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).