LAPINPOLTHAJAT - Wahlroosin Unelma 12"
(Finland, 2012 - Kamaset Levyt/Roku/Shogun)
I have no idea why I waited so long to get this, I can't think of any valid excuse. If you liked their first LP as I did, you are sure to love this one. It is shorter in length, but dare I say it is even better? It is in a similar vein of catchy early 80s Finnish hardcore punk but with leftist political, sarcastic and fucked up lyrics. Imagine LAMA with APPENDIX catchiness as far as sound goes. I had to ask a Finnish friend for clarification on the first LP's lyrics because I couldn't tell if they were being xenophobic or mocking people with those attitudes in one song. A fun fact, in asking this, he let me know that the band name references the Nazi Germany bombing of Lapland. Some of the lyrics have a pretty witty Born Against feel where you can't always read between the sarcasm at first read...and others just seem to be a little out there:
"The bong bubbles and the new Diskelmä
plays in the background
High on mushrooms, colors pulsate to the rhythm
The child support could buy a new bass
unless the money is not spent at the bar"
A little ditty called "Greetings From Berlin." I don't want to make it sound like I am discounting the lyrics, saying they are nonsense, since they actually seem to be about serious subjects like love, poverty and bad situations people can sometimes find themselves in, due to ill planned child rearing. I just love that there is a song that mentions a bubbling bong and Diskelmä in the same line. The lyrics are all actually pretty charming to me as they point out all the crazy stuff around us in our everyday lives that we normally think of as mundane. Anyway, I kind of got off track there. Fantastic record, I love this band, too bad more people in the U.S. aren't into them.
HAZARD / FIGHT BACK - Realities Of Hardcore Punk split 12"
(Japan/Japan, 2012/2010 - Kick Rock/Bloodsucker)
HOLY SHIT does the FIGHT BACK side rage! Just ignore that the cover art looks like an XBOX game and put this sucker on the turntable. Hails to Befa of Kick Rock records for making this a vinyl release (the CD was originally released in 2010 by the great Blood Sucker label). Tight and fast as hell Japanese hardcore with Tokurow from BASTARD on vocals. Do I really need to say more? Fans of 90s Japanese hardcore don't miss out. The HAZARD side is good, but the FIGHT BACK side is what's up.
RAJOITUS - Hardcore Attack 1995 12"
(Sweden, 1995 - Distortion)
The Swedish band singing in Finnish combo is unbeatable. This band just sounds so god damn MEAN, I highly recommend the 2nd LP released by Hardcore Holocaust (2005) and the 3rd LP released by Putrid Filth Conspiracy (2008). Noooo it's not your mysterious, paper thin treble record band, this is burly hardcore that just keeps slapping your face with an icy hand over and over again. This first LP is a little different than the next 2, but it has a cool raw lof-fi sound that the others don't have. Not my favorite record of theirs, but still cool to get, I am still missing their first 7" and a couple splits.
V/A GRITO SUBURBANO - compilation 12"
(w/ OLHO SECO, INOCENTES, CÓLERA)
(Brazil, 1984/1982 - New Face)
Posts
