SAVAGES - TOMORROW'S VIEW

Japan is an incredible country. The food is delicious, the scenery is beautiful, you can buy beer from vending machines, and they have some of the best punk bands in the world! When most people in the US think of punk from Japan, they tend to think of raw noisey stuff (like FRAMTID or ZYANOSE). That's not the case with THE SAVAGES, however. What we have here is melodic and catchy. It's infectious and it'll get in your brain and you want this in your brain! Download this stuff and sing along the best you can (I've also included their side of the split EP they did with BLACK AND WHITE).

You can download it here.

WOUNDS - MMXIV

I finally had the time to recover from Manic Relapse weekend... Kind of. It was honestly one of the best weekends in a long time, and not just because of all the awesome bands that played, but because of all the good friends from all over that I got to hang out with! I wish it could have lasted a little longer...


Anyways, I first got this tape about a month or 2 ago off of STEEL CHAINS when they played LA (and if you missed them, then you're a bozo). This is Kiwi's favorite tape and she plays it all the time. I can't really blame her, because it really is that good! It's got a melodic punk vibe similar to bands like RED DONS or DEFECT DEFECT. I think the most unique aspect of this tape is the vocals. They give it an almost post punk feel. But what do I know? Nothing, that's what. From what I've been told, this band was pretty short lived and is no longer active, which is a shame. At least we still have this tape *tape player chews up tape*


No worries if it chews up your tape tho, just download it here.

XM2 - EL GRAN RECHAZO

This one was a bit of a mystery to me. When ORDEN MUNDIAL played the Dog Haus, the next day was a bit of a mess. Someone had locked the garage door and taken the key, locking all of the gear inside the garage. Also, the singer was missing and no one knew where to even begin looking for him. To make things a bit more urgent, some of the members had a flight to catch in a few hours. It was a hectic morning to say the least. Once everything had been settled and the missing people were found, everyone rushed out of the house (I never got my garage key back though). Later that same day, I was looking thru my tapes and I noticed a tape that wasn't there before. XM2, I can only assume, was left as a gift... Or maybe it fell out of someones pocket. In any case, thanks for the tape! Raging hardcore from Barcelona. It's similar to bands like BARCELONA or ORDEN MUNDIAL. Thru a random email many months later, I found out that Hector from ABSURDO sings in this band (although he doesn't sing on this tape). As everyone I'm sure already knows, Barcelona has some of the best hardcore bands in the world, and this is no exception.

You can download the demo here and you can stream and follow the band here.

SLIMY MEMBER

About 2 years ago, I was in Denton, Texas. If you've never been, let me describe it to you: It was really cold, really lonely, and really quiet. It was one of those cities on tour where you get out and everyone (whoever is actually outside that is) looks at you weird because you either look punk, you're not from there, or both. Some random lady even tried to take a pic of us as we walked into a book store. I mean, really get in our face for an extreme close up photo! I don't really know where I'm going with this story, other than later that night we played a cool show in the basement of a pizza place in Denton. It was a pretty cool show and better than I expected. One of the highlights from that show was SLIMY MEMBER. A lot of people use terms like "dark punk" so I guess that's what we can use for this. It doesn't sound anything like post-punk or anything like that. It's more of a heavy dark hardcore... Whatever. The point is IT'S GOOD! I'm always super grateful to catch amazing bands when I'm on tour and this day was no exception... Even with the outside world being so cold and lonely.

You can download and check out all their stuff here

GENERACION SUICIDA - INSEGURIDAD

I stayed up all night setting up my next post: Ripping the record, scanning the covers, thinking what I want to say. Then today right before I post it up, I realized that I had already posted it 2 years ago. Rather than let that deter me from posting today, I'll share this: A track off our new split we're doing with ESPERANZA and SOLPAATOS from Japan. We'll be touring down there in June of this year. In the meantime, you can check out the track below.

MÜLLTÜTE - FIRST 3 EP'S

This morning was one of those rare days where nothing seemed to faze me. Forgot my work bus pass at home? No worries, I'll just buy a pass! I forgot my work badge? No worries, I'll just buzz myself in all day! Vacation denied? No worries, I'll just fake my own death! Ya see? there's a solution to almost all of life's little problems. One of the main things that keeps me feeling upbeat when the world is trying to beat me up are bands like MÜLLTÜTE. I love this band! I first ran into them during our tour of Germany back in 2013. It sucks that I missed them when they played (I can't remember what I was doing. Probably being a bozo though). The next day after the show, I managed to get a hold of their 3 current Ep's. Since then, they've been a constant piece of wax on my turntable. They sound like a mix of RAZZIA and GAUZE. Lots of good stuff coming out of just a 2 piece band. They also have an LP that came out not too long ago, but unfortunately I haven't been able to get my hands on that (yet).

You can download their 3 Ep's here. You can get the demo over here

EDIT: I've re-uploaded a better download link for yall. I guess it's back to mediafire!

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DAME - CHARM SCHOOL

All day today, I've been hearing stories by people twice my age. Most of these stories are regarding bathroom habits and old hangouts that are no longer there. To be honest, I usually ignore everything and zone out for 8 hours a day. One of them today told me "I used to know this dame a long time ago. She used to always get mad at me because my handwriting looks like scribble..." At this moment, I zoned out and I just thought "who uses the term 'dame' anymore"? DAME from Boston of course! Ahhhh, this band is great. I don't think that they are obscure or not well known, but just in case you should check it out. This is the kind of band that can brighten up your day with their new-wavey / post-punk synth driven tunes. Don't be fooled though, they can be hard as fuck too. You can stream their stuff here and you can download their demo here.

..."and there I was in the cab when I realized I had forgotten my wallet at home. What a wild weekend!" Yes, I know. Even I envy my own life sometimes...

BUTCHER BOYS

Yesterday was pretty painful. I threw my back out lifting something heavy in the middle of the day at work. As I lay there on the floor contemplating where it all went wrong, it hit me. The meaning of life is do what you want, listen to punk, and fuck all this heavy shit! Actually, I take that back. Here's something good that's heavy: BUTCHER BOYS. They played a couple of weeks ago in South Central with UNDERPASS, MORNING COUPE, and PELUZA. They showed up at the very end because one of the members got out of work late. At this point in the show, the neighbors had already complained about the noise because they were having their own party and our party was louder than theirs (go figure). BUTCHER BOYS were given a short but sweet set and it blew everyone that was there away. At times this reminds me of CATHOLIC SPIT without all the little guitar and drum intricacies. I don't know too much about this band except they'll be playing on May 7 with LOS MONJO, RULETA RUSA, and NO PEACE. You can check preview what they sound like before then by checking them out here.

Here's the flyer for that May 7 show. Be there or don't!

SYNDROME 81 - DESERT URBAIN

I just spent the weekend traversing areas of California I had never seen. I fed ostriches and emus and saw colorful valleys and giant elephant seals. Along the way, there was one point where the fog just rolled in out of nowhere and it completely obstructed my view. Rather than panicking at the thought of just flying off the highway, I started bumping SYNDROME 81. Tough, melodic, Oi with a hint of post-punk. It goes perfect with any near death experience or gloomy weather! I'm not too sure who is in this band, but I think it may have members of LITOVSK (you can check them out over here). Both bands sound pretty alike in my opinion. Anyways, now everyone can download this stuff and scuff their boots, cuz the oi is back in town! (that joke is terrible. I will go cry in shame now which is awkward cuz I'm at work and everyone will see).

Check out and download everything of SYNDROME 81 here.

DESPERFECTO/REHUSAR SPLIT

While digging thru my emails, I came across an email from Atacho, who does the Crisis Total zine in Chile. I have a horrible memory, and I don't think I ever even read this email when it came in (sad to admit). To anyone else I haven't replied to yet, I'm sorry!


Anyways, in his email he sent me a link to check out his band DESPERFECTO. I'm super glad he did too, as this stuff rips (I need to come up with more adjectives to describe good punk). Hardcore/pogo-ish punk that reminds me of bands like AS MERCENARIAS or LA MISMA, but in Spanish. I've heard that Chile has an amazing punk scene and if this band is any indication, then yeah I can believe that. As an added bonus, they have a split with REHUSAR on their bandcamp. I don't know much about REHUSAR other than they sound way heavier and angrier than DESPERFECTO. A cool split and something that would go great with doing things that require venting (like washing the dishes or folding clothes. I hate crusted forks)!


Check out their stuff here.

GENERACION BASURA - DEMO

You know, I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to punk. There's never a lack of bands to find, whether here in LA or elsewhere in the world...

I got an email last May from GENERACION BASURA asking me if I can take a listen to their demo and share their music. Although it's been about a year since that email, I've always believed it's better late than never. So check this out, punk from Seville, Spain that's in the vein of old US hardcore. Not really anything surprising really, as a lot of old Spanish bands were influenced by bands from the USA. So, this could be influenced by old US bands or old Spanish bands. You decide! This reminds me of bands like TDK or ESCORBUTO CRONICO (who in turn remind of DEAD KENNEDY'S and MDC). Yes, things really do seem to come around full circle some times.
PS look at that cover art! It reminds me of early 90's MTV Oddities cartoons like THE MAXX or THE HEAD. Maybe it's the purple, maybe it's the mouth, or maybe it's this glue I'm sniffing, but it gives me that vibe.

Anyways, check them out right here