Ooze - Test Press

Finally got the go-ahead to put up some stuff I'm really excited about. Two of the best 7"s of this year finally dropped so hold onto your butts.



Photo by the Trog Dogg

DiE - 7" EP

 

Daaaamn, when I first heard this EP I was all about it. Perfect guitar tone. Perfect. They nailed it, it's '83 all over again. The icing on the cake is that Liam is in it and he is the goddamn homie. Bruddahs from 'across the pond', the UK's DiE has it going on. If you haven't heard this 7" yet I feel sorry for you.





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Contingent - Demo CS

Unintentional theme going on with this string of posts but here's is the Contingent cassette. Took me a minute to put my finger on this one. Wild intro into a bass lead laden with chorus then into a hard ass sounding Oi feel with some melodic hooks over it. Contingent is its own jam for sure. Reminiscent of many, if not all, cuts on foreign Oi comps. Bad Blood played with Koward in Oakland, Bricklayer and Cop Rot played with them in Olympia and Gag played with them in Seattle so I got the chance to see Mark again. I mentioned he needs to sing for a band again and he said he did so I picked up the tape haha. Worth the three bucks for the track "Killer on the Loose" alone. Not sold on the chorus on the bass, I feel like a clean tone would be less distracting but goddamn if I don't love it.





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Kid Chrome - CS

Here's a top secret little treat for you guys. Kid Chrome is a certain fellow from Seattle's solo project he recorded all on his own in the practice space one night on a four track. I will never reveal his secret identity but he is a prolific member of the Seattle hardcore punk powerhouse. Kid Chrome is that heel clickin' rock'n'rollin party lubricant y'all know and love. Some bluesy jams, some Stiv Bators on heavy rotation, a healthy dose of the Sonics, a twin reverb and boots to get loose. 'Mobbin' always gets 'Nervous' by the Big Boys stuck in my head for some reason. Not sure why. I heard Kid Chrome can be seen driving around Seattle in an old timey car yelling along to his own songs.






















OOOOOOOOOOWWW!

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Iron Youth - 7" EP

The band before Glue and here it is for you. The 7" is now available and it's more of the Iron Youth you got from the tape released much earlier with a little bit or an eerie turn (see 'elude' and well, every track really). White Wards and Gag had the pleasure of playing with these boys and Blotter when we first rolled through Austin. It was supposed to be Glue's first show actually but it didn't happen. Jangly clean guitar and harsh vocal delivery. Stoked to have finally gotten a copy to jam from Mose.





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Criminal Code - No Device

 

Alright man so here it is, the make or break for a band, the first LP. If your first LP flops its gonna be a sad story. Fortunately for Criminal Code their first LP kills it. I should also mention "Cold Thought" is a mini 7 track LP so I'm not counting it as a full length release. This bad boy is what we're talkin' about. Starts off with some really cool mesmerizing guitar work in 'Dilemmas'. The title track 'No Device' is a really cool concept. I like a lot of the lyrics on this release. Life in general and punk platitudes call-out. The record really takes a cool turn with 'Exit/Entry' and 'Flagstone'. You hear it suggested a little earlier on in 'No Device' but it gets a little dreamy. I wonder if 'Graven Image' has any allusion to the '83 punk band? They had some pretty wild lyrics. Also Taiga's seem to deal a lot with rejecting christianity on this release and I wonder if that has an intentional bearing. Also there's the ominous square again and this time it's burning? The B side gets much more daunting and dismal but then beefs up again when it hits 'Sacred Hands' which you should remember from my last post. 'Corrosive' gets real abrasive and hard hitting then the LP gets capped off with 'Attempts Fail Completely'. Pat yourselves on the back boys because you guys successfully created a crazy integration of punk and made it all your own. Some dreamy shit, some later revolution summer Swiz/Shudder to Think kinda stuff, some Du of course, some grungy rock, some 90s alternative and that cornerstone of punk.









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Criminal Code - Sacred Hands b/w Distressed Dreams

Ok so I gotta say, aside from the demo tape I think this is my favorite Criminal Code release. It starts off blasting straight out of the gate with the hardest hitting track you've heard from them yet. The title track is intense and features some delay and compression in the bridge that sounds really cool. The B side is fucking awesome. Super dark and gloomy with a little more flange in da reverb effect department. No frills, big things come in plain packaging. This shit is great.

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