More by: Matt Poole

As anyone who has seen my room at the Suicide House can attest I love records.  There is barely enough room to walk in between my bed and dresser due to a cascade of vinyl that has long overflowed my meager shelf space.  I don’t mind, there are still 100′s, 1000′s of slices of exciting music out there to discover, capture and drag back to my lair.

Among the discs and cassettes rising in stacks around my clothes, books and stereo are Krautrock reissues, girl group 45′s, Indie Rock classics, minimal classical experiments, Soul gems, Punk and No Wave originals, Doom and Speed Metal dirges and Michigan underground records of the small and large varieties.  Among other things.   My interests are broad which hopefully will make my take on the Punk, Metal and Hardcore records I review here more interesting.  It also means that I don’t have quite the extensive knowledge of these genres that many of you who read The Screamer do.  So bare with me, challenge me when you need to, correct me if you have to.

I decided when I started reviewing records again that I am old enough not to worry if I occasionally offend with my opinions.  They are, after-all, just that: opinions.  These reviews are meant to give you my thoughts and impressions of music and those impressions aren’t always good.  This can be tricky in a small community like GR/ West Michigan.  I might be handed a record by a friend that sucks and I will say so.  I might stumble on a record by a band I can’t stand and love it.  My request is this: read these reviews and share your opinions but don’t take this shit personally.  Just make better music.

ATTENTION SPAN- Faceless People CD (Homesick Records 2010)

This new CD from Grand Rapids punks Attention Span wastes no time getting to the point; fuck you and get out of the way.

The first thing that grabs me when listening to these 8 burning tracks of youthful anger and alienation is the balls-out vocals of Trent Dirkse.  Dirkse goes hoarse spitting vitriol for the people he feels want to control what he thinks or how he lives.  There is nothing new about the sentiments here but lyrics like “They sell us lies, they sell us violence/ they try to take my voice and sell me silence/ They sell us war and their version of peace/ sell us crime then sell us the police” have a freshness that make this not just another 15 minute disaffected punk rant.  And again, it’s the voice that really sells it. I don’t feel for a minute that he is faking distain to sound “punk as fuck.”

But all of that would be for nothing without the buzzing guitar, point punching bass and burning drums propelling the vocals.  Matt, Tim and Ben grind through this disc with a old-school hardcore sound that has real life in it (which is not as easy as it sounds).

The last two tracks are live recordings which – luckily – capture the energy Attention Span wields in the basements and underground venues of GR.  The vocals are echoed out and the instruments sludge together but don’t lose their acidity.  These tracks sound distinctly different from the first 6 tracks on the EP (all decent studio recordings) and that is a good thing.  They prove that Attention Span make noise for real.  I just wish that I could hear all these details when I see them play.  Goddamn not being able to hear vocals at punk shows.

VARIOUS ARTISTS- Welcome to 1984 LP (Reissue) (Maximum Rock N’ Roll Records 1984/2009)

I have spent all of about a year getting acquainted with 30 years of Hardcore so excuse me for not knowing my shit.  I’ve set myself on a crash course with the huge mass of Hardcore recordings available by hitting up friends, record stores, mp3 blogs and Ebay but boy do I still have a lot to learn…

Luckily I have come to own and love two records that together offer a first-rate mid 80′s (mostly political) Hardcore education.  Both of them are coincidentally from 1984 and due to their sheer number of tracks and worldwide focus they give newbies like me a quick leg-up.  The first album, the legendary P.E.A.C.E./ W.A.R. comp (R Radical Records 1984) is only available to those with an Ebay account, cool friend or Internet piracy know-how.  It should be reissued right now but I’ll save that argument for another time.  The second album, the equally legendary Welcome to 1984 comp has thankfully been repressed and is now available in all it’s glorious red vinyl awesomeness.  And it comes at us straight from the original source, the venerable Maximum Rock N’ Roll.

Welcome to 1984 is actually the first record released by the classic newsprint magazine (it’s MRR 001) but was until last year only attainable at a collector’s price.  Thankfully you can pick it up for $10.50 ppd in 2010 and you should – it is absolutely essential.  The back cover graphic sums it up pretty well “23 bands, 17 countries” and even the least memorable tracks here are worth a couple listens.

Heavy, angry, anti-nationalistic Hardcore comprises the guts of Welcome to 1984 much like the aforementioned P.E.A.C.E./ W.A.R. comp. Featuring bands from 5 continents this record proves that 1985 wasn’t the end of anything and the collective love-affair with “American Hardcore” is but a wet dream many have yet to wake from.  Hardcore was not and is not owned by any one country or color of people and anyone who tells you different lives in a fucking hole.

The stand out tracks for me are “What a Strange World” by Australia’s Depression (how can those Aussies always sound so fucking EVIL!), “Fish in a Pool” by the female-fronted Electric Deads from Denmark, “No SS” by France’s Kidnap, and “Annual Report” by one of the best groups Michigan ever puked upon the world, The Crucifucks. I could keep going, but the point is that this record is crammed full of your favorite Hardcore songs that you haven’t heard yet.

I’m glad that MRR didn’t mess with the original packaging of this record, I hate when reissues are “updated” with new artwork (I’m looking at you Bridge Nine Records with your shitty new cover for Agnostic Front’s “Victim in Pain”).  The inner sleeve is a highlight with the original typed/handwritten lyrics and band descriptions that I assume were designed by the bands themselves.  They still have the long-defunct telephone numbers and P.O. boxes even.  Awesome.  Do yourself a favor and just buy this already.

STATE- Nihil Ex Nihilo 7” (Punks Before Profits 2009)

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I designed the sleeve and labels for this EP which was released by my friend and housemate Ryan.  I just thought I should get that out there…)

State has been on a tear lately releasing what seems like a record every 5 or 6 months.  This is a testament to their standing as one of the few first-generation Michigan hardcore bands that exists to create, not perform for crowds wanting to relive the glory days (even if those people weren’t even born the first go-round).  They are one of those rare bunches that never gave up on the power of punk to cause trouble for the comforted and comfort the troubled.  Not that they make feel-good records, it’s more that while they can seem imposing in front of a swirling pit with vocalist Preston barking in German, mangling the microphone with ripped arms that put this doughy reviewer to shame, there is never a feeling that he is aiming his anger at the people in attendance.  There is a sense of camaraderie, a sense of “Us” when State plays that is what punk is at it’s best.

On this EP Preston’s vocals are as intense as ever and Art, Keir and Jeff kick out the tight brand of rock-heavy Hardcore State is known for.  I have to admit, not all the tracks here have an equal amount of punch, but there is enough on these seven inches to make it worth picking up.

On first listen I thought the A side ruled the release but after a few more I realized it’s the B side that shines brightest.  There is something perfect about a song decrying the charlatanism of religious fundamentalists (Evangile) being followed by a track calling out a “emerald-eyed demoness prowling the wilderness” (Vixen).  However, one thing that brings Nihil Ex Nihilo down for me is how rhyme-y the lyrics are at times (especially when you read along with the record).   Lines like “I’m sick of your false morality/ a liar proselytizing me/ beneath your saccharine sanctity/ is ravenous rapicity” (I Hate This Society) sound forced like high-school poetry.  At least the  rhymes will help you sing along when Preston points the mic into the pit.