Mandatory Marathon

Artist: Various
Title: Mandatory Marathon
Release: 1999
Label: Amendment Records

Track List:
1. Charles Bronson - So What If I Puked up McDonalds
2. Charles Bronson - ESP: Girls Love Me
3. Capitalist Casualties - Sarin
4. Capitalist Casualties - Methamphetamine
5. Capitalist Casualties - Worker
6. The Gooch - Boxbot
7. Gasparilla Day Parade - No Escaping the Almighty Wrath of Lee Ralph
8. Captain 3 Leg - Tommy G Song
9. The Gaia - 1999 Genocide Introduction Extraversion Colors
10. The Pervatrons - Spanked by the Fairy Godmother
11. Palatka - New Feedback
12. Palatka - Yours at Best
13. Palatka - Nathan Collier
14. Palatka - Choicenochoice
15. Gob - Itamae-san
16. Gob - Chapmaster
17. Laceration - Maximum Catalogue
18. Laceration - Friend Song
19. Laceration - Don't Believe in Love?
20. Last Remaining Pinnacle - Mantle Rotation

Some records have no business being in the bargain bin. And yet that's where I found this gnarly power violence (and grindcore) compilation 7". It's as if whoever put it there didn't even bother to at least google a couple of the names on the front cover.

To be honest this is somewhat of a mixed bag. There's some real gems on here and some real head-scratchers. But I suppose that's sometimes part of the charm of this kind of music.

I've included scans of the insert which has more information on all the bands and the release itself.

Unfortunately my copy has some slight crackling and popping that I wasn't able to fix. To be honest though that really doesn't matter since nearly all the songs are so poorly recorded anyways. In fact, as with other recordings of this nature it might be a result of the recording process rather than the playback process.

Download: Mandatory Marathon (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Mandatory Marathon (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Betty and the Werewolves - Euston Station

Artist: Betty and the Werewolves
Title: Euston Station
Release: 2008
Label: Damaged Goods Records

Track List:
1. Euston Station
2. Wind-Up

More indie pop from my girlfriend's collection. The title track of this 7" is pretty good. I'm not so much of a fan of the B side though.

Download: Betty and the Werewolves - Euston Station (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Betty and the Werewolves - Euston Station (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Włochaty - Bank $wiatowy

Artist: Włochaty
Title: Bank $wiatowy
Release: 1996
Label: Nikt Nic Nie Wie

Track List:
1. Bank $wiatowy
2. Jednego Nie Mogę Zrozumieć
3. Umacnianie Pokoju
4. Przeciwko Uprzedzeniom
5. Do They Owe Us a Living? (Crass)
6. D.J.U.T. III

I love when bands with strong anti-capitalist and anarchist messages have slick websites with plenty of goods for sale.

Włochaty (The Shaggy One, apparently) is a lot like Crass, except Polish. In fact they cover my favorite Crass song on this record.

Download: Włochaty - Bank $wiatowy (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Włochaty - Bank $wiatowy (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Bunnygrunt - Standing Hampton

Artist: Bunnygrunt
Title: Standing Hampton
Release: 1994
Label: No Life Records

Track List:
1. Macho Beagle
2. Mississippi
3. Favorite Food
4. Cry (Raspberries)

Bunnygrunt, from St. Louis, has been around for a long time in the indie pop/twee scene. What little I know about them I know from Wikipedia so I'm afraid I have very little to add about their history.

This 7" is pretty much exactly what would come to my mind when I think of twee. Poppy but fizzy guitars, drum beats with roots firmly planted in punk rock, and vocals sung in a sing song sort of way with lots of back up harmonies. Oh and hand claps. Can't forget those. "Cry" is a top-notch cover of a song by 70's power pop group Raspberries.

I got to see Bunnygrunt in May of 2009 with Denton, TX's Fishboy (albloltross). Sadly they didn't get much of a response from the 20 or so people there despite playing an excellent set. I blame the fact that they hadn't done much of anything in a really long time. I bet most of their original fans are old enough to have better things to do than hang out in a pizza place's basement on a Friday night.

I don't remember where it was (probably in Austin) that I bought this record for my girlfriend. I'm glad I did because I enjoy it an awful lot too.

Download: Bunnygrunt - Standing Hampton (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Bunnygrunt - Standing Hampton (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire