HIGHER GIANT - The First Five + Al's Moustache

Location: New York

Release: Black Numbers/ Creep Records, 2009

I was just listening to Black Train Jack and started to remember about Ernie Parada's bands, one in special is somewhat underrated: HIGHER GIANT. This short lived super group produced 2 EPs and a total of 9 pop punk tracks in the vein of CIV and Black Train Jack.

The band was comprised of David W. (Kid Dynamite, Paint It Black), J-Sin (Warzone, Grey Area), Alex (The Arsons) and of course Ernie Parada (Token Entry, In Your Face,...). When it comes to melodic shit I'm very specific, there are only a few dudes that can lay down this kind of solid melodic punk and these heavywheights are definetely amongst them.

DOWNLOAD (both EPs)

HIGHER GIANT - Al's Moustache (Black Numbers Records, August 2009)

HIGHER GIANT - The First Five EP (Runner Up/ Creep Records, March 2009)

HUMAN GARBAGE - Guilty Of Being A Man

Location: Los Angeles, US

Release: 7th Circle Records, 2014

With Sleepwalkers on a hiatus, Aldo and his pals started another project last year: HUMAN GARBAGE, a no holds barred hardcore reminiscent of Think I Care, Slapshot. In their first and only record (so far), they came up with 7 tracks full of hostility, speed and intense tempo changes. Lace up and mosh on!  

PURCHASE TAPE

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V/A - Tribute To BREAKDOWN

Not an official release (or even bootleg). The deal is... I'm gathering tracks for a covers only compilation and came across a bunch of Breakdown ones and damn, they are good! Classic bands playing classic hardcore plus a few underdogs makes this short but hard-hitting online comp a well deserved tribute to one of the most crucial bands out there: BREAKDOWN NYC.

Tracklist:
I. TERROR - Kickback
II. ILL BRIGADE - All I Ask
III. BITTER END - Don't Give Up
IV. KILL YOUR IDOLS - Vengeance
V. CATHARSIS - Sick People
VI. LOSING GRIP - Street Fight
VII. JUSTICE - Intro/Blacklisted
VIII. NO TURNING BACK - Vengeance
IX. CHOKEHOLD - Kickback
X. MENTAL OCTOPUS - Safe In a Crowd
XI. UNEASY PEACE - Sick People
BONUS: FLOORPUNCH - All I Ask (live)

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Notes: No Turning Back has also recorded the song Sick People. On a search for different BREAKDOWN covers I found that Power Trip played Jail Of Depression live but they didn't record it. The artwork (crappy collage) was done by me (Cesar PC) using the image archive from the band's facebook page.

MOVING ON - S/T EP

Location: Seattle, US

Release: Alternatives Label, 2015
Artwork: Nate Walters

Fast and to the point youth crew! 7 blasts clockin' under the 1 minute mark on the debut 7" from Seattle's young blood MOVING ON. They recently got back from tour with Red Scare and Clarity (new EP out as well). Vinyl has just been up for pre-order, scheduled to ship next week!

PURCHASE 7"/MERCH

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MEDEA - Doomed From Birth

Location: Stockholm, Sverige

Release: Injustice Records, 2015
Artwork: Staffan Tengnér

MEDEA is the swedish answer to nowadays Power Trip and Foreseen or even Violator, yeah it's that good. I'm guessing we will be hearing a lot more of them in 2016 as a full-length is being written!

Doomed From Birth is their debut EP on the german Injustice Records that sold about hundreds of copies worldwide in just a few weeks. This EP is already impressived, skilled rippin' fast thrash metal with heavy doses of crossover but... what they presented on the new Promo Tape I take my hat off, in fact the hat exploded, the first time I heard it I threw my chair out of the windown and smashed the keyboard on the pc screen. Gadem! I'm talking about possessed riffs, neckbreaking hooks and breakdowns (3 or 4 on each song) it will leave you like you spent the last 7 and a half minutes inside a hurricane or a laundry-machine, it will fuck you up. CAUGHT IN A MOSH!

PURCHASE 7"

DOWNLOAD

Caution! Before playing the Promo Tape, be advised we are not responsible of any injury it may cause to you or others nearby. Play at your own risk!

AWOL - Vision + Demos

Location: Newburgh, NY

Release: Back Again Records, 1990 (long out-of-print)

This is one of those posts that would be better suited in blogs like Blogged And Quartered or One Track To Hell because we are talking about here of one of those real obscure gems and its complete discography. A.W.O.L. was a band from the second wave of NYHC that lasted from '88 to '91 featuring Sam Carbone, Darryl Quirk and Tom Connelly from All Out War, basically they changed the vocalist (Rich to Mike Score) in 1991 and All Out War was born.

A.W.O.L. is higly recommended for those into that nostalgic late 80's/early 90's

hardcore in the vein of Social Justice, Visual Discrimination, Release and a bunch of others bands/records we grown to love uncovered to us by infamous Lost & Found in a time of need (pre-internet era)! Hence AWOL's records never got reissued,  their music started to fade in people's memories doomed to become only a footnote on AOW's wikipage and would remain so, if it weren't for a couple of dudes in the B9 board.

Discography:

1988 Two Faced Demo

1989 All This Confusion Demo

1990 Vision 7" (self-released)

1990 "Having a Ball" Compilation Tracks

DOWNLOAD

Acknowledgment: Vista Fanzine and B9board users: EscapedFromTheValley, cthc89, Henry 'unionwiththeabsolute'.

UNION OF FAITH - S/T Demo

Location: North Carolina, US

Release: DIY, 2015

Allriiiight, fasten your seatbelts, Stephen and The First Step crew are back!!

PURCHASE TAPE [Europe]

DOWNLOAD [320kbps]



First show takes place in two weeks. This also marks one of the last shows from MINDSET.

Thanx to the Garcia Bros. for the heads-up yesterday, which allowed to get a limited free download on bandcamp itself.

BUSTED OUTLOOK - Grand Slam Sessions

Location: Bay Area

Release: Layin' Waste Records, 2015

This band is rad af!! From aesthetics to the urgent music, BUSTED OUTLOOK has all the elements that hardcore punk were initially established upon, not just all that mindless rage and reppin' your local crew we are becoming used to.

They play a mix of youth crew and fastcore with riffs galore and provokative lyrics, featuring members from dozens of other cali groups, such as: Permanent Ruin, In Digust, Condition, Ritual Control, Scalped, and the list goes on.

B.O. has plans for an US tour (with some dates already confirmed) and also Europe for 2016, for that matter they demoed some songs in "grand slam sessions" that will appear on the upcoming full-length by REFUSE RECORDS, scheduled for July. I believe this is their second promo tape, first one was for their debut EP on Warthog and sold on a festival last year, the demo "plagued in horder" was recently issued in vinyl by Speedowax!

SUPPORT:
 2015 Promo Tape [Layin' Waste Records]
Spitting Wind EP [Warthog Speak Records]
Plagued Hoarder 7" [Speedowax]

DOWNLOAD

[includes '15 promo tape, demo and zine w/ lyrics commented by Rich] 

if your lyrics lack substance / while you are talking about being hardcore / me and my friends will show you the door
- scholastic deth

LAYIN' WASTE RECORDS

New label in da house! Primarily focused on cassettes, Jeremy B.O. has just started Layin' Waste showcasing 5 of the finest Bay Area's hardcore groups and they are all new to me (except Busted Outlook). If you are down with that retro sound New Breed Comp. meets UK82 you may want to watch this label closely, it's raw and hard.

Tapes (and possibly a webstore) are promised to be available early november.

PROFILE - 2015 Promo

Members of Scalped, No Sir and Stressor. SFHC back on the map.

DOWNLOAD

SUBTLE VIOLENCE - Criminales

Members of Spinebreakers and Bad Times Crew. South Bay Oi punx.

DOWNLOAD

WINTER HILL GANG - Demo

Members of Scalped, Profile and Provos. Boston homage. San Fran Mob Stomp!

DOWNLOAD

TUNDRA HOGS - Demo 

Wild music for wild people. Bay Area's Alaska enthusiasts. 
 

DOWNLOAD


I skipped B.O. on purpose because I was already writing an article about'em and they are up next!

--------------- layinwasterecords@gmail.com --------------

KID ARMOR - The Outcome Replays

Location: Orange County, US

Release: DIY, 2014

One year after the well received Better Days EP, KID ARMOR presented in 2014 their second album The Outcome Replays. This time around the punk O.C. influences speaks even louder, more crafted/thought-through and harder then previous compositions, it also features a kickass Adolescents cover.

The first EP was love at first sight, high energy youth crew cali style. The latest EP is one of those records that grows on you and asks for second or third replay as they got really creative with breakdowns and skankin' parts. However, almost a year after its release I can't figure out why there's still no label backing this up!

FFO: Rotting Out, late Down To Nothing, 90's Epitaph Records. 

PURCHASE CD/MERCH

DOWNLOAD [320kbps]

xxx