Livin' In The '90s Vols. 1-3

I go in and out of phases of nostalgia on a monthly basis it seems. Some months it's '70s biker flicks while other months it's horror comics of the '50s. Of course music is no exception, and for the past few weeks i've immersed myself in '90s punk.

I made these comps of some of my favorite punk/indie/emo/hardcore/ whatever songs of the '90s. I mastered all the tracks to the same volume, all from 320kbps mp3s, 90% of them ripped from my personal CD collection. As for the songs i needed help getting, thanks to snoro, hellyesicheated, Gen Ruido, dblwhiskeycoke and Grant.

Enjoy!

 Livin' In The '90s Vol. 1

I discovered punk/HC at the tail end of the '80s. It was the perfect time as the NYHC scene was exploding at that time. It seemed to peak in 1987-88, then a year later, as quickly as it all started, it just kinda faded away. To me, the New Breed comp seemed to wrap up the end of the '80s in NYC and marked the end of an era.

Then the '90s came along and wasted no time. Seminal records of the time were popping up almost immediately on the East Coast in 1990. The first Citizens Arrest and Born Against 7"s, the Rorschach LP, the Burn ep, the Turning Point LP, the second GO! 7", the Nausea LP, as well as records by Supertouch and Quicksand that brought NY Hardcore in a new direction. During the next few years the floodgates opened, and the city had a scene again. Great, energetic, and at times very interesting music, and all without the meatheads who think every show is the setting for a scene from Raging Bull.

 Livin' In The '90s Vol. 2

As much as i love the hardcore, punk and crossover of the '80s, i think the 1990s may be my favorite era for punk music (that's how i feel this month anyway). It was such a diverse and interesting time in the scene. There was the new wave of NY bands that emerged from the ABC No Rio scene (CxAx, Born Against, GO!, Merel, Los Crudos, The Manacled etc.), the powerful sounds (that would be come to be known as "powerviolence") coming from the West Coast (Neanderthal, Crossed Out, No Comment, MITB, Spazz, Capitalist Casualties etc.), bands like Native Nod, Heroin, Moss Icon, Indian Summer, Current, Inkwell, Hoover, and dozens more, who took inspiration from bands like Rites of Spring, Husker Du and Dag Nasty, and seemed to fuse it with the sounds of bands like Slint and Rodan, creating a unique sound that would be known as '90s emo. There were also the guitar driven indie rock punk (for lack of a better term) of bands like Superchunk and Seaweed. Then there were those bands that seemed to merge indie rock, emo and punk into a sound that is still influencing bands 20 years later. Jawbreaker, Samiam, Garden Variety, Jawbox, Greyhouse and Hot Water Music come to mind. There were also lots of great bands lumped into this scene that would be hard to categorize. Bands like Fugazi, Chisel, Unwound, 1.6 Band, and Phleg Camp. All great stuff.

Livin' In The '90s Vol. 3

The '90s was the decade of Assuck. Enough said.


My top ten U.S. punk-related records of the 1990s:

hardcore
01. Citizens Arrest - A Light In The Darkness 7"
02. Rorschach - Remain Sedate LP
03. Neanderthal - Fighting Music 7"
04. Infest - Mankind 7"
05. Capitalist Casualties - Raised Ignorant 7"
06. Assuck - Anticapital LP / Blindspot 7"
07. Born Against - 9 Patriotic Hymns For Children LP
08. Econochrist - Trained To Serve LP
09. Man Is The Bastard / Crossed Out split 7"
10. Burn - s/t 7"

non-hardcore
01. Moss Icon - Lyburnum Wit's End Liberation Fly LP
02. Jawbreaker - Bivouac LP
03. Garden Variety - s/t LP
04. Chisel - 8 A.M. All Day LP
05. Leatherface - Mush LP
06. New Bomb Turks - Destroy-Oh-Boy!!
07. Superchunk - No Pocky For Kitty LP
08. Samiam - Soar LP
09. The Nation of Ulysses - Plays Pretty For Baby
10. Fugazi - Repeater LP
Feel free to use the comments section to post your own top 10 lists. I'd love to see what everyone else's faves are.

Oops - turns out "Hate In Me" by Moss Icon was released in 1988. Oh well, that song is too damn good to not be on there.
Oh yeah, keep an eye out for those Easter Eggs.

Moss Icon - The Remaining Songs (remastered)

When i first started this blog i posted a 2xCD Moss Icon discography that i put together from various sources, which, aside from the studio material, included demo tracks, live tracks, and even the Breathing Walker cassette. In fact sharing this amazing collection was one of the reasons i started this blog. Moss Icon has been a huge infatuation of mine ever since i heard the Mahpiua Luta 7" in 1989, and has been a favorite of mine ever since. Over 20 years later i can still listen to songs like Kick The Can or Hate In Me and think that Moss Icon may very well have been the greatest punk band in the US (of course then i'll hear something else and think the same thing, but that's besides the point). Unlike many of the bands from that time that have faded from memory, Moss Icon remaisn timeless for me. Needless to say when i heard the band was releasing a complete discography i nearly stained my good jeans. For me, this was the most anticipated discography i could ever think of. When i finally got my hands on the 2xCD version, i was a bit disappointed that this wasn't a "complete discography" at all, but more like an anthology. I found this really odd, as there was more than enough room on these 2 CDs to include everything the band had recorded, or at least released. I can understand maybe not including the 1987 demo, which i love, but i'd wager the band doesn't think too highly of it at this point. What i can't understand is the exclusion of songs like Cape Of Holes, Nov. 10th, or Sioux Day. Songs that are every bit as good as anything on the band's 3 7"s, or the Lyburnum LP. I also don't understand why they didn't include that killer intro to Kick The Can from the Mahpiua Luta 7" version. Still, i'm glad this was released, and the sound is excellent. It's great to finally have the Hate In Me 7" and the Silver Bearing split LP in quality sound.


When i finally got this blog rolling again, i deleted the Moss Icon post because of the upcoming discography, leaving only a collection of live sets you can still grab here. But since so many songs didn't make it onto the official discog, some of which are crucial to the band's output, i've decided to compile them here. I "remastered" the tracks as best as possible, removing any background noise and making other adjustments, and not to pat myself on the back, but they sound better than ever. My advise would be to pick up the discography CDs or LPs, and download this collection, to hear What They Lack. Enjoy.

Moss Icon - The Remaining Songs

Jonathan Vance - vocals
Tonie Joy - guitar
Monica DiGialleonardo - bass
Mark Laurence - drums
Alex Badertscher - guitar (1990-1991)

The first 4 tracks were taken from The Life demo, recorded in 1989. I only included the 4 songs that were not later released on various records, aside from Cornflower Blue (featuring Daniel Littleton of The Hated, and Michael Littleton of Ida), which was included on the False Object Sensor compilation LP released on Vermiform Records in 2001. Since it was left off the discography, i included it here. Reflections Of An Old Man is the music from the intro to Kick The Can, but with lyrics. These 4 songs are up there with the best of the band's material.

Track 5 (Sioux Day) was on the Superpowers cassette released on Troubleman Unlimited in 1992.

Tracks 6-12 is the entire 1987 self-released demo tape. This is a great raw sounding recording. The first 2 songs, Hate In Me and What They Lack, were re-recorded a year later for the band's first 7", and Mirror was re-recorded for the Panx Vinyl Zine 3 compilation 7" released in 1989. Mirror was also included on the Lyburnum Wit's End Liberation Fly LP, recorded in 1988 and finally released in 1993 on Vermiform. Most all the band's other records were rleased on Vermin Scum Records. The four remaining tracks were exclusive to The Life demo, and never re-recorded, or even appeared anywhere else as far as i know.

Tracks 13-16 are various live recordings, dates and venues unknown. The song Today is an unreleased song. Great sound quality on these live songs, especially the last two, which were from the same show.

Death Side - 1987-1994 Discography remastered

The mighty Death Side, my favorite hardcore band to ever come out of Japan. In this post i've uploaded the complete discography at 320kbps from the Nucleus-R remastered reissues that were released in 2002. The sound quality is incredible.

First time i heard Death Side was some time during the mid '90s. My friend Gen sent me the Bet On The Possibility LP. Until then i had heard Japanese stuff like Gism, SOB, and Bastard. This was on another level though, and the album seemed to steamroll right over me leaving me with my jaw hanging open. The song writing, the vocals, Chelsea's incredible guitar playing... it all fit so perfectly. And just when i would think "Damn, that was the greatest song i've ever heard", the next song would kick in. This is one of those rare albums where every song just gets better and better right until the amazing epic closing track Crossfire, which veers off into Iron Maiden territory, with Chelsea pulling off incredible metallic riffs and leads like it was nothing. The guy truly was the Adrienne Smith of hardcore. RIP!

Since then i've obsessively tracked down all the bands other releases, and was lucky enough to hunt down all the Nucleus-R reissues. I love all of it, although Bet On The Possibility will always be my fave, and i consider it one of the greatest hardcore full-lengths on the '90s.

Starting off this mandatory discography is the band's collection of singles, splits and comp tracks spanning 1987 through 1994. My fave being the split  with Chaos UK, which was released on CD only by Selfish Records in 1993. Many of the other compilations in this anthology are probably pretty hard to come by these days, Blast In Hell from the Game Of Death comp is such a ripper, but everyone will have their faves. By 1994 the band had a nice streamlined metallic and catchy sound. This is the kind of stuff you listen to and think "how did this band not take over the world"?

The band's first 7", Satisfy The Instinct (Selfish Records 1987), was originally on the 2xCD collection called The Will Never Die (named after the band's 1994 ep). I included that 7" on the Wasted Dream CD, so i could fit all the other non full-length stuff on one CD. I modified the front cover and created the back. Enjoy, and play LOUD!

Eps, Splits & Comp Tracks

Next up is the Bet On The Possibility LP, for me the band's high water mark. In my opinion, this is where it all came together, the band at the top of their game. Bet On The Possibility was originally released on Selfish Records out of Japan in 1991. According to the liner notes it was recorded at Our House, and came  with a lyric sheet and gatefold sleeve.

Bet On The Possibility

Last up is the band's first full length album, Wasted Dream. Originally released on Selfish in 1989 and re-released on Selfish in 2011 on vinyl. Recorded at Antiknock in 1989. Original CD version came with a CD booklet with lyrics and pictures. The 2011 reissue included the entire Satisfy The Instinct 7" as bonus tracks. Like the others, this is a 320 rip of the 2002 Nucleus-R remaster.






Wasted Dream

Lineup 1987-1994

Ishiya - vocals
Chelsea - guitar
You - bass
Muka Chin - drums
Ran-Lin - drums

Chelsea passed away in August of 2007. He also played guitar for Paintbox (also highly recommended). Paintbox released three full lengths and five eps. Ishiya also sang for Forward, who recorded many records between 2000 and 2012.

The Disappointments - 21 song 7" - 1987

Just a quick update before i get on with the post. Sorry once again for the massive delay! I really should be back on track now, and have lots of stuff either ready to be posted within the next few weeks, or currently being worked on. I won't spill all the beans, but some stuff that should be up soon: Sacred Denial collection, Short Hate Temper discography, Death Side remastered discography, Moss Icon (all the tracks not on the 2xCD discography), Mental Abuse, live Jawbreaker, Open Your Mind (Pre-Infest), and lots more. I really want to get this thing back off the ground.

The Disappointments were a real obscurity, and if not for their association with GG Allin they would probably be one of the most under the radar '80s hardcore bands to ever exist. First time i heard this 7" was some time in late '87. I recorded the first half of the ep from Pat Duncan's radio show on WFMU. There was just so much stuff i was hunting for at the time, that this one got overlooked, and luckily i recently came across it online. I spent an inhuman amount of time cleaning the audio and removing all the skips and pops, and even boosting the volume just a bit (without going into the red). It all paid off though, and i'm really happy with the way it sounds. I've been listening to this like a maniac for the past month or so. I can't get enough. Highest recommendation! Wanker!

The Disappointments

Better You Than Me
Scar Yourself
Drink It Away
Brainwashed
Possessed
Wanker
Rehash
Squared
Find A Job
The Woe
Trash Fever
Big Fat Boss Man
No Pot
P.U.P.
Putting It Off
Credit Due
Wishing Well
Did It Wrong
Next To Impossible
Hint To Move
Mama Done Told Me

Not much info about this band online, other than they were from Detroit, Michigan, and released this insane 21-song ep on Ice Pick Production Records in 1987. The music is hard to describe. It's absolutely frantic, deranged, fast hardcore punk with tempo changes all over the place. Like a faster and more psychotic version of Neos, with a crazed vocalist that kinda sounds like the guy from Violent Tumor (actually the music reminds me a bit of Violent Tumor at times), and even Denunzio from the '87 Infest demo, with back up vocals in the vein of Jello from Dead Kennedys. If this came out today it would probably be thrown under the banner of powerviolence, as it is this must have floored people in '87 (it sure floored me).

All copies were on white vinyl labeled as The Disappointments on the cover, but the labels read Elvis Roy and The Disappointments. Band members were Elvis Roy, B. Paingle, T. Rick and Mark. Aside from Elvis on vocals, i'm not sure who played what.

In 1989 The Disappointments were the backing band for GG Allin. There was even a 7" record put out as GG Allin and The Disappointments. The ep was called Outside Inside, put out by Bitter Boy Records, recorded 1989, released 1990. It was a soundboard recording of a full show at Stache's Bar in Columbus, OH. recorded  June 26, 1989.

In the late '90s The Disappointments recorded three 7"s. All Cranked Up (1997 Sell-Out Records), Sex, Drugs & Puke (1997 Radio Records), and Let's Die (1998 Radio Records). These records were nothing like their demented 21 song hardcore 7" from '87 though, and more in line with GG's brand of scum rock.

Crumbsuckers - Life Of Demos 1983-1985

These are the early Crumbsuckers demos with David Brady on vocals. They were posted about a year ago on the band's facebook page, from David Brady's personal stash of recordings from when he was in the band, These recordings, and a couple others, have been circulating the web for a while now, but i was never happy with the quality on any of the links i've come across. Some were loaded with tape hiss and recorded at an incredibly low volume, while others were so cleaned that the sound was completely washed out. So i decided to clean the tracks myself, as i tend to listen to this stuff a lot and wanted it in decent quality. Hope you like it.

Life Of Demos

The Crumbsucker Cave demo was recorded in June of 1983 at Nino Studios in Baldwin, NY. At the time of these recordings, the band had a 15 song set (roughly), including a cover of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf", Chubby Checker's "The Twist" (included on the demo), and the them to Inspector Gadget. A great mix of these songs and early versions of Life of Dreams songs can be heard on the New York Ave. 1984 Rehearsals (check out the Old, Fast & Loud blog for that). Like most high school hardcore bands, the music was pretty basic and the lyrics were kinda juvenile. The evolution of the Crumbsuckers is amazing considering that they had written some of the material for Life of Dreams less than a year later. Listening to the Cave demo you'd never think it was the Crumbsuckers, but it's worth checking out. A long-lost piece of hardcore history for sure.

1983 lineup:
Dave Brady - vocals
Dave Wynn - guitar
Gary Meskil - bass
Kevin Carroll - drums

In early 1984 Chuck Lenihan is brought in on second guitar and Dan Richardson takes over on drums. By the summer on 1985 all the band's old material is scrapped and the band records their incredible second demo. "Working the Magic" is recorded at CBGB on a 16 track. The progression from the first demo to the second is like night and day, and now the band have a super tight, metallic and very unique crossover sound. After listening to this demo about a dozen times during the past few weeks, i have a great appreciation for it. At this point i may actually prefer Dave's vocals over Notaro's. Probably just because this is new to me, so the difference in vocals sounds fresh. Dave's vocals are more of a raspy yelling, as opposed to Chris Notaro's growly, almost death metal approach (much different than his vocals on the first Krakdown demo). I'll say Working the Magic is up there with the best of the NYHC classic demos of the mid-'80s. Glad it's finally out there, and hopefully one day this stuff gets a proper release.

1985 lineup:
Dave Brady - vocals
Dave Wynn - guitar
Chuck Lenihan - guitar
Gary Meskil - bass
Dan Richardson - drums

I don't have any info on the last batch of tracks in this collection. Pretty sure they're rehearsals from sometime in 1984. Much different sounding than the New York Ave. Rehearsals. Probably some of the earliest versions you'll hear of some Life of Dreams songs. There's also a great version of an early unreleased song called The Solution. I'm guessing this is one of the last songs they cut before moving entirely in their new direction.

A few weeks after the recording of the CBGB demo, Dave splits, Chris joins, the band signs to Combat, and the rest is history.

Unfortunately i never got to see the Crumbsuckers in their prime, but i did get to see them when they played a reunuin show at BB King's in NYC on August 3rd, 2006. The show was in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Life of Dreams. I'm not much for reunion shows (although i've been to my share), but this show was amazing. The entire 1985 lineup played (plus Tom Klimchuck from Pro-Pain), and even David Brady and Dave Wynn came out for a few songs. Some of the band members even had their young children on stage, it was just a really fun show. They played LOD in its entirety and it was flawless. Seriously. If you closed your eyes you'd swear they were playing the album over the PA system. Easily the best reunion show i've ever seen, and just one of the best hardcore shows in general.

Excellent Crumbsuckers website here.

Also, i think Beast on My Back kills. Underrated ripper.

Funeral Oration - The Demos 1983-1984 revised

I first heard songs from the early Funeral Oration demos on WFMU back in the late '80s. These demos went straight to the top of my want list, and within a few years I was lucky enough to score original copies of both demos from a collector who was selling off his demo collection. I quickly made copies as not to put any wear on the original tapes, and they became a huge part of my soundtrack through the early '90s. The 1983 demo is in my top 5 hardcore demos of all time. In the mid '90s, when i had the technology, i ripped both demos to CDR (i remember back then CDRs were like 5 bucks a pop), and when i started this blog in 2009 i ripped the CDR to mp3s as part of a Funeral Oration anthology i posted that year. I've always wanted to upgrade the demos, and figured it was about time. So here they are in much better quality. These crucial recordings, aside from a couple of songs, were left off the incredibly incomplete Funeral Oration 2xCD released on Hopeless Records in 1999. I'm pretty sure all the records and sessions on that collection were incomplete actually, and if they hadn't filled the second disc with live shows (from the late '90s no less), i think they could have put together a nice discography. Oh well, that's the decision of the band (and whoever else was involved). Hopefully at some point the band decides to release a proper discography, and hopefully even include the demos in their entirety. For now, here's the upgraded demos collection. Re-transferred, re-cut, cleaned up and ripped at 320 from the original first generation cassettes. 100% mandatory listening. Enjoy!

Funeral Oration Demos

There's Nothing Left To Laugh About - 1983 demo
The inside demo cover, reads "Recorded on a gray afternoon somewhere in September '83. It was our seventh practice." The demo cover was printed on pink card stock. A fold-out lyric sheet was included, printed on front and back. According to the lyric sheet, the song Sinking Down was written in 1981 by Peter Zirschky's former band, Last Warning. The demo title "There Is Nothing Left To Laugh About" is printed nowhere other than the top of the lyric sheet. These are by far my favorite Funeral Oration recordings. This is raw, fast, yet extremely catchy basement thrash punk. Most of these songs were re-recorded for the second demo, The Godsend, but for me these are the definitive versions. Amazing from start to finish. If you've heard Funeral Oration before, and it's not your thing, keep in mind this demo sounds absolutely nothing like anything the band recorded since. This is the band at it's most aggressive and most raw. The most drastic difference between this and that came later are the vocals. While still being slightly melodic, the vocals here are angry. With growls at times that are closer to early death metal than the super melodic, almost DK like vibe that the band became known for. This tape has always reminded me a bit of Husker Du's Land Speed Records album, and that's pretty much the only point of reference i can think of for a description. The tape only slows down to catch it's breath during one minute for the song Walls on side one (kinda the way Land Speed only slows down for Data Control). Anyway i'll stop now. I can ramble on about this demo forever, i've probably played it a hundred times and i'll never get sick of it. A classic, and a ripper from start to finish.

For the record, i'll take this over Land Speed any day.

1983 lineup
Zirschky - vocals
David - guitar
William - bass
Ferry - drums

Funeral Oration II: The Godsend - 1984 demo
Inner flap of demo cover reads "Recorded on a wet day in young '84, soaked through we were. Cover printed on light blue card stock. Apparently the cassette also came in brown bag with a decal and included a 2-sided insert, a folded poster, and a sticker. Unfortunately my copy didn't come with the bag, decal or sticker. The majority of the tracks were written in 1983, aside from Send From Heaven and For Miles (my 2 favorite tracks on the demo), which were written in '84. Also included is a re-recording of the Last Warning song from '81, Sinking Down. In fact, of the 16 songs included here (not including the intro and outro), only 7 were not re-recorded tracks from the previous demo. These versions are much different though, and was pretty much the foundation for the bands sound that followed on the Shadowland ep in 1984 and the Communion LP in 1985. They traded in the raw basement thrash for a much more unique sound, with echoey guitars and much more melodic vocals. The energy of the music is still in full force here, but there are poppier, and also darker elements. When the band are at their best it sounds like some bizarre hybrid of fast-paced hardcore punk and The Cure. The song For Miles is a good example. An unofficial 12" vinyl release of The Godsend came out in 2008 on Neder Again Records. It included a lyric sheet. In 2011, Gummopunx Records in collaboration with Pain Of Mind Records reissued the demo as an LP. This one came with a printed insert with liner notes and lyrics, and completely new artwork. Intro and Outro not included. 500 copies pressed.

1984 lineup
Zirschky - vocals / guitar
William - bass
Ferry - drums

For my previous Funeral Oration post, which includes 2 of the band's first vinyl releases, go here.

Funeral Oration formed in 1983 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. They released a nice sized discography, including a split cassette with Gepøpel in 1985, which included tracks from both demos, as well as rehearsal and live recordings.

Krieg Kopf - 1985-1987

I got a cassette copy of the Krieg Kopf demo back in the the late '80s during the old tape trading days. I always considered this an underrated ripper. At their best they seemed to fuse the early, more straight forward NYHC sounds of bands like Antidote and Cause For Alarm with the more rockin' sounds of NY punk bands like Kraut and Reagan Youth. Krief Kopf formed in 1984, and were a very short lived band, with not much recorded output. I wish they would have stuck it out a bit longer. They kicked ass, plain and simple. Enjoy!

Krieg Kopf

Jason Deranged - vocals
Mark O - guitar
Hasty - bass
Rockin' Rob - drums
on demo it says "drum tracks by Steve Pain"

The demo was recorded in 1986 at Granit Records in Babylon, LI. Great production on this tape, and great songs as well. The opening track, State Aid, was always a fave of mine. The last track, Immortal, stands out as it sounds completely different that the rest of the demo. It has a much darker feel, and an obvious So-Cal punk influence. It wouldn't sound out of place on one of the Hell Comes To Your House comps.

Warhead appeared on the One Big City compilation LP on Big City Records in 1985. It's a pretty by-the-numbers hardcore song, but i love shit like this. The One Big Crowd LP is a classic East Coast comp. Side A featuring all NY bands, and side B featuring all NJ/Connecticut bands. The comp came with a 26 page booklet full of lyrics and info. My fave bands on here being Bedlam, Chronic Disorder, Ultra Violence and the only known recording by Shock (song is a monster). I held on to my copy after all these years.

The WFMU set is the real treat here. A whopping 16 song set recorded on 10/29/87 on Pat Duncan's radio show. I wish i had a better quality rip of this, but it's worth hearing for sure. Aside from the demo tracks, they play the majority of the songs that were supposed to be put out as a full length LP for 109 Records (which was recorded but never released). Seems like they were going for more TSOL or Adolescents territory on some of these newer tracks, not unlike the last track on the demo. Maybe it's just me, but i also hear a huge Artificial Peace vibe in a lot of these songs, in both the songwriting and just the overall sound. Fine by me. Whatever the case, it's killer stuff, and hopefully the LP sees the light of day at some point. There was talk a few years back on the band's web page of the long lost album finally being released. Apparently it was recorded some time between 1986-1988. It's been a while though, so that may have fallen apart unfortunately. We'll see.

The last 2 tracks here are from a benefit compilation cassette put out by Guillotine Magazine back in '85 called United Scene. Lots of excellent (and some pretty obscure) bands each contributing a couple of tracks each, all recorded live at CBGB. Antichrist Newsboys, Leeway, Token Entry, Skinhead Youth (pre-Warzone), Good Humor, Nevermore, Mental Abuse, Disorderly Conduct, Krieg Kopf, Murphy's Law and Ultraviolence.

The band went through a few singers (including Perry from Clenched Fist) before finally calling it a day at the end of the '80s. They played a reunion show at A7 on 12/06/08.

R.I.P. Hasty

If anyone has any info on the unreleased LP, or any band pics, stories, demos/live recordings etc. Please leave a comment or get in touch.