Warrior

Music coming soon. Just ripped a ton of vinyl... everything from raging Chicago Latino HC to blown out Japanese HC. Get ready.

In the meantime............ WWGRD?

Ugly Music For Ugly People

Don Austin, ladies and gentlemen. Akron's undisputed kings of all things heavy and aggressive. The web store description of their second record is "pissed Ohio hardcore- fast." No offense to Nate Gloom, but that is a huge copout. The best way to describe Don Austin's music is one word- ugly. I once read a review of a Murder-Suicide Pact record calling their music ugly, but this is a whole different dimension. Just look at some of their song titles- "Elegy to Those Alone," "Naked and Drunk," "I Fix Everything With a Hammer," "You Will Never Kick and You Will Die A Junkie," etc. This is not lightweight "I feel sad" bullshit here. Don Austin put forth some of the best music I can imagine as a sound track for depression.

Ignoring the blatantly theived Frank Miller, everything about Don Austin's self-titled debut 7" is original and moving. Heavy without being metal, dark without being dramatic, pummeling without being "brutal", and jagged without being math-y. This is a bit of a challenge to find in your average used bin, but their second 7" titled "Rust Belt Blues" is still available at the Gloom Records website. While not as refined as "Rust Belt Blues" or as dark as their final offering, "Akron," this slab features enough legitimate rage and musicial chops to stand on its own. Find out for yourself here. 8 songs, only one of which clocks in over a minute- you'd think these would be the shortest most direct routes from point A to point B. WRONG. Each song is seething, well crafted, and unpredictable. It sounds as if they used broken chunks of cinder blocks as guitar picks. If you're into Cult Ritual, Otophobia, and any Bob Suren band, you'll love this.

I was first exposed to Don Austin's live show in the summer of 2002. Their basement show in Philadelphia fell through and they were added on to a show featuring straight edge youth crew bands. Don't get me wrong, I was there for the edge bands, too. But of the 150 or so people who were there, maybe 20 watched Don Austin, a quarter of those enjoying the set. They finished up their 20 song set and split. Good call by them- they were the musical and performance highlight of the show. Just another reason why hardcore is one of the few things I truly enjoy in life- sometimes, you get a pleasant surprise. And usually, that surprise is short, sweet, and memorable for years.

Check out Don Austin on MySpace (although I doubt they'll ever update again) and make sure to pick up "Rust Belt Blues" from Gloom Records.

Man Without Plan

OK, first things first, I am lazy. Second, I just got into ripping vinyl. Audiophiles, beware- this shit is ripped at 96k. Fuck your 192k and 256k rips, if this was some 80's Italian disco, I could understand a high-quality file... But we're talking about punk. Hardcore punk. Hardcore punk for the hard core punks.

So, I am going to post a melodic record... for the punx. Man Without Plan is without a doubt one of my favorite bands of this style. They're fast, tuneful, smart, funny, moving, WHATVER adjective you can use to describe hardcore punk is 100% applicable here. Except maybe "epic". Or "amazing". The only people that use the word "amazing" to describe bands are herbs. Dudes who totally mark out to drab shit like Modern Life Is War. ANYWAY, Man Without Plan, in my eyes, were always close cousins with West Chester, PA bands like Super Hi-Five and Plow. On the same label, same kind of style, all that. Except Man Without Plan have always had this maniacal twist to their lyrics. Their primary singer (whose name I am not allowed to reveal due to uhm... tax purposes) is without a doubt an evil genius, albeit one with keen songwriting abilities. His zine, A Punk Kid Walks Into A Bar, is an absolute cult favorite and needs to be reprinted without question. I would go into detail, but that's a whole different animal; I'm just here to talk about music.

"Commence Primary Ignition" is Man Without Plan's first record. All of their trademarks are here- moving lyrics, barely-riding-the-rails speed, and an attention to catchy hooks. This 7" has 3 originals and a cover of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" Wow, yeah, they are fucking on point with that. I hate making comparisons for bands like Man Without Plan- their sound is very unique. Try to be open minded about this- imagine if Void did a cover set of later Husker Du songs. Void's recorded output gives the impression that their songs were an inch away from tumbling into a mess- the songs were played so aggressively and urgently that you didn't know if and when the train out run off the tracks. Man Without Plan has that same feeling. Like they are choking the tunes out of their instruments- and the result is a moving, melodic wall of sound. If this sounds like it'll blow your skirt up, click here and find out for sure.

I recently discovered than not only are Man Without Plan back together, they are recording new stuff soon. I'm so stoked. If you like these four songs, PLEASE visit Man Without Plan's website.

Also check out Creep Records' website (featuring releases from FOD, Super Hi-Five, and more- they put this 7" out) and Man Without Plan's MySpace (with tourdates, blogs and photos).

"mans against boys"

I still laugh when I watch this. Doesn't hold a candle to the rant he went on in 2005 when he was coaching in Wilkes-Barre, but when he calls his defensemen "soff" and then gives multiple raspberries, well... I can't help but chuckle. Plus it reminds me of the classic Face Value jam "Men from the Boys"

I Accuse! "s/t"

I love this record. There are plenty of bands who play fast hardcore, but there is a quality to this lil platter that can't be recreated. I Accuse! play their songs recklessly; to the point where I'd assume their recording session must've been a mess. I saw these guys in Youngstown, OH a couple of years ago and they pretty much replicated the instense, tuneful mess that their 7" presents. I happen to be a big fan of bands with that almost out of control sound- Void, Gang Green, Otophobia, stuff like that. I Accuse is sloppier, with a more youthful feel than those bands, but a similar all-out approach to their tunes. For those of you intereste, here's a little linky to the 7". But if you're a TRUE fucking punk, you'll head on over to www.sound-pollution.com and buy the fuckin' thing. It's worth the money, AND you can find plenty of other awesome records to get into.

Time for some beef. Just recently, IA came around this area on tour, but they played in one of those sort of a venue sort of not places, and I wasn't cool enough to get the address. FUCK that. And while I'm at it, if you're going to have a show in your house, I understand not giving the address out on the internet. I DON'T understand being a little priss and not replying to polite emails requesting the address, or worse, replying the day AFTER the show in question. I'm looking at you, New Brunswick.

Just an observation, now that Chris Therien is no longer eternally hustling to keep up with Jaromir Jagr, he seems to have let himself go. Dude is looking like Dan Aykroyd.

Finally, some administrative issues- I will be taking down all links to songs after 7 days. Sorry.

Betray "S/T"

Every time I go to a record store, I see a CD by this band called Betrayed. Black & white cover, run of the mill HC dudes standing on a rock beach. And every time I see that CD, I think of this absolute GEM of a 7" from Amsterdam's Betray. I actually heard that band Betrayed, and they sucked a dog dick. So the only thing that band is good for is reminding me of this record. If you look deep in any used bin, you can find this rather unobtrusive piece of vinyl for about half as much as you'd pay for some new piece of shit that'll just rot in a box after one play. Hey Crucial Response! Repress this fuckin' thing!

Some people bum out on Euro bands that sing in English. They say they can't get past the accent. That's bullshit. There are regions in the US whose accents are such horrid butcheries of English that I refuse to believe that sort of reasoning. Just listen to anyone from Staten Island speak for more than 15 seconds. I dare you. And yet, the typical East Coast HC kid will dismiss most English speaking Eurocore... Like the average modern hardcore band is anywhere near eloquent. I mean, think about it... These dudes are from the Netherlands and probably speak no less than 3 languages; they're getting their point across in a language that is certainly not their first.

If you can't get down with raw, fuzzed out, mid-paced to speedy hardcore, then I don't want to know what goes on inside your brain. The first and last tracks on this 7" are the real keepers. Get a grip here and "TAKE HOLD OF LIFE!"


Carey Price might be the future, but that flying Frenchman Cristobal Huet is the hot shit right now. Speaking of who's hot... look at good ol' AK-27 there on the left side of the picture. Kovalev's having himself a hell of a season and is basically telling the Francophone media in Montreal to fuck themselves with every point he racks up. Good for him.

Uniform Approach "demo"

Sorry for the shitty photo. Deal with it. Anyway, along with vocal harmonies, one of my not-so-guilty pleasures is Youth Crew style HC. It's simple, predictable, and when done right, can be an awesome sight to behold live. While there are countless examples of established bands doing "joke" '88 HC records, I dig Uniform Approach best of all. I mean, when Assuck did Anthem 88, I dug it. And when dudes from Ink and Dagger (posing as Philly sXe kings "On Point") threatened to beat potheads with their own bongs, I had a hearty chuckle. But nothing beats dudes from Heresy and Ripcord applying their trademark manic speed to the '88 blueprint. This has recently been pressed to a 7" and can be found all over the place. If you haven't seen this cheesy cover around, you're probably too busy fingering through distro boxes looking for the new Government Warning 7" or something. Dig it here.

I was sparked to upload this gem because over the weekend I was lucky enough to see Vitamin X, who have a similar erm... approach to Uniform Approach. I'd upload something of theirs, but they are still touring stateside- so you should buy their shit direct from them. If you dig straight ahead speed, with some humorous and though-provoking lyrics, go check them out.