Expanse fanzine - #2 and #3

These are the only two issues of Expanse I have in my possession, and they were given to me in late 1995 by my friend Matt Russell, a gentleman I was playing music with at that time. The pages of issue two are comprised of some serious personal writings ranging from depression, confusion to, you know, other introspective thoughts. Included are live photos (one per band) of Mouthpiece, Undertow and Unbroken.

Issue three has a bit more content to it than the previous installment. In addition to the personal writings that make up a large portion of Extent's constitution, this go 'round brings us interviews with southeastern Pennsylvania's Canon, Framework, Path Of Resistance, Samsara and Gatekeeper member Shane Durgee, and a couple of dudes from Soulstice, another edge band from Syracuse, New York. Some more live pics can be found spread throughout number three's pages, too.

Diy as fuck, and clearly an important venture to the guy who did this (that would be Laurel, Maryland native Michael Dyer). There's a really good chance I'll upload both of these zines as two separate downloadable PDF files in the near future, so check back in a few days if that is something which strikes your fancy, sweetheart.

Issue two:

Issue three:

Threadbare - s/t ep

Moving, dark, intense and passionate are all applicable adjectives one could use to describe the Minneapolis band Threadbare, who were active between 1993 and 1997. They are one of the more musically-inclined straight edge bands that I've ever come across, as well as one of the more inspiring groups of their era. Threadbare crafted emotionally-charged and intelligently-penned songs that somehow intertwined the two completely differing feelings of depression and/or despair with something that was much more optimistic and hopeful at the very same time, with this dualism often occuring in the same song. The dynamic aspect of their songwriting led to lots of awesome moments on their records. Their discography isn't a very extensive one, yet it was apparent they put more emphasis on quality rather than quantity. All told, Threadbare released three records, and this eponymous ep was their first.

This was originally released as a 2 song 7" on Watermark Records, run by the Jordan brothers who played in New Jersey's Encounter. It was also offered as a 3 song cdep on Minneapolis, Minnesota's own FurFace Records, with the additional track "Penicillin" being pulled from their earlier demo tape (this track was eventually re-recorded for their next release). It's a raw and brooding journey, and although the production isn't quite as full as their next two Doghouse efforts, these songs aren't lacking in power at all.

I used to own a Threadbare hooded sweatshirt which I purchased from Doghouse at the same time their final record came out. It had the flame artwork that is pictured on the cd below. I let some girl I was briefly seeing when I was living in Georgia borrow it one morning, and I never saw her or that fucking shirt ever again. I'm way more than extremely confident she had no idea who the band was, but I do recall her strategically placed Grateful Dead tattoo (but not her name, which in hindsight is worth a chuckle).

"Ignition" and "Hoover" were recorded at The Terrarium in January 1994, and "Penicillin" was recorded at AmRep in August 1993. There is no catalog number for FurFace included. Dudes from Threadbare also played in Bloodline, 108, Snapcase, Krakatoa and The Judas Factor. Genuinely a brilliant band.

-cracking the facade-

V/A - "All The President's Men" compilation LP

Some things just seem like they were made to go together: peanut butter and jelly, Canadians and ice hockey, Pennsylvania and delicious craft beer, and the 1990s and monumental hardcore punk compilations. This one is indeed one of the better examples, and it supplied us with songs by significant bands such as Julia, Ordination of Aaron, Hoover and Ugly Kid Joe. Whoops, I meant Hose.Got.Cable. I did, however, just listen to the UKJ classic "Madman" for the first time in I don't even know how long, so I guess we can blame my typo on that.

This 12" masterpiece is worth the listen alone for the first three tracks. This agglomeration of prominent emo bands is also notable for featuring a few dicks in the artwork, and for being my introduction to one of the best bands ever...SC's Assfactor 4. They start off the record with their utterly victorious "Closed Captioning For The Blind", and shit just straight up continues to rule from there. All the President's Men was released in 1994 by Old Glory Records, who fittingly released records by a few of the bands that appear here and, oh, was fucking awesome. This is indeed a label that should (and does) get mentioned alongside Ebullition, Mountain, Hand Held Heart, Watermark, Art Monk Construction, Kidney Room, Great American Steak Religion and One Day.

Chances are you may be familiar with this compilation already. If you aren't, then you, comrade, are in for a treat. I mean a real serious chest-slappin' goody. Goddamn, the Assfactor 4 and Julia songs are so super good, I promise. Peep it if you missed out the first time around, or remind yourself while you got into quality hardcore in the first place if you didn't.

Old Glory #12. 

- NGR means Old Glory Records -

Tracklist:
1) Assfactor 4 - "Closed Captioning For The Blind"
2) Maximillian Colby - "Petty Fix"
3) Julia - "Forge In Wind"
4) Fingerprint - "Liberation"
5) Policy Of 3 - "Improv Culture Kill"
6) Hoover - "Breather Resist" (not the album version, it's from their demo)
7) Acme - "untitled"
8) Ordination Of Aaron - "Parthenon"
9) Shotmaker - "Pilot"
10) Hose.Got.Cable - "untitled"

Sense Field cd

This cd, released by Revelation in 1994, is a compilation of the California band's first two eps (which were recorded in August 1991 and February 1992 and came out on Run H20 Records), as well as two unreleased songs. It came out shortly after the release of the first Sense Field full length, Killed For Less. Sense Field featured two former members of prominent Cali hardcore band Reason To Believe, but the new sound was far less hardcore punk-based and had its feet planted in more of a post-hardcore, alternative / emo sound. Jon Bunch's awesome vocals remained at the forefront of the band's sound though, just as they did in his previous band. The music is devoid of any fast parts and it showcases a more mature personality, with better songwriting and emo lyrics that your parents would have approved of, at least when compared to the other angry shit you were listening to in 1994. My mom didn't really care for Undertow, Warzone or Mouthpiece, but she really liked the second song on this disc, "Dreams". Way to go, Mom!

Sense Field's style of alt-rock clearly wasn't for everyone, but I'll be damned if this record doesn't rock my dick off. If you ask me, this earlier stuff was way better than the ensuing LP. Even though a few of these songs were re-recorded for Killed For Less, I like these versions better. This self-titled cd and 1996's Building are all you really need to know about Sense Field. Saw them in late 1995 or early 1996 in Princeton, NJ with Shades Apart and they were fuckin' outstanding.

The artwork on the cover of this album is a revamped version of similar art on the first Sense Field ep from 1991. Despite the Vedic artwork that is prominent on this release, the band were not of the Hare Krishna persuasion, as a few other noteworthy 90s hardcore bands were. This cd is Rev #37.

-for those who seem to care: Sense Field's only religion is music-

Tracklist:
1) Trip Poem
2) Dreams
3) Sage
4) Chimney
5) Voice
6) Nova
7) Soft
8) Familiar
9) Ideity
10) Strung
11) Found You
12) River
13) Greater Than
14) First Things First