The Baltimore band’s seventh album, released in 1999. One of those rare groups who can record hundreds of songs over many years and yet each song, while instantly recognisable as a Lungfish song, is also distinctly unique. Pleasure for your ears, nutrients for your psyche. Only available, since 2013, on CD format.
The debut album of 1987, released as brother-sister collaboration by both Amanda MacKaye’s Sammich Records and her big brother’s label, Dischord. Not long after Soulside changed their name from Lunchmeat, and taking their ques from fellow DC punks Scream and Dag Nasty. Its an almost perfect slab of melodic DC hardcore (personally, I always felt the ska-influenced song was a bit of a let down, for what would otherwise have been a ten out of ten, bona fide classic). The vinyl version has been out of press since its release, but thankfully copies of the remastered 2004 CD re-release remain in circulation.
Composed by photographer Antonia Tricarico, an oral history of both the renowned sound engineer Don Zientara and also his Inner Ear Studios. The world famous Washington DC recording studio – and the man behind its desk – for near enough every single release on Dischord Records, plus Bad Brains, Bikini Kill etc. Alongside 250 photographs, this volume includes testimonials from members of Fugazi, Scream, Fire Party, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dismemberment Plan, Jawbox etc.
Hardback, 164 pages, 29cm x 26cm. (RRP $35.00)
The final record by the Northern Virginian trailblazers. The tracks were laid-down at Inner Ear Studios in 1989 (with the help of Eli Janey of Rain/Girls Against Boys), to be then left – due to the bands demise in 1990 – sat on a shelf until finally getting remixed and released in 1993. Like the other recordings made by Scream after Banging The Drum (and also the departure of original drummer Kent Stax) this embraces a slower-groove-pace with the rock swagger setting-in even more than before. But it’s worth keeping in mind that Fumble, aside from being the bridge for David Grohl’s Nirvana/Foo Fighters career, was also a foretaste of what Pete Stahl would end-up unleashing as vocalist for the excellent Goatsnake (with Wool in between). Consequently the slower, rock moments that jostle alongside their faster, hardcore influenced tracks, have become much more interesting with hindsight. To put it another way, this record doesn’t suck nearly as much as I once thought it would… it’s actually a pretty solid rocker.
New York’s Kill Your Idols were very active in the late 90s and early zeros, landmarked by countless albums and split 7″s (Fisticuffs, Full Speed Ahead, Nerve Agents, Voorhees, Good Riddance, Crime in Stereo, Modern Life is War, Poison Idea, and Seconds ), reforming in 2013 and, ever since, continue to bang-out their (increasingly) melodic hardcore punk. New York brothers Rule Them All formed in 2017 with one goal in mind: deliver gimmick-free hardcore that speaks truth to power. The band’s potent blend of hardcore, touched with a little Dischord melody and passion, have lead to them sharing the stage with acts like Terror, Turnstile and Gorilla Biscuits.
As with their previous LP, Off Fire (from 2020) the Baltimore band headed to Magpie Cage Studios for the J Robbins experience – a man who perfectly understands how to capture the dynamics of this kind of intense, mid-paced, melodic hardcore. Truth Cult feature ex-members of Give, Protester, Red Death, Post-Pink. And I think it is Give who’s presence can be felt strongest in their style – one that is somewhere between Fire Party/Swiz and Fucked Up/Fiddlehead. Fans of Dischord’s output, especially, should take an interest in Truth Cult (as I listen, I’m also picking up traces of Fugazi and Lungfish). This is great reinvention. And let’s not forget, Give were a very cool band, especially their 7″ EPs.
An American/Aussie trio with a sound heavily entrenched within the after-hardcore/post-Revolution Summer wave of Washington DC/Dischord-related bands – Fugazi, Lungfish, Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Blue Tip, Q And Not U etc. maybe even a little Dismemberment Plan too. This is their twelve song debut album.
The first of five planned collections by the this much sough-after Washington DC band who were active between 1984 to 1989. Because The Hated did not record for Dischord it immediately puts them in that high-interest, but kind of obscure, domain that was shared with Moss Icon, Fury (DC), and Rain. Their deal was to take a Dischord/hardcore spirit and energy, and to then inject heavy doses of Husker Du emulation, mainly in their approach to the vocals. But played fast, very fast. Resulting in something close to the earliest Lemonheads recordings, injected with extra Revolution Summer. Remastered from the original analog tapes, this compiles their D.I.Y. debut cassette (The Best Piece Of Shit Vol. 3 from 1985), the No More We Cry 7″ EP (Vermin Scum Records 1985), and 14 bonus tracks from the vaults, spread across two LPs. Includes lengthy essays on the band and scene, illustrated by dozens of photographs from the band’s archive.
London based math rock trio with nine tracks of noise rock tinged with screamo, on their, yep, you guessed it, third album. “This is the heavy, twisty and weird, like the band members.” The strong reliance on drum rhythms, and dissonant guitar chords, conjure-up Dischordian notions of Fugazi and Hoover. But all given a good hard kick, stepping-up to the volume and intensity of (fellow Londoners) Part Chimp and Silent Front. You would expect to see these guys on a bill with USA Nails and/or Hey Colossus.
The early-to-mid 1990’s post hardcore band from New Jersey. They were kind of Dischord influenced (Soulside, Hoover etc.), but forging their own individual style. Some might remember their split 7″ with London’s Fabric that was released on Simba in 1994. I believe this compilation brings together everything they recorded, which also included a split EP with Dahlia Seed (Troubleman Unlimited 1994), plus a few other 7″ EPs. Twenty tracks in total.
