various artists - Bumped By Karaoke (Datapanik's Greatest Hits, Vol. II)

A roundup of your usual early 90s Columbus-area suspects makes up this second volume of Datapanik's greatest hits. There are tracks from TJSA, New Bomb Turks, and Gaunt. Girly Machine, Pica Huss, Greenhorn, and Monster Truck Five had all appeared on both early Datapanik 7" releases and the lovely "Shave The Baby" comp (you can download it here). But there are a number of shooting stars making an appearance here, with names like The Boy Scout Love Triangle, G-Spot Tornados, Stupid Fucking Hippie, and Appalachian Death Ride. Folks made some unfortunate choices when naming their bands in the late 80s and early 90s. Kyle Ryan is not impressed.

What's cool about this release? It's almost completely cuts exclusive to this record. The Turks' songs all appeared on "Destroy Oh Boy", although my untrained ear thinks these may be different recordings from that classic record. The Apartments offer a trio of recordings that were only available on a Datapanik promo-only record. And that's it; you won't find these songs anywhere else.

So start your weekend with a dash of trash. Break out a half rack of cheap domestic and turn this up load. Good luck with the neighbors.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Shave The Baby (Datapanik's Greatest Hits: Volume 1)

My old lady (with whom I celebrate 12 glorious [?] years today) attended grad school at THE Ohio State University, and is forever twisting my arm to relocate to Columbus, a place she describes as a promised land of inexpensive housing and Cincinnati chili. Personally, the Buckeye State always seemed like a place to dry through/fly over to me, but I find myself regularly drawn to Columbus's musical output, so maybe...just MAYBE, I should listen to her and start looking at packing up the family and heading back east.

Datapanik Records was a going concern for a handful of years in the late 80s and early 90s (with a welcome but sporadic return in the aughts), but they turned out some quality shit. Call it gunk punk or trash punk or garage, but their 15 or so 7" releases during that time are top to bottom qual-li-tee rock 'n' roll records. The New Bomb Turks, Gaunt, and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments are the big "names", although I'm pretty fond of Monster Truck Five's side of their split with TJSA. There's also an unlisted Great Plains track tacked onto the end, a welcome treat from a weirdo rock band that far too people remember.

In 1993, Datapanik and Engine (a division of Blackout! Records, doncha know?) put out the first of two compilations, gathering the first nine 7"s on the venerable label. There are a few things missing; Boys From Nowhere's tracks from their split with Two Hour Trip, one of Gaunt's cuts from the split with New Bomb Turks, probably something else I haven't figured out yet. You won't miss them. In fact, forget everything from that sentence. The comp is great, grand, terrific, a guaranteed wake & bake classic.

There's a second volume that Datapanik put out around the same time; it's in the mail, and I'll post it once it arrives.

Discogs

Click here to download.

The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle / Gravest Hits

In the before/before time, I had a pretty reliable rule: if a bar had the Cramps on the jukebox, they were going to be my type of gin joint.

I'm partial to their earliest work, featuring the late Bryan Gregory on guitar alongside Poison Ivy. But this set, released by I.R.S. all the way back in '86, offers the best of both worlds: the second LP from the Cramps, 1981's "Psychedelic Jungle", and their 1979 12" "Gravest Hits". "Jungle" is rad as its one of Kid Congo Power's' earliest appearances on vinyl; he replaced Gregory after the Cramps' first LP, and began doing double duty in the Gun Club in 1982.

This is so trashy. It makes me want to sniff glue and watch some Joe Don Baker movies. I want to stomp on feet and eat a plate of cake and go back to drinking $2 whiskeys in a shitty part of town and put about 20 Cramps on the jukebox and wake up with a painful, delicious headache from too much fun.

Discogs

Click here to download.

The New Bomb Turks - Drunk On Cock

It's a clever pun. A fun record cover. A weird format (the veritable 10"). Four originals and a Queers cover. It's the Turks. It's on the same label as a bitchin' Datapanik comp and the Deadguy "Work Ethic" EP. It's Saturday morning after 3am. I have nothing more to offer than this fine slab o' wax (or CDep).

Discogs

Click here to download.

New Bomb Turks - Nightmare Scenario (the old and the new)

Typically, I'm reluctant to share a record when there's a perfectly good alternative to purchase; in this case, for a wonderful cause. But here's a chance to compare, contrast, and see how goddamned good the original version is.

Back in August, Columbus' pride and joy, the New Bomb Turks, created their own Bandcamp page, and posted the original mixes of 2000's "Nightmare Scenario". Their fifth LP, as well as third and final release for Epitaph, "Nightmare Scenario" was the first Turks record I ever purchased. I know, I know...but they weren't playing basement shows or getting written up in HeartattaCk or Profane Existence. I just didn't know any better at the time.

As the story goes, the team of Davidson, Weber, Reber, and new drummer Sam Brown (ex-Gaunt) embarked to Detroit for a four day recording sesh with Jim Diamond, master of ceremonies of legendary studio Ghetto Recorders. As Lance Forth notes on the Bandcamp:

Over four days and nights, the band enjoyed their easiest and most fun recording session – the only break being a jaunt over to a bar to see a reunited Real Kids, their first show in years, which floored the band and only added more mezcal to the fire.

Final mixes were left to Jim Diamond, and by the time he forwarded them to the band, overdub ideas had hatched, and about half the record was remixed with local studio wiz, Jeff Graham, in Columbus. A middle ground was eventually found, and what resulted was Nightmare Scenario (Epitaph Records, 2000) – the fifth album in their six album/three compilation catalog, and the one the band believe is their best.

Did 22-year-old me have any clue any of this was going on? Hell, no. I just had finally discovered a band on Epitaph worth hearing. "Automatic Teller" and "Spanish Fly By Night" are still on my list of garage rock DJ go-to's, getting tons of spins on the radio and at parties. I liked what I heard, I still like it...

...but I gotta say, I think I like this one more. Diamond's mixes are raw as hell, like tossing lighter fluid onto a hot grill. It's been 20 years since the initial release, but here's a record that sounds alive, vital, like the spit you shoot into the eye of someone who's been kicking the hell out of you.

The "Diamond Edition" got released back on Bandcamp Friday in August, and I'm kinda bummed I've missed it for four months until now. Old pal Henry Owings revamped the original Eric Wheeler photograph for a all-new, spare cover. All proceeds generated by the digital release will be donated to Black Queer & Intersectional Collective and Columbus Freedom Fund. So, it's really a simple thing: download the original, long out-of-print, then go drop a bit of coin towards a pair of good causes. It's the holidays, for cripes' sake. And let's hope 2021 sees a physical release!

Discogs

Click here to download "Nightmare Scenario".

Click here to download "Nightmare Scenario (Diamond Edition)".

The Unband - The Unband aka Chung Wayne Lo Mein

Do you like Thin Lizzy and the Dwarves? Do you like underappreciated bands? It's Friday, let's party. As the Unband sang, "We Like To Drink And Rock And Roll".

Bassist Michael Ruffino wrote a pretty great book about the history of the band called "Gentlemanly Ripose" which, if you like music books, is pretty much a must read/own. I deeply appreciate everything this Boston trio did, if only so it never needs to be repeated.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Wymyns Prysyn - Green Ribber

I booked these fellas on the recommendation of the noise merchants from Friend Collector. FC was releasing their first 12", a snappy little platter. And I'd known Donnells for years, so if he and his boys wanted to play a show, then, by Gawd, I was going to put on a show.

This was Hive Bent's second gig (I'll write more about them in the future). I described Drunk Monk as "Baltimore noise agents" on the Facebook event listing, but I seem to recall them playing spacey surf music, like a less punk Man or Astro-Man? And Wymyns Prysyn? Well, thematically, they were right in line with the rest of the lineup. They made a racket that, 20 years before, would have been on AmRep, Trance Syndicate, or, lord help us, Skin Graft. They lived in that same territory as Drunks With Guns, Dazzling Killmen, KARP, or Clockcleaner.

It turns out all three members of Wymyns Prysyn knew/had worked for friend o' the blog and Atlanta/Athens legend Henry Owings. So we had that to chat about. Something like 15 people showed up to the show. We had van beers afterwards, then went our merry ways into the early April night. The songs on this digital-only release originally appeared in a short run demo from 2010, with a bonus track from the "Tres Umbros" demo tape.

Bandcamp

Click here to download.

Pussy Galore - Exile on Main St

Do I really need to say anything about this? I owned a 5th generation copy of a bootleg that I lovingly wore out. It's the third release from one of the all-time great noise rock bands of all time, covering my favorite Stones record. It's the tribute record by which all others must be judged, and found wanting. I hear Keith Richards had to have his blood replaced again after hearing it. It's an hour of glorious, junky, trashy sound, and, honestly, it makes me happy just to know it exists. The world can't be that bad when we make art like this.

I'm using a vinyl cover below because I prefer how it looks to the O.G. tape release. Sue me.

Oh, yeah, looks like you can get a copy for a mere $175.00 right now on Discogs. Punch. That. Purchase. Button.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Re-up: Charm City Suicides - s/t

There are strange doings afoot here in Bodymore. To be fair, the birthday post was already written, and scheduled to post, and, fuck it, why wreck the schedule just to put in new news? My boss approached me with a proposition Friday. Suffice it to say, it scared the shit out me. I have no idea how to react except to jump in a give this new thing a shot...soldier up, as one might say. But it's weird, someone you respect looking you in the eye and telling you they believe in you. I've always had a hard time hearing it, even if I was always able to say the same thing in total sincerity. "I'm proud of you." "I believe in you." "I trust you." We live in cynical times, where every commenter would rather drop a glib line than honestly state how they feel. I watched Can't Hardly Wait tonight with the wife. We're both still full of the birthday buffet she put together for the family and I this morning. I feel like a big ol' fat ass, packed to the sinuses with creamed chipped beef and fresh cantaloupe. It gets harder to have true enthusiasm for these kinds of events every year; not due to the excitement of the event, mind you. Again, it's just hard to be truly joyful when life surrounds you with post-irony...insincerity...the wink and the nod. But fear not, here's where the music comes in, kids. There was a band around these parts a few years ago by the name of Charm City Suicides. They were the band that made you fall back in love with a live show. Their screamy, trashy garage sound was equal parts Oblivians, Black Flag & Sam and Dave. They were the perfect teenage band. They were honest and wore their attitudes, along with their hearts, on their sleeves. They fucking rocked. Like a lot of music, I talked mad shit on C.C.S. for the first couple of years I was aware of them. Then I saw them play a show in Fallston shortly before I was released, sometime in the fall of 2001. Like just about every other band I ever talked a bunch of crap about, Charm City Suicides knocked my dick in the dirt that night. Playing to a crowd of about 50 kids in a Republican-town V.F.W., they said a lot about the power of D.I.Y., of how proud and strong youth can be, and how it doesn't matter being cool, looking hot. It was angry and smart and I'm still stoked I got to see them three more times before breaking up in October 2002. During their last set ever, I pulled off the most perfect stage dive I've ever done. I haven't dove off a stage since. The record known as Charm City Suicides, "I", was originally released as an LP by Vermin Scum Records in 2001. This quickly went out of print, and bookended Vermin Scum's long record as the best label for Baltimore & Annapolis-local punk. Mark McCoy heard the LP and released a version on CD on Youth Attack! in time for C.C.S. to break up. That's the rip to be found here. Every town has a punk rock band full of piss, vinegar, three chords and the truth. For five years, Baltimore had Charm City Suicides. 

(Postscript: this blog was originally posted on my 31st birthday in 2008. A lot of water has passed under that bridge since then. I still love the Charm City Suicides.)

Discogs

Click here to download.

Testors featuring Sonny Vincent - Complete Recordings 1976-1979

How the Christ could it have taken so long for the world to get on board with the Testors?

I've listened to the 2003 Swami release of "Complete Recordings 1976-1979" so much over the past 17 years, and I don't get it. I don't get how someone, anyone, couldn't have heard the demo from 1979, heard them live, and thought, "Yeah, I could sell this to Alice Cooper fans." Or Thin Lizzy fans. Or KISS fans. I just don't get it.

Now, I love the Dead Boys and Ramones and Dictators and Cramps and all the various bands that made up that early New York City scene. But I keep coming back to these recordings. It's not that the others are overplayed to me; it's just the mystery of a band this good, this tight, only getting one self-released record out during their life span. I could see it for any number of bands that weren't from a big rock town. Yet the Testors arguably played in the big rock town during their lifespan, and the classic "Together b/w Time Is Mine" single was all that came out until Incognito released a pair of 10"s in 1995.

I've purposely downgraded the bitrate on this to 128kbps as encouragement to buy this from Sonny's Bandcamp page. Hell, feel free to wait until Friday, when all the $$$ goes directly to him. If I hadn't owned this for so long, I'd almost certainly drop the $14 to snag this.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Killer Pussy - Bikini Wax

Lucy La Mode of Killer Pussy

By now, regular readers of the blog should know that the ol' Ape Mummy loves some raunch. It's what happens when you grow up watching John Waters movies and finding Tijuana Bibles in your grandad's footlocker. I still get a kick out sleazy, stylized music, whether it's the Cramps, Dwarves, Andre Williams, or Turbonegro. Does it still play as well in 2020 as it did even five years ago? I really don't know anymore; there's a disconnect in my mind between being drawn to smutty art and remaining sensitive to the sensibilities of people who I care about. I'm working on it. That's what I can do.

So...Killer Pussy. Not the most SEO-friendly name (or is it?). They came out of Phoenix, playing punky, porny new wave alongside bands like JFA, Sun City Girls, and the Meat Puppets. Over their initial five-year existence, they put out two 7"s and an LP, had a song on the "Valley Girl" soundtrack, and made their rep as funny and fun to watch. Their first 7", 1982's "Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage" got tons of airplay on KROQ and "New Wave Theater". Then they ended, not necessarily a one-hit wonder, but definitely a bit of a novelty. They would reunite over 10 years later, and would continue to gig locally until they called it a day in 2015.

So I'm digging through the crates at Bargain CDs Records & Tapes in Everett, and I find this reissue in their dollar bin. I'm kind of shocked it's there; it's not particularly rare, but I hadn't seen one since Oglio put together a collection of Killer Pussy's recordings in 1994. Of course I snag it, along with some Criterion laserdiscs and a trucker-themed country compilation cassette. It definitely has a real "fake punk" vibe to it. Of course I'm in love. It's like a poppier, female-fronted Feederz. Could you make this today? Probably, but not nearly enough people would get the joke.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Henry Fiat's Open Sore - Adulterer Oriented Rock

How about some of that old-tyme Swedish garage punk?

Henry Fiat's Open Sore are the yang to the Hives' yin. Both bands wear suits onstage, play garage rock, and generally act like cocks of the walk. But while the Hives can headline festivals, HFOS is better suited playing in the back of a dive bar. It's all gimp masks, three chords, and attitude, paving the way for bands like Carbonas, Black Lips, Sick Thoughts. Naturally, I loved finding this out in the wild for a mere $3. It's the kind of shithead punk that I just can't get enough of, slotting nicely with my Dwarves, Sniffany and the Nits, and Queers records.

This collection of the first four years of HFOS singles came out in 2002 simultaneously with the American reissue of their first LP on Berkeley's Coldfront Records. Coldfront was run by one of the guys who wrote/edited for Hit List magazine, and reflected that zine's focus on streetpunk, garage, and Oi! They were both short-lived and amazingly prolific, putting out close to 70 releases in just over 5 years. There are some great overlooked releases in that catalog: I'll write about their Wynona Riders comp in the future, and I love their various samplers, which capture a really fun slice of American punk rock. As for Henry Fiat's Open Sore, they went on hiatus around 2004, reappearing with an LP in 2008, then fully reuniting in 2019 with a pair of new records on Stockholm's Push My Buttons.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Charm City Suicides - II

What do I remember about Charm City Suicides?

I never walked away from a Charm City Suicides show disappointed.

I was in love with every Mike Apichella flier I ever experienced.

I remember being so in awe of these kids who were the same age as me, who lived less than 10 miles away from me, but were so hip and juiced in.

Flier by Nolen Strals

I'd never seen them until I went to College Park for a year, even though they all lived less than 10 miles away from me for five years. Then I probably saw every saw they played in the Baltimore/DC/NorVA triangle for the last two years of their existence.

I had two years of digital photos of Charm City Suicides on a external hard drive that disappeared in a move. I mourn their loss more so than I do my own baby pictures.

I remember Mike and Dubin giving me this CD the night they got them back from the printer and thinking, "How am I so cool that they thought to get one to me right away?"

I remember stage diving at their final show at the Ottobar with Nolen and Walker, thinking that things might never get any better than this.

They, along with Daybreak, were the musical bridge from me being a Harford County kid to becoming a Baltimore resident. They released 28 songs from 1999 to 2002, across two LPs, a single, and a pair of compilation appearances. When they were done, they were done; there'd be no encore, no reunion show, no retrospective. All that was left was a legacy of sheer abandon, ringing ears and hoarse throats.

Charm City Suicides never phoned it in. How many other musical groups can you say that about?

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Goin' After Pussy: Teasers & Tidbits

Stolen from Etsy

Call me crazy, but I don't think you could put this record out in 2020.

There's this whole trash punk scene from the 90s that, despite being prime for revival, no one's truly examined in detail. I mean, I guess Eric Davidson touched on parts of it in his must-have history of late century punk, "We Never Learn".

(Sidebar: how the fuck is that book no longer in print? Somebody should reprint it, tout en suite!)

But there's this whole sleazy, Dead Boys-loving, pomade wearing scene, illustrated by Coop, I remember from the 90s that really doesn't get mentioned anymore. It came from labels like Sympathy for the Record Industry and Reptilian Records, and stood in stark opposition to the political punk and hardcore, or the much more cheerful Epitaph/Fat mall punk of the same period. Not that I'm the cat to write that history, mind you. But it's worth revisiting, especially since I think the greater culture lacks the nuance to permit so much off-color shit to happen in a 30-minute punk rock set.

Goin' After Pussy provides a nice snapshot of that time. It's ostensibly a sampler of the first 20 or so releases from California's Junk Records. It's also sexy, kinda dangerous, fun...like huffing glue in a dark alley behind the dive bar. I won't sit here and bitch and moan about the bad ol' days, but it was nice to come up in a time where not every mistake was recorded. The music and posture of each of these bands reflects that. You get some early period Electric Frankenstein, a Candy Snatchers track from the period around their second record, and a pair of ripping Zeke cuts, not mention an assbasket of other rippers. The music is intercut with answering machine messages, which is quite a lost art.

So if you find yourself with a handful of mysterious pills and about 75 minutes of free time, put this on and get weird. I'm pretty certain I pulled this out of a Half Price Books warehouse sale in 2018, so I paid something like 25¢.

Discogs

Click here to download

A smorgasbord of Bandcamp buys (national jams)

Judy and the Jerks (from Goner Records Facebook)

Yesterday, I wrote (at great length) about the Baltimore bands whose music I picked up on Bandcamp. Now, let's talk (also at great length) about the various national bands I downloaded.

A note before I start: the day before the 1 May fee waive was announced, I ordered the new Coriky & Hammered Hulls from Dischord, and a pair of C.H.E.W. records from down the road at Iron Lung. I'm omitting them here, because I'll end up saying something about each of them in the coming days.

Gouge Away - "Consider" b/w "Wave of Mutilation" / "Stray"

Hey, new music from Gouge Away! I was really blown away by their last full length, "Burnt Sugar", after years of people telling me to check them out. Their new single popped up on my feed a few weeks ago, so I made a mental note to snag it when the opportunity arose. "Consider" sees Gouge Away moving farther away from hardcore into post-hardcore, but also remaining super political in this observation of white supremacy. I like this for the same reasons I like a band like Modern Life Is War; there's an obvious groove present in the song that not every hardcore band embraces. The B-side is a Pixies cover; they play it pretty straight, although there's a lot more guitar hijinx present here than on the original. There's a 7" release of these two songs through Deathwish, if you're looking for a physical release. As an added bonus, I grabbed the digital-only release of "Stray", which appeared in an shorter form on "Burnt Sugar". I like this expanded version; again, there's a Fugazi-like groove present that really grabs my attention.
American Nightmare - "Life Support"

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out that American Nightmare was putting out new music in 2020. I was aware they were still playing out, but here's their first recording in two years and it is...unexpected. The band first blew me away in 2000 has matured a lot, showing influence from both deathrock and Swedish power pop on this 7". The songs are still short, fast, and loud, but there are real tunes here. I think this is what I hope for when a hardcore band's sound evolves; their songwriting and performance progresses, while remaining true to the spirit that brought them to life. And, hey, there's a Lemonheads cover on the B-side!
Self Defense Family - "Leeds"
I really enjoy the sheer volume of music that SDF releases on an annual basis, and their willingness to experiment. SDF has been, in their words, "cleaning out our hard drives for your quarantine entertainment" for the past few weeks, as well as putting together some limited edition t-shirts inspired by the songs. There's no dating for these recordings; I'd guess they might have been recorded in the past couple years, since both evoke the songwriting on "Have You Considered Punk Music". I know most folks have a fairly binary opinion on Self Defense Family; you either loathe them, or you love them. I'm firmly in the second group.

Time Crisis - "Demo 2020"

I like taking wags on Bandcamp releases: I put in whatever (sub-)genre I'm feeling, look for something interesting, plunk down my $1-$5, and typically enjoy. That's how I found Denton, TX's Time Crisis. I've been listening to a lot of D-beat and crust during quarantine, so this is right in my wheelhouse. If you like Doom and Inepsy, you'll more than likely like this. I will say this is more blue jean crust than it is ropeleash crust, if that makes any sense at all. A track like "World Crumbles" takes on new relevance now. And how can you not love a pair of lines like "Everyone/Is so uptight/Everyone/Going to die"?

Judy and the Jerks - "Bone Spur"

I got put onto Hattiesburg, MS's Judy and the Jerks via 2018's "Dog City, USA" comp, provided by Robert at Terminal Escape. I hear good things about what's happening right now in Hattiesburg; I'm always interested in what's happening in smaller cities down South, considering that's where I grew up. And holy moly, I AM INTO THIS! If I had one adjective to describe these songs, it'd be "brash". If I could add another one, it'd be "snotty". These cats have a ton of attitude, but instead of it coming across jerky, it just sounds fun! JatJ cut these new tracks last September in preparation for their East Coast tour. $4 gets you four new JatJ songs, as well as an Urban Blight cover. I hope they're spending their quarantine writing new music, because I think I just got hooked on their junk.


And that's it. Just a metric fuckton of music. It should keep me occupied for at least a few weeks. Here's where I remind you that Bandcamp is doing this again on June 5 and July 3 (the first Friday of each month), and if supporting active artists and labels is important to you, it's a good chance to provide that support.

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.