Slim update at the moment.
On the positive side, thanks to everyone's kind contributions and purchases during my little union fundraiser last month, I was able to chip in $1200 towards our union defense fund! Nice one!! May we all live to keep fighting for another day! Thank you, world.
Despite this success, since my last mass e-mail, I have not felt very much enthusiasm for the distro because another big FOAD wholesale order got lost in the mail. Seriously kills my vibe. I know it's gone but I'm incessantly calling USPS and CBP anyway just because I hate them, well I don't hate USPS but I do hate CBP because I believe this is their doing. So, I'm out a lot of money and no Hemdale 2xLPs for you all.
And while this is killing my joy in one area of my life, in a totally separate area of my life I've been feeling a lot of joy. Because of my new girlfriend I'm so crazy about hahaha. I'm totally basking in 'new relationship energy' and loving every moment of it.
These two factors combined has left me feeling a bit uninterested in my distro, compared to other things I could be doing with my time. But, nonetheless, I need to get these records out of my apartment LOL. And really, it's okay for our enthusiasms to ebb and flow, to wax and wane. Sometimes we're so over and other times we're so back, you know?
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MAY NEW ARRIVALS
I want to start with these 2 new SPHC releases. These have been shipping for a few weeks but I've been dragging my feet a little on getting them out into the world properly, and didn't get to fully mention them last time around.
First is Dirty Wombs/Sludge split 7". This one was on the backburner for a wee too long but Dirty Wombs is doing a giant Asian tour this summer, more on that soon, so suddenly this became a top priority to get them some better visibility by matching them to a personal favorite from that part of the world.
Dirty Wombs material on here is their best material yet and indicative of the direction they're evolving in: leaner and meaner, more attack and more core. Love it!!
Sludge side, well I'm partial to it cause I play drums on this and the 7" I released a few years ago LOL, but I have a lot of love for these dudes and how they've pulled together so many of their various experiences and opinions about punk into a somewhat unique style. They have a lot of personality and that's something I value in bands.
Second is Detesto new EP. When we think of contemporary d-beat, for me, Detesto is in the cream of the crop.
It often feels like bands playing brutal Swedish kang, with heavy and depressive guitars, monotonous songwriting, and relentless execution, are a bit a-dime-a-dozen. Sometimes I like these bands and sometimes I don't, but everywhere around the world there is some random group of guys playing like Doom at the least, if not like Skit System or Wolfpack specifically. I mean, I can think of 3 in Minneapolis alone right now LOL.
But what makes one band better than another? With genre exercise bands like this, I think it's often the attention to detail. The combination of studied (or natural) understanding of the concept alongside focused attention to detail in the execution. Mastery of the subject matter.
I like Detesto cause one of them is my friend of many years LOL, but I love Detesto because of their flawless exercise of the genre. Everything is perfect, the sound, the songs, the playing, everything is as it should be, with just enough thought put into songwriting to keep it all fresh and exciting, not stale and obvious.
Really proud to do another 7" for them, that's a solid step forward from the first 7" a few years ago, and I hope there'll be more to come into the future.
More on Kuroishi LP, Dart LP, Confront LP next month.
Also, my crappy little noisecore band Anal Butt has a new split tape out now, a split tape with the Australian noisecore unit Vault Deprogrammer. Big respect to them for releasing it.
Actually there is SO MUCH unreleased Anal Butt material and we are still recording annually, even though I so rarely release any of it. I'm hoping the next round of SPHC stuff will be a monumental 4-records-and-more Anal Butt drop to celebrate our 10 year anniversary....which was in 2024.....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. Oh well. What's the rush?
Speaking of crazy noise, this month we got a lot of grindcore, noisecore, goregrind, power violence, everything FAST.
There's not a record faster than this Last Days of Humanity album. Originally a CD-only release 20 years ago, I clearly remember buying this at the time and being a little wide-eyed at its extremity even compared to the previous LDoH albums, and I clearly remember I wasn't alone in feeling that way, I mean this album still comes up in conversation sometimes and I think this is probably a template for a lot of modern goregrind bands. There've been two other vinyl reissues over the years, but given the bonus tracks, this is probably the definitive version of this goregrind classic.
But if you argue Yacopsae just as fast, I won't disagree. Rot/Yacopsae split 12", a reissue of their 2000 10", is also a terrific lesson in sonic brutality, two bands that have been a consistent part of the soundtrack of my life since I was a young teenager.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you want slow, should check out this Black Mayonnaise/Brown Piss split 12". Isn't this the first new release in quite some time for the shit-fi kvlt legend Black Mayonnaise?? Slow, esoteric, dense, seismic. A vibe like no other. Brown Piss side fucking great too of course, total fuckin noise.
Side note, I was really surprised by this Completed Exposition early years 10". GREAT!!!! I dunno why I haven't been paying closer attention this band all this time???? This is much more aligned with what I want to hear from a power violence hardcore band.
Speaking of what I want to hear, thankfully this FOAD wholesale order made it through okay! Cause I'm dying to read this Shizuoka Hardcore book, a scene I've been a fan of for such a long time and I'm always thirsty for any interesting commentary and stories about it. Innocents discography 2xLP is a great companion piece, what you ought to be listening to as you read really LOL.
Also of note, if you prefer the collector's choice of formats over their CD versions on Black Konflik, Gaido LP and Holocaust LP are up in here too. And we picked up some of the new pressing of arguably the best punk record ever, Raw Power - Screams From the Gutter LP, plus a restock of 100 Swindle LP cause TETSUYAAAAA!!! hahahaha.
Blessed be the people that keep these hardcore LEGENDS available to the world at large. We got some killer South American hardcore reissues that are required listening for anyone into punk. Ataque Frontal EP is probably the best Peruvian punk record and is one of the meanest, rawest, most pulverizing records out there. In the same league is Olho Seco first EP, personally I think this is the most important South American punk record and Olho Seco is a personal favorite, a huge influence on the way I think about punk as an art form and I'm dying to play in a band that draws more direct influence from them.
And if you too love Olho Seco, do not casually pass on by this Atack Epileptico CD!!!! This one gets a BIG RECOMMENDATION, this is an ESSENTIAL listen if you're also a Brazilian noisecore fanatic like me. If you really want to understand bands like Noise, Industrial Holocaust, Masher, Academic Worms, etc, you need to hear Atack Epileptico. The OG vinyl is a bit tricky to find but I did snag a couple copies of a recent CD version. Atack Epileptico play that mid-period Olho Seco style hardcore where it's basically just noise, where it's executed like noisecore only....it's not grind, it's punk. Powerhouse shit. A big label regret is not being able to adequately pull together the Sao Caos live LP, which included Atack Epileptico.....got all the recordings but no artwork, pictures, nothing to really help document the moment the way I was hoping. =(
And finally, we got some choice Polish punk reissues, super obscure shit but also a restock of the Post Regiment first LP reissue. One of my favorite records ever. =)
80s/early 90s Poland one of my top 3 favorite time/places for punk so I am always keen to hear some lost obscurities and random ass recordings from back in the day.
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coming in June:
Dart LP ships, Confront LP goes up for sale
more More MORE
Thanks and talk more later.
FEDERAL WORKERS, HOLD THE LINE AND DON'T RESIGN.
-Dan