A few months back, I had the pleasure of meeting Justin Pearson, the mastermind San Diegian punk-atic of such legendary bands as The Locust, The Swing Kids, Struggle, and the headmaster at forward-thinking punk label, Three.One.G. After hanging a bit, talking music, biz, and old school San Diego punk and punk crossover bands (of which my brethren Pope was a member of Blind Justice) I was thrilled to get home and find a goody bag of Three.One G loot waiting for me. The Chinese Stars was the first LP I pulled out of the bag, and damn if it didn't set my Saturday morning into fine motion.
Made up of former members of Arab on Radar (vocalist/guitarist Eric Paul and drummer Craig Kureck), former Six Finger Satellite bassist Rick Ivan Pelletier, and guitarist Paul Viera, what we got here is simply a bouncy blitz of angular dance punk the likes of which I must have invested in my DNA. Think a weirder Gang of Four or a noiser Automatic Automatic (first album) or even a much artier apb. A Rare Sensation bops and jumps and thumps and screeches from start to finish with some of the best damn post-punk bass lines I've heard in ages. I mean listen to that bass! Anyone who knows me and my love of bands like apb knows what that bass can do to me. When really good post punk leads with those massively thick, funky bass lines, I'm in heaven.
Fortunately, there's more to The Chinese Stars than just that bass. Following the Gang of Four template, the guitar here is more filler, tone and texture. It doesn't play riffs so much as create noise to fill in the spaces. But it does it all perfectly, without ever becoming too overwhelming or oppressive. It never swamps the spine of that bass riff. Vocals are nasal and whiny but fit never annoy, and best of all the guys manage to package all that darkened punkish funk and noise with enough melody and structure to create real songs that really kick ass.
This may not be for everyone, but my ass couldn't stay in the chair longer than 30 seconds after plopping this platter on. Gorgeous multi-colored vinyl from one of the great American punk indies. If the bands I mentioned appeal to you, and you don't mind the music being a tad left-of-center towards the angular side, you gotta check this one out over at Three One G.
Ahhh!! October, one of my favorite months in the year. Why you ask? Well first off, I live in Texas. When October hits, it means the weather if finally getting colder and I can finally wear hoodies again. I love hoodies. The second awesome thing about October is Halloween. Who the fuck doesn't like Halloween? Also, it's October so that means it's time to crack open another Cicatriz' Six Pack.
We start this month off with Ordstro and their Summer 2011 Tape. As expected this is one solid, almost 11 minute track. It runs much like a tape would, not skipping tracks. I'm guessing these San Fran natives released this Demo in tape format. This single track appears to be seven , one to two minute tracks of some awesome powerviolence. This shit is fucking brutal, my ears are happy and it makes me wish I had the tape format of these tracks and not just the lame digital. I get me a tape player! I'm sure a lot of you youngens are asking what the hell a tape is. Back in my day, we didn't have Cds, we had tapes. We didn't burn a disk full of track we loved, we made things like mix-tapes. Most of my mix-tapes consisted of recording underground and indie music off the college and independent radio. It looks like tapes are the new throwback music media.
Ordstro goes good with: The Locust, Retox, Cattle Decapitation, His Hero Is Gone, Weekend Nachos, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Charles Bronson
Our second band this month is Bear Awareness and their album Pillage and Burn. First off, I must say this is an awesome name for a band. These guys are a good mixture of fast core, grind core and powerviolence out of Los Angeles. Two stand out tracks on this album are: "The Jewish, Pig Destroyer" and "Fear of Bacon". The quality on these tracks are not the best but do give you an idea of where this band is going musical direction wise. A solid release with a garagey diy ethic. You are now aware of Bear Awareness.
Bear Awareness goes good with: Retox, The Locust, Despise You, Lack of Interest, Stapled Shut.
Third up this month is Glasgow, Scotland Natives Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair (yes, that is 4 Wheelchair) with their debut EP, Bald and Dead. This is a really good debut. I'm glad to see some good ole' fashioned powerviolence coming from the other side of the pond. My favorite track is "Your Cancer, My Cock". Unfortunately the band has taken down the free download for this album at the time of my write up. If you ask me real nice I might just email you a copy.
Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair goes good with; Despise You, Retox, Assuck, His Hero Is Gone, Man Is The Bastard, Wiccans
Check out Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair here: http://www.myspace.com/4wheelchairs
Next up is Pittsburgh 3 piece, Torn Off with their 67 track (7 proper tracks) disc Snake Breathe. When I first downloaded this album I was astonished by the number of tracks on it. 67 is a bit intimidating. Quickly, I learned that it was only seven tracks. Needles to say I was had but at least I was entertained. The boys in Torn Off offer up a great mix of a doom laden, crusty hardcore. Everything about this band is great. Musically they are tight. The vocals a screamed and fit really well with the music. I also really enjoyed all the soundbites before the songs. "Give Up" and "Ghost Blood" are my two favorite tracks. If you like really good hardcore with serious breakdowns check these doods out.
Torn Off goes good with: Weekend Nachos, The Acacia Strain, His Hero Is Gone, Tragedy, Trap Them
What do Jean Claude Van Damne, Rob Van Damn and this next band have in common? Well besides the sir name Vandamme, they both kick ass! Vandamme is powerviolence band out of Italy. Who knew the Italians could be so damn violent. They offer up their EP 6 Songs, 3 Minutes. Extreme brutality and pretty cool lyrics make this band awesome....you know besides the cool name. Best track on the album is the opener, "Veggie Food Is Not For Preppies"
"we don't give a fuck about rich preppies menus we don't care about a juicy gourmet our war is an everyday fight an everyday massacre"
Vandamme goes good with: Retox, The Locust, Some Girls, Converge
Oh no!!! We're down to our last of this months Six Pack. Better make it good. Waveriders, I give you End Times and their latest demo: Demo 2011. End Times is hardcore band with metal tendencies outta Dallas. As you may of inferred from past write ups, I am a Dallas/Fort Worth native. So, I am always a little partial to give the local boys some space on my write ups. The only way to build a good scene is for people to know their is one and to have awesome bands that want to play awesome jams in that scene. End Times definitely give the DFW area something to be proud of. My favorite track is the brutal "Pestilence". Awesome guitar work and a punky d-beat drum make this one special. Lyrically this song makes me want to jump in the pit, fight my way up to the stage so I can sing along and sing proud.
"The end begins, the fire will come to boil their greed, bound by shackles, forced to see, suffering.
Taking their homes, taking their lives, punish their souls for all of their lies. the dawn of the new world begins, as the old world ends.
Ashes filling the sky leaving our mark on their world Their blackened souls will rot, undying pestilence.
Burn it down, their blackened souls will rot.
Burn it down, their souls will rot... "
End Times goes good with: Unit 21, Black Flag, Ragging Boner, Trapped Under Ice, His Hero Is Gone, Weekend Nachos, Earth Crisis, Integrity
So we have polished off another Six Pack. Join me next month for more bandcamp.com bands you need to know about. If you are in a band or know one that you would like to see on Cicatriz Six Pack: shoot me an email @ cicatrizrip@gmail.com or find me on facebook.
Sweden has always been know as a hotbed for really good metal. Sweden’s Inevitable End are no different. These Swedes offer up brand new album entitled The Oculus. Known on previous albums as being more of a straight forward Death Metal and Thrash act.Inevitable End takes a different musical spin on The Oculus, combing a more frantic and aggressive style.
This album hits you like a freight train! The first track on the album, “Tell us, Parasites” . The track is almost The Locust like. Combining frantic drums and guitars. Vocals on this track are top notch. Both frantic and aggressive with an underling Death Metalish guttural.
“Zen” the third tack off The Oculus is awesome. The intro is a weird guitar riff then boom, drums and vocals kick in. This song is all over the place, mixing Death, Thrash, and Noise seamlessly. My favorite track on the album is called “The Oculus” which by now you know is the name of the album. The song again is frantic, making you want to bang your head and do a some moshing.
“Vergelmer” is a Southern Metal inspired instrumental (maybe they are from Southern Sweden) that leads into the track “Chamber of Apathy”. If you like breakdowns, this song has a great one. A hard hitting double bass and blast beats make this song stand out.
All in all Inevitable End’s The Oculus is a solid metal album. However you take you’re metal, (I’ll take mine with three Grinds and a dash of Power Violence please) you will find a track if not all of them that you dig.
Inevitable End goes great with: The Locust, Through The Eyes of The Dead, old Norma Jean, and countless other Grind, Death and Thrash bands. Be sure to check out Inevitable End’s The Oculus. It hit shelves and digital downloads on May 24th.
