BEEFEATER.

Been quite a while since I last listened to this…

Bought this when it came out - out of print now, really Dischord? - and damn if it ain't a psychedelic weirdo hippie record that is PUNK as FUCK.

The lineup of this band just looks so wrong that it is absolutely right. The perfect melding of a bunch of dudes who don't fit the rules of the "School of Punk" (as far appearances & musical styles go), and this is why their material is (still to this day) is so unique.

This is a band you'll either love or hate, but in my honest opinion, Fred Smith is one of the most unsung hardcore guitarists ever. Imagine him in a band w/ the other Fred Smith (MC5) - crushing.

Light up, lights down, rock out, etc.

Beefeater - Plays For Lovers / House Burning Down

Link in comments.

CHRIST ON A CRUTCH.

Balls-out hardcore from the era before metal influence hit the scene, these guys started in D.C. in the early eighties before eventually ending up in Seattle.
What I find most interesting is that they don't "sound" like a Seattle or D.C. hardcore band to me - they have a unique sound all their own.

I always thought they were from Texas for some reason, like San Antonio or Corpus Christi - why? I'm not sure...
Anyways, enjoy this fine collection of quality rockin' hardcore that is power-fuckin-packed from beginning to end.



(Link will open in new window)

Christ On A Crutch - Spread Your Filth: The Doughnut & Bourbon Years




Now playing: Nailed Down - Broken Glass
via FoxyTunes

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY.

Just went through the L-R V archives and see that I haven't done a single post on one of my favorite bands ever - C.o.C.
So now I present to you, kind reader, a great-sounding live set from 1985 - back when they were a ferocious unit indeed!



(Link will open in new window)

Corrosion of Conformity - 01.05.1985 Wilson Center, Wash. D.C.




Now playing: Into Another - Without A Medium

CHRIS HASKETT.

(This has been the "late-night wind-down" record for me as of late).

Chris Haskett knows a thing or two about "fret gymnastics".
He was Hank's go-to git player during the Rollins Band years.
He's an eclectic player with a wicked skill set that runs the gamut of punk/metal/jazz stylings - a nice fusion of all the afforementioned makes him a unique (and highly underrated) guitarist.

This record is a complete 180 from all that; it's very acoustic and mysterious in nature.
Lots of ambient sounds buried beneath the warm guitar work.

It's hard for me to describe this stuff - in fact, it's usually ALWAYS hard for me to describe what I'm hearing - so just give it a listen.
It's a "tastefully trippy" record I'm certain most people haven't heard before...



(Link will open in new window)

Chris Haskett - Language




Now playing: J.R. Ewing - render

VOID.

While I liked nearly everything that came out in the first-generation of Dischord releases (and hardly ANY of them after that), the split VOID did w/ Ian's little brother's band knocked my young skate-rat ass to my knees and maybe even scared me a little bit.
Yeah, I'd heard Black Flag, but nothing had hit me like that did at the time.

Roll time forward like 20 years and I've been living in S.F. for quite awhile.
I end up meeting Chris Stover - the bass player - at a show at a club I worked at. Nice guy, entertains my fan-boy memories of one of the greatest HC bands that ever walked the face of this earth, etc.
He burns me a CDR of the long-lost "3rd. LP" - needless to say I am pretty stoked.

Move the clock ahead a few more years.
I'm at a parent/teacher "meet-and-greet" potluck thingy at my kids' preschool when I look across the room and damn if I don't see Chris standing there.
His daughter & my son are classmates. We proceed to talk about music and "how good this pizza is".

Anyways, this record is nothing like that split record.
Still, it has it's own charm, and to me, it's a pretty special recording.
I hope you dig it too.
(Comments or dialogue would be nice - it's been pretty devoid of that around here as of late)...

D/L Void - Potion for Bad Dreams right here.


----------------
Now playing: Virulence - Kindergarden / Sleep

BAD BRAINS.

Best (and earliest recorded) document of one of the greatest hardcore bands ever.

LINKS -
Official Website.
DoucheSpace.

D/L Bad Brains - Black Dots right here.



Now playing:
Heroin - Destination
via FoxyTunes

KINGFACE.

Unsung Washington DC band that never really got the credit they deserve, possibly because they didn't fit the Dischord HC mold. Great songwriting with a no-frills straight-up rock style, these dudes and Only Living Witness give me the same feeling when I listen to them - good stuff...

D/L Kingface - 9:30 Club, Washington D.C. 1988 right here.



Now playing:
Only Living Witness - Voice Of Disrepair
via FoxyTunes

DARKEST HOUR.

Here's what I feel is this D.C. "Gothencore" bands' shining moment.
While I own all their records, I prefer the earlier material to the last two Devon Townsend-produced releases.
(Too clean and too polished with not as much "brutality" - as the kids say).
Here's a righteous slab o' pummel for ya!

LINKS -
Official Website.
DoucheSpace.
Metal Archives.

D/L Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation right here.