Keith Morris and his marker.

Last night I went to the Ottobar here in Baltimore to see The Reticents, Trash Talk and OFF! Unfortunately, my friends and I dragged ass getting out of my house so I missed The Reticents. We got there right before Trash Talk and settled in by the stage after grabbing a beer and a little bullshitting. I've always liked Trash Talk and their live show is intense, but at some point I remembered that I wanted to pick up some shit at the OFF! merch table. I headed that way and was surprised to find Keith Morris doing their own merch. There were two people in front of me buying shit, but I noticed they both had Morris sign their CDs and shirt. Never being the type to care or ask for signatures I kind of laughed to myself and stepped up to the table. I was hoping to get the First Four EPs 7" box set, but they were sold out. So being the music junkie I am I grabbed the three 7 inches they were selling (Live at Generation Records, 1st EP, and a newer release on Southern Lord Records) and First Four EP on cassette and CD. Then Keith did what made me furrow my brow. He pulled on of the 7 inches out of the sleeve and started signing it. He wrote "Wrong Size!" and signed his name.

Now I just don't understand this, I don't care that he did it, but it was a very awkward moment for me. Honestly, I would rather have had him not sign the record, but I am in no way a record collector so I don't really care about that kind of shit. Later I was talking with Lee from Trash Talk and he told me that Keith has been doing this at every show due to 9 out of 10 people asking him to sign shit anyway. It makes more sense that way, but it still seems odd to me to just start signing peoples shit they want to buy. Either way it is cool that Keith is getting up close and personal with some of the people who might idolize him. I've seen much smaller bands sit back stage and act like douche bag rock stars.

OFF! and Trash Talk were both awesome by the way. I think it is cool that bands that different are touring together and representing two of the many styles of hardcore out there. This was my first time seeing any of Keith Morris' bands and that man didn't disappoint. Other than his glaring bald spot through his dreads he didn't show a sign of his age.

East Coast Tsunami Fest

East Coast Tsunami Fest 2010 was very easily my favorite show of all time. With a line-up of Sick Of It All, H2O, Earth Crisis, Fury Of Five, All Out War, Mushmouth, Stout, Death Threat and so many others it was easy to expect it to be great. Last year exceeded my expectations for the fest. It wasn't just the bands that made the show so great, it was the atmosphere.

This year things are being done a little different. The location has been moved to Reading, PA at a new club called Reverb. The fest has also grown to three days instead of last years two. This past Friday the guys putting together the show started announcing three bands each night at 10pm. The show already looks impressive and I can't wait to see who else is playing.

The line-up so far:

SixSouth

One of my favorite shows ever was at the Emigsville Park Building in York, PA. The line-up was basically all of Youngblood Records roster at the time. Washington D.C.'s Striking Distance, Worn Thin, and Desperate Measures, and My Luck from Texas. Along with Pat from Violent Society playing in his new band Cranked Up the other opener was SixSouth. I remember them being pretty good, but beside all of these other bands I completely forgot about them until last year. I was looking through a used CD section when I came across Playing For Pennies...Paying Our Dues and gladly picked it up. It was a good choice because this is a pretty good disc. It isn't ground breaking and amazing, but it is fun hardcore punk. I know these guys played all the time in my area and now I wish I had gone to see them more. Oops.   Taken from Angry, Young and Poor: "Tracing the lines that meet to form SIXSOUTH would be a history lesson in York, Pennsylvania hardcore/punk. Members from the now defunct '90s bands: THE ARMED CITIZENS, GFNC, and TAP AND DIE converge to blend their tastes and talents to create an original sound that has yet to be properly placed or described by comparison. Those who try only become frustrated when the music goes from zero to one hundred in a matter of one measure, or the desperation of the vocals turns to anger in one word. You may wonder how music described as such could possess any kind of appeal. There is only one way to find out. Listen! 8 songs."
Download it here.

Lake Effect Hardcore

I've been going through a lot of my older comps and came across this gem. Erie Hardcore Scene Report: A Documentary Of Lake Effect Hardcore is a sixteen track treasure chest of Erie Pennsylvania's best bands. I'm not exactly sure when this came out, I don't have the physical copy in front of me right now, but I do know that I have had it long enough to wear out my first copy.

Brother's Keeper is the first band featured here. I know people love to hate on BK, but I love them, chicken voice and all. This is the beginning of many Mike Ski appearances throughout the comp from guest vocals to his older bands. Disciple or xDisciplex or xDisciplex A.D. also add to tracks of their classic metallic hardcore. Who could give a fuck that these guys were a christian band when they write such evil sounding and heavy hardcore. Abnegation are an odd standout and take some getting used to. Imagine if deathcore actually sounded like a combination of death metal and hardcore instead of the shit with that label now.

Digression, Mothership, Neverfall, and Sumthin' To Prove contribute two tracks each, followed by a track from Out Of Hand and Break Iron. There really is something for everyone in the hardcore scene on this compilation. Erie was a big scene at one point and this collection helps put that in perspective. Download it at the link below and see what you might be missing.

Get it here.

Go! For The Throat

I had mentioned Philadelphia's Go! For The Throat in an earlier post so I thought I'd share a little more about them. Their CD Here and Now has been a part of my constant rotation since seeing them nine years ago. If you didn't catch the earlier post, these guys play highly melodic hardcore. The easiest comparisons are their Philly counterparts Kid Dynamite and classic Gorilla Biscuits. The songs are short and fast, but still manage to be catchy as shit. I was going to upload the Philadelphia Sound compilation that features the line-up of G!FTT, The Curse, Paint It Black and Knives Out, but that will have to wait. I'll throw that up when I do a post for The Curse demo and full length. Until then enjoy Here and Now, hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I have over the years.

Download it here.

Make Do and Mend/Balance & Composure/Diamond Tonight

	Saturday, March 12 · 6:30pm - 11:30pm
	CCAS 1731 Maryland Ave, Baltimore Md 21201
	Doors are @ 6:30pm. Show will start no later than 7:15pm.  Balance and Composure  Make do and Mend Pianos become the Teeth Diamond (record release show)  Invitational(first show, featuring members of Dave Dotson)  one more TBA       Not quite a hardcore show, but good enough for me. I don't know much about the bands other than Make Do and Mend and Diamond. Both are outside of my usual catalog, but I thoroughly enjoy both bands. If all else fails the gay bar next door to the Charm City Art Space is always full of fun shit going on.

Feeble

It was only a couple of years when I was finally formally introduced to the self titled 7 inch released by Feeble in '96. For those that don't know, Feeble was Mad Joe Black from Wisdom In Chains first band. You'll notice his familiar vocals right away on the track "No Sense" from his melodic yet rough style. This is only four tracks, but it is the quality not quantity here. My favorite is the "Hippie Song", it may be a little outdated, but it is catchy as shit. I don't know if any of the other guys went on to play in any other bands since Feeble, but I think the guitarist Evan Ivkovich now plays with WIC. This record is much more punk rock than WIC, but you can see the definite similarities.

If you haven't heard this yet do yourself the favor of downloading it at the link here.

Agnostic Front

Agnostic Front came out with a new record this week called My Life My Way on Nuclear Blast Records. I'm listening to it for the first time right now and feel exactly how I assumed I would. AF is very easily one of my favorite bands ever, but I'm not gonna try to fool anyone and say I love the last few records. So far My Life My Way is much like Warriors and Another Voice. I don't hate it, but it isn't going to be come an all time favorite.

The band has had three very different sounds throughout their career. There was the straightforward hardcore of their early records, the more punk rock Epitaph records and the more modern and metallic they play today. Each have their bright spots, some much more than others, but I like them all in one way or another. I've grown tired of watching my girlfriend watch Greek and thought I'd arrange my top five favorite AF LP's for my own entertainment. So here it is.

1.) One Voice
I have always thought this was Agnostic Front at their best. They finally got the perfect blend of crossover hardcore that they seemed to be looking for since Cause For Alarm. "New Jack" and "One Voice" are a great one two combination to get this record started. It doesn't slow down much from their. Despite the bands attempts at writing heavy songs in recent years, these are the hardest songs AF ever wrote.

2.) Victim In Pain
I know plenty of people will want to shake the shit out of me for not having this absolute hardcore classic as my favorite AF record. This is loaded with some of the bands best songs like my personal favorite "Blind Justice". I understand why most people would consider this AF's best, and maybe it is, but it isn't my favorite.

3.) Liberty & Justice
This might seem like a weird choice to have as my third favorite, but I've always thoroughly enjoyed this record. I've actually had this album framed on my wall for years. I don't really know why though, I always thought the album artwork sucked and the colors blended in real shitty. No one can deny the speed on this record, these guys were playing fast on this recording. Also it has "Anthem" on it, that song is reason enough to rank this high.

4.) Cause For Alarm
From the opener "The Eliminator", this record fucking rules. Roger Miret was still pretty easy to understand on this album as opposed to what he does now. A lot of people hate on how metal this record was, but I think it is perfect. I can't imagine kids not being into this back when it came out. I was only 2 at the time, but I'm willing to bet I would've loved it.

5.) Riot Riot Upstart
I thought there was going to be something unique about my list when I started it. Now I realize I like everything in almost chronological order. Riot Riot Upstart was one of the very punk rock Epitaph Records records. That doesn't mean this album doesn't have some quality hardcore songs on it though. The opener "Police State" is very reminiscent of old AF. The change comes on songs like the title track, which fortunately is very catchy and I think pretty good. If these guys would have continued to release records like this I could've been happy. 

Old Shows: Volume 2

 

When I was in high school and I finally got my license I came up with a weekly routine. I'd get off school on Friday, go straight home, eat dinner, then head to the First Capital Skatepark. I skated for years and loved to, but I was never any good. The skatepark offered more than ramps and self inflicted injuries. Most Friday nights had some sort of punk or hardcore show going on. There were times when I had no idea who might be playing. I walked in on Comin' Correct one night when I had no idea they were playing. Well I knew about this show. I had finally gotten in the habit of grabbing fliers and keeping myself updated with shows.

The Boils played our area what seemed like almost every weekend. I wasn't complaining though since I loved that band. Other than The Clancy Six, who sucked shit, I wasn't familiar with any of the other bands on this show. After watching the retards in The Clancy Six flail themselves around for 20 minutes I had my introduction to Phillys' The Curse. These guys were ex-Kid Dynamite and sounded like it too. Highly melodic fast paced hardcore that was catchy as shit. I still listen to the demo quite a bit that I picked up that night. They eventually released a self titled full length that I didn't get my hands on until a year or so ago and had tracks on the Philadelphia Sound comp.I need to get that demo out of my basement and upload it here.

Go! For The Throat were next, and like the description on the flier says these guys were "Gorilla Biscuits-esque" hardcore and a ton of fun. They had short and fast songs that were full of singalongs. No one really knew them at this show so their wasn't much for crowd reaction, but I knew I loved them right away. As I am writing this I am listening to their album Here and Now on Uprising Records. I picked it up this night nine years ago and still come back to it every month or so for a quick refresher. I'm not familiar with any other releases from them other than also being on the aforementioned Philadelphia Sound compilation. Speaking of that comp., the only bands on it are Paint It Black, The Curse, Go! For The Throat and Knives Out. I'm pretty sure it is still available so find that somewhere and enjoy it.

The rest of this show is kind of a blur to me. I vaguely remember The Forgotten and I saw The Boils so much back then that all those shows kind of blend together for me. I wish I had gotten to see The Curse and Go! For The Throat more than once. I never heard much from either after this show. I remember seeing a G!FTT reunion on Kill Your Idols last show in Philly, but other than that nothing at all. Things like this are the reason I liked going to shows so much back then. The internet was around, but I hadn't started using it for music purposes yet and came across bands this way all the time. Now before I get to a show I already know everything about the opening bands and have downloaded their whole musical output. That's just the way things are though, but I still miss the mystery of the opening band.

All Time Favorites

I think like most people that are very into music I have tried many times to come up with a list of my favorite records of all time. It is never easy and sometimes the order changes, but it is very rare that a new record finds its way into the mix. So here is my attempt at giving you my top 5, 10, 25, wherever I can make myself stop at.

1.) Dag Nasty - Can I Say 

This is a very easy number one choice for me. I discovered this pretty late into my hardcore/punk listening years. I know I was in my second year of college when this record really grabbed a hold of me. I have never been able to pinpoint exactly why I love this album so much. Dave Smalleys' vocals weren't my favorite when I first heard Can I Say, but given the choice I would pick him over Shawn Brown or Pete Cortner any day. I really do wish he did the Wig Out At Denko's LP, while I like it now, I think he would have made it great. I couldn't even tell you a favorite track on this record, they are all great and I can never get enough of it.

2.) Anthrax - Among The Living
I'd have to say that I got into hardcore through metal. Early on I saw no difference between Metallica, Cro-Mags, Biohazard, Machine Head or Anthrax. It was all metal to me. Now I'm only 26 now so I missed arguably the best years for metal, but through the years have gotten my education. Everyone likes to argue about the "Big 4", but I think Anthrax is far and away the best of the group. Among The Living wasn't the first Anthrax record I heard, but like most other fans of the band it is definitely my favorite. Luckily for me I was finally able to see them this past fall with Megadeth and Slayer with the original line-up and it was incredible.

3.) Biohazard - Urban Discipline
Biohazard was a band I came across in middle school. I had a membership with BMG and one day randomly received State Of The World Address in the mail. I liked it, but was more into bands like Sepultura, Machine Head and Fear Factory. Due to all of those bands being on Roadrunner Records I bought a lot of the labels back catalog. Seeing Biohazard on the past roster and knowing I liked them already I bought Urban Discipline. As I said before I wasn't yet familiar with the genre hardcore, but I knew this record was heavy as shit and loved everything about it and still do.

4.) Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves
This was another one I found at a pretty young age. I remember going to a flea market with my mother and coming across a cassette of this. I had an older neighbor who just moved into the neighborhood that rode a skateboard and liked them. It was the summer before 7th grade and I had just got my first Tom Penny Magic Mushroom skateboard so now I needed to like Rancid. Since then this has become one of those albums that I know front to back whether I like it or not. It still stands up pretty well, but I don't remember it being nineteen tracks long for some reason.


5.) Madball - Demonstrating My Style
By the time I discovered Madball I was well introduced to hardcore. Having said that I still wasn't familiar with the differences of all the little sub-genres people like to use. While I had heard NYHC before, this is the record I have always identified the sound with. Whether that is right or wrong I don't really give a fuck. The track "Pride (Times Are Changing)" is easily one of my favorite songs ever and I loved it from the beginning. This shit was just so damn hard and mean when I first heard it. I know others will rant and rave that Set It Off was a better record, but this is the essential Madball album for me.

6.) Metallica - ...And Justice For All
Growing up in the late 80's early 90's made it very easy to be a Metallica fan. The song "One" was all over the place for a good reason and it wasn't long before my brother brought this home on CD. This is a case of the first record you heard from a band being your favorite despite any good reasoning. Sure Master Of Puppets and Ride The Lightning are probably better records, but this is easily my favorite from Metallica. You can call it nostalgia or whatever the fuck you want, but listen to the track "Blackened" and tell me it isn't awesome.


7.) Gang Green - Older...Budweiser
As I said before I was really into stuff that was on Roadrunner Records. This led to me buying a bunch of really shitty records, but some that were pure fuckin' gold. I remember being in Camelot music or some shitty chain store looking through a discount bin and coming across the Gang Green EP I81B4U. I didn't know shit about the band, but it was on Roadracer Records and the logo looked the same as Roadrunner and it was only a buck so I bought it. What a great investment that was. I listened to that EP for years before finally coming across more Gang Green material. Older...Budweiser eventually fell in to my lap and from the opening of "Church Of Fun" to the closing of "Ballad" I fell in love. This was the first band I had ever heard that didn't take themselves too fucking seriously. Their songs were about getting fucked up and doing stupid shit, what kid wouldn't love that. "Just One Bullet" is probably my favorite track on this record.

8.) Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
Being into heavy music in the 90's made it inevitable that I would eventually come across Pantera. When I did it was the explosive Vulgar Display Of Power. I know there was a late night watching MTV when I first saw the video for "Walk". From there on out I was a Pantera fan and the first chance I got I bought this record. This was just such a badass album when I was a kid and I don't think any different of it today.




9.) Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Devil's Night Out
I'm not afraid to admit I had a brief ska episode somewhere in the late 90's. It was predominately the brand of ska that was all over the radio. Bands like the Bosstones, Buck-O-Nine, Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger. Fortunately this caused me to get into the Bosstones back catalog specifically Devil's Night Out. This is album is the perfect combination of happy bullshit ska and hardcore. I can definitely say that I had never heard anything like this when I came across it and maybe that's why I still hold it so high.


10.) Blood For Blood - Revenge On Society
This wasn't my introductory album to Blood For Blood, but goddamn if it isn't my favorite. I don't think I had ever heard anything so convincingly pissed when I heard "Enter The Criminal Mind". I can't say that I could ever relate with much of the bands lyrics and I'm sure most of their fans would say the same, but oh well. I had listened to a lot of metal and punk rock before I found Blood For Blood, but nothing seemed as evil. These guys really seemed to be in despair to me. The good news was that they wrote incredibly catchy songs for as heavy as they were.


That'll do for now. I really could go and on, and I'm sure I forgot an album or two. The order could also change depending on my mood. It is weird to me when I try to write a list like this and don't include some of my favorite bands like Agnostic Front or the Descendents. Weird. Whatever.