Submachine Blanks 77 Violent Society

I am not sure there has ever been a show where I have actually interviewed three of the bands on the same bill... until this Saturday.

June 2 (Saturday)
Submachine 7:00 - 8:00 PM
Blanks 77 6:00 - 6:45 PM
Violent Society 5:10 - 5:45 PM
The Parasitix 4:30 - 5:00 PM
Atomic Cretins 3:45 - 4:15 PM
Doors 3PM Gig will end at 8:00 PM
Kung Fu Necktie, Philly PA

Submachine and Blanks 77 were interviewed in FOE #29.

Violent Society was interviewed in FOE #33

You can read the interviews at these links:

Submachine

Blanks 77

Violent Society

Cheers,

Frank FOE

The Old Firm Casuals "EP"

THE OLD FIRM CASUALS

"EP"

Originally Released on Oi The Boat Records in 2011

Reissued on Pirates Press Records in 2018

Back in 2013, Pirates Press Records released the 2xlp/cd "For the Love of it All". 

This mandatory oi! compilation included all of the The Old Firm Casuals singles in one place... except for the tracks from their debut EP.

Originally released in 2011 on Oi! The Boat Records, this debut EP is now available on a 12", that is pressed on clear vinyl with Dannyboy Smith's art from the original insert silkscreened on the B-Side.

TRACKLISTING:

Side A:

1. Old Firm (DMS)

2. Lone Wolf

3. Apocalypse Coming

4. Casual

Side B:

Black Silkscreen

The debut EP is raw and vintage sounding oi! I am a fan of all of Lars Frederiksen's (the screen on the inside cover lists him as "Lars Frederiken") music. Rancid, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards... The material he plays along with Casey Watson (bass, vocals) and Paul Rivas (drums, vocals) on this EP is intentionally rudimentary, yet hook-laden and instantly memorable. Think the sound of Last Resort (UK 1980 oi) worked up into a hardcore frenzy of the likes of Anti-Heros (classic Georgia oi/street punk established in 1984).   

The music brings to mind dingy hardcore punk clubs rather than the mass of a festival that you'd expect Rancid to play. The music sounds like something you'd expect to hear in a venue that had beer-soaked floors, graffiti and band sticker covered walls, with as much chaos in the alley out back as on the dance floor in front of the band. Think Rancid's dirty, less savory cousin. 

And I love it. 

Thank you to Pirates Press Records for making this available for those of us who missed the boat when this was released on Oi the Boat Records.

Cheers,
Frank FOE

Order at Pirates Press Records

https://www.facebook.com/TheOldFirmCasualsOi/

https://twitter.com/oldfirmcasuals

The Blankz "White Baby" 7"

The Blankz

"White Baby" b/w "Sissy Glue"

Slope Records

Released: July 13, 2018

I want to be the one who lets you know about this exciting project. The most important reason I started a fanzine in the 1980s was to share information about records. Introducing people to music brings me great joy. 

Inspiring, invigorating and just plain cool, this Slope Records project is something I want to introduce to you. 

As someone who ran a record label for a few years, who has been an avid (a word here which means "urgently eager, characterized by enthusiasm and vigorous pursuit") record collector since 1971  and an admirer of creative projects, I am completely on board with The Blankz imminent 7" series. 

The Blankz are releasing a series of nine 7"s that will then be compiled into a full length release. 

I want you to get in on this at the beginning. Nothing like finding out about a project as cool as this at 7" number eight and then having to play catch up.

Musically, Phoenix Arizona's the Blankz combine the garage punk energy of the Spits, the engine-like precision punk rock of the Briefs, the snot of Blanks 77 (how cool would it be to see Blanks77 and Blankz tour... after all, we are all part of Richard Hell and the Voidoids "Blank Generation") and the keyboard placement of hardcore era Devo. 

The Blankz are led by singer Tommy Blank, who is also the Slope Records founder. The A-side, "White Baby" starts at the beginning... The lyrical inspiration is Tommy's "struggle with identity and quest for belonging" as a "white kid adopted by a Mexican American family in the late 1960s". 

The b-side is "Sissy Glue". Did you know that "b/w" means "backed with"? The lyrics of "Sissy Glue" tells a tale of Paperboy Jimmy, huffing airplane glue and  spray paint in a dirty sock... 

As someone who has more than two dozen years sober, I also appreciate that Tommy has 13 years of sobriety.   

Need more validation? Cris Kirkwood (of the Meat Puppets and a fellow Arizonian) produced these first two tracks by the Blankz. 

 

Excitedly looking forward to the next batch of songs from The Blankz!

Cheers,

Frank FOE

https://theblankz.bandcamp.com/
https://sloperecords.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/theblankzband/
https://sloperecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SlopeRecordings/

Zeke "Hellbender" LP

ZEKE

"Hellbender"

Relapse Records

Released: March 23rd 2018

Sometimes I don't think I need to tell people about things... assuming they already know.

You do have the Zeke LPs... right? I mean everyone has "Super Sound Racing", "Flat Tracker", "Kicked in the Teeth", "Dirty Sanchez", "Death Alley", "Til the Living End" etc... right?

So when you hear Zeke is releasing a new album after 14 years you just know to get it. Right? 

When I first heard Zeke (and also Nashville Pussy and REO Speedealer - later just "Speedealer" after the obvious lawsuit) I lost my mind. Zeke, Nashville Pussy and Speedealer were the trinity for quite a long time in my ears and on my turntable. 

Zeke goes from zero to 60 instantaneously. It is just... GO! 

There's no buildup, no let's work our way in to this thing, no dipping the toe in the water to see if the temperature is OK... Think vintage AC/DC and Motörhead played on 45 instead of 33 then add Blaine from The Accüsed / Fartz barking at you and you have Zeke. 

Zeke is... strip off your clothes and just cannonball into the deep end of the pool.

Zeke fills a need in my life and I thank them.

Give it a listen. I would say to strap in... but this ride is better without the seat-belt!

Cheers,

Frank FOE

https://www.facebook.com/ZekeBand

https://www.instagram.com/ZekeBand

https://www.twitter.com/ZekeBand

http://zekeband.bandcamp.com

http://www.relapse.com

http://www.relapserecords.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords

http://www.twitter.com/RelapseRecords

https://www.instagram.com/relapserecords

Handsome Prick "Anonymityville"

Handsome Prick

"Anonymityville"

Horror Pain Gore Death

Released: December 22nd 2017

Great groove death metal and grind with an obvious attention to the ridiculous. But it isn't sloppy noise "ridiculous" (I don't waste my time writing about music I don't dig). This is brutal material. Think Blood Duster meets King Parrot. So musically, the ridiculous is in the craziness of the music, but also in that I enjoy the crazy ridiculous music. "Anonymityville", Handsome Prick's second album, is not ridiculous for ridiculous sake. The brutality and song writing make sure you know this is serious.

There is ridiculousness in the song titles too (as typical, I can't really make out much of the lyrics). Check the song titles, I mean who writes a grind song called "Alopecia Support Group". 

DEFINITION:

al·o·pe·ci·a

ˌaləˈpēSH(ē)ə/

noun

MEDICINE

1. the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows; baldness.

"Return of the Barfly" is one of my favorite titles. "Seduce and Abandon" is one of my favorite tracks, though there isn't a clunker in the batch.

These Indiana monsters get mega points for covering the Meat Puppets "Melons Rising" (1982), a song which held the title of my favorite hardcore song for many years. That Handsome Prick knew enough to cover the song makes this mandatory in my books. That they destroyed it in a grindcore manner gets ridiculous bonus points. 

Additional points given as they also know enough to cover Quincy Punx "Young and Dumb". What the hell? Who is Handsome Prick? 

Handsome Prick does a song called "He's My Ex". If it were only an interpretation of All's "She's My Ex". Hell maybe it is, I can't understand the vocals (other than "we don't give a f*&k" - at least I think that's what they yell at the end of the song).

I did manage to understand the lyrics to "Pro Shot Couple Pictures" with the help of the lyric video posted below (hint, the lyrics are the song title):

Love the rock breakdown in "I Don't Like Anyone" 

I don't know much about the ridiculous, grind mayhem that is Handsome Prick, but I sure do love this album.

Cheers,

Frank FOE

Handsome Prick FB

HPGD Productions Page
HPGD Productions FB
Handsome Prick Big Cartel

16 Fistula Split 7"

-(16)-/ Fistula 

Split 7"

-(16)- – Complications (Killing Joke cover)

Fistula – Mongoloid (Devo cover)

Patac Records

Released: December 15, 2017

 

This split 7" (digital available as well) is one of the first of an ongoing Fistula split seven-inch series on PATAC Records. The other 7" in this first wave is a split with Come to Grief.

Two of the best sludge bands covering two of my favorite bands which also happen to be two of my favorite tracks by those favorite bands.

It is a win - win, win - win, win - win situation.
.

Killing Joke's self titled debut LP from 1980 was a life changer. To be 14 and be able to hear that album as it was released had a huge impact on me. No one sounded like that album before. No one has sounded like that album since. One of the true classic albums. Get it if you don't have it. If you have it and haven't listened to it in awhile, put "Listen to Killing Joke" on your to do list.

"Killing Joke" must have had an impact on the members of -16- as well. I love cover songs and love sludge. This is real dirty interpretation of the song that works extremely well. A definite win - win.

"Complications" - Killing Joke

See the sun turn green

From my penthouse window

It's different now

Because you got no shelter

Alienation

By experimentation

Enjoy yourself

This is the new age

Complication!

Ransom the birth

Of a new destruction

It's different now

It's what we always wanted

Alienation

Self-destruct

At the count of ten

Complication!

Fistula's version of the Devo classic "Mongoloid" is superb.

"Mongoloid" was on the 1978 "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!" LP. Devo is my second favorite band of all time, but that's just because Slayer is my favorite. Devo saved my life in high school. Without Devo, my path in life certainly would have been a different one. So to say that a band legitimately changed your life path, certainly means I take any band covering their songs with great interest.

In Fistula's version, I love the distorted bass, love the pop of the snare and love the harsh vocals. I tend to sing every song in my head with a Fistula-like growl anyway, so this sounds familiar to me. The sludge factor is a thing of beauty, yet within the structure of the original song has a tremendous amount of unsuspected energy (sludge is usually kinda sludgy).

 "Mongoloid" - DEVO

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

Happier than you and me

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

And it determined what he could see

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

One chromosome too many

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

And it determined what he could see

And he wore a hat

And he had a job

And he brought home the bacon

So that no one knew

He was a mongoloid, mongoloid

His friends were unaware

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

Nobody even cared

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

One chromosome too many

Mongoloid, he was a mongoloid

And it determined what he could see

Cheers,

Frank FOE

http://www.fistula666.com
http://www.facebook.com/16Band
http://www.facebook.com/fistula666
http://www.patacrecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/patacrecords
Patac Records bandcamp

DDC (Drink & Destroy Crew) Unite & Conquer

DDC (Drink & Destroy Crew)

"Unite & Conquer" 

Rebellion Records 

Released: December 15, 2017

The origins of FOE include creating a hardcore punk zine using the technology of the day, a typewriter and a copier machine, to spread the word about the music I love. Being able to instantaneously share the music I am reviewing makes things unbelievably easy today. There also is an inherent no bullsh*t clause, as the reader can become a listener and fact check my words with their own ears. If what I say isn't on point, my integrity as a reviewer is on the line. Which is why I always provide youtube, bandcamp or other sources. I believe what I write. I ain't bullsh*ttin'. And if you know me, as I typed that sentence, you also know that 2 Live Crew immediately went through my mind... and so I had to divert myself for 4:28 to listen to that rap classic, "I Ain't Bullshittin". 

Alright, so back on track. Do me a favor. If you ever liked punk (by any of the definitions of "punk") please click and listen to, "Revolution", from Drink & Destroy Crew's album "Unite and Conquer": https://youtu.be/qABg8Sr_1L0

Bold, powerful, catchy, fierce with great hooks. 

Hailing from Atlanta, the first thing I think about is the band Anti-Heroes. What that means to me is that the Anti-Heroes automatically are the standard of measurement for any punk, hardcore, street or oi band that has its origins from the Atlanta Georgia area. If you haven't guessed, I love Anti-Heroes.

DDC can proudly stand right alongside the Anti-Heroes and are creating quite a standard of measurement of their own. I have loved all the DDC discography that I have managed to get my hands on.

Drink & Destroy Crew are a melting pot of many of my favorite punk and oi bands. The ten tracks on "Unite and Conquer" are riotous rockers. Blend in the drunken fist to the face straight forward Headache Records sound, a pinch of Dropkick Murphys hook-ability, a lot of street anthem unification style and you have Drink & Destroy Crew's monster of an album "Unite & Conquer".

Guest vocalist Ryan Cadaver was a nice treat on the track "We The People". I didn't know who Ryan was before hearing his guest appearance here (vocalist for Casket Creatures - a horror punk band that I have now been introduced to, check this video https://youtu.be/LIKBmxPhRzI ), but what a wise decision it was to bring his strong and distinctive voice in to the mix. One of the best tracks. 

TRACKLIST:

A1 Call To Arms

A2 Comply Or Die

A3 Feast For Vultures

A4 (We Are) United

A5 Stand & Fight

B1 Spirit Of ‘76

B2 Revolution

B3 Days Of Glory – Warriors (Razorblade)

B4 We The People (featuring Ryan Cadaver)

B5 (We Are) United (FC Version)

The vinyl pressing information is as follows:

200 x black vinyl

200 x red vinyl

100 x gold vinyl

12 x test press

I provide the vinyl information for you as you know my highest compliment for an album is if I would recommend acquiring the vinyl, rather than just a download or CD. So yeah, I think that if you dig what I am saying, dig the track "Revolution", you will want to get the vinyl.

Cheers,

Frank FOE

DDC FB

Rebellion Records WebStore