Chest Pain/Naw Dude - split

Artist: Chest Pain/Naw Dude
Title: split
Release: 2009
Label: Depleted Resource Records

Track List:
1. Chest Pain - Sexfear
2. Chest Pain - Brave New Bullshit
3. Chest Pain - Murderers
4. Chest Pain - Carcinogen
5. Chest Pain - Mass Produced Death
6. Naw Dude - Displacer Beast
7. Naw Dude - Failure Pile
8. Naw Dude - Posi Creep
9. Naw Dude - Violent Pizza

Since I've already posted Chest Pain's discography tape I'm mostly posting this for the Naw Dude side. I was kinda surprised that someone else hasn't posted this elsewhere (at least if someone has Google ain't finding it). If you've been here before the Chest Pain side of this split should be pretty familiar. Super fast, super pissed, super tight hardcore. The Naw Dude side is similar, but not so much so that you can't tell the difference between the two.


Download: Chest Pain/Naw Dude - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Chest Pain/Naw Dude - split (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

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

Slave One - Bloodied Body

Artist: Slave One
Title: Full Circle
Release: 1997
Label: Highwater Records

Track List:
1. Bloodied Body
2. The Wounds of Lost Love

Here's one more Slave One 7".

Download: Slave One - Bloodied Body (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Slave One - Bloodied Body (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Slave One - Full Circle

Artist: Slave One
Title: Full Circle
Release: 1998
Label: Redwood Records

Track List:
1. Full Circle
2. Blurred Vision

I think it's time for some metallic 90's hardcore. Fort Worth style.

Slave One reminds me of a bunch of different things; His Hero Is Gone, Rorschach, and even Amebix (but only a little bit). They were active from 1996 to 1999 so it's not too surprising they had a really heavy metal sound to them. Unfortunately that was a bit before my time so while they are from around these parts I can't say I know much about them. Members later went on to be in Garuda, Caddis, and Matt (guitar) is currently in Raging Boner. Next time I see them I'll be sure to ask about this band.

Download: Slave One - Full Circle (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Slave One - Full Circle (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

Resigned to Fate - Tragedy of the Commons

Artist: Resigned to Fate
Title: Tragedy of the Commons
Release: 2003
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Burned
2. Protection for Who?
3. Terminal Genocide
4. Tragedy of the Commons

Geometry is hard and Jason Warhammer wants you to hit him up on his cell phone so he can fight you.

Download: Resigned to Fate - Tragedy of the Commons (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Resigned to Fate - Tragedy of the Commons (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Criaturas - Arañas en el Corazon

Artist: Criaturas
Title: Arañas en el Corazon
Release: 2011
Label: Lengua Armada Discos

Track List:
1. Arañas en el Corazon
2. Mentiras
3. Paranoide
4. Sombras Ocultas

Coming from Austin, Texas, Criaturas is female fronted Spanish d-beat hardcore. Members were in Filthy Fuckers, Bastard Sons of Apocalypse, Vaaska, Deskonocidos, Severed Head of State, Storm the Tower, J Church, Signal Lost, Scorched Earth Policy, Kodiak, and Meadowlark. Pretty awesome pedigree there. And it shows on this record.

I must admit, I hate the artwork though. I fucking loathe spiders.

Their bass player has a fantastic distro, from which I bought some of the records posted on this blog. As usual, if you like this you should definitely hit the dude up and order a copy.

Download: Criaturas - Arañas en el Corazon (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Criaturas - Arañas en el Corazon (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Mass Sterilization - Punk Sounds

Artist: Mass Sterilization
Title: Punk Sounds
Release: 2010
Label: Kills You Records

Track List:
1. Spray
2. Repair
3. Over
4. Accident
5. Clutter
6. Selection
7. Babysitter
8. Playground
9. No Brainer

Yo. This shit is my jamz.

Mass Sterilization is from Denton, Texas and features lots of cool dudes doing cool things, ya hear?

If you like punk that doesn't suck I suggest you download this.

Download: Mass Sterilization - Punk Sounds (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Mass Sterilization - Punk Sounds (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Sacred Shock - Demo

Artist: Sacred Shock
Title: Demo
Release: 2007
Label: Self Released

Track List:
1. Deadlines
2. Pedestal
3. Planet Decay
4. Bridge Burner
5. Best Interest
6. Sacred Shock

I've been meaning to post this for a while.

Sacred Shock is yet another band brought to you by Machine Gun Romantics/Hatred Surge mastermind Alex Hughes.

You're probably going to need to crank up the volume on this one. When I was ripping the tape I noticed that the sound was clipping off causing lots of bad distortion. Sadly the only way to remedy that problem is to re-record the tape with a lower input level on the line in. This means the sound is better but the volume is lower. I had to re-record it like five times to get it right.

Download: Sacred Shock - Demo (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Sacred Shock - Demor (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Iron Age - Demo

Artist: Iron Age
Title: Demo
Release: 2005
Label: Next Level Records

Track List:
1. Intro
2. Forked Tongue
3. Brainwreck
4. Comin' Down
5. My Level

You've no doubt heard Iron Age's debut "Constant Struggle" and 2009's magnificent album "The Sleeping Eye". But, unless you own a copy of their demo I suspect you've probably never heard it as I couldn't find a digital version of it out there. Fortunately I have a copy and have taken to trying to rip my cassette collection.

I picked up my copy of the demo in early 2005 at a Terror show. I think it was actually Terror that was selling the demo which is kinda weird since they're from LA and all. If I had to guess they probably got a few copies to distro when they hit up Austin. I hadn't heard of Iron Age at the time and whoever was working the Terror merch table insisted I spend my leftover 2 bucks on the Iron Age demo. I'm really glad I took that dude's word for it. They may not have been at the time of the demo but Iron Age is without a doubt one of the best bands in Texas. I'd even go as far as to say one of the best in the country but I'm probably a little biased towards anyone from my home state.

This tape is a piece of crossover greatness in the rough. Nowadays Iron Age is pretty much straight up metal with only occasional forays into what is still obviously hardcore. This demo is sort of the opposite, hardcore with just enough metal to make it really stand out, especially back in 2005. Were this released in 2011 one could probably be excused for calling it generic or riding on a wave of similar sounding bands. But I like to think Iron Age is largely (at the very least partially) responsible for the popularity of more crossover-type bands we've seen in American hardcore the last few years.

Download: Iron Age - Demo (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Iron Age - Demo (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Chest Pain - Discography Tape 2010

Artist: Chest Pain
Title: Discography Tape 2010
Release: 2010
Label: Kills You Records

Track List:
1. North Coast Wizard Violence
2. S.O.B. Story
3. Wasted Effort
4. Wage Assist the Machine
5. Gandhi 2
6. Behold the Infinite Meaninglessness
7. Nihilgasm
8. Embrace Despair
9. Biscuit's Blues
10. Getting Old
11. Red River Waste Water
12. Real Talk
13. Sex Fear
14. Murderers
15. Brave New Bullshit
16. Carcinogen
17. Mass Produced Death
18. Yellow Noose
19. False Self
20. Murderers
21. Shop til You Drop
22. Reverse Baptism
23. A Lifetime of Spit and Swearing
24. Live Set at The Phoenix Project (Dallas, Texas August 14th 2010)

I've posted Chest Pain before. Now here's everything they did up until the last time I saw them, which was in October of last year. They've probably done ungodly amounts of writing and recording since then (or will do so in the near future) so this is by no means a current discography. Merely it is a snapshot of everything up until these tapes were made.

What you've got here is slightly over 22 minutes of raging non-stop angry hardcore. And as a bonus a short set from when they played at The Phoenix Project here in Dallas. I really can't recommend this enough.

I had to make some decisions myself about when one track ends and the other begins as some of the songs kinda blur together with only short bits of feedback giving any indication that a transition is occurring. I advise you to listen to it all at once and in order. Just a warning though, you'll probably be physically exhausted by the end of it.

Download: Chest Pain - Discography Tape 2010 (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Chest Pain - Discography Tape 2010 (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

Machine Gun Romantics/S.S.E. - Dead Reagan Era HxC Split E.P.

Artist: Machine Gun Romantics/S.S.E.
Title: Dead Reagan Era HxC Split E.P.
Release: 2004
Label: Dangerously Small Records

Track List:
1. Machine Gun Romantics - Asstown
2. Machine Gun Romantics - File Under Fun
3. Machine Gun Romantics - A History Lesson
4. Machine Gun Romantics - Desk Job Desk Trap
5. Machine Gun Romantics - Oh, for the Love of Thrash.
6. S.S.E. - Waking Up
7. S.S.E. - Vitamins=Punx (No Really)
8. S.S.E. - Return to Skate Boarding
9. S.S.E. - Post Carnage Game Report

Here's a split by Houston power violence maestro's Machine Gun Romantics and S.S.E..

If I remember correctly Machine Gun Romantics arose from xPOWERBUTTx (seriously). Alex Hughes has since gone on to play in Hatred Surge, Sacred Shock, and Iron Age. I can't say I know much about anyone else in the band though.

As for S.S.E., Scott from On My Side IMed me about his new band Plug (I'll post a link when I find out more) and knowing he's from Houston I asked him about S.S.E.

(9:22:20 PM) Sean: what do you know about the band S.S.E.?
(9:22:31 PM) Scott: dude
(9:22:38 PM) Scott: houston band with ryan and tom?
(9:22:41 PM) Sean: yes
(9:22:46 PM) Scott: haha so random
(9:22:46 PM) Sean: i know nothing
(9:22:50 PM) Scott: where did that come from?
(9:22:58 PM) Sean: i'm about to post their split with machine gun romantics on my blog
(9:23:09 PM) Scott: man, talk about blast from the past
(9:24:15 PM) Scott: s.s.e. was a pv duo consisting of tom who later played in insect warfare... currently plays in the energy. and ryan endsly... one of the drummers of vitality at one point.
(9:25:06 PM) Scott: i ran around with those guys and some of their crew for a little while when i was a freshman and sophmore in high school... they got me into infest, napalm death, spazz and other extreme noisy stuff.
(9:25:47 PM) Scott: good dudes. i saw them a few times, but nothing really notable.
(9:26:01 PM) Scott: i got invited to the show to see them play with R.A.M.B.O way back in the day
(9:26:17 PM) Scott: but i didnt go
(9:26:27 PM) Sean: hah i haven't thought about r.a.m.b.o in a long while
(9:26:32 PM) Scott: yea dude
(9:26:36 PM) Scott: same with sse for me
(9:26:37 PM) Scott: anyway
(9:27:59 PM) Scott: sse were like elitist pricks... but it was that elitism that was kinda cool. for whatever reason, they were always really nice to me... which i thought was weird since i hung with dudes who they beefed with. sse were like into really crusty punk and stuff while the dudes i hung out with were more into modern hc, technical metal, etc. etc. etc. funny thing is that both of those "groups" now hang out alot.
(9:29:38 PM) Scott: but also, those years i hung out with them and the other crowd were really formative for me... because not only was i into modern hc through the one crowd... i was also really into fast stuff... which kind of lent to the vibe of some of the early stuff that my band on my side did. also, one of the guys who was also friends with both "crowds" sold me a bunch of youth crew records and shirts that also really proved to be formative for me at the time. that guy has a slipknot tattoo now... next to a man is the bastard tattoo.

Download: Machine Gun Romantics/S.S.E. - Dead Reagan Era HxC Split E.P. (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Machine Gun Romantics/S.S.E. - Dead Reagan Era HxC Split E.P. (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

Vitality! - Reality Check Demo 2005

Artist: Vitality!
Title: Reality Check Demo 2005
Release: 2005
Label: self released

Track List:
1. What's it Worth?
2. Release!
3. Up to You
4. Step Back
5. This Walk
6. Missed the Point
7. The Reason

Before there was Seeker there was Vitality!. I picked this up at a show at Across the Street bar in 2005. I don't remember what show it was, probably something like Kids Like Us or Life Long Tragedy. It's times like this I wish my hard drive hadn't crashed in 2008 because I had a list of every show I'd been to up to that point. Naturally the list I keep now only goes back to that time.

Anyways, if you've heard Seeker and this sounds similar it's because of David Horn and his vocals that manage to come across as positive as he is in real life. This demo sounds a lot like Uniform Choice and Dag Nasty to me. Which is great because I love both those bands. If you do too you'll love Vitality!.

While I'm thinking about it, David Horn went to Africa. You should check out what he's doing there. Some people talk the talk about making a difference, very few people literally uproot their entire lives and move far away to walk the walk. If you listen to David's lyrics it's not surprising at all though.

From their MySpace (since I'm lazy):

Formed in the summer of 2004, VITALITY! originally played shows under the name AsxOne. The Houston hardcore band put out a 7 song demo, "Reality Check Demo 2k5" in the early part of 2005, with Ramiro Rangel drumming. After the release of the demo, Ramiro and the band parted ways, and Ryan Endsley became the newest member of the band. In December of 2005 and January of 2006, VITALITY! hit the studios again to record their first EP, Introspection.

Download: Vitality! - Reality Check Demo 2005 (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: Vitality! - Reality Check Demo 2005 (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire

The Wrists - Free Demo

Artist: The Wrists
Title: Free Demo
Release: 2005
Label: self released

Track List:
1. Test Pattern
2. Toxic Waste
3. Main Directive
4. Bury Your Own
5. Surgery Party
6. Bomb the Dance Floor
7. Final Few
8. If I Can't Have What I Want (I Don't Want Anything)
9. Get Slit

Here's another self released CD-R by Denton/Longview's The Wrists. Some of the songs are the same, but different recordings I believe. I think this was put out before the other CD-R, but it was within such a short time period that I don't really remember at this point.

"Main Directive" is by far my favorite song on this demo. Even today, nearly 6 years later it still gets stuck in my head sometimes.

Download: The Wrists - Free Demo (LAME 3.98r V0) Multiupload

Download: The Wrists - Free Demo (LAME 3.98r V0) Mediafire