Spit On Your Grave - unreleased album

A pleasantly nice update to my previous post about Spit On Your Grave. This is a session of unreleased tracks meant for either a 7" or an album, I wasn't quite clear on which. Either way, the quality of these recordings is just great. This could/should have been a great album if released properly. Tracks were sent directly from the singer, Bullseye

enjoy

Download these unreleased gems

Krack - "Funkwagon McGuillicuddy"

It's been a looooong while since I've posted anything, figured I'd get back in the swing of things with a neat little gem I recently uncovered.

Straight from the singer Mike's mouth, this is a brief writeup on Krack:

"Krack got together I guess '87 or so after The Criminally Insane disbanded. I think at that time it was Jeff Shepard on Bass, DeeJay on vocals, Paul Hutler and Joe Robinson on guitars and Corey Brooks on drums. They recorded a demo whose name I've forgotten. Joe and DeeJay left and I joined, we recorded a demo called Superfix. Then Paul left and Darren Hess joined and Joe Robinson rejoined. We recorded Funkwagon McGuillicuddy on Merkin Records then, and we started playing out a lot more, heading up to New York a few times to play the ABC NO RIO and CBJB's and playing random spots between here and there (my wet dream of opening for Poison Idea in Reading PA), plus down in DC (Barbecued Iguana, Safari Club). Then Corey left and was replaced by Rob Seymour. We signed a contract for 5 albums with Merkin then broke up halfway through recording the first because of 'creative differences' and just random stupidity from being young and not knowing how to compromise.
There's probably a good bit more to the story, but being a drunk and a burnout hasn't really made sharp recall my strength.

I think the first demo might have been called "if You Dare"."


Krack's sound is a noisy mix of punk, sludge, and general fun noise. I'd place them somewhere in between late Black Flag, The Stooges, Celtic Frost and Swiz. Take a listen, that comparison makes a lot more sense than you'd think, trust me.

Download "Funkwagon McGuillicuddy"

Spit On Your Grave - 2006 Demo

Spit On Your Grave was a rather overlooked Baltimore band despite coming from a great lineage of bands such as Fighting Chance, Queen Anne's Revenge, Hell To Pay, etc. After the breakup of Fighting Chance, 4 of the remaining members formed Spit On Your Grave (or Suck Off Your Grandpa, or any other possible offensive name they could shoehorn into SOYG...). While much of Fighting Chance's music was skinhead oriented Oi!/streetrock with ever increasing punk/hardcore additions, Spit On Your Grave came out swinging with a full tilt hardcore sound with comparisons ranging everywhere from Warzone and early Madball to Crumbsuckers and Gut Instinct.

Though coming directly from a big name band can be beneficial, this also meant SOYG was forced to start over from the beginning, and in my opinion, never quite reached the attention grabbing status of Fighting Chance by the time they broke up, which is a shame. What's more is the band only managed 2 released demos and a shirt or two, severely limiting the evidence of their existence until some nerd comes along and digs them up 10 years from now ala such painfully overlooked bands as Show Of Force and Our Gang. According to bassist Tim, there is a large handful of unreleased high quality recorded tracks meant for a 7" or album sitting around, hopefully these will see the light of day very soon.

Download the 2006 demo

Harsh Truth - Life Is Perfect

This CD needs more listeners like a bum needs a job. With the current upswing of bands attempting to ape and capitalize off of ironic 90's worship, Harsh Truth walk the walk like no other because they were actually there. A very infrequently on and off project since about 1989, the band directly pulled from the then-current surge of heavier NY bands such as Killing Time and Inside Out, but as always giving the music a brutal Baltimore twist. Vocalist Richie was actually the original singer for Gut Instinct before Sebastian, so that should give you a good idea of how the vocals sound right off the bat. Throaty, grimy, and forceful. Musically, the 2000's era incarnation of the band benefited from guitarist Josh's doom and underground rock influence, 5150/Orange heads and all. Among the band's direct family tree is an endless list of great local names like Next Step Up, Hell To Pay, Initial Reaction, Fighting Chance, and many more. Put all those bands in a blender, and you've pretty much got Harsh Truth's uncompromising sound. A sorely overlooked band due to the usual misfortunes of the underground.

Harsh Truth released 2 songs on the Belly Of The Beast comp, which were rereleased in 2006 on A389 Records as a 7" with a long lost intro track. After a lineup shift the band recorded this CD, which includes live versions of the two 7" tracks, recorded at CBGB during the Gut Instinct reunion weekend tour. They played their last show in 2007 before falling victim to busy schedules and responsibilities beyond hardcore (yes, I know you're shocked, but they do exist).

Download the album
You can hear the 7" tracks on their Myspace

Curse Of Years - 1998 Demo

Curse Of Years was a very brief band in the Baltimore spotlight, but I always felt something better could have come of them. This was the band that my friend Josh was in immediately before (or around the time of) joining Stout. The overall sound is nothing surprising for a 90's Baltimore band, very distinct shades of Gut Instinct, Breakdown, and Outburst ooze through every crack. The real treat of all of this is Josh's RAW, gruesome vocals, which is what drew me to them in the first place before I even knew he was in the band. I first heard of this entire ordeal via a comp called Belly Of The Beast that Josh put out, which had a COY song on it called "Days In Black". I was blown away by the band, and frantically asked around wondering who was responsible for this, not knowing at all he could sing like that!

According to the bio on their Myspace, the band basically self imploded from musical differences and lineup/musical taste changes. Josh went on to Stout, a reformed version of Harsh Truth (who I will post very soon), and even an instrumental prog/doom project known as Chowder (highly worth tracking down here). Guitarist Greg Clark ended up doing a doom project known as King Valley. Before their demise, the band mustered out this demo, the two BOTB comp tracks, a rendition of "Skinhead Youth" for the famous Raybeez tribute comp, and various rare practice and live tracks.

Download the demo

Taken By Force - Trifecta split

Taken By Force was the band that eventually became the foundation of Treason, but had a pretty damn good career of their own in Baltimore beforehand. Started in late 2003, the original lineup included Chris Aleshire (ex Erase The Past and Carved In Stone) on vocals, Ed Lock (of the infamous Backhand) on bass, Chris "Whiskey Shits" on guitar, and Travis (Backhand, Divulsion) on drums. The name was taken from the Merauder song "Take By Force", and they set out to play NYHC inspired hardcore at a time when dumb jun-jun breakdowns were pretty much the prevailing artform. The first release they did was a demo, later released as an EP, called "Balticore", which I will up on here when I can find it.

This release is part of a kind of obscure session they did with two other closely-knit Bmore bands (Nothing Fuckin Special and Scheduled Beating) that got called The Trifecta. As I recall, it was pretty much done in an afternoon. Each band did two originals and a cover (well, NFS did an extra kind of half cover, a rip on the breakdown from "Conceived Through An Act Of Violence" called "Show Us Your Thumb"). There is also a hidden rap track at the end, which is dreadful, but I will probably upload at some point. TBF laid down tracks for "Prayer For My Enemies", featuring JR Glass of Next Step Up, "Time Moves On" and a Madball cover in "Been There Done That". Lineup on this recording was the same as listed above, except with the addition of Tony Hare on guitars.

Download the tracks

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