Koro - s/t 7"

Koro is one of the hidden gems of 80's hardcore that seems to be constantly growing in popularity, which is good because this record has to be heard to be believed. Released in 1983 and bootlegged endlessly since, this slab of tunes at the time was the only official output from this band. Aside from the fact that it flat out smokes most contemporary hardcore (and most modern hardcore at that), the real story behind this band lies more with their bizarre name, painfully short lifespan, and location. According to my sources, "koro" is a mental disorder common among east Asian men, kinda similar to a midlife crisis. But instead of buying a shitty toupee and reforming your high school punk band, men with "koro" believe their penis is shrinking and disappearing, so they begin to obsessively cling to it and tie it to their legs so it won't go anywhere. I wish I could make shit like this up, but it's apparently real.

The band only existed for about a year or so, in Knoxville, TN of all places. Yet in that time they managed to conceive an air about them that makes them seem like 5 year professionals. The music is unbelievably fast and tight, and equally intense, and really does belie the fact that despite sounding like they were from a major hardcore hub, Koro would have probably been dismissed as redneck outsiders by their better known associates in LA and New York. Such a shame, but slowly and surely people are finding out about this.

My copy of this EP is 99.99% certainly a bootleg. It has a skull on the front instead of the logo you see pictured, and comes on impressively thick vinyl. I could seriously use it as a frisbee with no worries about damage. I also have tracked down the band's only other documented evidence of existence, a vinyl release (unsure if bootleg or officially sanctioned repress) of their 12" "Speed Kills", which was supposed to be an LP but apparently never got released. While solid in it's own right, there's just something special and immediate about the EP, hence me writing about it.

Download the EP