Sidetracked - Hustle

Sidetracked - 2006 Hustle Tape

Tacoma's Sidetracked has come a long way since the xsidetrackedx days and I find this tape to be the cream of the crop. The team that is Jay and Brian as Sidetracked has always been one of my favorite northwest acts. Blasts of intensity, and upon first experience, seemingly discordant parts are strung together to create the succinct sound that is "Hustle". Eight songs total, clocking in at one minute; holy shit. More releases to come from Sidetracked.

Hustle Tape Cover
Lyrics
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Media Mind - Prescriptions

The full length from Media Mind is awesome, and it’s incredibly rare that I find myself enjoying and identifying with something from Seattle. The lyrics are politically poignant, yet carry out a philosophical distinction that I find incredibly important for synthesizing political activism to the emotions of the listener. By incorporating rational thought and honest opinion the lyrics become generally more motivating and heartfelt. Musically, it’s a style that fits my taste; Fast and aggressive early 80s influenced hardcore punk with a bit of melody here and there, but not to say it’s melodic, just to say it has some unique catchiness to it. All the recordings were done live on what I believe the insert to say, on one mic, “the way it was supposed to be”. I can’t wait to see more from these guys in the future, but for now this and the demo are on constant rotation for me.



Lyrics 1
Lyrics 2


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Media Mind - Demo

Media Mind Demo 2009. Totally great, no complaints. Six songs from Seattle, WA, two of which they no longer play unfortunately. Demographic scum is fucking great. Ruck ruck ruck ruck ruck, are you ready to ruck?.

Insert
Lyrics


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Barricade - 2004 Demo

I was rifling through my demos and came across this. I'm not entirely sure why but the Barricade demo was one that I never got rid of. I listened to it a lot and the tracks seem to be burned into my brain, seeing as I remembered everything about it as soon as it started playing just now. I enjoy it quite a bit aside from the triggered drums and weird lyrics. Brian is in a new band now that is old barricade songs with him singing. He calls it sojourner and it's way wilder and gnarly. A lot more originality (crazy song structures, poetic lyrics and whatnot), I'll probably put that up soon. For now, enjoy.

Barricade Demo

The Crazies - 2004 Demo + Bonus tracks

Demo dropped on the NW hardcore board, silly times. Extremely enjoyable. Awesome movie samples whose quality was insanely reduced to put on the demo (ear-piercingly awesome), plus some really silly stories to accompany the band (such as covering gorilla biscuits new direction seven times in a row to piss people off and because of the excessive amount of other bands covering it, some younger band from Olympia covering 'get me the president' thinking it was an 80s hardcore song, and much other pizza and candy motivated tomfoolery). Long story short, Olympia at its finest. Included is the demo, three covers and five originals, plus two unreleased tracks. Enjoy.

Crazies Demo
Bonus Tracks

Wish I had some artwork or something; here are the lyrics to dead days. Notice the soda cracking open in the song.

All the lies that we're fed, how we were mistreated
we believed every word that you said
those days are dead
all this shit through my head, all this shit I'm seeing red
we believed every word that you said
those days are dead

HIV

What is there to say about HIV? Damn, I would have to say, from my experience, they are the best band I have ever encountered. Sure, this may sound like melodrama to those who didn’t connect with the people or the music and especially to those who haven’t heard them, but for me, HIV was a monument in time in my young adult life. The overall feel of an HIV show more deeply embodied a sense of snotty hardcore-punk distaste for mainstream culture [and hardcore culture alike] than any band I have ever witnessed. There was so much truth behind the lyrics you could feel it in the music. It was so absolutely honest. Generally, the songs concerned a laughable disdain toward societal pressures that so many hold dear; including but not limited to, getting a job, relationships, making yourself look cool, making something of yourself… the basic groundwork of feeling like you need to act a certain way to be appreciated; that you as an individual are not good enough on your own. I used to have such amazingly enriching experiences with Sam, walking around the streets of Bremerton just talking about life. He was such a humble, charismatic person. Just talking would lift my spirits so much. We both came from extremely crummy life backgrounds and just related on the purely human level of feeling slighted in some way by forces we couldn’t control. Confiding in each other produced so much strength for me and for many others in the passion behind his lyrics and live performances… absolutely wild; seriously some of the craziest and most genuine hardcore-punk shows. I’ve had great interpersonal interactions and shared so many fun moments with Sam, Benn, Dewey and Mike that it just puts me in the best mood any time I ever listen to the music. I remember once, I believe it was Sam Robert and I, went up to Port Townsend, spent the day skating the park, and then ate pizza out on the water and watched the sun go down. All memories linked to HIV, but I digress.
From the humble and albeit, sketchy, beginnings in the summer of 2004, HIV made their first release the “Nature is Gay” EP. Now, some serious slack was cut on my behalf considering that these kids were all 14-15 when they started the band; what rose from each subsequent release was a catalogue of teenage to young adult counter-culture ideals. From the EP, s/t demo, summer fun demo, full length and s/t 7” each release was better and better. Below are all the releases but the EP which I unfortunately do not have (looks like skater-fags will be omitted from the discography). Below are links to the S/T demo, Summer Fun tape, and the 7" session recordings including the songs that weren't put on the record.

Summer Fun Tape
Summer Fun Tape Lyrics
HIV 7" Sleeve
HIV 7" Sleeve 2
7" Lyrics
7" Lyrics 2
7" Label
7" Label

Download Demo
Download Summer Fun Tape
HIV 2007 Recordings

I have nothing negative to say about this band... then again, I don't plan on posting things I don't like.

Tape Lyrics (they're relatively unreadable on the insert):

Nothing Left: I remember when I was told
about golden brick roads and flowers that would always grow
this is the land of opportunity
well my parents lied to me, there's nothing left
Waves of concrete, sky of smog
take a look at your land of god
everywhere I turn I get more mad
slit my wrists wish I was dead

No Sir: I'm stuck and I'm bored, I gotta believe there's something more
I'm trapped, and I did it to myself, I'm trapped, I've got nothing else
No sir I won't be like you
I won't fall into their trap, of going to work and never looking back
work, death and taxes, bikini lines and full body waxes
No sir I won't be like you, you can't fucking make me

Blind Actions: Who do you think you are?
All your hate what is it for? Forgot where you're from
forgot how to have some fucking fun
you've got nothing good to say we need you out of our way
when will this fucking get through we don't need your attitude
it's blind actions
yeah this goes out to you, the dude with the piece of shit crew
yeah this goes out to you, the dude who can't get a clue
with you in our way there's no satisfaction
all I fucking see are blind fucking actions

No Problems: Not planning ahead, don't want a job.
Teachers call me a fuckup, dad thinks I'm a slob.
While you're at church I'll skate the curbs.
Heat on my neck, there's not much school left.
No Problems; unemployed out of school
No problems; air is hot water's cool

Sick of your attitude: Who are you to put me down?
Do you know what this is about? All you do is fucking laugh.
Boosting up your self esteem go back to your boring high school scene.

Work sucks: 4 to 12 is killing me. Just wanna fucking sleep.
Getting fucking pissed. Wanna slit my wrists. Work sucks.

Radical: I don't care, don't talk to me. I know jesus is radical.
Don't care about the stories you tell, just wanna be my fucking self.

Over the Years: You've taken this way out of hand, just have as much fun as you can.
Every time you go to a show, every time your ego grows.
Over the years you've lost your sight, forgot what being a kid is like
my skin, my hair may grow with age, but in my head I'll stay the same.

Poseidon - Live on Dead Air

Poseidon - KGRG Set




Poseidon and Sixes played on Dead Air radio KGRG together sometime this year, I honestly can't remember when. It was after tour while we were still brother bands before Poseidon's difficulties due to Mike's ear problems. The beginning of the set has some technical difficulties but the guitar comes through about midway through the song. There are a few unreleased tracks, most of the 7" songs and some tape songs. Poseidon's set was so fun. Dead Air is a college campus radio show that showcases local bands playing live on the air. During Poseidon's set we were running around, circle pitting, stage-diving on the couches, etc. Following we got kicked off campus for skateboarding. All in all an awesome day.
DEAD AIR
Wednesday Nights 7-10 PM
89.9 FM KGRG
www.kgrg.com to stream online
Contact:
KGRG ATTN: DEAD AIR
c/o Green River Community College
12401 SE 320th St.
Auburn WA 98092
http://www.myspace.com/dead_air

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Poseidon - Tape Demo

Poseidon 2008 Demo



I was skating with Adam and Robert at the Fred Meyer in Bremerton one night and I ran into Benn Silima coming out of the adjacent subway. Benn told me to listen to his new band and I seriously thought he was joking when I heard it. It was so different from anything I had heard him do and I hadn't heard his vocals aside from his joke band he did, Bonesaw. I heard it and thought it was way too good to be real. I was amazed. The music is incredibly powerful, Benn is a riff machine. Mike's drumming is blistering and Alex pulls the trio together to form what is possibly the most intense band to come out of Bremerton. The lyrics on the demo at this point are relatively vague, yet still very personal; I had heard Benn express distaste with these early tracks. I think they're fucking awesome, the Johnny Cash cover at the end was an awesome idea and came out great.



Lyrics
Tape Insert

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Outlook - Demo 2008

Outlook 2008 Demo



The first thing I heard about this demo before the inception of Outlook was that it was Stop At Nothing songs James had never used. After receiving the demo, I had found that it had taken a life of its own far outside the realms of stop at nothing. The music is characterized by a youth crew hardcore feel [some parts are seriously side by side-esque and there is a riff that is pretty noticeable Antidote inspired] with its own flare of driving intros and some surf influence; "Break the Silence". The recording quality is poor, which takes away a bit from the energy which is so present at live performances, but what is the real driving force behind Outlook is the lyrical content. Lyrics pertain to taking responsibility for choices and actions, the dilution of hardcore punk into a marketable product, economics, taking an active stance against social equalities, re-evaluating social behaviors, and sexual discrimination. The voice behind the lyrics is direct, thoughtful and at times sardonic. If a contemporary band deserves to have its views heard, this is the one.

Lyrics!

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Sixes - Wealth & Property

This is a really rough new Sixes track recorded for Mckenzie and myself to practice with. We recorded it without bass [Mckenzie wasn't there for recording but was for writing] on Bob's ceiling mics with a microphone line in. We're re-recording this track and using it for a compilation.
The song is called Wealth and Property and deals with our allowed acknowledgment of appointed authority. We're told to recognize certain figures; if we have any difficulty doing so we are labeled with having "a problem with authority" and are stamped with many negative connotations. I feel to ignore the fact that police law enforcement is merely set out to protect property and the wealthy, we are allowing ourselves to be sold short. Law enforcement hides behind a guise of protection. We are taught to fear many things so that police have a calming affect on our subconscious. The reality of the situation is that they are there to protect private interest. If you are a person with no property, we'll see how far they'll bend over backward to help you out. This allowed control keeps us in check and prevents us from expressing our personal freedom [vocally, through arts, physical interaction, social norms, etc.]. From what I've seen of police they've never helped low income families like my own growing up when they were robbed or their homes were threatened. I have never seen an example of pure public service. All I have seen are the same pseudo-masculine, shit-head, control freaks in high school going on into law enforcement careers. They are simply people who somehow feel they can stand behind a badge that represents what is truly "right". If you're that dogmatic in your beliefs I'd have a great time picking at your brain. I can't possibly trust the moral fiber of a person whose job is to racially profile and to judge a persons worth by their class. I felt odd after writing the lyrics because I never really came up with any sort of proposed solution I just sort of stated a problem. I guess in discussing this issue I'm left just with my idealistic views of what I wish was the case. Musically I dig it a lot. Very metal influenced 90s hardcore. To me the intro sounds very Undertow-esque and the song as a whole has a Strife "In This Defiance" era feel. Although similar to metal influenced contemporary hardcore bands I feel like it's its own ballgame in itself.

Lyrics:
Blind assertion, of what is right.
Government sanctioned, despotic might.
Kept in fear to assure protection,
justified paradox to ensure oppression.
Monetarily dictated, empty piety,
Set in motion for a Bourgeois society.
Never question, we accept their power.
Our human freedom we allow devoured.
We're told not to question.
Your freedom extends as far as you're told.
Modern day slavery, you're bought and sold.
Dogmatic belief, that they're in the right.
Appointed authority gives them their might.
It takes a certain kind of person to want to be a cop.
Allowed control ensures injustice won't stop.

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Sunset Riders - Tape Demo

Sunset Riders - Don't Have A Cow Man! 2006 Demo.



Insert1
Insert2

Definitely among my top favorite demos and overall bands of the Pacific Northwest; likely I would put it up first. What's cooler than pizza, soda, video games, and hanging out with your good friends? I find myself listening to this tape quite often. A lot can be said for a band like Sunset Riders, aptly named after the sega genesis/Nintendo game. They follow a late 80's Youth Crew style hardcore formula, which as tired and diluted as it may have become through many revivals, gets a new spin. SR manages to pioneer its own sound within the constraints of a strictly labeled, "subgenre", and add a bit more of a rock groove: "Get a Grip", "Bent Beliefs". The Scorpions intro into "Wrong Turn" is also a great touch. The closest it gets to mimicking predecessors that I caught was a re-hashed Unity and Gorilla Biscuits line. Straight forward, honest, and as fun as it can get, Sunset Riders shows are met with extremely enthusiastic crowd response and an overall great feel. Although on what could be described as a "terminal" hiatus, due to Ryan being in school and all the band-mates living in different areas, I hope to see SR playing again soon. The lyrics pertain to easily relate-able concepts such as work obligations, peer pressures, dogmatic faith, changing social relationships, and overall falsehood and dilution of participation in the hardcore music scene. So before you go pull on your white hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants, and 'X' up your fists for the Sunset Riders show, try being yourself, cutting loose, getting real, and raging with some wild Tiki dudes. Recorded at the Tiki House by Ben Dewey 8/1/2006, Mangina Records.

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