 Great opening track by this thing called Capture The Flag - feels like I'm listening to early Cro-Mags, circa '83 or '84 with their addictive blend of metal shred and catchy top of the lungs verses.
The Control are one of the later model discoveries by the Go-Kart people, and combine the exhilarating thrills of high speed progressive hardcore with a two minute barrage of bottomless dollar store style.
Daycare Swindlers are one of my latest faves from the guys; a definite cross breed of early age hardcore ala Crumbsuckers and Circle Jerks with little or no production effects and plenty o' raw factor, recalling the glory days of non-for-profit punk.
Guff, are the early fave for pop crossover of the list on their charming Making A Difference contribution, and Toxic Narcotic do a 180 and give a little taste of venom with their We're Not Happy Until You're Not Happy down for life style of hardcore noise in the finest English Dogs drunken fuck everything tradition.
Go-Kart's been making their move in the last year or so, and they're not content with staying stuck solely in one genre. Yes, the buzz cut factor is in full effect in most cases, but as evidenced by the 18 or 20 contributors to this 30 track tirade, there's plenty for everyone to groove to in their gathering place of choice. It seemed for a while that Go-Kart had been missing the boat or just MIA after some respectable but sporadic releases.
Now we're hearing all kinds of cool stuff from newcomers like Pseudo Heroes and Manda & The Marbles, soon to be staples like Toxic Narcotic and Two Man Advantage, and the ol' school powerhouses like GBH, whose Punk Rock Ambulance is lifted from their scathing new Ha Ha record. And then there's The Varukers, very much from that same class of yesterday's aggressive streetcore activists, who even in old age couldn't care less about minimizing content or volume, and remain one of today's hardcore extremists even after all the mileage they've logged. Hey let's face it, young or old, punk music, at the core, will always have a fight the power quality that lives on in any age, any state, which recognizes no boundaries.
INDK and Sick On The Bus are two more prime examples of yesterday's stick swingers smashing through nu-school rules of conduct. While many of the bands featured here - some twice over - are essential, there are other new arrivals with only a web site to call home. I mentioned Capture The Flag earlier; great band, given space for two songs, Fly Like The Wind and The Zero Effect, and Guff, serving up a milder more melodic chunk of punk and power pop.
Revolution Summer've got an early out of control Ramones feel on their Qualitative Leap tune before turning into a near dead ringer for AFI - definitely something we need to hear more of. So yes, there's many a worthwhile upstart to discover - and there are a few poorly placed copies scattered throughout. Thankfully, the scales are tilted heavily towards world domination rather than mild opposition and cut and run. These guys ain't here to make any friends, they mean business, and if you're expecting handshakes and well intended niceties in the lyrics, you'll wanna book a flight to the Southwest.
Brothers Of Conquest - how could I forget them - probably the best heavy fuckin' rock band no one's ever heard of, with their death rock, punk, metal and booze-soaked blues going on in one lethal dose of aural damnation that can't be fully appreciated until you've heard their All The Colors Of Darkness in its entirety over and over again.
The third in the New York-based label's fight against the oppressive corporate giant reveals their deadliest offensive yet, with a varied assortment of punk styles united under the flag of freedom and progress. :: Vinnie Apicella |
