Ocean of Mercy 7"

Here is the lone record from an early 90s NYHC band that didn't exactly fit the mold when compared to other bands from the same era who called the same city home. It was released in 1992 as a cooperative effort between Oasis Records, which I'm almost positive I've never seen another record from, and Doghouse Records, which everyone should already be familiar with. The music is pseudo-youth crew-ish, very bass-forward, and fucking awesome. Gus Peña (aka Gus Straight Edge) was the frontman for Ocean of Mercy; his voice kinda reminds me of a toned down Martin Sorrondeguy, and the music is pretty melodic for the style, while retaining a good deal of that New York Hardcore "toughness" you probably would expect. I'd also say this band was a wee bit heavier than many other NYHC bands. This record certainly qualifies as something I'd consider to be (highly doesn't really sound fitting here..notably, maybe??) sought after, for two reasons: 1) for being an early Doghouse release, at a time when they were releasing hc records and not, well, you presumably already know where I'm going with this sentence. I'm not knocking Dirk Hemsath or his label by any measure at all. At some point in the late nineties, the label just changed quite a bit and he focused on releasing other types of bands, bands that found themselves dwelling outside of the typical "hardcore punk" category...I digress. Oh shit, I completely forgot to finish the fucking point I was originally trying to make... the second reason being the fact that this is the only O.o.M. release that I know of, barring a compilation or two, because this was, after all, the early 90's hardcore scene.

The players on this 7" included Gus Peña (Discipline), Franklin Rhi (Shelter, 25 Ta Life, Crown of Thornz, etc.) and Harry Minas (25 Ta Life), who is playing a sweet pair of Paiste Rude 14" hi-hats in the picture of him. Additionally, check out Gus's even sweeter Discipline pants on the back cover. They also spelled Dirk Hemsath's name incorrectly on their thanks list, which is hilarious. The kind folks in Ocean of Mercy also included the month each song was written in, as well as the time of each track, in case you were making a copy of this on a cassette and were unsure if you could fit this 7" on your tape.

These three songs were recorded in August 1991 at SD50 with A.J. Novello and Noah Adams at the helm, and were mixed at the infamous Don Fury Studios. Kids who listen to This World Rejected, Bold, Flagman, Transcend, Endpoint and/or Majority of One should peep this. I'd be willing to bet a few home brews that some fans of Turning Point and probably early New Age Rec's band Drift Again would be thankful if they checked this out, too.

Oasis #1 (the matrix area of the vinyl is inscribed OA 444) / Doghouse #??? - 1992.

Tracklist:
1) Every Second
2) That Which Is Not
3) You Left Me

 - vessel to vessel becomes dust to dust -

Falling Forward - "Four Songs"

Goddammit. This CD5 (thank you, 1990s) by Louisville's Falling Forward is so fucking great, and it still rocks my balls off twenty (!!!!) years after its release. For those not familiar with this band, they played emotionally driven melodic mid-western hardcore that has always struck a chord with me. Excellent, sweeping vocals (and lyrics), wonderful musicianship and absolutely chock full of sincerity of character. This release compiles the 2 songs from the self titled 7" released on Doghouse Records (which this cd also came out on) and the band's two acoustic tracks from a split 7" with fellow Louisville natives Metroschifter (originally released on Initial Records, also in 1995).

After you check this amazing release out, I implore you to get your hands on Falling Forward's earlier "Hand Me Down" record afterwards, which is, by my estimation, overall a slightly heavier cd. In the end, these four songs equate to one of the better 90s emotional hardcore records, period. Recommended for fans of Chamberlain / Split Lip and/or more "rock" oriented stuff like Jimmy Eat World and Boys Life.

-here-

Tracklist:
1) Wrap Around Suit
2) The Great Union Divide
3) Christensen Spring
4) Twenty Nine Sixteen Magazine

Cable - "Variable Speed Drive"

In 1996, I was living by myself in a shitty one bedroom apartment in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. I was also ordering a lot of records, spending way too much money buying stuff from the Very Distro catalog (remember that 90s hardcore gem?), as well as directly from various labels. I bought quite a few of the earlier releases from Jim Burham / Moo Cow Records: the Atlas Shrugged / New Day Rising split, the Scout 7", the New Day Rising / Despair split, and the Cave In / Piebald split, among others. You could say we were penpals. Another one of these purchases was the Malcolm's Lost / Cable split 7", which I'm holding in my hands right now and is Moo Cow #9. This split was my introduction to Connecticut's Cable, who played heavy, noisy and somewhat spazzy hardcore. "Variable Speed Drive" came out on Doghouse Records during the middle of 1996. It was their first full length and, in my opinion, is the bands best record by far. Additionally, I still consider this release to be of Doghouse's best offerings ever, right up there with the two Threadbare discs and "Fate's Got A Driver" by Chamberlain. Cable definitely had an Amphetamine Reptile / Unsane influence going on. Another decent comparison would be to imagine the first Lincoln 7", but with the added pleasure of having the heaviness cranked up to thirteen. This stuff was way louder than most of what was being released on Doghouse, which was a nice surprise. Because I've always dug heavier shit.

I only saw Cable live one time. It was in 1998 at the Melody Bar in New Brunswick, NJ (great venue, R.I.P.) with demo-era Isis (who I thought was awful then, as I do now), Nora (who was, uh, also pretty fucking terrible), and some headliner who I am forgetting. Cable had just gotten a new drummer, so they only played new stuff and not a single fucking song from this LP, which bummed me out to no end. This, they explained, was because they hadn't taught him the old stuff yet. Wait, what? How did you even try him out, bros? YOUR BAND IS ON FUCKING DOGHOUSE RECORDS, YO, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. Also, I'm 100% positive that I was the only person there who gave a poo about seeing Cable play, as there couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve motherfuckers who watched them, and nobody seemed interested. That is something I'll never understand. Shame on you, New Brunswick...shame on you. Their set was good, I was just a bit butt-hurt, I guess. The silver lining of this afternoon, however, was the fact that after the show I scored a copy of their demo cassette from them, so that ruled. Two pics of it can be found below for shits and giggles. The songs on "Variable Speed Drive" were recorded in March of 1996.

-best friend with a firearm-

Tracklist
1) Needles Vs Nails
2) Steel Cage Match
3) Sick Little Ritual
4) Water.Down.Rock
5) Carolina Eyes
6) Lie Detector
7) The Sinking Vessel
8) Paperplanecrash