Selfish Records double: Gudon and Brain Death EP’s

Gudon - Howling Communication EP

Label: Selfish Records; Year: 1987; Format: Vinyl 7"

Gudon were one of many noisy hardcore punk acts forming in any major urban area in Japan throughout the mid '80s and hailed from Hiroshima. This 8-song EP was released on maybe the most genre defining record label from Japan when it comes to this type of noise, Selfish Records. The ones amongst the readership familiar with these type of bands/releases will know exactly what to expect, but if you haven't familiarized yourself with bands such as Gudon then just be in the know that you'll be getting hardcore punk at its fastest and noisiest. The production on this particular record is great, something the Japanese often excel in. The tracks are short and furious and clock in under two minutes. Here and there you get a bit of a Metal feel to the songs, but overall this is a solid release that will appeal to anyone into international hardcore punk from the '80s.

Update December 2024: I corrected above entry a little bit, especially about the origin of Gudon being Hiroshima, not Tokyo. Ten years after my little write-up there is more on the internet and I found a fascinating interview with Zygiaku, Gudon’s guitarist. Interesting but not surprising to see that he went on to play in prolific bands such as Bastard and Judgment later on in his life.

Brain Death - Personal Affair EP

Label: Selfish Records; Year: 1987; Format: Vinyl 7"

Brain Death were one of the few Japanese hardcore punk outfits fronted by a female. Sachi, the vocalist, did a great job on this release as she must have screamed her lungs out when recording. With song titles such as 'Funny Dancing', 'Queer in the head' or 'Convert City' you certainly also get the sort of silly song titles or lyrics lovers of japanese hardcore punk bands have learned to appreciate. One can only presume that the band sat down and looked up words in a dictionary without being capable of actually using the right verbs and so forth, you get the picture. Regardless, it provides many of those releases with an added portion of humor, wanted or not. As for the 8 songs on this EP produced by Satoshi from S.O.B you will not be surprised to learn that they're all super-fast and noisy as hell. With Satoshi being involved in the production of this record I can't help to feel that some of the songs have a bit of a Grindcore feel to them, but the record is certainly still a typical hardcore punk release on Selfish Records. A decent release, but not a must-have by any means. A bootleg version of this exists, but to my knowledge is quite a few years old as well.