Bread and Water/Reason of Insanity - split

Artist: Bread and Water/Reason of Insanity
Title: split
Release: 2011
Label: Burrito Records

Track List:
1. Bread and Water - Keep Walking
2. Bread and Water - One Day
3. Bread and Water – Entertainment
4. Reason of Insanity – Expendable
5. Reason of Insanity – No Good Intentions
6. Reason of Insanity – Battle Hymn
7. Reason of Insanity – L.P.P.D.
8. Reason of Insanity – Clouded Judgment
9. Reason of Insanity - Outro

Bread and Water was a bit before my time, which is a shame, because they're one of the better hardcore bands to come out of Dallas in the last 10 or 15 years. I know absolutely nothing about Reason of Insanity except that their mailing address is Lafeyette, LA so I guess that's where they're from.

Bread and Water is notable for the dual male/female vocals. That's not something you see often in hardcore. I might get flak for saying this but they remind me of a way more punk version of Circle Takes the Square, but really only for that reason.

On the other side, Reason of Insanity offers up five very short songs and one outro track. The music is pretty simple hardcore, heavy sounding, but nothing fancy. My guess is that they were probably much better live. That isn't to say their side is bad, but considering how good the Bread and Water side is it's hard to find much of a reason to flip the record over. I love the lyrics to L.P.P.D. though.

On a related note, my buddy Jason Warhammer has recently started his own label, Timekiller Records. His first offering is a DVD of Bread and Water's last show. I don't think he has a website or anything, but you can definitely contact him at jasonjamesdesign@yahoo.com to inquire about it. I believe it's $15 + postage.



Download: Bread and Water/Reason of Insanity - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Bread and Water/Reason of Insanity - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Hands of the Few - Hands of the Few

Artist: Hands of the Few
Title: Hands of the Few
Release: 2006
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Intro
2. This Is Oak Cliff
3. Take Your Life Back
4. For Your Sake
5. Living Nightmare
6. Another Day
7. Friday Night

Wow. This takes me back. Dallas hardcore circa 2004-5 to 2007-8. Before they were Hands of the Few they were Curbcheck and now they're Grounds of Decay. If you like Buried Alive you'll love this.

Please excuse the shitty artwork. I'm actually the person responsible for it. I've gotten much better at Photoshop since then.

Download: Hands of the Few - Hands of the Few (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Hands of the Few - Hands of the Few (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Unit 21 - Death Stripes

Artist: Unit 21
Title: Death Stripes
Release: 2008
Label: Under the Surface Records

Track List:
1. Death Stripes
2. Texas Ripper
3. Loki's Traffic Jam
4. Drinking Hell

One last EP from Unit 21. This is probably their best work under that name. If you can manage to listen to this without pumping your fist then you're probably too old to lift your arm above your head anyways.

Once again Sugi did the artwork. And once again, goddamn.

Download: Unit 21 - Death Stripes (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Unit 21 - Death Stripes (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Unit 21 - Brain Shred

Artist: Unit 21
Title: Brain Shred
Release: 2007
Label: Under the Surface Records

Track List:
1. Burn the Days
2. Tour Withdrawal
3. Human Oxen
4. Let's Have Fun
5. Soccer Mom
6. Brain Shred
7. We Continue
8. Rise Fall Repeat
9. Empire Laid to Waste
10. Strangle the Reason

An appropriately named album if I've ever seen one. "Brain Shred" marks a dramatic improvement in terms of song writing and playing for Unit 21. Not that they were bad before, but this record is much more cohesive and polished. Those are usually dirty words for anything remotely DIY but I say just because it's punk doesn't mean it can't be done well.

Also, check out that artwork by Sugi. Goddamn.

Download: Unit 21 - Brain Shred (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Unit 21 - Brain Shred (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Chaotic Alliance/Unit 21 - split

Artist: Chaotic Alliance/Unit 21
Title: split
Release: 2006
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Chaotic Alliance - Idea of Destruction
2. Chaotic Alliance - Facing the Darkness
3. Unit 21 - Reckless Reality
4. Unit 21 - Force Fed Myths

This 7" is from the tour Dallas' Unit 21 and Cleveland's Chaotic Alliance did in 2006. Both sides offer up raging fast hardcore punk with attitude.

Download: Chaotic Alliance/Unit 21 - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Chaotic Alliance/Unit 21 - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Unit 21 - False Dreams False Hope

Artist: Unit 21
Title: False Dreams False Hope
Release: 2004
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Principle
2. Wrong Room
3. Are You Blind
4. Liberate
5. False Dreams False Hope
6. Fuck Conformity
7. Society's Filth
8. Lost Beneath

Here's an old one from Dallas punks Unit 21. This one's got lots of dual vocals, shredding guitars, and occasional hints of melody. To be honest it isn't quite as good as some of their later material but you can definitely see where things were headed.

Unit 21 has changed their name to Wild//Tribe

Download: Unit 21 - False Dreams False Hope (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Unit 21 - False Dreams False Hope (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Cøma - Sic Semper Tyrannis

Artist: Cøma
Title: Sic Semper Tyrannis
Release: 2007
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Self-Induced Manipulation / Nation of One
2. Sic Semper Tyrannis
3. We Are the Dead of a Dying Breed

Cøma was a short lived side project of Kill the Client's Chris "Hollywood" Richardson that later turned into Cleric. Other members of the band were also in Terms of Grey and Serious Youth. I thought about writing a description of what they sound like, but I think the cover art for this demo sums it up better than I could. If you like metal with plenty of tempo changes or songs with a strong political message this is for you.

Download: Cøma - Sic Semper Tyrannis (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Cøma - Sic Semper Tyrannis (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Neighborhood Villain - Demo 2007

Artist: Neighborhood Villain
Title: Demo 2007
Release: 2007
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Over and Over
2. Working Class Zero
3. Hope for Man
4. 5 Senses

If Gjared Robinson ever asks you if you have two dollars it might be a good idea to answer yes. It probably means he's gonna force you into buying a demo for a band he's in. And that's a good thing.

When Gjared told me his new band was gonna sound like Dag Nasty I was beyond stoked. There aren't many bands that play that kind of melodic hardcore these days, much less play it with passion like it's still 1989. With members from tons of bands from Dallas, far too many to mention in fact, Neighborhood Villain plays an energetic style of hardcore that grows on you with each listen.

This demo shows lots of Dag Nasty, early Lifetime, and Quicksand influence both musically and lyrically. It's a damn shame they broke up since every time I got to see them play they put on an intense and emotional show that always improved over the last time. They did eventually release an EP in late 2008 before they kinda of just stopped playing shows.

Download: Neighborhood Villain - Demo 2007 (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Neighborhood Villain - Demo 2007 (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Pools/Cleric - split

Artist: Pools/Cleric
Title: split
Release: 2008
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Pools - Who We Are
2. Pools - Succombs to a New Life
3. Cleric - Men of Blasphemy

I promise I'll get back to posting more hardcore records soon, but first here's the 2008 split between Denton/Austin's Pools and Dallas' Cleric.

It's rare that I meet people who actually like screamo as much as I do. It's not exactly easy listening. Even amongst fans of hardcore, which to the general public is little more than yelling and chaotic noise, "screamo" is often a four letter word no matter the context. Getting a chance to talk with Garrick, guitar and vocals for Pools, and Jason Warhammer (of Resigned to Fate) about music while sitting on his roof during Chaos in Tejas a few years ago was a memorable experience for myself. I always get a little excited whenever I talk to someone in person about bands like pg. 99, Orchid, and Saetia. It's not something I get to do often.

Even though it's so close I really wish I made it up to Denton more frequently. Pools, even though they are on hiatus or whatever now, is part of the reason for that. There's a whole lot of dudes up there who love good screamo and play in lots of awesome bands whose shows I don't go to enough.

On the other side of this split is Cleric. Birthed from the remains of Cøma in 2007/2008, my memory kinda blurs on when exactly, they play what I guess would be called doom metal. I don't really know. Much like Oi (see this post), it's something I know I like, I just don't have a whole lot of experience with so I don't feel comfortable talking about it lest I sound completely ignorant.

Regardless of what you might call it, Cleric is loud, heavy, and evil. Knowing that, it should be no surprise that Kill the Client's Chris "Hollywood" Richardson is the mastermind behind it all. Before Cøma/Cleric I knew he sure as shit could play guitar but it turns out he's pretty good at vocals too.

Needlessly high resolution scans included. I dunno if I'm gonna keep including high res scans of my own records. It takes too damn long to do and it increases the file size of the download by as much as 200%.

Download: Pools/Cleric - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Pools/Cleric - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Power Trip - Demo 2008

Artist: Power Trip
Title: Demo 2008
Release Date: 2008
Label: Self Released

Track List:
1. What Have We Done
2. This World
3. Acid Trip
4. Untitled
5. Vultures

I feel kind of conflicted about posting this. Let me preface this entire post with this: go to Withdrawl Records and order the demo in 7" format. While your at it head over to Double or Nothing Records and order their latest 7" on all three colors.

For those not in the know Power Trip is fronted by Riley from Balls Out. If you're from outside of Texas you probably aren't familiar with them since they (to my knowledge) only went on one tour with Look Out! (now Lie and Wait) back in early 2006. Power Trip sounds very little like Balls Out, but Riley's intensity as a vocalist is still present, in fact he's gotten even more angry and more passionate than he was when Balls Out was still going. Balls Out played a show tonight actually, but it was because it was one of the last shows at Red Blood Club, the last punk venue in Dallas. Power Trip played as well and they opened with a Leeway intro which is only fitting given how the rest of their songs sound. I should also mention that the rest of the dudes in the band used to be in a band called Reality Check which was pretty good, but Power Trip is on a whole other level. Most of them aren't even out of high school yet which blows my mind. Nick also has a new zine out that's pretty gnarly. Power Trip is the real deal.

Download: Power Trip - Demo 2008 (LAME 3.98r V0)

Out To Sea - Mouth Like A Sailor Demo 2008

Artist: Out To Sea
Title: Mouth Like A Sailor Demo 2008
Release Date: 2008
Label: Self Released

Track List:
1. Out To Sea
2. Hearts For The Heartless
3. There Was A Man...
4. Broken Mirrors
5. The Animated Dummy
6. A New Flame

I told Kurt I would post this online just to spite him so here it is. Out To Sea is from Dallas. Kurt (guitar) is also in Highlife who is doin' big thangs in 2008. Jeff (guitar) was in Balls Out and he's one of the best dudes ever. I play D&D with Blake (vocals). Ernest (bass) is only half Mexican and he was in Serious Youth so who cares about him. I don't really know Chris (drums) but he seems like a nice guy. I really can't stop listening to this demo, it's recorded so amazingly well. It sounds like a full fledged release on a major label, but they put it out themselves. Blake's vocals are the kind of sorta melodic screaming that used to be so huge many years ago now and it works perfectly with the music which is also pretty melodic in places but with just enough crunch to still be hard as fuck. Kurt told me they overlayed the guitar tracks 6 times in the mastering process. I really can't say enough good things about this band, good dudes, good music. I don't know if they're sending out these demos through the mail, but you should send them a message on myspace and ask them to sell you a demo and a t-shirt (designed by Ernest's brother-in-law).

Download: Out To Sea - Mouth Like A Sailor Demo 2008 (LAME 3.98r V0)