Hardcore/punk record distro

[Kierkegaard]

1905 – VOICE CD (EXOTIC FEVER) £6.50
1905 are a musically explorative, lyrically engaging and above all sincere hardcore band hailing from Washington DC. It’s difficult to pin down their sound with a few choice words, with songs ranging from head-on collisions to soft meditations in a way that their city-mates Rites of Spring would be proud of, but if you appreciate genuine and interesting music then this is for you.

AMANDA WOODWARD – A L’ASSAUT CD (DESTRUCTURE) £6.50
One of the best bands from Europe right now, Amanda Woodward mix driving emo with the occasional dub undercurrent. This CD collects most of their early material – the debut 10”, Ultramort 12” and “Mange Ton Disque” from the Lucky Thirteen compilation.

BAILER – SING IT LIKE A VICTIM CD (BASEMENT ASSEMBLY) £6.50
Tight, mid-paced emo along the lines of Policy of Three and 400 Years. All the prerequisites for a top-drawer emo record are here, and for many folk this record very much holds its own against the classics of the genre.

BORN AGAINST – BATTLE HYMNS OF THE RACE WAR LP (PRANK) £6.00
A welcome repress of this class release by one of New York’s finest hardcore bands. Born Against were a furiously political outfit that combined heavy, fast hardcore with a slight emo influence, putting them very much in the same bracket as bands like Downcast and Struggle, as well as fellow NY residents Citizens Arrest and Rorschach – still, however, the band very much comes into a class of their own. This is essential listening.

CHOKEHOLD - CONTENT WITH DYING CD (BLOODLINK) £6.50
Minimal packaging and minimal fuss, chugga-chugga political hardcore that cuts right to the bone. Members went on to Left for Dead and The Swarm, among others.

DEAD STOP – LIVE FOR NOTHING LP (HAVOC) £6.50
Dead Stop storm through another collection of songs, dropping the slightly rocky feel of their last album for an all-out assault on the senses. If you’re into early US hardcore, and in particular Negative Approach and Poison Idea, then this is just the ticket for you.

DIR YASSIN - DISCOGRAPHY LP (ALERTA ANTIFASCISTA) £7.00
Probably the most influential and well-known punk band to come from Israel, or indeed the whole of the Middle East. Relentless hardcore largely centered around the Israel/Palestine conflict. This comes in a beautiful gatefold vinyl with English and Hebrew translations of the lyrics, as well as some writings from the guys themselves.

ELEKTRODUENDES – SALGO A LA CALLE LP (TOFU GUERILLA) £5.00
This record came to me somewhat out of the blue, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Political punk with alternating male/female vocals, it has a lot of weight and depth to it. Comparisons to the likes of Lost World and Post-Regiment are inevitable, and Elektroduendes do supplement their sound with strong hardcore leanings. Lyrics in Spanish with English and German translations.

ENDLESS BLOCKADE – TURN ILLNESS INTO A WEAPON LP (SUPERFI) £6.50
Punishing, heavy hardcore that veers into both power violence and doom territory. The Endless Blockade have been called a mix of Crossed Out and Corrupted, and fans of those bands will be pleased by the seemingly effortless transitions between blast beats and sludge on this record. Appropriately, this is on heavyweight vinyl, and features Andy from Shank on bass.

GAUZE 7” (PRANK) £2.50
Prank really know what to do when it comes to releasing material by classic bands, and here we have a collection of songs new and old recorded by the mighty Gauze from Japan when they did their only US tour back in 1995. This has all the qualities of great Japanese hardcore, a fast and chaotic battery that will have you throwing your fist in the air in no time.

HAYMAKER – IT ONLY GETS WORSE CD (DERGANGED) £6.50
When asked what he wrote songs about, John Brannon of Negative Approach replied “the people I hate”. Haymaker are a continuation of the NA aesthetic and mindset, pummelling the listener with ferocious hardcore that drips with rage and venom…and with tracks like “A Million More Dead Cops” and “God Can Fuck Hymnself”, who can argue?

HIGHSCORE – UNSUSPECTING ACTORS LP (625 THRASH) £5.00
A positive call to action from Germany’s best youth crew band. Rather than treading the worn paths of bigging up your friends and decrying backstabbers, Highscore take the Gorilla Biscuits/Youth of Today model and slap their anti-capitalist rage on top. An excellent release.

KIDD BLUNT – GREY, BLACK, GREY CD (SCRAPE) £6.50
Far be it from me to try to talk up something that I’m selling (!), but I honestly think this is one of the best releases to come from a hardcore/punk band from the UK and (more specifically) Ireland in a long time. Contained in the lovely gatefold package is a CD full of crushing post-hardcore that brings together all the best bits of Drive Like Jehu, Twelve Hour Turn and Hot Cross. There’s even elements of Fugazi and latter-era Black Flag in there, too.

KYLESA – TO WALK A MIDDLE COURSE LP (HAVOC) £6.50
There’s something in the water down in Savannah, Georgia that’s making the hardcore bands dabble in metal and pull it off really well without a ridiculous fringe or thieved Iron Maiden riff in sight. This is Kylesa’s second LP and they take their sludgy, world-weary interpretation of hardcore even further than before. Something worth investigating for fans of Damad, His Hero is Gone, and even Nausea.

OBSERVERS – WHERE I STAY 7” (DERANGED) £2.50
One of my favourite punk bands these days. The Observers are making a name for themselves at the moment, and rightly so – their interpretation of The Avengers/Wipers style of early 80s punk rock pisses from a great height on all this sassy garbage that seems to come under the banner of punk and hardcore these days. Keep it real, buy this record!

PALATKA/ASSHOLE PARADE SPLIT LP (COALITION) £6.50
Arguably the best split to come out of the Network of Friends split series, bringing together two of America’s most chaotic hardcore bands. Palatka were as noisy and off-the-hook as their contemporaries in Reversal of Man and Orchid, whilst Asshole Parade simply tore things to shreds with their Life’s Blood worship. Music to lose it to!

PINHEAD GUNPOWDER – COMPULSIVE DISCLOSURE CD (LOOKOUT) £6.00
I expect this one to come flying off the shelves seeing as it features a certain Mr. Billie Joe Armstrong. I heard he’s in a stadium rock band these days. Anyway, this also features Aaron Cometbus and so you can conclude that it’s another release of solid melodic punk somewhere between Lookout-era Green Day and Dillinger Four.

PYRAMIDS – FOLLOWING THE TRACKS… CD (SLAVE UNION) £6.50
A fantastic release from the label that brought you releases from Death of Anna Karina, L’Antiem and Bury Me Standing among others. Pyramids feature ex-members of Holy Fucking Spirit and infuse their chaotic emo sound with long, drawn-out jams that border on post-rock at times. You can definitely file this under the same heading as bands like City of Caterpillar, Ampere and Funeral Diner.

RIPCORD - MORE SONGS ABOUT... CD (EPISTROPHY) £7.00
This is number two in the series of three Ripcord discography CDs put out by the Epistrophy label from Germany. This CD contains the Harvest Hardcore EP, the 1988 Peel Session, Poetic Justice LP and some live tracks from a gig in Holland. Fast fast fast.

SNOWBLOOD – BEING AND BECOMING 2XLP (SUPERFI) £10.00
Glasgow’s favourite sons return with their second album, a more grandiose affair than their debut that spreads itself over two slabs of wax. This is one of the most layered and textured albums I’ve heard in a while, with tales of loss and hope meandering across a hybrid of metal and post-rock. Despite spanning over an hour in length it keeps the listener interested throughout, moving fluidly through various different styles and sounds. Another top quality release from Superfi.

SVART SNO – SMOCK’N’ROLL LP (PRANK) £6.50
For some people it’s the Swedes who produce the best hardcore, and Svart Sno are usually part of their evidence when they produce their case. This record originally came out in the mid-90s and (true to chronology) it does provide a bridge between earlier bands such as Totalitar and the likes of Wolfbrigade and To What End.

THEMA ELEVEN - CHOOSE YOUR BEAST LP (INSANE SOCIETY) £6.50
Intense, sample-heavy emo - long, drawn-out passages broken by moments of chaos akin to Funeral Diner and early Neurosis. Over-bearing without being oppressive, heavy without being po-faced, a solid record all round.

TUBERS LP (BAKERY OUTLET) £7.00
Featuring ex-members of the seminal Twelve Hour Turn, the Tubers mix that off-kilter style with some backpacked and bearded punk rock. To quote Alex Deller (Collective Zine) – “a rough-sounding, homespun brand of punk that stomps around in uninhibited fashion…bringing to mind what might’ve happened if the Lapse had gone and pushed their energy levels through the roof”

WRETCHED - LOTTA PER VIVERE CD (ANTICHRIST) £7.00
Legendary hardcore punk from Italy, in the early 80s these guys produced some of the most chaotic, brutal and totally raw hardcore around. This features everything the band recorded bar the In Nome Del Loro Potere EP.

YAPHET KOTTO – THE KILLER WAS IN THE GOVT BLANKETS CD (EBULLITION) £6.00
The debut album from this much-acclaimed band. The chances are you’ve heard of these guys already, but if not then think emo so good that it just transcends its own genre boundaries and becomes amazing hardcore punk, plain and simple. A keen sense of melody pervades this disc, and the band are singing for all the right reasons.

ZINES

ARTCORE #23 WITH AMERICA’S UNKNOWN COMPILATION LP £6.00
This is the twenty year anniversary of the famous Welsh fanzine, coming sized as an LP insert complete with a vinyl re-release of a compilation of snotty, Dead Kennedys-indebted American hardcore bands that Welly put together back in 1986. The zine is very much in-keeping with this early American hardcore theme, featuring interviews with Career Suicide, Direct Control, Frontier Records and George Hurchalla (author of Going Underground).

HEARTATTACK #49 £0.50 (or one free with any LP purchase)
Along with Maximum Rock’n’Roll, the USA’s other leading punk rock zine. #49 is the second-to-last issue ever of this seminal publication and includes interviews with Iron Lung, the Now Denial, Free Verse and I Object, as well as a conversation with artist Cristy C. Road.

MAXIMUM ROCK’N’ROLL #273 and #275 – FEBRUARY 2006 £2.50
One of punk’s longest running and best zines, #273 featuring interviews with Endstand, Out Cold and the Pedestrians amongst others, whilst contained in #275 is a feature on ABC No Rio, a Hard Skin tour diary, and interviews with Ringers, After the Bombs and more. Included in both are the usual reviews, columns, scene reports, and Lance Hahn’s anarcho-punk files (Toxic Waste in #273 and Rubella Ballet in #275).


Postage and payment information

Postage costs are as follows...

LPs and CDs - £1.00 each
7"s - £0.50 each
Zines - Free with LP, £0.50 otherwise

You can always get in touch if you're going to be in Glasgow or Edinburgh and want to meet up with me to save you some money - gigs are always a good place to find me, but I can meet you elsewhere too. No dark alleys though, please. Otherwise, you can pay by:

Cheque - made payable to Michael Stewart.
Paypal - jail_guitar_doors [AT] hotmail.com (please add 5% for Paypal charges)

You can send cash in the post if you insist, but I'd advice against it as that thieving bastard Youngy will take it and I can't be held responsible for it not arriving.

[MotioN]

I think i'll take that Yaphet Kotto off your hands buddy.

[Kierkegaard]

Cool, dunno if I'll see ye till Bones Brigade though so d'you want me to post it up to ya? Unless you're going to be down in Glasgow at any point in the near future.

[MotioN]

nah, your coming to Bane ya bam pot!! hehe