Quick Hits - Hardcore Part 2

To remind everyone: back in February, I posted Part 1 of the hardcore music I got into after reading American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush. You can read the rest of the preamble and excuses there, the second half of the review here. In alphabetical order:

• Bad Brains - I Against I. Now here is an album where I can get behind the Bad Brains. "I Against I" is a great opening track, and you can hear how great these guys are musically on tracks like "She's Calling You." A very nice album all around.
  Verdict: Recommended. CD rack.
  
  
• Black Market Baby - Coulda... Shoulda... Woulda. Remastered compilation. Another DC hardcore outfit, this band had only one proper album release. Pro: sounds like a truly "in the moment" experience, reflecting the energy of the scene and the state of music at the time. Con: sounds like a truly "in the moment" experience that I wasn't part of. So it remains stuck in the early 80's for me.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Sell-back 1.

• Dag Nasty - Field Day. The first song ("Trouble Is") instantly alerts you that this is going to be something really special. This album doesn't really qualify as hardcore, more as heavy power pop, which is probably why it's as good as it is -- it's even bluesy at times. And it has excellent, smart lyrics too. The song "Dear Mrs. Touma," says allmusic.com, "might be the band's high-water mark, and one for punk in general" -- what can you say to that? I was going to criticize "Never Green Lane" for being a completely wimpy effort, but with a refrain like "I remember your mouth/You never kept it shut," I found there was more than enough vitriol to... well, to keep my mouth shut. It was almost impossible to find, but I'm really glad I did.
  Verdict: Highly recommended (if you can find it). Portable CD case.
  

• Duh - Blowhard. I had high hopes for this one. The best songs are "Solo Hanneman", which lasts for 9 seconds, and "Solo King", which lasts for 5 seconds. The other 34:50 last interminably.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Pile of Death/"The Peaches File".

• JFA - We Know You Suck. Compilation. JFA (a.k.a. "Jodie Foster's Army") put a hardcore twist onto what was known as "skatepunk." Too bad I don't skateboard. They actually have a song called "JFA" -- IMHO, you can really only only do a song with your band name in it if your band is called "Damn Yankees." The surf guitar songs resonate with me, but otherwise -- not bad, just not my cup of tea.
  Verdict: Not recommended. Sell-back 1.
  

• Nomads - Showdown! (1981-1993). 2-disc Remastered Compilation. This album was very difficult to track down and thus the main reason that Part 2 took so long to come about -- and here I had always heard Swedish hardcore was easy to find. Who knew?
  
  The opening track, "The Way (You Touch My Hand)" I instantly recognized, although I'm not sure from where. This was 1981? Sounds like Nick Cave if he picked up the pace a bit and picked up a surf guitar sound. They're really a garage band -- most of their materials are either covers or "originals" the take bits straight from other songs -- and Disc 1 is a lot of fun and very listenable. Disc 2 is more "demos and rarities for the real fans" but still has nice nuggets throughout. In any case, this album is not really hardcore (at least my perception of the genre), but a great listen for fun, familiar sounds.
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD case.
  

• J Church - The Horror of Life (2007). No, this band (essentially Lance Hahn and a cast of rotating characters) was not in the book. No, they did not even exist during the hardcore era. No, this is not even listed in alphabetical order. But as I listened to this album, I realized that it belonged in this list as the contemporary embodiment of the values espoused by hardcore back in the day.
  
  I have yo-yo'd back and forth on this review. The best songs here have the best names: tops is "If I Have to Dance Then I Don't Want Your Revolution", followed by "Vampire Girl Prefers Me Alive"(which I'd like even more if it were a bitter, rather than happy, song), and "We Play Secular Music." So it's good. However, I would pick up J Church's 2000 classic One Mississippi (a power pop album) or 2004's Society is a Carnivorous Flower (harder, punkier power pop) before this one. So it's not that good. However, this is better than 95% of the stuff out there. So it's better than most and definitely worth checking out, especially of you like the more frenetic stuff.
  
  Lance Hahn is amazing -- he's currently on dialysis (and may need a kidney transplant), yet he still is putting out albums and running his own label. (In case that isn't enough, he has been hospitalized because of an enlarged heart and high blood pressure, and has seen his business and apartment both burn to the ground in the last 5 years. Not sure where the bitterness comes from.) Go out and support him, people!
  
  Verdict: Recommended. Portable CD case.
  

Snilch

Quick Hits - Hardcore Part 1

I've been on a hardcore listening spree since I started reading the book American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush (thank you Scott!). It's an interesting read -- certainly someone who spent his years in the pits and on the road. So, I decided to listen to some of the seminal albums of the era (or at least according to him).

What I've discovered is that I'll never know what it was like to hear these bands when they originally came onto the scene. The historical context is lost on me, which I'm guessing is part of why they were considered so great, and what was a meaningful expression in the moment becomes just noise or something that has been copied by a zillion bands since that time, and thus seems unoriginal.

On another note, I am WAY too old to listen to most of this stuff and appreciate it. Which sucks. Bottom line: Don't get old, kids.

Any assistance or perspective on where I've gone horribly wrong in my assessment of any of these albums, or where I can find an "in" to figure out what some of these albums are all about, would be much appreciated. So without further ado... in alphabetical order:

• Bad Brains - Bad Brains. Remastered album. Perfect example -- probably the most name-dropped hardcore band and album, and I can't hear what the fuss is about. Am I too old to listen to this or is it too late for me to figure it out? Sadly, I think I like the reggae songs on the album the best -- and I hate reggae. Please help me out here, people.
  Early verdict: I just don't get it.

• Dag Nasty - Can I Say. Remastered album. I love a few songs, but most of the other tracks were just noise on my first listen. Still, I had this weird vibe (does this ever happen to you?) that this would be an album I would eventually really get into, even though I was toughing through it right now. Subsequent listens are helping but I'm not quite there yet. Lots of potential, very nice stuff.
  Early verdict: Recommended.

• Effigies - Remains Nonviewable. Remastered compilation. It only took one listen to realize these guys (and this album) were special. To be honest, this is "cheating" -- it's really more heavy punk pop than hardcore. At times, they sound like the Ramones, other times the Misfits, and even like later-day Butthole Surfers. Very accessible and well produced. Intelligent lyrics and smart playing. It's not perfect, and it won't change your life, but it is very good and recommended if you like your music loud, fast, and melodic.
  Early verdict: Highly recommended.

• Hüsker Dü - Everything Falls Apart and Metal Circus. Expanded original and original EP. You should be surprised it took this long for a Hüsker Dü/Bob Mould/Sugar reference. I know I am. But the book mentioned them. Everything Falls Apart is a little too fast most of the time, but at other spots it shows the pop and punk sensibilities that were the hallmark of the band's later great work. Metal Circus is less hardcore, more punk, but flat out great. There are 7 songs on this EP, and 4 are great (and I mean great) songs.
  
  Metal Circus final verdict: if you don't own any Hüsker Dü, buy New Day Rising and Zen Arcade (in that order) first. Then buy Metal Circus.
  Everything Falls Apart final verdict: For completists only.*
  

• Scream - Still Screaming & This Side Up. Two original albums combined. I've been intrigued by the Stahl brothers (Peter and Franz, vocals and guitar, respectively) since they recorded a very very good song called "Kill the Crow" as part of their band Wool. The rest of the album was bad, but the song showed the potential for something great. I knew Franz went on to play guitar for the Foo Fighters, but otherwise they were a mystery to me. So you can imagine when I read that the Stahl brothers formed out of a legendary DC hardcore band called Scream that I was all over it. Turns out there were three good tracks. The rest sounded like a dog successfully giving birth to a goat. (Or perhaps unsuccessfully -- if I were less ignorant about hardcore I'd probably be able to tell the difference between success and failure here.)
  Final verdict: The most satisfying part of the whole experience was when I physically threw out the discs I burned from iTunes. Not recommended.
  

When I get a chance to listen to some more stuff, I will post a Part 2. I'll probably have a larger review this weekend. Until then...

Snilch

*You may have noticed, if you are a true nerd like me, that Land Speed Record (the first Hüsker Dü album and the most hardcore album they ever did) did not get a mention here. That's because I've listened to it once and that was enough. Final verdict: for the truly masochistic or hardcore purists.