This issue of DISTORT is especially for all the bands and people who don't have a myspace page. I'm pretty sure every band I feature in this issue does visit that cesspool of 1's and 0's, so it isn't dedicated to them. Fuck. This issue has a huge feature on my favourite band of last year, ANNIHILATION TIME. Also: WORLD BURNS TO DEATH, whose new LP is good shit. FORMALDEYHDE JUNKIES, who I contribute to the hype surrounding, also have a great interview in this issue. Plus, a bunch of photos of PISSCHRIST on tour in Europe and a review of that post punk book RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN.

SOLD OUT.

REVIEWS:

BENCHPRESS 'Practise Tape' TAPE (Benchpress) Benchpress have a strong Huntington Beach / TSOL / Vile feel to them, and this all centres around Cade, who you'd know to this point as the accomplished journalist behind CUT SICK fanzine, and who no doubt feeds his Gold Coast alienation with repeated listenings of 'Solutions', 'Dance With Me' and the blue Adolescents LP. Benchpress, however, seem to feed on a different source, and the result is a strange combination of Boston thrash (think Negative FX) and modern wiggercore (think Mental/Righteous Jams), but fortunately strays more in the direction of the former. This practice tape is what their demo *should have been* if they'd had patience to write better songs and get a good sound together. The sketchy TSOL feel that I talked about earlier comes across live more than on this tape, which features an obligatory stupid skin on the cover and no lyrics or details, just five songs recorded raw and fulla trashy hate filled energy. Live, they're a violent, senseless mess and one of the better bands I've seen this year.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE 's/t' 12" (Feral Ward) At this point of the game, it's almost superfluous to mention this band features a Tragedy member. Much like any band that has become or has come out of the monster that is Tragedy, you are almost certain to appreciate Criminal Damage, who seem to draw on the same influences as No Hope For The Kids but sound less power pop and more aggressive street punk rock (though you could picture both bands sitting down listening to Blitz records together but probably getting different things outta them: No Hope getting off on the goofy elements and Criminal Damage considering their music from a sociological perspective of disenfranchised British brutes). The fact these guys are seasoned punk musicians / scenesters means they're unafraid to attempt things most younger punks would shy away from. Certain songs on this record have an anthemic / balladic feel to them that could sound forced and fake, but here it's organic and real. This can be overbearing over two sides but taken individually songs like 'World Is Not Enough' are almost "beautiful" in their sentiment. Almost.

FUCKED UP 'Triumph Of Life' 7" (Vice UK) FUCKED UP 'Dangerous Fumes' 7" (Deranged) How much art can you take, indeed? In their inception as a pissed Dangerhouse via X Claim! worship, it was hard to imagine Fucked Up the darling of Limey metrosexual hip types, but they've proven to be devoted to obfuscation since they managed to write 'Police' and win over half of worlds hardcore listening population, cultist or otherwise, so if they each put out triple LPs of metal machine music on Virgin I would probably not blink (or, for that matter, buy). I am in the process of writing a huge article about this band, so I don't want to drop too much here for fear of exhausting the adjectives I can use to describe them. I've been a longtime devotee to this band, which has been a frustrating and rewarding ride, and the number of records I've missed out on just for sheer geographic isolation (and the fact they have a rabid collector fanbase who manage to snap up most of their recs before bums like me can even hear about them) is probably equal to half of the number that they've actually pressed, which is itself a daunting and somewhat ludicrous figure. I'm always pysched to hear whatever new tunes this band has written, and both of these records are an impressive development on their sound. I used to agree with a friend who recently opined "why would a band that's capable of writing songs as good as 'Police' be writing songs like clumsy as 'Triumph Of Life'?", but I think that this record indicates Fucked Up are yet to write their best material. Seriously, Triumph represents some really developed song writing skills. My hope is that their LP be a harbinger of a more accomplished songwriting era. In any case, I'll still trudge the road with them: they fucked my head, I think how they want me to think, they've turned me into them.

HJERTE STOP 's/t' 7" (Kick N Punch) Following the first K Town festival, a friend warned me about a new cult of kids from Copenhagen / Denmark who were growing out of the tutelage of the Amdi Petersens Arme and were starting a whole scene of great hardcore punk bands. These guys must have been a part of that momentum, and they are great, and this record is another reason to add to the weighty pile of reasons why most European hardcore punks these days get early American hardcore more than the Americans do…

THE JURY 'I Hate The Future' 7" (Gloom / Electric Mayhem) The first lyric on this record is "there are no comforts in my life but the occasional dog end and maybe sometimes my dick in my hand", which piqued my interest, and the bleak tone of these lyrics is basically the theme of this record. No hope, fuck you, etc. Like a good Nihilistics song, but not delivered with nearly the right amount of ire, so that's why I don't listen to it enough. The recording lets it down, because the singer sounds legitimately pissed, but the guitars are too weak (drums are too slow, bass is too fast). All this said, I think this record is the sound of modern hardcore punk. The first punks in the 60's didn't care about the future, they just wanted to ball and get stoned. The second punks in the 70's thought there was no future and railed against that. The next group of punks believed the future belonged to us, the youth of the nation and the world, the working class uniting against our exploiters. The next punks just see years of struggle and defeat behind them, look at the dogend on their coffee table and their junk in their hand, and just mumble that they hate the future. I think I relate to the new punks more than anyone else, even though the sight of my dick in my hand rarely gives me the kinda comfort The Jury speak of. Play louder.

LIMPWRIST 'Want Us Dead' EP (Lengua Armada / Cheap Art) This new Limpwrist record fucking rules over all else, and I think it comes down to the guitarist. He can fuckin' play, and I have a sneaking suspicion that he's responsible for the song writing, so whereas – with a couple notable exceptions – their earlier tunes are pretty lazy in terms of songwriting the songs on this record just sound so much more considered. But, the primary attraction when it comes to Limpwrist is the pissed, psychotic feel of the vocals, and Martin still delivers, thankfully, especially on the first side, the best songs they've yet written. Faster and louder and distorted to fuck. I heard these guys are communists or something.

PLASMID 's/t' 7" (Shortfuse) The raw aesthetic championed by Disclose in their recordings is achieved through careful attention to detail, but Plasmid achieved it to perfection over twenty years back with a shitty boom box in a practice room on this demo that Clint (legend) Shortfuse has pressed to vinyl. Ancient UK peace punk Dis-worship with the most ridiculous blubbering vocal delivery and a wall of sheer distorted mess over everything. Perhaps the reason this wasn't entirely lost to history was that members ended up in Heresy, but Clint rejoices in the drama of the arcane, so I'm not too sure about that, and further, I take comfort in that. This needs to be played extra loud to really appreciate it, but I shouldn't have to say that here.

RADIO BIRDMAN 'Hungry Cannibals' single 7" (Steel Cage) One mid paced rocker and one plodding piano addled lounge tune from the reformed Birdman. They're both a continuation of the 'Living Eyes' sound than the 'Radios Appear', but I suppose that's inevitable and I'm happy to be hearing this band playing shows and recording songs again. Both the tunes have little in common with Stooge-squalor, and show little of the Kramer/Smith worship that make earlier album cuts so fuckin' raging, but they do have the motor city groove, at the very least, so thankfully have not dived headfirst into the mistakes of the Saints in 2006 (who, I must admit, almost brought me to tears when they butchered 'This Perfect Day' and other sick tracks at a show I attended) and have still constructed boundaries to what they will or will not do, and what they will do is still holy and true.

SEX VID 's/t' 7" (Kill Test) Six songs and an almost religious perfection in their delivery. Fast snotty and pissed off, like an F.U.'s in between LP's with a devoted distorted grate to each song. The artwork is as concise as the tunes, and there is little information anywhere about this band (the internet search engines obviously deliver promises of ejaculatory release over cult hardcore bliss), so I'm going to have to wait until MRR interview them (which is apparently inevitable) to learn more about my new favourite band. If you don't like Sex Vid then I fucking hate you. Yes.

STATE 'All Wrong' LP (Underestimated) I had to scrutinize this record several times to figure out whether it was a repress of their 80's LP or newly written and recorded, and it was only upon finding a vague reference to Bush and Iraq that I concluded the obvious. Now, if you haven't heard State, they are from Michigan and recorded an incredible EP in the early 80's, then released an LP which is apparently inferior (though I've never heard it). I thought this was that record: it is inferior to the 7", but is pretty damn good all the same. I'd like to know more about this record, there is no information inside at all about the recording or any kinda liner notes (which wouldn't have been a bad idea considering the band's situation, but understandable if they're attempting to re-establish themselves separate to their past glories). The music is mid-paced matured punk rock, the guitarist is accomplished but restrained to a tight rhythm section, and it's basically mid-80's sounding second LP hardcore, or for a more contemporary comparison, Caustic Christ or new Poison Idea. Good stuff.

TRAGEDY 'Nerve Damage' LP (Tragedy) Tragedy released a new record, and it'd be cheating you if I didn't attempt to write about it in some manner, being that they are one of the most important contemporary hardcore bands. The general opinion of this record, garnered from consulting the opinionated scenesters and cultists that populate Australia's east coast punk scenes, can be succinctly delivered: more of the same. What this record speaks of that no other Tragedy record has in such horrific terms is defeat. The name 'Nerve Damage' suggests as much about war as it does about the lack of feeling: we are damaged, our nerves are damaged, our ability to feel is forever damaged. War is the dominant theme of the record, even from the opening sample of an air raid siren which isn't chilling or ominous or atmospheric but is appropriate, it makes sense, it is topical and it is socially and perhaps historically responsible. But the theme of nerve damage, not in the physiological or biological sense but in the spiritual sense, this is what makes this record so distinct compared 's/t' which documented what horrors we must endure, and to 'Vengeance', which spoke of revenge against the forces which preserve and perpetuate them. Both those records spoke of paralysis in varying ways, but neither in such a resigned manner as is found on 'Nerve Damage'. Historically, this mood was best captured in the UK, most specifically by Amebix on their 'Monolith' LP. Both these records speak of the glory of struggle, but both records sounded resigned to defeat and despair, in the tone of their vocal delivery, in the drab production. So, this record is not more of the same, but is probably an indication of the direction this band is going to tread. Bleak.

THE VICIOUS 'OBSESSIVE' 7" (Feral Ward) Four manic punk power pop tunes from Swedish hipsters with bad graphic design ideas. Throw the sleeve away, lose the lyric sheet, the focus here is four great tunes recorded with evident care, and they shine. This record is fairly representative of the time: I'd hazard a guess that these are jaded hardcore kids who decided to explore garage punk / first wave punk, and in doing so have expressed Euro punk in 2006 perfectly. File with the entire Denmark scene.

WASTED TIME 's/t' 7" (Grave Mistake / Brain Grenade) Wasted Time play straight forward hardcore which has equal parts of a) the burly stature to bring the better NYC hardcore bands to mind and b) the speed and head flexing of the Boston / DC sound. The resulting brawl between said sounds is spat out under dense lyrics about fairly typical topics, and the layout brings to mind some small town killed by hardcore record forgotten to history and re-released now, only this is well delivered modern hardcore from the same VA scene as Government Warning, Direct Control, etc, and it tastes delightful.