Autumn - "Wire Hangers" 7"

Autumn was a pretty interesting straight edge band from the Morrisville / Yardley, Pennsylvania area (where I grew up) which was active between 1994 and 1996, if my memory serves me correctly. The first thing you would probably notice upon hearing Autumn for the first time was the extremely unique and melodic vocal delivery of Exton, Pennsylvania resident George Chamberlain, who previously to Autumn sang for Forethought and eventually wound up playing guitar and singing in The Passenger Train Proposal a few years down the road. The music on this ep was/is mid-tempo and groove-laden, and in my estimation was the primary reason why they were as popular and landed on as many shows as they did. Sweater vest-wearing emo kids liked 'em, vegan edge kids dug 'em, and folks who were into more traditional hardcore bands like XCornerstoneX were into them as well. Basically, everyone was able to find something to appreciate in their sound, that is once they were able to get past the previously mentioned vocals. I remember a specific review of this 7" in either HearttaCk, Second Nature or No Labels fanzine, where the reviewer essentially stated that the band sounded too much like Foreigner, and that was the end of the review. It's actually a somewhat accurate portrayal of Chamberlain's style, I guess. Very, very, sung. But yo, the music was more memorable than your average chunky hardcore band that chugged along without being overly conspicuous with the level of "mosh".

This is the first proper release by Autumn and it followed their demo tape. I went to high school in Fairless Hills with the drummer Matt's younger brother Brad, and he became aware of the fact that I was one of probably four kids in our grade who was into hardcore after we ran into each other at a Shelter show at City Gardens. One day he asked me if I was interested in buying a copy of the Autumn demo cassette, I politely declined, citing the fact that I would want to hear it first before committing to fork over a couple of dollars for the tape. Brad found this response extremely funny (it clearly was), and continued to give me shit while we proceeded to smoke a cigarette in the school bathroom.  The moral of the story here is that I'm an idiot and regret this terrible decision to this day, well over twenty years later, Life, man.

These songs were recorded at the then-extremely prolific Why Me? Studios, in Gibbsboro, NJ by Joe Deluca sometime in 1995, and the recording quality is quite good. This seven inch was a split release from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania's very own Seven One Seven Records and Nevermore Records out of Trenton. A bit of history: these four songs were originally supposed to be part of a nine song cd released by Iain Hursey and Valparasio, Indiana's Stability Records which, in true nineties hardcore fashion, never came out. Thankfully Travis and Joe at 717 were there to step in, along with help from Joe Kuzemka & Nevermore, and put this record out properly. More importantly, the band photo on the back cover was taken at the infamous Blue Fountain Diner on business Route 1 in Langhorne, a place where I spent many an evening back in high school with friends stoned out of my goddamn gord drinking coffee, eating omelettes, talking about girls but not actually talking to any, et cetera.

I have two different versions of "Wire Hangers": the original pressing is on marbled grey vinyl, is #21 / 150 and has a pretty basic albeit nice layout w/ some pro-printed covers. The other version comes on black wax in a manila envelope-type cover with completely different artwork, has a photocopied, hand cut lyric sheet, a helpful PETA flyer informing you on how you can help prevent animal suffering in your life, and is #145 / 300. Looks like these records were pressed via Tennessee's United Record Pressing, but the vinyl records themselves feel a good bit heavier than what I'm used to from that specific manufacturer. I have included photos of both 7"s for you because I trust you enjoy reading & looking at all of this shit, and also because I am awesome. Check it out if you like Outspoken, Walleye, Option, (early) Franklin or fellow Bucks County natives Introspect, a band that I have posted about previously.

Tracklist:
1) My Eternity
2) Every Day I Live
3) The Nameless
4) Wrong

- 19067 represent -

Ananda - "Habeus Corpus" LP

Ananda was a semi-metallic five-piece hardcore band active throughout the the mid 1990's, and broke up soon after the arrival of the 21st century. They called the picturesque Île-de-France region of central France home. The dudes who played in Ananda also did time in notable French luminaries such as Finger Print, L'Invention De Morel and Jasemine, among others. This, their first full length effort, is nowhere near as fast, heavy or "evil" sounding, if you will, as their second, and more grind influenced venture "Profane", which is a record I did not originally care for, but have found a bit more appreciation for as the years continue to creep along. The later Ananda stuff may have had a more technically proficient aspect to it, but the vocals were more in line with Coalesce (see: gruff) than what they originally started (via original vocalist Chrys Grall or Queen Latfah as she is credited here on "Habeus Corpus"). The deeper, male vox was the biggest hurdle for me to overcome when I originally heard the later record years ago, and I guess it is what it is. They certainly make the whole band sound heavier, if nothing else. I definitely prefer the harsher and more varied female vocals on this stuff.

Here, Ananda plays a more emo style similar to fellow country-folk Anomie. For some weird reason, I'd say it's a bit reminiscent of the weirdo German band Sog, who almost nobody remembers, which means I should probably do a post about at some point. The music is aggressive, yet beautiful when it needs to be. It has plenty of quieter guitar parts which are contrasted by loudly played drums, and overall has tons of rad rocking parts throughout the whole record. The recording is crisp and all of the instruments are well articulated. the booklet has lyrics in both French and English, as well as some brief personal writings. "Habeus Corpus" is a pretty solid example of 90's French hardcore, a scene I feel pretty confident about informing you is more than well worth your time. Hopefully you are already familiar with some of its output, but in case you aren't, this album is as good a place to start as any.

The lyric booklet was pretty difficult to photograph without running the risk of damaging the pamphlet itself, and doing this was obviously something I wanted to avoid. My apologies, but you only get a few shots of that, instead of pics of the entire thing. These songs were recorded sometime in 1997, and this thing was released by Brian Roettinger under the Unfortunate For the Fortunate label, before he did operated the excellent Hand Held Heart (The Red Scare, Song Of Zarathustra, Volume 11, etc.) and played in This Machine Kills.

Tracklist:
1) R.A.S.
2) Conscience et Inscousciance
3) Mourier de Froid
4) Fill Up
5) Atchatcha aka Tolerance
6) Doutes
7) Ecueil
8) Difference
9) Un Soir

- Voila -

Samuel 7"

This seven inch is the second of the three records from Pennsylvania's Samuel, who in 1995 relocated south to the Washington D.C. area. The band was comprised of former members of Manhandle, Junction and Wind Of Change. They played energetic, pretty straight forward rocking jams and were fronted by Vanessa Downing, who also sang in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania's pride and joy Junction. Junction featured Gregg Foreman, before he started the pretty well known Delta 72, as well as Jay Demko, who has played in tons of bands over the years, including Morgantown, West Virginia's Lincoln (who probably need zero introduction to most readers of this blog). Eric Astor, who ran the notable Art Monk Construction label, was Samuel's drummer.

I've always felt that Samuel (as well as Junction) was a criminally underrated band from the earlier half of the 1990's. If their records were never released by one of the members of the band, I could easily see them getting picked up by someone like Doghouse or Initial. Downing's lyrics were of the introspective variety, and could stand strongly on their own as pieces of prose. Samuel's work was always recorded by their friend Fred Weaver, who currently runs Apocalypse the Apocalypse in rural central Pennsylvania, not too far from State College.

This record still frequents my turntable, and it will probably continue to do so until I cease breathing. It was recorded in Fred Weaver's attic in May of 1995, and was a split release from Ohio's City of Romance and A.M.C. Good shit.

Tracklist:
1) Empty And Then Some
2) Our Baby Outlaw

- no one recognizes a stranger -

Intent - "Empty" 7"

Intent was a four-piece hardcore band from Austin, Texas which was active during the very late eighties and early nineties. The Redemption Records version of this e.p. (presented here) is a repress of their first and only 7", which was originally released by Iowa's Punchline Records in 1991.

They played somewhat chunky, mid-paced hardcore that would mostly appeal to people who enjoy what bands like Billingsgate or Encounter had to offer, and this is a good thing. Intent reminds me somewhat of Up Front, but their style was more "new school" sounding compared to the aforementioned band's definitively youth crew style (you know, before the term "new school hardcore" was really even a thing). Intent's vocalist, Mike Acevedo, also actually sang a whole lot less than Up Front's Steve Keeley did, another notable difference between the two bands.

The production values of the recording here is pretty par for the course; meaning it isn't necessarily bad nor is it exceptional. To my ears, both the vocals and snare drum seem to have a similar amount of reverb added to them, which is more-than-slightly noticeable, but not quite nearing bothersome territory, thankfully. The guitar sound during the first part of "Substance" (:38 - 1:14) has always reminded me of Tony Iommi's guitar tone in some of his interludes during some Black Sabbath jams. You'll probably think I'm crazy for saying that but it's certainly something that struck me whenever I've listened to this record, including the first time I heard it, which was fucking forever ago.

I've always wondered why the vocalist was wearing a University of Georgia t-shirt in the pics on the insert (Gooooooooooooooooo Dawgs! Sic 'Em! Woof Woof Woof Woof!) and not, say, a Texas Longhorns shirt. It's CLEARLY not a big deal or anything, and I'm obviously not the guys wardrobe assistant, but...you live in Austin, shouldn't you be reppin' the Longhorns? This observation is probably only noticeable to me because I spent six years living in Athens, which is home to the mighty UGA Bulldogs. What's more, they even mention legendary Philadelphia Flyers winger Tim Kerr in their thanks list! This is probably due to the fact that he was fucking awesome.

In addition to this record, Intent had previously released a demo cassette as well as the Drift 12" which came out in '92 and was brought forth to the world by Drive Records. Both "Empty" and "Drift" are worth checking out if you dig the melodic hardcore that the early nineties was pretty famous for producing. Fans of bands like Chicago's Billingsgate, S.L.C.'s Insight and California's Inner Strength should take note of Intent.

These songs were recorded in early October 1990 at Studio D in Austin, Texas by "D" Davis
and Josh Payne.

Etchings in the vinyl run out groove:
Side 1: "Punch 1 & Dorky Stupid Boners"
Side 2: "Punch 1 & Make It Sound Slaytanic"

Redemption Records Number 1.

Tracklist:
1) Regeneration
2) Substance
3) Empty
4) Once And For All

- here -

* I also included a picture of a damn fine Saison I brewed whilst I was on hiatus from making posts to this blog. It, much like Tim Kerr, was quite wonderful.

Shortsight - "Why Spend Time Learning" 7"

Shortsight was a female-fronted Belgium hardcore band that was a part of the whole H8000 crew thing, which I was never really very interested in. I remember thinking Norway's Lash Out was a part of that whole clique (whose 1993 release The Darkest Hour is a real winner), but once I got my shit together, realized they weren't even from the right European country and (eventually) listened to the band Congress, I quickly lost interest.

This record was always a bit of a screwball for me, I dug the chunky, definitively mid-paced, "new school" sound they offered here, but new vocalist (as of this, their first release - Hans Verbeke, who ran Sober Mind Records and also played in Blindfold, manned the vocal duties on their demo tape...see what I did there?) Saskia Verbeke's relatively unique style never really entirely did it for me. I don't know, I guess her voice just always struck me as pretty monotonous...just my opinion. This four song ep is an early Conquer The World release, which is probably the only reason why I picked it up in the first place. Sometimes the recording of the drums (in particular that barely audible, yet somehow gruesome-sounding ride cymbal, man) just makes me want to set my house and all of my belongings on fire, and begin a new quest in life which mainly involves extinguishing the lives of people who've wronged me, all Master of the Flying Guillotine style.

For those who might be interested in these sorts of things, these kids were an edge band, and the lyrics of these songs dealt take an animal-rights, anti-media stance. It was recorded and mixed at Cats Studios in March 1993. CTW #03.

Tracklist:
1) Anger
2) Darwin
3) Wheel
4) Trace

- the best part of this seven inch is the first 42 seconds -

Equation Of State - "Exploded View"

This post is about a band I know very little about. My buddy Sean, who I've probably mentioned a dozen times already on this blog, picked up this cd somewhere during his travels circa 2000* (the original Siren Records in Doylestown, maybe?), and we were both pretty glad that he did. Equation Of State was a five piece emo/hardcore band that hailed from Halifax, the provincial capital city of Nova Scotia, Canada. They existed from ??? to ???, and this disc, from what I've been able to deduce over the years, is the only thing they put out. It was released in 1998 by fellow Halifax native Rich Lafortune, who played guitar in a band called The Chitz, which was active for a few years during the mid-90s.

Are you into somewhat spazzy, highly energetic emo that is reminiscent of bands such as Griver, Ambassador 990, Kurt, The Republic of Freedom Fighters and maybe a Receiver / Future Isms-era Milemarker, before they got all sassy and shitty? Take some time to cook all of that rock goodness down and then add a dash of fuckin' early Frodus to the boil? Oh yeah? Well, this album is probably going to be right up your alley then, friend.

Socially conscious lyrics, an overall raw, tone-y recording that is full and clear when it needs to be, Canadian heritage, a healthy amount of groove parts, personal writings, just the right extent of dirtyblah blah blah. It eventually adds up to a pretty solid full length.This was recorded in the basement of someone named Mike Canato's house during July 1998, and is Subprofit Records #3. "My Suggestion Is You Fuck Off" is a total banger, y'all.

* He also took these pictures and did an overall good job. Nice work, guy...V Street soon?

Tracklist:
1) clay and mortar
2) my suggestion is you fuck off
3) self-fulfilling prophecy
4) appeal to reason
5) kill the whistle blowers
6) anamnesis
7) ridiculous notion
8) spiral jetty
9) giving up
10) anti-clockwise
11) new beginning
12) cure for cancer

- here -