ANTI-CIMEX - Live @ Leeds, UK 2nd July 1986

It is no secret that Anti-Cimex is one of the coolest punk bands ever. I endorse their entire discography, save for that terrible song "Scandinavian Jawbreaker Part 2" (what the hell were they thinking?) From their infamous 1986 UK tour, here's a rough audience recording of the Leeds gig. Jonsson sounds pretty drunk at times and I don't doubt he was. This is mostly for Cimex completists and die-hards. Bootleggers fuck off!

ANTI-CIMEX - Live @ Leeds, UK 2nd July 1986

MALICIOUS GRIND - Demo (1987)

Don't be fooled by the name, this ain't no grindcore. Malicious Grind was an excellent Southern California hardcore crossover band from the golden era of the crossover subgenre with pretty varied songwriting and alternating male/female vocals. They later released a 12" on the French label New Wave Records that I don't own but remember to be subpar to this tape. Bassist/vocalist Ingrid Baumgart was also a member of Bulimia Banquet if that rings a bell to anyone.

MALICIOUS GRIND - Demo (1987)

SEMEN - "Masas Obedientes Individuos Dominantes" demo (2009)

¡Joder! I was lucky to witness Semen live on their home turf of Bilbao, Euskadi (that's Basque Country for you) in 2009 right before they broke up, and they kicked ass. Sloppy, straight forward, d-beat driven hardcore punk in the true tradition of Discharge-worshipping Spanish bands — MG-15 or Destrucción being the obvious suspects here. The Destrucción comparison is especially true, as the demo ends with a cover version of their classic tune "Makineros Hijos De Puta", and the artwork featured in the awesome booklet that came with the tape is somewhat reminiscent of Teodoro's drawings.

SEMEN - Masas Obedientes Individuos Dominantes demo (2009)

NEKROFILTH - "Filling My Blood With Poison..." demo (2008)

I can't really hang with Nekrofilth's piss-drenched atmosphere — too much fecal matter and sexual perversion for my own good, although I expect GG Allin fans to be all over this. The music, on the other hand, rips. This three-piece from Cleveland, Ohio has a couple of recordings under its belt. If you ask me, this is not exactly their strongest release. If you're new to the band, I'd suggest you check out the Worship Destruction 12" and split LP with Nun Slaughter first (both of which were originally issued as demos I believe?), two releases reminding me heavily of proto death metal gods Slaughter (Canada) with some Repulsion thrown in for good measure. If the GBH cover song isn't indicative enough, Filling My Blood With Poison is probably their punkest recording. This is a 2013 limited reprint on Home Taping Cruelties from Germany. Dog knows what the weirdos behind the label drenched the cover in (goat blood? puke?…), but I'm not sure I wanna know: this shit smells like hell. Thankfully this digital rip will save me from pulling it out too often and getting sick from the stench.

NEKROFILTH - Filling My Blood With Poison... demo (2008)

LOS CRUDOS - Live @ Bordeaux, France. 13th Dec. 1996

This one's for the diehards. Or the locals. A very rough audience recording of Los Crudos' show here in Bordeaux, France back in 1996. This tape hasn't be heard by more than a handful of people so far, for good reason I guess. Martin's vocals are way too buried in the mix... and barely audible by the end of the tape. But I swear you can hear me talk between songs at some point. Haha. The tape stops during the first encore song too, sorry about that.

Local heroes Öpstand opened for Los Crudos that night, and they even got to play twice (in case you wanna know, that's because the Crudos guys were wandering in the streets of Bordeaux while Öpstand were playing. Back to the venue they were super pissed they missed them and urged them to play again). I have both sets on that same tape, one of which ended up on the Öpstand discography CD. The other set is basically the same songs, but if there is demand I'll be happy to digitize it some day. This line up of Öpstand with Bruno (ex-Aspro 5000) drumming never recorded anything and didn't play more than a couple of shows.

But I digress... I didn't take the time to figure out the setlist so that's one large soundfile. Feel free to break down the tracklist if you feel like it, I'm sure some people would appreciate.

Last but not least, I'm proud to say that more than 16 years later, some friends and I are still booking DIY hardcore punk shows at this same venue. Old punks never die.

LOS CRUDOS - Live @ Athénée Libertaire, Bordeaux, France. 13th December 1996

SAUNA - "Ei Leiki" demo (1991)

 
Sauna was an early '90s Swedish käng punk band. All I can remember is that one member (Pjär) went on to join 3-Way Cum, although I'm sure they must have shared personnel with other bands. They did a split LP with Disrupt but this demo is their true gem, much heavier and far more punishing. This downtuned aural assault is in league with the most brutal Swedish hardcore bands of yesteryear such as Svart Parad or Bombanfall, with vocals bordering on death metal growls. Coincidentally there is a Two Moons Rising cover song on this — Bombanfall if you prefer. The demo was released on Crash Mag Records who also released a couple of very underrated EPs in my opinion (Bombraid, No Admission...)

The tracklist displayed on the demo cover is wrong so I fixed the song order.

SAUNA - Ei Leiki demo (1991) 

CALL THE POLICE - "World Crashing In" demo (2002)

Call The Police was a short lived hardcore punk band from Portland, OR, USA that released a solid LP on Feral Ward, although this demo was their best material in my opinion (a few tracks were re-recorded for the LP.) The song title "1984 In 2002" is probably a nod to Special Duties and gives an insight of what the band was heading for, taking inspiration from UK 82 punk from the Riot City / No Future roster but also adding a fair dose of old American punk — check out the intro to "Grind To Freedom" and tell me it doesn't remind you of one of the most famous US punk songs of all times! For the record, the band had both Burdette brothers (of Tragedy and a million other bands fame) on guitar. The female vocalist was recently seen in Salted City (also featuring Grant of Talk Is Poison/Warcry) whose 7" from a couple of years back I urge you to check out – it's pretty similar in style and drive to Call The Police.

CALL THE POLICE - World Crashing In demo (2002)