I didn't really know most of these dudes that well except for booking them up in Saratoga once when I was still living up in that area, but I know most of them played in hardcore bands at one point or another even if I'm not sure what bands they were. I also know that Ben is a mutant and you shouldn't be able to play guitar that fast using a thumb instead of a pick while ripping poppers like that, but he definitely did it because I saw it happen. Fast, chaotic, noisy hardcore punk. A cool band that I wish did more, but broke up too quick. Par for the course, Albany.
Alright, alright, I suppose it's time to stop being modest and post one of my old bands. Fuck, thinking about this band makes me really sad and happy at the same time and it's a weird mix of nostalgic longing and exhausted relief. Originally Mike (rest in piece, you sweet gentle asshole) and Pat had known each other from Schenectady and started a band with Chris Lee of the Bagabums (a band who I'd LOVE to have some recordings by but as far as I know they've all been destroyed) and his pal Jordan from Saratoga. Jordan wasn't really working out for one reason or another, Chris drunkenly asked me to try out on drums at Vive Le Punk 2003 in NYC. I agreed, for some reason or another, but have no idea why because I couldn't play drums at all. Until I did, and it sounded not terrible. I learned all their old songs, and we penned some new ones and recorded a demo only a couple weeks after I had learned how to drum. The quality is not the best.
Fast forward a couple years and Chris leaves the band, we all decide to change the name because it was his idea and we landed somehow on Scag Rotter. After a few attempts to find a bassist nothing really panned out until we tried our good friend Brendan who would go on to start Neutron Rats with me, among several other projects. The longest running lineup was born then, and we played a lot of killer gigs and even made it out of town a handful of times which was shocking with the amount of Milwaukee's Best we would suck down every fucking night. We had a handful of new songs in the works, but intended on putting out a 7" on our buddy Claw's new label Loud Blaring Punk Rock (now shortened to Loud Punk) so we figured we'd record some of the old stuff, a couple new ones, and then finish the other ones. Unfortunately the recordings never were completed, the record never came out, and all of those sessions are lost except for one song due to the engineer's computer crashing. It's drunk, and it's punk, for better or worse.
Fuck, I miss these days and I miss not knowing how fucking dumb I was. About 6 of these songs were actually on the demo but I'm including the rest which had some real stinkers on it, but also some pretty solid tunes along with the last remaining Scag Rotter session song. After Mike's passing two years ago I can't listen to most of this anymore without tearing up a little, but maybe you'll get some kind of enjoyment out of it. But seriously, don't focus on the drumming that shit is atrocious.
"You say that we'll be gone someday, you say our lives are just a phase / we've got nothing more to say, we found our place we're here to stay."
Definitely a little hazy on the year, and definitely remember different cover art for the original CDr release, but this is what I got so I'm working with it. The first incarnation of Have A Go Heroes was called Broken Toys but I don't think there were many gigs played under that name, if at all really. Guitarist/vocalist Kris seemed to have a constant rotating cast of characters behind him so the name wasn't very important in general because this was all his brainchild. Good catchy street rock/oi that definitely had more songs than what's recorded here, but I was so obscenely drunk all the time at this stage in my life that I couldn't tell you anything about them. My old band The Sleaze/Scag Rotter used to chum around with Kris a lot in the old days, so we naturally played a lot of gigs together too. This includes a song written by the late, great Nate Switzer called "Alleyway" about all of us boozing in the parking lot and behind Valentine's before and during shows. It was originally written as a dig against punks because there wasn't a lot of love when everyone first met, but we all became close friends and this became a real anthem for the times. Kris now plays bass with local oi/hardcore band Murderer's Row.
Victim to the Albany curse of putting out a ripping LP and then almost immediately splitting up, Scuzz was one of my favorite bands to see and to play alongside. Sharing a member with them (Dan, who was on bass here instead) and being buddies with these weirdos made doing a few weekend tours and an 8 day midwest/east coast tour with them a no brainer, and things sure got strange. From witnessing the total destruction of a NYC apartment, to watching a pediatric nurse do unsavory things to some ne'er-do-wells, to playing essentially in a laundry room in Baltimore, we have sure shared some of my more memorable gigs in Neutron Rats with them.
Always dug Allen's riff prowess in his previous bands, but this is noticeably an evolution from his days playing in Cancer. Not to say it sounds similar though, this is its own entity entirely mixing the Cleveland influenced Albany hardcore with some UK82 midtempo bouncy riffs, all with Cannonball's pissed off vocal delivery at the forefront. This LP is a masterpiece front to back, and it's a damn shame that it is the only thing on wax aside from a split 7" with Male Patterns. They did have a pretty extensive catalog of demos before this, but this really outshines them all. 13 songs including a cover of the Mad's "I Hate Music" make this one not to miss.
This one has been on my want list for a long time and I had no idea that it was tucked away in the two disc compilation of Stigmata songs called Troy Blood Unbeaten until I contacted singer Bob Riley asking where I could find it. Cranial Abuse was killer crossover hardcore with awesome metal guitar works and catchy as all hell songwriting that really brought a late '80s hardcore cross section together perfectly. Listening to this stuff makes sense of where the Troycore sound evolved from, as a genre it had always been on the heavier side of things with thrashy metallic riffage and hard mosh parts. This band eventually turned into the highly regarded Stigmata who has a pretty extensive catalog themselves which is totally worth checking out. Aside from this demo, there's not a whole lot of output from Cranial Abuse except for a track on the first Albany Style 7" comp featuring No Outlet, Wolfpack, and Fit For Abuse.
From members of Hail Mary and John Brown's Army, which is definitely noticeable in these songs, comes more hardcore with an apocalyptic atmosphere that is a little more focused. JBA brought frantic energy, Hail Mary had their chaos, but this has a little more control and it brings an almost cinematic quality to it with ebbs and flows that come naturally enough to the songs progression that it feels like shifting acts of a story. The first song alone "Attack and Retreat" is a four minute long epic that sounds like shields and spears clashing on a battlefield somewhere. Lyrically however, the focus sticks to Mark Telfian's sardonic world view which rounds this 3-song EP out fantastically. Listening to this is kind of like trying to read a good book while it is punching you in the face.
Was really hoping to get a good vinyl rip of Killtech's WW4 EP which came out in 1992 because that's just the way I'm used to hearing some of these songs played, but this is a great release too. Killtech took the skeleton of their songwriting from punk and built it up with some post punk and an almost industrial sound too. Songs have a good groove tempo and keep it on the slower side for the most part, but it never feels dull. The lyrics are excellent and very tongue in cheek, my personal favorite song being "Pleasure Cannister" with the refrain of "there is such pleasure in shooting people" that echoes throughout from the perspective of a violence crazed lunatic. I feel like these guys wouldn't have been out of place being released on Alternative Tentacles.
This is a fun one that I can't believe slipped my mind this long before I posted it. Here's the pitch: a three piece garage punk band where they all play guitars, except one of the guitarists plays drums with his feet too. I know you've heard this one before, but you haven't heard THIS one before because this is a lot more successful than most gimmick bands that have tried similar shit in the past. JR's vocals really hit it home, they're not what you'd expect but still very tuneful and carry the weight of melancholy which compliments the 1950s by way of the 1980s by way of 2015 music you're listening to. Killer harmonies both vocally and instrumentally, as if each guitar is fighting the next one with differing leads and rhythm sections that add sonic depth.
Another band I never got to see which is very unfortunate. Wake Up Dead were ferocious hardcore punk with some serious melodic guitar work that had a little crust undertones to it. Matto's vocal delivery on this shit adds a mania that really helps the music come together into a coherent piece, but that's not to say that it wouldn't be good without them. The music stops and starts on a dime and unleashes total mayhem on the listener, each transition giving you whiplash with some inventive drumming that deviates from the standard one two, one two punk and hardcore beat. The longest song clocks in just shy of a minute and a half, but it doesn't feel nearly as unfinished as some bands who try hard to keep their song lengths short.
Indisputably one of the most legendary bands from Albany, Monster X blended raw hardcore with grind while still maintaining underlying social and political themes that set them apart from the rest of the mindless '90s blast beat bands. Aside from having a split with Spazz under their belt, members also went on to projects like Limp Wrist and Dropdead aside from Albany area rippers like Devoid of Faith. Guttural vocals like these were generally absent from most punk and hardcore, so I think having them here really compliments the more punk sounding riffage and brings an additional layer of chaos to these songs.
Can I just point out what a ridiculous fucking lineup they played on the video above? This gig was Monster X with Charles Bronson, Spazz, and Quadiliacha at a fucking VFW hall or Knights of Columbus or whatever the fuck it is. That shit would never fly today, and it is a crying shame. One of the most interesting things I think was that they were probably the only straight edge band that called for the legalization of drugs. Maybe they were aware that addiction is more of a medical issue than a criminal issue years before that became common knowledge, or maybe they just didn't give a fuck what other people did.
Honestly not even sure if I ever got to see this band, and it was totally unintentional if that was the case, but in listening to this demo it really doesn't sound familiar to me at all. Fuck, this is awesome, what the fuck was I thinking? Another classic Kieran and Connor team-up, though their last one (only for now, hopefully) as Connor split town for the greener pastures of... Vermont? Yeah I guess it's pretty nice there. Listening to this through once it seems like a pretty solid hardcore punk recording but on my second pass through I started noticing weird garage rock and '70s influences creeping in a little just in the peripherals enough to not be noticeable if you aren't paying attention. Couple that with Connor singing in a lower register, and you have a sleeper Albany classic. I feel like this band had members of Coughing Fit too at one point, but I have no idea. Give it a download for a little harsh weirdness.
Sorry I haven't been active in a little while, been biting off way more than I can chew in my personal life but I'll still get around to updating this when I can. Stoked to drop this one on you: Secret Service, almost called the Handjobs in the early stages of the band, were pretty short lived but equally ripping punk, featuring Jamie from Nuclear Family and Heather from Zahnarzt. I'm pretty spent and having trouble putting a finger on who exactly they remind me of but it almost kinda seems like if A-Heads were from southern California, or if Naked Aggression listened to more Killed By Death comps. Fuck it whatever, either way this is tight and you should download it.
