Brooklyn EP haul from late June

Kakka-Hata 77 “WTC Rajahtaa” EP, Arroganta Agitatorer “Arrogans EP, Liberate “Worth of living” EP, Nashville Pussy “Go Motherfucker Go” Single and Electric Frankenstein “Blackout” Single

Kakka-Hata 77 - WTC Rajahtaa EP

Label: Combat Rock Industry; Year: 2007: Format: Vinyl EP

Well, here we are in early July and I have been slacking when it comes to new entries for the website, let alone this little neglected part of it. But, good news is that while I was visiting my wife in New York City for a week, I spent an afternoon at Material World in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn buying some records. Since I don’t buy 7”s all that often I thought it might be a neat idea to combine the five I had bought a week ago into one entry.

Let me start off with Kakka-Hata 77 from Turku in Finland with the WTC Rajahtaa EP. I’ve got to say that not many bands with an eminence similar to theirs managed to get an entry on Vice’s website, but these crazies did. Unfortunately the author of said review didn’t quite make the right connections when it comes to the main influences for Kakka-Hata 77, but an interview with the band for a Swedish webzine definitely clarified much more, including the band’s love for alcohol and laziness in general.

It is pretty clear to me that the guys in Kakka-Hata 77 must have picked up records by bands such as Kollaa Kestaa, Ypo-Viis, Sensuuri and the likes over the years as they do a damn’ good job at playing highly infectious and straight forward ‘77 punk made in Suomi-Finland to the point that if you didn’t know the songs on this EP you’d be thinking you are listening to the ‘Bloodstains across Finland’ LP as if the songs been recorded decades earlier. There really isn’t that much else to be said except that if you dig your punk rock to be pogo friendly and sung in a foreign language suited to punk rock like nothing else grab anything by Kakka-Hata 77. Definitely a winner!

Arroganta Agitatorer - Arrogans EP

Label: Busted Heads Records; Year: 2002: Format: Vinyl EP

Up next geographically speaking we don’t make big jumps as we just cross the sea from Finland to Sweden, although to get to Helsingborg, where Arroganta Agitatorer hailed from, one would have to cross Sweden in its entirety all the way down to the border with Denmark, close to Copenhagen. In the early ‘80s Sweden had a lot to offer when it comes to hardcore punk hence even in picturesque small cities like Helsingborg the punk rock virus hit hard, especially after Discharge changed the landscape completely. Arroganta Agitatorer were originally heavily influenced by Discharge, and the six songs on Side A of this reissue originally released in ‘83 are proof of that. All of the songs on Side A are sung in Swedish and while none of them really stands out, they are all solid fast and furious UK influenced thrashers. What I find really interesting is that at some point the guys in the band must have gotten their hands on some US hardcore records, especially early DC stuff and possibly some California releases as well leading to the four tracks on Side B sounding very US influenced and sung in English. There is also a previously unreleased track added to Side B rounding off a really decent record for which I was happy to shell out eight bucks considering this reissue is already over twenty years old. According to Peter Jandreus’ ‘The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977 - 1987’ the band organized a Christmas gig in ‘82 where they invited several bands to Helsingborg amongst them Black Uniforms and Anti Cimex. The local newspaper hailed the event as “Little Christmas for the punks” encouraging people to show up in droves. Little did they know that it wasn’t such a good idea as the venue got trashed and punk gigs were banned thereafter. After having released the EP in ‘83 on Dishonor the band shipped a hundred copies to a US distributor only to never see any money for it. As many bands back then, they got burned and by the end of the year they were done…

Liberate - Worth of Living EP

Label: Blood Sucker Records; Year: 1996; Format: Vinyl EP

For the third entry we make a big jump across the globe to Tokyo, Japan, and may I say that I am very happy to be in possession of this cracker again. Many years ago I parted with many of my ‘90s hardcore, garage punk and associated records as I needed money (sounds familiar?). Many of them I will never replace, but my face sure as hell lit up seeing this one in one of the boxes for ten bucks. And to tell you the truth I find it funny how certain Japanese hardcore records from the ‘90s are so expensive, and others such as this one, are still to be found for next to nothing even though it’s just as good as many other records considered “classics” of the genre. As is often the case with bands from Japan there is very little info to be found online with the exception of Discogs where I was able to piece together that one member used to be in Acid in the ‘80s, a band I am familiar with and will review at some point. Another member was in Sicilian Blood and yet another one in Paintbox. Fair to say that the members of Liberate were seasoned scenesters by the time the band started in the ‘90s and in 1996 they released their first record in the form of this little platter on Blood Sucker Records, the label also known to have released records by bands such as Bastard or Nightmare. Liberate deliver five songs that will not disappoint any fan of traditional Japanese hardcore as all songs are tight and fast yet still melodic. I couldn’t point to a particular song as being the stand out track as truly all of them are well above average. While most die hard fans of Japanese hardcore might not consider this one to be a must-have record, I certainly encourage anyone out there not familiar with these guys to seek out this record and maybe what followed after. I will make sure I get my hands on some more Liberate releases. Killer EP!

Nashville Pussy - Go Motherfucker Go Single 7”

Label: Get Hip Recordings; Year: 1997; Format: 7” Single

For the last two little 7 inches of Vinyl let’s make the jump over to the US of A, and I shall start off with a smasher from down south, well the State of Georgia to be precise. This is yet another band I owned the debut LP “Let them eat Pussy’ back in the day, but no more. The song I always loved most is “Go Motherfucker Go”, a short, angry boast of energy packaged into a great punk’n’roll song. On the flip side “Milk Cow Blues” delivers just as well and sounds exactly as the title suggests, a slower bluesy hard hitting rocker of a song. Nashville Pussy formed in 1997 out of the ashes of the initial break-up of cowpunks Nine Pound Hammer. Fast forward to 2024 and it is my understanding that Nine Pound Hammer are touring again, and Nashville Pussy are also still around to this day with married couple Blaine and Ruyter at the helm of the ship touring the world as we speak. I’ll see if I can get my fingers on some more of the band’d early singles at least as I do enjoy their mix of cowpunk, blues and hard rock.

Electric Frankenstein - Blackout Single 7”

Label: Victory Records; Year: 1997; Format: 7” Single

Last but not least here we go with one of the many releases by New Jersey’s Electric Frankenstein, a band with a rich history since the ‘90s and going strong to this day. It would be simply impossible to go too deep into the band’s history, but good news is that I will be conducting a Two-Part interview with the band going into as many details as simply possible, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, it should come as no surprise that the band actually has a Wikipedia entry, hence that shall do for the history lesson for now. The two songs on this single were both recorded with California Punk legend Rik L Rik (RIP) on vocals and as one would expect they deliver the goods kicking some serious ass. Electric Frankenstein collaborated with Rik L Rik for some time, so I should really try to seek out more of the releases he was part of because let me tell you one thing, it would be simply impossible to track down every release by this band unless you are a hardcore E.F. collector, which I am sure there is plenty of out there. This one concludes my 7” haul from Brooklyn. I really enjoyed listening to all of these as they not only brought back memories but made me feel younger again. Much more to come soon girls and boys!