Drive a 7" steak through my heart...
So this IS the post I have been working on since March although in saying that I don’t want you to think this will be some kinda of master piece due to the amount of time spent on it. As I really only worked on it here and there dipping in and out of it every few weeks but I still think it’s worth posting. Do go check out the bands that I have written about here because they have and in some cases continue to produce some great music. Enjoy.
Recently I got given the gift of being able to turn vinyl into MP3’s, just as Jesus turned water into wine it is a true miracle. So I thought I would give you a run down of the records I had converted. In the process of doing so I came across some records I had not listened to in awhile, some really great stuff, so here they are.
First up we have The Icarus Line – ‘highlypuncturingnoisetestingyourabilitytohate’ and ‘Red and Black Attack’ but I am not going to talk about those as I have already covered them in my Icarus Line post ‘No Hearts Hurt’, check it out if you haven’t already it is just down the page. So skipping that we move on to Kill Sadie.
Kill Sadie – ‘A New Make’
Anyone who is already familiar with Kill Sadie will already have a good idea of what this sounds like but for everyone else I’ll fill you in. The members of Kill Sadie went on to become These Arms Are Snakes and Pretty Girls Make Graves, that fact alone should excite you. Kill Sadie have been so influential and many people aren’t even aware of their existence. Their ‘Half Cocked Concepts’ record is a perfect blast of post-punk hardcore. Then they threw that all away with their next full length ‘Experiments In Expectations’ which has such a varied sound and selection of songs they could have went anywhere from that point. ‘A New Make’ leans more towards a These Arms Are Snakes sound edging closer into experimenting with different sounds and effects. It should come as no surprise that the ‘New Make’ 7” was released between ‘Half Cocked Concepts’ and ‘Experiments In Expectation’. You can hear the band pulling away from the post punk roots and pushing further toward a more experimental textured sound, it bridges the gap between the two records nicely. Kill Sadie need to be in your record collection. Go get it now.
Find them at:
A lot of the records I converted were local 7 inches. Over the years I have been lucky enough to see some amazing bands play in my home town at sweaty, intimate gigs. The next set of records is the produce of some of these amazing bands.
Large Mound/theKabinboy split.
Large Mound – ‘Old People’/’I Feel The Cold (without you)(in the city)(tonight)’
The track ‘Old People’ talks about a time when the old people ‘didn’t give a fuck’ and repeats the same set of lyrics throughout the song as does ‘I Feel The Cold’. It’s a great approach that works well, it also means that you know all the words with a listen or two so you can sing/scream along. ‘Old People’ leads swiftly into ‘I Feel The Cold’, it actually sounds like its all done in one cut with the drums breaking down at the end of ‘Old People’ and then charging into ‘I Feel The Cold’ with a machine gun snare roll. ‘I Feel The Cold’ has a high vocal and a deep vocal and the second time round they switch the lines they say, simple but brilliant. It’s also got a nice drum breakdown in the middle and then before you know what has really hit you both the songs are over.
Find them at:http://www.myspace.com/largemound
theKabinboy – 'Untitled’
On the flipside we have one of Belfast’s all time great bands theKabinboy. As with most of, if not all, of their material this one goes untitled. They’ve got a heavy groove that is a staple in all their songs as is the fact that all the songs are instrumental. This track is one of my favourite by theKabinboy, the drum intro is simple but effective and opens the gates for the heavy, groove ridden riffs to flood through. You can’t help but nod your head along.
Find them at: Well you can’t find them anywhere, I looked and can’t find any songs of theirs online if you do come across any please get in touch.
theKabinboy – ‘The Hated and the Debated’
Another one from theKabinboy is ‘the Hated and the Debated’ 7” which comes in a brown paper sleeve and has ‘The Hated and The Debated’ partially printed over the label of the vinyl and partially over the insert sleeve so when you line it up it says hated and debated, pretty cool. The first track begins with 1.30 or so of guitar drone feedback before the bass and drums start to creep in. After that its riff after riff after riff soaked in distortion and fuzz, beautiful. The second side which clocks in at just over 7 minutes is centred round a slow chugging riff which sounds like its pulling stones to build the pyramids behind it. It feels heavy and lumberous like a giants foot steps. Halfway through the track the guitar turns to wailing feedback instead of notes or chords and then never returns. We ride the rest of the song out with bass and drums with more and more reverb being added to the snare sounding as though it’s getting further and further away like a ghost ship sailing into the fog.
theKabinboy/The Redneck Manifesto split.
theKabinboy – ‘Untitled’
The last Kabinboy track I converted comes from a split with Dublin’s The Redneck Manifesto. Again we are only treated to one song from theKabinboy and again it goes untitled. This track has an unmistakeable Melvins Stoner Witch era feel to it and as we all know any comparison to the Melvins is always a good thing. This track is over far too quickly and leaves you begging for more, it would have been great to get a full length record from theKabinboy but it was not to be and theKabinboy disbanded right before they were due to support At The Drive-In and The Murder City Devils on their Belfast date on the Relationship of Command tour, what a bummer. Further to the records covered here theKabinboy also have a 10”, a CD split with John Holmes and one other 7” which I unfortunately don’t own and at this point it seems unlikely that I’ll ever get it. If you come across any Kabinboy releases buy it there and then even if it means you can’t eat for that week it’s worth it, trust me.
The Redneck Manifesto – ‘Hit Him In The Belly With A Hammer’
The Redneck Manifesto hail from Dublin in a geographical sense but in a musical sense they come from a place not entirely dissimilar to theKabinboy albeit with a different approach. As with theKabinboy The Rednecks have no vocals so it is left to the music to suck you in and pull you along. The Rednecks track is more restrained than theKabinboy's all out rock but relies on the same sense of rhythm and groove. The Rednecks approach is more driven by lead guitar riffs and subtle changes in rhythm and tempo. The common ground shared by both bands means that the tracks compliment each other perfectly.
Find them at:http://www.theredneckmanifesto.com
Yakuza/Mercury Tilt Switch split
Yakuza – ‘Everyone Thinks I’m A Dinosaur’/‘Marycan’
One of Northern Irelands long standing bands formed in 1999 they continue today to make a name for themselves. This 7” split was released before their first full length record and showcases two songs. First up ‘Everyone Thinks I’m A Dinosaur’ with its indecipherable vocals and fuzzed out guitars you almost feel like your in the room with the band while they were recording it giving the track a great live feel. Towards the end of the song the drums build up to a crescendo which is broken by a solo that literally sounds like its shredding your speakers from the inside out, brilliant.
Next is ‘Marycan’ a song with a darker feel to it and the added percussion on the song only serves to add to this feel of menace. It is reminiscent of early Therapy? the song feels claustrophobic, ‘We’re all living inside Mary’s head’ , and dense. Mary’s head must be one terrifying place to be somewhere that the Cenobites might feel at home.
Find them at:http://www.myspace.com/novarecordsonline
Mercury Tilt Switch – ‘There Is No Such Thing As A Freak Wave’/‘Caffeine Avalanche’
Mercury Tilt Switch are a band from Dundee that showcase two tracks here both of which are lifted from their 2002 debut record ‘Brundle Kid’. ‘There Is No Such Thing..’ bursts out of your speakers with a heavy staccato riff leading into a more melodic section then building and building towards the staccato riff again. It’s not unlike early At The Drive-In. It is full of energy and passion with a great riff and a good melody. It’s a good straight forward rock song and you will find yourself nodding along in agreement in no time. The second track, ‘Caffeine Avalanche’ is a much more restrained affair more in the vein of The Pixies with its quiet loud quiet loud verse and choruses and its screamed backing vocals. It’s a good pairing of bands for the split with both bands coming from the same place musically each with a slightly different take.
Find them at: http://www.mtsonline.co.uk
The Killing Spree – ‘The Urge To Purge’, ‘You Can’t Kick A Good Dog’ and ‘Not Your Choice’
When I was doing this I discovered that somehow my 7” had got stabbed and that there was a considerable dent in one side and consequently a mound on the other. So I mailed one of the members of The Killing Spree in the hope of getting a new one but instead he sent me everything they had released. Now that I sit down to write it up and I am listening to it all again I am very tempted to write it all up because it is so good. They were such a great band and it’s a shame that they didn’t last even though from the ashes we got Gaju (also defunct) and Not Squares. Neither of those bands however can match The Killing Spree for sheer heaviness, abrasiveness or are as visceral live as The Killing Spree. Anyway we have three tracks on this first of we have ‘The Urge To Purge’ an instrumental that goes from riff to riff building and twisting as it goes. Very seldom does it go in a straight line with The Killing Spree its almost always angular and they have a knack for completely turning back on themselves and changing direction without notice. Next we have ‘You Cant Kick A Good Dog’ which opens with a great groove laden riff that never appears again straight into another weighty guitar riff which gives way to a bass and drum section followed by a riff that will make the skin on your teeth crawl. Then some screamed vocals over a guitar part that adds an exclamation point to the song. They just fire riff after riff at you chopping and changing constantly but it never feels disjointed or messy, it is in fact nothing short of amazing. Finally we have ‘ Not Your Choice’, arguably the best song by the band. The drums and bass lock together to provide a solid foot hold that enables the guitar to go off with this riff that is just jaw droppingly good. The song contains some great defiant lyrics as well ‘ I have my mind, I have my will, I am what, I make myself’ I love those and the delivery makes it feel like you have someone three inches from your face screaming these at you trying to make you understand. After a tense build up which feels like there is someone with a knife behind their back coming across the room towards you while you panic and scramble for a weapon that you can’t find until you finally find through the terror that you can flee. Maybe this is just me? Anyway what I am trying to say here is that its amazing and normally at this point I would advise that you to take all those embarrassing Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Libertine records you own down to your local record shop(if these still exist anywhere?!?!) trade them in and use the money to buy anything by The Killing Spree but as far as I know you simply can’t buy their stuff anywhere at the minute. You should still go sell those records though.
Find them at:http://www.myspace.com/heavioscity
