BORN WITHOUT A FACE Demo from 1985--

This is great, and new to me!  I've never heard this before, but I did have the one great 7" they officially put out in the mid 1980's.  BORN WITHOUT A FACE were an excellent early hardcore band from the Detroit, Michigan area.  Though I'm not certain about that, as they just might be from the West side of the state, maybe Grand Rapids.  That's the slight memory recall I'm getting.  Of course I could just search around the interwebs a little, but that makes things too easy and makes you lazy.  The first song on here is just rippin!  I first heard it on the local college radio station, WCBN 88.3, on the hardcore music show, "All Out Attack" hosted by our friend and mentor, Bill Bored!!  Fun, drunken Friday nights with friends recording the radio show while we heard all kinds of new hardcore music!  Yep, that's the main way we discovered new punk music, via college radio.  You had to actively seek out this type of music.  I miss those days a lot...

https://youtu.be/JwbcpU4mh9w

CURRENT Discography CD--

CURRENT from Detroit, Michigan.  One of the greatest emotional hardcore bands of all time!  The singer, Matt, also ran council records, played in a bunch of other punk bands, most notably my favorite, CALVARY.
This here is a crucial band, you should definitely listen to the link, and look for the physical CD, however hard it might be.

https://youtu.be/YhtbPhugeoY

EMPATHY "Under The Lost Smile" // CURRENT "Coliseum" // DRIFT AGAIN 7" ~1990's Hardcore At Its Best

Remember those days. Size XXL FALLING FORWARD shirts, Krishna choker beads, fanzines bound with yarn, vegan brownies, and back packs in the pit...Ahhh, the lost days of original hardcore. Cute hardcore chicks with barretts in their hair, bleach blond bowl cuts (on the guys!), and endless ideas screamed with naive wide eyes! Where is everyone?
 

Hardcore: Love It Or Leave It--

Great quote here.  Stolen from the Radio Silence site--

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In the late 1960s, two bands hailing from Michigan laid the groundwork for punk. The Motor City Five and The Stooges aren’t the center ring on punk’s tree, but they stand as the most recognizable starting point. Both bands’ revved-up version of the blues garnered attention, major label deals, and devout fans, but the landscape wasn’t yet ripe for a revolution. Ultimately, a shitload of heroin and the typical cast of clueless suits caused both bands to end prematurely.

And while wearing swastikas for shock value, disrespecting the Royal Family, and displaying a disdain for anything considered “normal” was punk’s calling card, its roots remained firmly in the streets of New York, the art scene of Los Angeles, and London fashion; places totally foreign to kids in suburban America. As romantic as it was to be a starving artist living like shit in New York City most kids just fucking hated their parents and liked to light fires in the woods.

As punk migrated to the suburbs the sound and attitude changed. Something snapped in American culture; kids who loved the speed and fuck you attitude of punk took hold of its spirit, got rid of the “live fast, die young” bullshit and made a revision: hardcore. It wasn’t a direct fuck you to punk’s aesthetic and sound, hardcore was moving too fast to give a shit. With an actor elected as President and a defense initiative named after Star Wars, the decade was as dire as it was absurd. Cocaine was huge, AIDS surfaced as global epidemic, and the suburbs were really fucking boring. Hardcore’s direct and naïve stood out as the most honest commentary put to music at the time.

- Anthony Pappalardo, Instinct and Attitude: The Art of Necessity

Current Playlist For the Soundtrack To My Life--

Do not be mistaken by this post, I am NOT suicidal.  Depressed some, maybe.  Pissed off & angry?
Yeah, some. I've been told by a couple of people lately that I seem to be "full of anger."  I wouldn't say that I'm full of anger though.  Like all human being, I am multi-faceted and at times a walking contradiction of myself.  I do want there to be love & understanding at every step of the way in my life.  I do want there to be peace everywhere in the world.  I do want for everyone to get along & work together for the common benefit.  But we all know that you can't always get what you want.  Even the ROLLING STONES knew that!  So some of the time I am extremely angry & bitter & some of the time I'm super positive, optimistic, happy & content.  I suppose that when I was younger, as a little punk rock teenager, I was very angry all the time.  That seemed to be the nature of being punk.  You were angry at society, the world, and the rulers of this fucked up system.  THAT's what punk rock was all about, or so I thought.
But now, today, being a bit older I don't necessarily see things the same way.  Also, being forced to play the hand I've been dealt has given me a different perspective on things.  However I suppose I'm a bit more outspoken when I'm angry, so I see how some friends could convict me of being "full of anger." Because, after all, when you stand accused of something, you must be ready to be convicted.
Still--as always--take care of each other & look out for one another. And enjoy the music here.
We're all in this together. m//r
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NEGLECT


COLD AS LIFE


NEGATIVE APPROACH



GBH


DANZIG

DEATH THREAT

Some Hardcore Punk Show Flyers & Some Ruminations--

Old flyer from NA Detroit, MI.  NEGATIVE APPROACH were always one of my favorite bands! Not just because they are from out here in Little Detroit, but because they were so powerful, and one of the originators of the hardcore punk scene! They kind of re-formed a few years ago, playing the big Touch & Go Records anniversary show in Chicago. Apparently that went so well that they decided to play a big show here are St. Andrew's Hall. I missed that one, forgot why. Anyhow they have been playing regularly for the past couple of years now. Tours all over the United States, weekends out, various hardcore fests (including the almighty 'This Is Hardcore Fest' (TIH) in Philly last year & then again this year. Their earlier reunion shows had the original drummer along with Brannon of course & the two guys from John's other band, EASY ACTION, Harold & someone on bass. But now the original drummer from the early 80's is no longer playing with them. Oh well. I have yet to see them. I've watched a shit ton of videos of them and they are hit or miss. Brannon does NOT sing most of the lyrics. He just barks & growls. Also, I think he is scared of all the kids stage diving & piling on top of him! Haha, seriously, watch some of the videos for yourself. But I suppose being in your mid 50's, it can be intimidating to have tons of 17-30 yr olds jumping on you. It's not the same scene it was back in '82 & in some ways it's more physical & aggressive. Though we no longer have tons of spikes & metal on our clothing, nor are we clad in heavy combat boots. That's a plus for stage diving, moshing, and piling on. It is what it is. The music is good, that's what REALLY matters.
Now what I really wanna see would be a LAUGHING HYENAS reunion! THEY are my favorite band that Brannon's fronted! Sadly, Larissa Strickland passed away several years ago, down in FL. The cause of her death wasn't made public, but I'll go ahead and say I'm pretty sure it had something to do with heroin, opiate pills, or other drugs. I did hear a rumor--from a reliable source--that she died from a pill overdose. R.I.P. Larissa.  Since she is dead, a LAUGHING HYENAS reunion is highly unlikely to happen.

Great show! I was in Chicago and saw this show at the Fireside. SNAPCASE couldn't make it due to an unforeseen emergency of some type. I sat & talked with Dr. Dan from LIFETIME for a bit. My 23rd birthday was a couple days before this (Aug. 19 for anyone who wants to send me stuff!!!) and after this show my friend Marshall, whom I was staying with, & I were going out drinking. Dr. Dan (I just like saying doctor....he does have his Ph.D. after all) isn't & has never been, straightedge. Though so many people thought of LIFETIME as a straightedge band, due to their fanbase and record label (New Age Records). So I didn't feel wird talking to him about drinking. I vividly remember him telling me to, "be safe & have fun." LOL! Great advice, of course. 
I really loved & still love, LIFETIME! Such an incredible band, so much positive energy, uplifting lyrics, and really nice guys. I first met them in--I think--'92 here in Ann Arbor. They were on tour with The BOUNCING SOULS (who were OPENING for LIFETIME!!! My how things have shifted!) and had a day off. I was downtown, I think on a Sunday, and i saw a group of clean cut straightedge kids walking around with a group of ragged punk rockers & skinheads! It seemed like an awkward mix, just because that's they way things were back then. So I approached them to say hello & introduce myself.  They were all super cool & LIFETIME sold me a vinyl copy of "Background" & a cool as hell t-shirt.  BOUNCING SOULS only had a demo tape out at that time called, "What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Stronger", so I bought one. They gave me some stickers that I put on my coffee table at our party house. that table was covered in several layers of band stickers and it followed me from house to house for a decade or more!  Anyhow, I hadn't really heard either band before, but since they were on tour I figured I would support them by buying some merch. i remember getting home and putting "Background" on the record player---DAMN!!! I was blown away! That is when I fell in love with LIFETIME! Seems like they were the hottest hardcore band in the straightedge scene at the time!  Well, that's one of my LIFETIME stories. I have a few more that I'll write about sometime.

UP IN ARMS were awesome!  Their demo tape is a hundred times better than the CD they made!
When they played Chicago Fest in '99, EVERYONE in the room was blown away by how hard they played.  I was stunned, and it takes a lot to stun ME!!!

MAZINGA, my best friend Marc McFinn's band. Check them out, if you're a fan of MISFITS, NAKED RAYGUN, The STOOGES, MC5, old Detroit sounding rock-n-roll (and who ISN'T?)!!!  The "club" where this show took place, is an all ages, non-profit volunteer run joint. It's meant primarily for kids under 18, a place to hang out & stay sober & out of trouble. They have bands play quite often there, usually a "battle of the bands" type thingy. But every once in awhile a punk or hardcore show, with older kids, gets snuck on the calendar. interestingly a few (several?) years ago I got to see The EVENS, Ian Mackaye's newest band play there. There was a cool q & a afterwards. Fun times.

I did not go to this show.

CURRENT (Detroit Hardcore Emo Band)

This band was so so so awesome.  I didn't get into them until the tail end of their life-span.  I'd always seen their flyers, since they opened so many damn hardcore shows in southeast Michigan.  Headlined plenty of smaller shows also.  I may have even accidentally bought a 7" of theirs.  Wait, I think I had the "Coliseum" album they did, without listening to it for about two years.  I probably bought it because they were local and I tried to aggressively support the local hardcore scene as much as possible.  I think everyone did that, unlike nowadays when folks only come out to see a bigger touring band.  Hey, I'm one of them too!!!  Oh snap!!!
OK, the singer of CURRENT, Matt Weeks, also owned and ran Council Records --one of the best record labels of the '90's!  A bit later he played in OTTAWA, NEMA, DEARBORN SS, and the highly underrated and slept on, CALVARY.  Not too sure what he's up to currently but I'm sure I'll find out soon.  Maybe e-stalk him for a minute, then flip the script and report back here.  Keep your eyes open....   All jokes aside he's someone I would seriously love to interview for this blog and the 'zine I've been trying to poop out since time immemorial!