28 inches of Punk Rock Part 2 (4x 7” vinyl)
12-11-2024: Originally these four 7” EPs or Singles were posted separately on the same day back in 2014. While updating the entries from my original blogspot I thought I’d make much more sense to combine them into one entry and call it 28 Inches of Punk Rock, something I shall continue in the future.
Disper-Azione - Sempre Immutata Fede EP
Label: Chaos Produzioni; Year: 1985; Format: Vinyl 7"
Fans of international hardcore punk from the '80s will widely agree that Italy had one of the best, most active and highly interesting hardcore scenes back in the heyday of said musical genre. Everybody will be familiar with bands such as Negazione, Raw Power or CCM, but amongst those internationally well known and established acts there was an even greater amount of lesser known acts such as Disper-Azione, whom hailed from the provincial town of Como in the Lombardy part of Italy, not that far from the Swiss/Italian border. A long time ago I remember owning Disper-Azione's 1st LP, and for some reason I don't have it in the best of memories and must have parted with it at some point. Well, all I can say is that if the LP sounded anything like this EP then I must have been a real dumb-ass to have done so. This seven song EP is filled with energy, and your typical chaotic but musically highly skilled italian hardcore punk the way many of us just love so much and can never get enough of. In 1985 many bands in the United States started to sound metal and the whole crossover scene was exploding, which not all hardcore punks appreciated. Instead of giving up on it, one only had to look across the ocean, as Europe was full with bands such as Disper-Azione, sticking to true DIY hardcore punk with zero metal. A minor classic, and to my knowledge not reissued to this day....
Label: ABC Records; Year: 1995; Format: Vinyl 7"
You want noise? Alright, I got noise for your ears here in the most distorted and primitive way one can only imagine. But let me put things into context here before this review starts to sound like I am bashing this release, or the band for said matter. Quite the contrary because Ulster were one of the earliest bands to emerge out of Brazil, in particular out of the ABC industrial complex in Sao Paulo. The excellent KFTH website (no longer exists) informed me that the band started as a reaction to high unemployment and socio-economical problems in their ABC area of Sao Paulo, and channelled all their anger and frustration into a visual and sonic attack. The tracks on this EP were originally all recorded during demo sessions in 1982, and as hinted above resulted in songs that will make your ears bleed. This is hardcore punk at its most primitive but taking into consideration the circumstances and the environment these guys came from one should quickly realize that the band did not have the same technological opportunities as bands in Europe or America, and as a result of that you get a very raw but honest sounding time document. Further to the extreme music, Ulster were aggressive and provocative in their approach of getting their message of anti-government lyrics across. The whole package of this EP tells the story of real urban struggle with a subsequent violent three chord reaction to it. When it comes to the recorded music then this might not be top notch, but at the end of the day this is a fantastic time document from a scene that was just starting to explode at the time of these recordings.
Label: Bridge House Records; Year: 1980; Format: Vinyl 7"
Let me start off by telling you that these east London blokes should not be confused with the L.A. band going by the same name. Since this is the only release I have by this band, and can't even remember how it got into my hands, I had to do a bit research in regards to the history of this band, and learned that these guys started out in post-punk 1979. Apparently the band members were previously in bands ranging from power pop to hard rock, but with Wasted Youth settled on creating an interesting mixture of dark, psychedelic sounds predating goth rock and fitting well into what is widely considered as post-punk. I especially like "My friends are dead", a goth/post-punk hit with fantastic song arrangements and good production. When it comes to the label this was released on one could fill many pages on the history and importance of the Bridge House in the Canning Town area of east London. This place established itself as a pub, rock venue and record label at the same time, and interestingly enough also served as the stepping stone to the careers of bands such as Iron Maiden or Depeche Mode. I might as well get more of Wasted Youth's back catalog at some point as the history and the sound alike are intriguing.
Label: Rip Off Records; Year: 1996; Format: Vinyl 7"
Greg Lowery's Rip Off Records started as a label promoting his own band, the Rip Offs, and like minded bands playing a similar style of primitive and snotty garage punk'n'roll. In the early to late '90s he was known to release singles by bands such as the Registrators, Rip Offs, and others such as the Spastics whom were from San Francisco and started out of the ashes of the equally great Spoiled Brats. On this one sided little platter you get two great garage punk hits that can't be beaten when it comes to snottiness and a 100% pogo factor. I don't suppose I need to really add anything more as this will appeal to anyone into 77 punk with a good dose of garage punk thrown in there. Greg's label continued to be active until the latter stages of the '00s but in my opinion lost the magic of its early days once he started to release full lengths and no longer such modern day classics as this one here.
