking, when the promo copy arrived at the college radio station I volunteered for, that it couldn't possibly be worth listening to, on account of being released by Epic Records.
• That's a point of view that is hilarious in retrospect. How many folks got their first exposure to Tribe 8, Lydia Lunch, or ¡TchKunG! as a result of picking this up? There are so many fiercely independent artists here, not to mention the wide range of spoken word performers and poets present.

This is a pretty iconic benefit comp, all things considered, in celebration of a wonderful human whose time came way too soon. Volume 2 would come five years later on the Seattle/San Francisco label Broken Rekids. Along with a trio of 7"s that came out on local label Crash Rawk Records, it's a resounding body of support that still stands up as well as any benefit.

Discogs

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various artists - International Hip Swing

Happy holidays, you animals. I've been helping the newest member of our family recuperate from a spaying over the past week, which should explain why Friday's post was missed.

Don't worry; I'm not dead in a ditch.

"International Hip Swing" compiles tracks from 20 different participants in K Records' International Pop Underground series, now entering its 36th year. That seems almost insane, unreal to me, especially when I realized that the Real Distractions record I bought earlier this year is the latest entry in the series.

What's even more wild to me is the possibility that I could learn something new about this record, which has lived in my collection for at least a decade, and, more likely, probably closer to a quarter century. Tonight, I learned track 7, performed by Brief Weeds, a cut I've probably skipped over more times than I care to think about, is the product of Mssrs. Picciotto & Canty, along with their collaborators Hampton & Janney, all of whom previous made up Rites of Spring, One Last Wish, and Happy Go Licky. The track doesn't sound anything like those other bands, but not even knowing that they'd collaborated on two 7"s for K back in the mid 90s seems like a big gap in my knowledge. Can I even consider myself an unhealthy record nerd having not known this?

Tiger Trap, Fifth Column, Seaweed, Beat Happening, Teenage Fanclub, Unrest, and Heavenly also appear; all wonderful bands providing superior cuts. Don't want to overlook the songs I've listened to and loved for years for the one I just rediscovered.

Discogs

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The Third Sex - Card Carryin'

Here's another one of those records I had in the 90s, sold off or lost or gave away, then recently turned up locally for a couple of bucks. I heard about the Third Sex via a pretty great 7" (their first) they released with Kill Rock Stars in 1995. When I heard they'd made a full-length for Chainsaw, the home of Team Dresch and Sleater-Kinney, I dutifully sent off my $8-$12 in carefully-hidden cash, and six weeks later, I was the proud owner of "Card Carryin'".

Portland lesbians were a mysterious breed, making a better racket and fiercer sounds than any guys I knew at the time in the state of Maryland, so, yeah, I dove headfirst into that scene, despite being a straight, cis, white dude fresh out of high school with a shaved head. "Why are you into those dyke bands?" otherwise progressive buds would ask me. I don't know; like so much other art, I'm drawn to the things on the outside. I mean, yeah, I probably would have fit in better at an Earth Crisis show, but this just made more sense, had greater appeal.

Even 25 years after the fact, I maintain a big soft spot for romantic, political music, of which this has in spades. There's a strong surf sound here, with the requisite energy that comes around with that sort of influence. And the vocal interplay between Trish & Peyton definitely reminds me of Sleater-Kinney from the same period, although there's a lot more weird, silly play going on here, which of course I dig. It's a good old spin, from a time where it was really daring to be queer and play even DIY spaces without getting fucked with. The Third Sex kept it fun, sounded like there was a bright future ahead, and it still sounds great.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Periscope (Another Yoyo Compilation)

I had wanted to post "Tulip", the second Yoyo comp, in this space. But I seem to have deleted it from my hard drive, and the hard copy is in a box in one of my storage units, and who knows when the Christ I'll find that, so here we are.

"Periscope (Another Yoyo Compilation)" is the third release sampling recordings from Pat Maley's Yoyo Studios. This one's as strong as the preceding volumes, with a mix of bands and performances you'd probably never find elsewhere in the world. On the noisier side, you get Mukilteo Fairies, Fitz of Depression, Copass Grinderz, and Bloodthirsty Butchers. If you're looking for something a bit more twee, then check in for Love As Laughter, Go Sailor, or Tattle Tale. Even a pair of indie rock/alternative luminaries make appearances. Beck shows up with a song pre-dating his "Mellow Gold" breakout. But the stand-out has got to be the otherwise unreleased Neutral Milk Hotel cut, "Bucket". It's a winner.

Please forgive the shitty genre tagging on these cuts. I think I ripped this when I was hopped up on goofballs or something.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - No Sleep For Hardcore

Mike from Kill the Man Who Questions, circa 2001
(photo from @suburban_voice)

I had shared "Dangerously Unstable", the second of four Suburban Voice comps, a couple weeks ago. So it made since to whip this one out to share. This came with issue #45. If memory serves, Tear It Up was on the cover, Al did a really long interview with Brian from Grand Theft Audio, and the whole endeavor was reflective of the thrash revival of 2000-01. It was the penultimate issue, the final musical release, and both were pretty good ones.

So, if you're feeling froggy, what will your $1.99 (plus shipping) on Discogs get you? The lead song is from Limp Wrist, whose demo I hadn't heard at the time and whose first 7" hadn't come out yet. "Does Your Daddy Know?" still fucking slaps. It was a perfect teaser for the 7" and 12" that'd come out later in 2001. The covers on "No Sleep" are super solid: D4 covers DYS, F-Minus does a Middle Class song that appeared on "Tooth and Nail", and Word Salad does a perfectly cromulent version of "Angel of Death" by Slayer. Cover boys Tear It Up, a dramatically underrated band if there ever was one, contribute an unreleased cut, and XFilesX share a track from their demo, which hadn't really appeared outside of Massachusetts at that point. I'm pretty certain this was my first exposure to Vitamin X and Hates and Straight to Hell and Four Letter Word. I find it very easy to miss releases like this, just like I miss that you could browse a magazine rack's worth of new music zines every month.

No sense in bemoaning what's been lost; let's only look forward to what can be. Re-listening to this makes me want to put out my own comps, to document what's happening here and now. And I guess that's the highest praise one can offer; that a piece of work inspires someone else to create their own version.

Discogs

Click here to download.

A smorgasbord of Bandcamp buys (The Baltimore stuff)

Homosuperior

So it's possible I may have gotten a little out of control on Bandcamp this weekend.

As I noted in my Friday post, Bandcamp waived their typical fees for the day in support of musicians. I'm really excited to see what kind of money was spent; if memory serves, fans spent something around $4.3 million on independent music during the last sesh. I was able to do my part this time around, picking up 16 records this past Friday. Today, I'll talk about the Baltimore bands; tomorrow, it'll be the non-Baltimore jams. So here we go!

Concrete City - "Break Up The Band" / "Strange Bodies!" / "Killer Kane"

Concrete City bills themselves as "power pop for a disappointing world". I'm just happy that some of favorite 40-something punx from Baltimore have teamed up and are making really fucking great music. Mike Hall (Sick Sick Birds, the Thumbs), Elena Fox (Squaaks), Tim Baier (Roads to Space Travel), and Lee Ashlin (every fucking band) have been playing the soundtrack of my life since the late 90s, but have only been together for about a year and a half now. Since June 2019, they've rolled out six singles, the three newest of which I snagged Friday. I typically try to wait until there's a physical release I can get through a new band's Bandcamp, but these are worth snagging immediately. I suppose the closest sonic comparisons are the last Sick Sick Birds record and, I dunno, maybe something like the Greenberry Woods or XTC? These are the kind of recordings that would have been championed by WHFS and released by Merge back in the 90s, only you get to see them today with 50 other smart souls...if you live in Baltimore.

Homosuperior - "SISSY FUSS"

Here's another one that I wasn't going to wait for a physical release to pick up. Homosuperior is super-queer, super political punk from D.C. This is their third record. They started playing out and about the year after I left Baltimore, but I was lucky enough to check them out live during my last trip home. This is awesome, basement dance party punk rock; I dare you not to shake your ass while listening. I really like Donna's vox on this recording; there's more than a hint of Darby Crash in the performance, without the out & out nihilism. This record is so snotty, you almost want to offer it a tissue. How much do I like this record? So much that I'll buy a physical copy when it comes out.
Dakota Condition - self-titled / Geezus/Hain's Point - split / Inner Oral Photography - "Assorted Artisanal Hand-Crafted Meats and Other Fine Dairy Products"

It's really fun when the kids of former bandmates get old enough to start their own bands. It's also nice to see when their taste doesn't necessarily echo their parents' taste, instead using it as a jumping off point. That's what you get here with these three releases from Baltimore's Soursop Records. Dakota Condition's been playing a fair amount of DIY shows over the past couple years in Baltimore, and started to make a good name for themselves. This recording from 2019 sees them wearing their post-hardcore & emo influences on their sleeve, but that's not a bad thing. Honestly, the more I listen to it, the more I'm reminded of the Emo Summer CD, which, again, good thing! Two of three members play on the Inner Oral Photography cassette. It embraces the players' more experimental side. I found myself reminded of the first Mr. Bungle record listening to it; they've heard a lot of great music, and now they're playing it back in 90 second blasts. Finally, there's the Geezus/Hain's Point split, which I grabbed mostly because there's a perfectly good Rites of Spring reference on the B-side. Most of what I take away here is "promise". I can't wait to hear what comes next. Oh, for shits and giggles, here's Dakota Condition covering Fugazi.

Cold Feet - Punk Entity

I shared "The Worst of the Worst" last week, so that era of American hardcore has been on my mind lately. I had heard good things about Cold Feet from friends back in Baltimore, and I figured it was a good time to check them out. "Punk Entity" is their brand-spanking new 12", and it - fucking - ROCKS! I hate to regurgitate the text on their Bandcamp page, but it's really true: they sit firmly at the intersection of 1983-era American HC and 2020 rock & roll. I like this for the same reasons I still love "This Is Boston, Not L.A."; this is young, snotty, fast, and often unintelligible. I feel kinda dumb that I only snagged the MP3s on this; I really should have copped a copy of the 12" while I was at it.
Mallwalker - DEMO

Fuck, this turning into a REALLY long post. But it's worth it; I swear. Baltimore's Mallwalker has been on my radar for a while. I'm not sure why I haven't snagged their 2018 demo tape until now, but it's a worthy addition. I think making a riot grrrl reference would be really lazy, but I hear a fair amount of Bikini Kill and, oddly enough, Circle Jerks on these five songs. There's a definite Girls-Up-Front vibe at work here, and it totally works for me. Considering it's been two years since this was released, I expect to hear something new from Mallwalker after the quarantine lifts. Grab this and get out in front of the hype; we should be hearing more from this quartet soon.


And that's it. I got some real bangers from my hometown on Friday. Come back tomorrow and listen to what I got from around the country.