Hello! Lots of stuff going on over here at GMHQ; we've got a couple
of new releases and plenty of new distro titles (a few of which from
Grave Mistake related bands), so let's get started...
First off, Grave Mistake has TWO new releases out this month - the debut LP from Chicago's
Earth Girls,
Wanderlust, which officially came out last Friday, and a reissue of Washington DC's
The Suspects 1995 debut LP,
Voice of America, which is officially out today! Both releases are shipping now, so head on over to the
Grave Mistake Webstore and check 'em out! Here is some quick info on each:
EARTH GIRLS Wanderlust LP
GRAVE077 / Release Date: August 12, 2016
"Earth Girls play power pop with an
emphasis on “power." Spearheaded by guitarist/vocalist, Liz Panella, the
Chicago-based band write songs that are bursting with breezy earworms
but still pack an undeniably urgent punch. This precarious and exciting
balance between infectiousness and grit propels the band’s debut full
length, Wanderlust. Throughout Wanderlust, Panella effortlessly combines
elements of 60s and 70s pop with more modern influences, while adding
her own distinguishing touches to make songs that are as catchy as they
are concise. Earth Girls’ songs are driven by hook-filled immediacy, but
they aren’t without sonic and lyrical depth. The best hooks always
sound effortless and Wanderlust is loaded with these deceptively catchy
yet winding melodies and chord changes. Every instrument plays it’s role
perfectly and tastefully; warm vocal harmonies weave around gritty
guitar and inventive bass lines, all held together by airtight drumming.
The album's tight 21 minute runtime lends itself to repeat listens that
reveal Panella’s attention to detail in arrangements, as well as
pointed lyrics reflecting a struggle to make the most of life and its
relationships."
THE SUSPECTS Voice of America LP (Reissue)
GRAVE073 / Release Date: August 19, 2016
Pick up a copy of the vinyl or give the record a listen / download:
"Grave Mistake and Six Feet Under are
honored to present a significant piece of Washington, DC punk history - a
reissue of The Suspects' 1995 full length, Voice of America, along with
the tracks from their 1994 debut self-titled 7". Originally released on
their own Torque Records label, the band's seminal output contains
thirteen blasts of timeless and unadulterated punk rock, delivered with a
precise intensity that maintains its urgency two decades later. Founded
by original Scream drummer Kent Stax alongside guitarist Bryan Harbin,
bassist Chris Condayan and vocalist Brian Gayton, the Suspects came
together in 1993 with one objective - to inject the Nation's capital
with a long forgotten dose of uninhibited punk intensity. Combining
their love for classic '77 UK punk with the aggression and power of the
DC Hardcore classics, The Suspects were a pivotal band for the region;
crucial in keeping the spirit of DC Punk and Hardcore alive and
flourishing for generations to come."
If you aren't familiar with The Suspects (which is one of the reasons we wanted to do this reissue), you can check out
The Suspects Bio written up for the release, as well as this
Washington City Paper article on the reunion show they did last month (which was GREAT, btw). Not to mention, there is an archived
Maxium Rocknroll interview the band did in 1995 for you to check out as well!
Both of these new releases are currently available direct from
Grave Mistake, as well as from other awesome stores and distros like
Sorry State Records, RevHQ, Deathwish, Dischord, Midheaven, and more! If
you are a store, label, or distro and would like to carry copies of any
Grave Mistake releases please get in touch for wholesale info!
That's all of the label news I'm going to hit you with today, expect much more in the coming weeks!
Now, on to the webstore update as promised...
For quick browsing of recent additions to the store, you can check out all of these titles mentioned below in the New Arrivals and Recent Restocks sections!
**************
First off, I have some new releases in the
distro from some GM afilliated bands - RED DEATH, BIG EYES, and
TENEMENT! This new Red Death 7" (their Lockin' Out debut) has been in
the works for over a year, and despite unfortunate delays it is finally
upon us and it rages! I think the only bad thing about this EP is that
it isn't longer. Regarldless, a no-brainer pick up and will get you
stoked for more new material from Red Death (hopefully sooner than
another year).
Stocked up on the new Big Eyes Stake My Claim
LP, which is phenomenal! Kait has been laying low with new Big Eyes
material for a while now, but this LP has been so worth the wait - I
definitely think it's the most powerful and cohesive Big Eyes full
length to date, and if you were a fan of the previous Big Eyes output
then you will most likely love this LP. If not, you might want to get
your ears (or brain) checked out by a doctor.
And finally, picked up copies of the new
Tenement LP - a few of these tracks circulated as a tour tape last year,
but this new record is the perfect follow up to last years incredible
Predatory Headlights double LP. A must for any Tenement fan, you won't
be disappointed.
In other distro news - we have the debut LP
from the UK's ARMS RACE - this LP is definitely one of my favorite
hardcore releases of the year, it's downright punishing! Arms Race were
one of the best bands I saw last year, and this new release lives up to
every expectation I had after for their next release. Definitely worth
your hard earned cash! I was also able to grab a few copies of the
KRIMEWATCH demo, which RIPPPPPS so definitely check that out if you
haven't yet and scoop up a tape! In other new release news, picked up
the new LP from Orange County's current hardcore faves FURY, the new EP
from RVA locals FRIED EGG, a 7" version of the rad demo from Omaha's
BIB, a goddamn ripper of an LP from Finland's KOHTI TUHOA, the new tape
from Boston's GLORY, and SIX 7" reissues from UK classics THE VARUKERS,
courtesy of the one and only Havoc Records.
And finally, still some great stuff from
the last update as well in case you missed it - new stuff from RAKTA,
G.L.O.S.S., THE POSE, SILENT ERA, ALIENATION, and more are all still
available as well.
Full list is below, so check it out and thanks for reading ...
New Webstore Titles for August 19, 2016
ARMS RACE "New Wave of British Hardcore" LP (Painkiller Records)
ARMS
RACE unleash their debut album after a well-received 6-track demo in
2013 and a 6-track 7" EP in 2014 on Quality Control HQ and Painkiller.
Arms Race arrived on the scene fully formed with their powerful and
gnarly UK-meets-USA hardcore: their signature sound of a vocalist
chewing on glass is backed by one of the most solid rhythm sections in
HC these days, and the guitar work adds a metallic element making the
whole sound gigantic while keeping the ugliness and aggression to the
max. NWOBHC is a statement of no-frills hardcore that is not scared to
reach out to different corners of the punk and metal world. Includes a
poster insert and excellent cover art by the illustrious Andy Fletcher
RED DEATH "Deterrence" 7" (Lockin' Out Records)
Newest,
highly anticipated 7" from DC's Red Death. The follow up to last years
Permanent Exile LP, this 7" has a beefy recording and is more blatantly
crossover, think more C.O.C. or Bastard than Rest In Pieces. And the
cover art is a new career highlight from Arbysdrink. A rampaging beast
is drawn like an actual moving toy ripped from a half-forgotten,
childhood nightmare.
KRIMEWATCH Demo Tape (Lockin' Out Records)
Best
demo of 2016! Ripping HC Punk from New York - I've read several reviews
saying it has a Japanese hc sound but I definitely catch more of a UK82
vibe from it. Either way, makes me want to circle pit, pogo, and throw
shit around the room. Love it.
BIG EYES "Stake My Claim" LP (Don Giovanni Records)
Big
Eyes, the brainchild of Kait Eldridge, is a band that has spent its
career successfully defying classification. They'€™re a punk band with
pop sensibilities; they'€™re a power pop group with a hard rock edge.
Big Eyes are different things to different people, and yet have always
felt ultimately content cemented "in-between" the scenes. Stake My
Claim, the band's third full length, was recorded throughout the fall
and winter of 2015. It opens with their heaviest song to date, the title
track, which sets a tone of Kait at a crossroad: Cause nothing stays
the same / stake my claim. Her lyrics are centered around
dissatisfaction and a need for change. Throughout the entirety of Big
Eyes' discography, there is an undercurrent of sadness and frustration,
but within Stake My Claim, Kait has found a sense of acceptance. With
the release of Stake My Claim, Big Eyes have expanded from a power trio
to a four piece band, and are now able to showcase the driving, dueling
guitar leads and classic power pop vocal harmonies of their albums
within their live shows. With Kait on guitar and lead vocals, featuring
Paul Ridenour on guitar and backup vocals, Malcolm Donaldson on bass,
and Griffin Harrison on drums, the band sounds more complete and
finessed than ever before. Despite location and lineup changes, Eldridge
has always had a clear vision for Big Eyes: to find her own distinct
balance between punk, hard rock and pop.
TENEMENT "S/T" LP (Deranged Records)
After
the release of last year’s highly anticipated double LP masterpiece,
“Predatory Headlights,” comes a new 12” EP by the Wisconsin punk outfit
known as Tenement. This self-titled record includes the newly mastered
5-song tour EP only previously released to a limited 50 cassettes, as
well as two new unreleased tracks. Like most Tenement releases, this
record transitions willingly into a different side of the band, one
that’s a little less punk and a little more pop. It’s a sound that’s
been poking it’s way through the band’s decade long tarp, finally
stretching a hole large enough to crawl out of. The band has always
stayed steadfast to being one big polychromatic puzzle. No singular
record can properly portray their musical identity as a whole. Here lies
yet another piece to the ongoing puzzle, a puzzle many fans surely hope
won’t get solved anytime soon.
BIB "Demo" 7" (Deranged Records)
When
you hear Omaha, Nebraska, you might think of steak, Warren Buffet, or
Saddle Creek Records. But you probably don’t think of hardcore. In comes
BIB. Noisey, blown out hardcore from the middle of nowhere. Following
the “everything louder than everything else approach” to their demo,
Bibs already colossal riffs sound like an avalanche when the bottom
drops. Squirmy effected vocals veer their sound from huge to weird.
Live, sometimes seen with 3 guitar players, Bib takes their wall of
sound to a whole new level that will leave your eardrums vibrating . The
straight ahead, downstroke pounding demo has been compared to the likes
of Hoax mixed with Pissed Jeans. Originally released on a limited run
of self dubbed tapes, Bib is happy to bring their demo to life as a 7
inch with help from Deranged.
FURY "Paramount" LP/Tape (Triple B Records)
Available
on vinyl and cassette. At the apex of Fury’s short and startling rise,
from a providential birth in late 2013 through era-defining performances
at America’s Hardcore fest in 2014 and 2015, the Orange County
five-piece has delivered Paramount, a debut full-length album of grace,
erudition, and effortless virtuosity that guarantees Fury’s induction
into the tiny fraternity of epochal hardcore bands — e.g., Embrace,
Unbroken, Mental — in whose sonic singularity and aesthetic intelligence
the best minds of successive generations have seen themselves
reflected. Paramount is impossible to characterize in the usual terms of
A-meets-B direct influence: maybe you hear Burn, maybe you hear
Outburst or Beyond or Supertouch, but no combination of such references
conveys the subtlety of the songwriting, the precision of the
musicianship, or the ferocity of Jeremy Stith’s vocal performance, by
way of which one encounters the best written and most cleverly phrased
hardcore lyrics in recent memory. Paramount is, as they say in the
groves of academe, sui generis. And yet to apprehend the lyric sheet’s
overt intertextuality (no less than Shakespeare, Don Delillo and
Praise’s Andy Norton, among others, are given co-writing credit), to
hear the multiplicity of guest vocalists, to spend the 12 minutes
required to read the voluminous thanks list — all this is to know, as
the band itself surely does, that Paramount belongs no more to the
individuals who recorded it than to the entire roiling, loving,
terrifying, inspiring, hateful, romantic, literate, ignorant,
fantastically dynamic culture that gave rise to it.
FRIED EGG "Delirium" 7" (Negative Jazz Records)
The
latest from FRIED EGG, a six minute exercise of tense and spastic
hardcore punk. Following the off-beaten tread of their debut 7" flexi,
the three new cuts on Delirium wind even tighter and further
left-of-centre. Side A boasts two schizoid hardcorepunk bursts, backed
with the ugly, self-loathing dirge that forms “Eggshells”. The fluid
instrumentation and anxious, spit-laden vocals capture the same uneasy
and warped state of mind evident in the mugshots laid out across the
picture sleeve. FRIED EGG deliver a perfectly delirious EP of hardcore
punk from the outer-limits of Virginia.
KOHTI TUHOA "Rutiinin Orja" LP (Southern Lord Records)
Debut
album by Kohti Tuhoa, a southern Finnish hardcore group comprised of
members of Speedtrap, Circle, Perikato and Kylmä Sota. Naming Framtid
and Rattus as principal influences, the quartet knocked many a punk fan
out with their debut 7" EP last year. This full lenght album is taking
things closer to the limit and pushing them over the edge. Vocalist
Helenas’ vocals are some of the most unhinged, maniacal evocations heard
since early era Negazione! WILD AS ALL FUCKING GET OUT! Stoughton
tip-on jacket.
WOUND MAN "Perimeter" LP (Painkiller Records)
Returning
to the fertile ground that Breathing Fire and Mind Eraser were
cultivated on (and featuring members of both), Wound Man unleash a dense
storm of blasting speed and oppressive sludge, recorded raw and
in-the-red on cassette 4-track.
VARUKERS "Protest and Survive" 7" (Havoc Records)
Originally
released in 1981, this 7” is like a blast of pure power from the early
days of hardcore punk. Varukers was one of the first bands to take up
the gauntlet laid down by Discharge to combine the rebel attitude of
punk with the pure energy of hardcore. This four song banger bursts with
raw energy and anger, the recording is raw and urgent, three tracks are
primal raw D Beat, while Soldier Boy is a more pogo punk UK82 anthem,
well known for it’s inclusion on the Punk and Disorderly compilation.
VARUKERS "I Don't Wanna Be A Victim" 7" (Havoc Records)
This
is the second ep from the Varukers, originally released in 1982.
Varukers seamlessly blend the styles we now call D Beat and UK82. This
7” features three of the more traditionally punk influenced mid paced
sing along ragers, picking up towards the end with the more hard edged
“No Masters, No Slaves”
VARUKERS "Die for Your Government" 7" (Havoc Records)
The
Varukers third 7” from 1983 originally released on Riot City. The
production progresses from the raw production of the first two eps. Two
sides of huge crushing riffs, the best of catchy punk and raw hardcore
power in an intoxicating mix.
VARUKERS "Massacred Millions" 7" (Havoc Records)
Originally
released as a 12” ep in 1983, this is raw and savage hardcore in the
Discharge tradition. From the alienation and misery of Thatcher’s
Britain came the revolt of punk against the establishment, society, and
the weak posing of the sold out remnants of first wave of punk. Taking
punk to it’s most logical extreme, Varukers channeled the angst of the
era into these four tracks of hardcore power.
VARUKERS "No Hope of A Future" 7" (Havoc Records)
Originally
released in 1984 on, this 7” features the Varukers developing into a
tight and powerful hardcore machine. The punk bounce has given way to a
heavier more proto crust hardcore sound. Lean and powerful, this record
has the same raw production and urgency as the first two eps.
VARUKERS "Led to the Slaughter" 7" (Havoc Records)
Originally
released in 1984 on Riot City, three tracks of unrelenting hardcore
punk moving more towards the sounds of the Another Religion Another War
era. Like Discharge, the Varukers pushed to a harder more powerful sound
with more leads and guitar wails, but always staying firmly rooted in
the world of punk rock and not veering as far into the territory of
metal. Huge riffs, raw beats, pure rage.
CULT VALUES "S/T" LP (Deranged Records)
Cult
Values was formed in October 2014 in Berlin as an international
collaboration between people from the USA, New Zealand, Austria and
Germany. After recording a much acclaimed demo in 2015 (out on Berlin’s
own Static Age Rec.) and a line up change on drums right after, CV
started playing tons of shows in Germany and the periphery as well as
writing songs for an LP. Said record was finally recorded in December
2015 by Tobias Lill and scheduled for release July 2016 on Deranged
Records. Musically, there is something very early American hardcore
meets post-punk about their sound, defined by fast, melodic, and
confident guitar play reminiscent of Articles of Faith and more recently
Criminal Code. Cult Values deliver 10 tracks of potent dark hardcore
that will surely leave those hungry for a solid contemporary take on a
classic sound quite satisfied.
PARASYTES / SECTA Split 7" (Discos MMM)
Split
7" from Montreal's Parasytes and Bogota's Secta. Parasytes features
members of After the Bombs, Truncheons, etc, but rips in a much more
UK82 style than other bands Janick has been in. On the flip are two new
songs from Bogota's Secta. These two pick up where their split with Dead
Hero left off, driving melodic hardcore punk. A great split with
awesome handmade and screened packaging that showcases the friendship
that formed at last year's Varning Fest. Out in time for Parasytes Japan
tour! 500 pressed worldwide (Dure Realite, Rakkos, Rat Trap, FYBS and
MMM) with 130 available from MMM.
FINAL 2016 Demo Tape (Discos MMM)
US
press of the demo from this Bogota, Colombia hardcore band with members
of Secta, out in time for their tours of the US east and west coast
ending at Latino Punk Fest in NYC. This is brutal hardcore punk with
vocals spit out at breakneck speed not unlike Rudimentary Peni. 150
pressed.
FLEX, THE "Don't Bother with the Outside World" 7" (Lockin' Out Records)
There
is no question that the UK is putting out some of the finest hardcore
right now. At the forefront of this NWOBHC (New Wave Of British
Hardcore) renaissance is the wolf pack from Leeds, THE FLEX. With a
sound that invokes DYS birthed in the gutters of New York in 1986, Don’t
Bother With The Outside World sees THE FLEX rip through six ferociously
violent tracks of pure hardcore aggression on their Lockin’ Out debut.
HAMILTONS, THE "You're Through" 7" (Hello Records)
Hailed by some as Canada's answer to The Ramones, Terry, Jackie, and Mikey are back with a brand new 7" from The Hamiltons
TAKE CONTROL "S/T" 7" (Triple B Records)
Debut 7" for Boston's newest straight edge group. 7 tracks of Confront/Brotherhood influenced hardcore.
GLORY "3 Song Promo (2016)" Tape (Triple B Records)
Three
new songs from Boston's GLORY. Killer hc w/ a late 80s yc vibe - and as
the cover art indicates if you like Nikes and doing athletic shit,
you'll definitely dig this.
DINOS BOYS "Last Ones" Tape (Dead Broke Records)
Sleazy garage punk rock & roll from Atlanta, Georgia!
FROZEN TEENS Tape (Dead Broke Records)
Minneapolis'
garage punkers' 2012 full-length album, pressed on a high-quality
Cassette. 100 pressed on White Tapes w/ Red Imprinting.
MAXIMUMROCKNROLL #400 - September 2016
Here
it is: the September 2016 issue, Maximum Rocknroll #400. It’s hard to
believe we’ve been at it for this long, so this time we’re turning back
to reflect on the people that make it happen every month: our
shitworkers. Every band featured in this issue features at least one
volunteer or contributor to the mag. We’ve got the Welsh-Greek-Cypriot
maelstrom that is London’s EFIALTIS, Oklahoma City’s AMERICAN HATE and
Chicago’s the BUG scrambling the signals of Midwestern hardcore, the
uncompromising melodic punk of the Bay Area’s own SYNDICATE and SILENT
ERA (perhaps the only all-MRR-shitworker band?), and NORMS out of
Budapest offering their perspective on punk life in an unforgiving
modern landscape. On top of that, we have interviews with Evolution of a
Race Riot zinester and scholar Mimi Thi Nguyen as well as former MRR
coordinator Arwen Curry discussing her upcoming documentary Worlds of
Ursula K. Le Guin. We also have current shitworkers revealing their work
inside and outside of the pages of MRR: San Francisco/Los Angeles based
journalist Oscar Gutierrez, Washington’s Farrah Skeiky (official
photographer of the NWODCHC?), and the Bay Area’s Scream Queens giving
us the dirt on their eponymous radio show and their upcoming magazine.
If that weren’t enough, we’ve also got a photo spreads and commentary
from Copenhagen’s K-Town Hardcore Fest, hundreds of reviews, all of your
favorite columnists, and—get this—a table of contents. That’s right,
this issue debuts a fresh new look for MRR. It only took us 400 issues
to get page numbers, who knows what the future may hold?
JUST SAY YO Zine Issue #7
Newest
issue - 48 pages, in English, full-sized black & white (colored
cover), featuring PRAISE (interview with Andy Norton), SEATTLE'S NEW
GODS ( interview with Ian Shelton), MODERN LOVE (interview with Erik
"Anarchy" Kaluza), WORKSHED RECORDS (retrospective with Dan O'Mahony),
VERBAL ASSAULT (reprint from 1989) + Columns, Reviews (Records and
zines), etc.
Restocks for August 19, 2016:
AMDI PETERSENS ARME "Blod Ser Mere Virkeligt Ud Pa Film" 7"
DER STAB "Tracers" 7"
IRON CHIC "Split N' Shit" 7"
IRON CHIC / LOW CULTURE Split 7"
OAF "S/T" 7"
STEP FORWARD "S/T" 7"
TEAR IT UP "S/T" 7"
VIOLENT REACTION "Dead End" 7"
AGNOSTIC FRONT "No One Rules" LP
BATTALION OF SAINTS "Second Coming" LP
FRAMTID "Defeat of Civilization" LP
HURULA 'Vi Ar Manniskorna Vara Foraldrar Varnade Oss For' LP
INMATES "S/T" LP
INSTITUTE "S/T" 12"
L.I. "On the Corner" LP
NERVES, THE "One Way Ticket" LP
NEU! "Neu! 2" LP
NEU! "Neu! 75" LP
NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES "S/T" LP
NUMBER ONES, THE "S/T" LP
PRISONER ABUSE "S/T" LP
REGULATIONS "Electric Guitar" LP
REGULATIONS "S/T" LP
SOUL SWALLOWER "Devoured" LP
TERRIBLE FEELINGS "Tremors" LP
V/A "America's Hardcore Vol. 1" LP
V/A "Charred Remains Compilation 2xLP
VARUKERS, THE "Another Religion Another War" LP
VIOLENT REACTION "City Streets" LP
WETBRAIN "S/T" LP
WHITE LUNG "It's the Evil" LP
CANCERS "Fatten the Leaches" Tape
FLEX, THE "Flexual Healilng VI: Live from the Paincave" Tape
NO TOLERANCE "You Walk Alone" Tape
RINGER 2016 Demo Tape (actually already sold out again, I'll have more next week)
