Nirvana - Bleach (1989)

You know the band.

You know the history.

Recorded in 30 hours for $606.17 and

released on the Sub Pop label, this is bleak

and claustrophobic rock, full of feedback

and distortion with chaotic and grimy songs,

lyrically sparse but full of Cobain at his best.

This is the sound of a band without the world

watching them, just some guys laying down

some tracks because they wanted to make a noise.

Smug alert - Me & Dougie saw them at the Astoria

as support for Tad & Mudhoney. They played most

of Bleach with some new stuff from what would be

Nevermind ...... turns out they would become quite big!

Link removed by request.

Buy

Blood of The Sun - In Blood We Rock (2007)

Holy crappola, this rocks like a right bastard!

Drawing upon classic acts such as Purple, Grand Funk,

Mountain, this is one monster of a groove riddled

album that brings those sounds up to date with

an underground fuzz burst of energy and power ....

Think Spiritual Beggars crossed with the faster Nebula

or Fu Manchu tracks with the addition of keyboards

that do not overpower (Hammond type sound), this

just makes me smile and jump up and down.

Listen

Band Info

Lucid Media - ?

Lucid Media seems to have been taken down - anyone know about this?

Another great blog gone.

The Stranglers - Black and White (1978)

The Stranglers - the worlds most overlooked

punk band?

Read any music history and punk started and

ended in the Westway with the Clash + some

help from the Pistols.

Not so - back in '77, to hear any punk stuff played

on the radio apart from Uncle John Peel and the

odd burst on Crapital Radio was a rarity.

The Stranglers had massive hits that got airplay

early on and a lot of people in my school only

got into punk by hearing them and delving

further through this new music.

(Not me - I saw the Damned + Motorhead in '76

at the tender age of 16 which proves how hip I

was and that I probably started the whole punk

movement)!!!!!

"Rattus Norvegicus" and "No More Heros" set the

tone with aggression, Punk Floyd weirdness, fantastic

tunes and one of the most individual voices to vie

with Lydon as "new" style singing.

Black and White, for me anyway, remains their

crowning glory - sinister avante garde lyrics,

post-punk tunes, wailing sax breaks, frenetic

guitar and the best bass sound ever.

Buy

Soul Control - Involution (2007)

Soul Control are described as Hardcore

but I would call this heavy punk.

This album is made up of some eps and

5 new tracks - no idea which is which - there

is an excellent service called Google if you

feel like looking them up!

Rather than generic "angry music", they play

a hybrid of influences which are sometimes

missing from this genre: ie 10 songs which

all sound the same!

Bits of Bad Brains riffs are mixed up with

Fugazi like guitar runs - nice breakdowns

jump into solid mid-tempo grooves, with

lyrics that tend to be self reflective rather

than straight-edge venom - Listen

Buy

UK Decay - For Madmen Only (1981)

Unfairly lumped in with Sex Gang Children and

Christian Death as the 'new' goth movement,

UK Decay were so much more.

Heavy stabbing guitar, thunderous drumming

and strangled vocals which sometimes veered

into almost spoken word, I would say that if

you like Killing Joke, early Ants, the 1st Bauhaus

album, give this a go.

Listen

Band Info

Buy

No Made Sense - The Epillanic Choragi (2009)

Bombastic post-metal which makes my

speakers rumble.

Heavy tracks which are interlinked with

ambient soundscapes giving it a feeling

of depth - the quiet bits are not just there

for show or because "that's how it should

sound like' but giving the album a really

good flow which deserves to be listened

to in one sitting.

If you like Between the Buried and Me,

give this a Listen

myspace

Buy

Heirs - Alchera (2009)

Some nice bleak instrumental post-rock/

metal. Reverb soaked blankets of sound

bring to mind Godflesh/Head of David

and some slower Isis.

Big riffs and the odd industrial clatter

within the low end songs make this a

tasty treat.

Listen

myspace

Buy

The Adverts - Crossing The Red Sea (1978)

C'mon - tell me the truth -

when did you last play this?

It's been a while ain't it.

There is always something newer,

faster, heavier to put on. I know,

I know - you have just found a place

that has a new Zappa rehearsal

recording - which is just full of

not quite loud enough to hear chatting

and guitar tuning and you need to play it

NOW!

But do yourself a favour, get your ears

ready for sharp bursts of 3 min perfect

punk songs, buzzsaw melodies, nifty guitar,

impassioned singing and clever lyrics - Listen.

As an aside, I saw them 3 times, all at various

stages of their career and they were all

at The Marquee Club..... weird!

Re-Birth Through Struggle (2010)

Hey, my faithful download monkeys- you ain't so bad.

I have been reading about you on other blogs - they call

you faceless leeches who cannot write in a comment box -

not me, I'm on your side. I realise that still living with

your mum and having no friends except for a cyber-porn-

avatar fills up your life - you are busy people.

I have a lovely present for you. Here is an album I have

made using musical instruments and my fingers!

Instrumental Punk tunes overlaid with lashings of Stoner

& Math like riffs. Kinda like a laid back Greg Ginn .... but

not as good....... oh yeah, and guitars ..... lots of 'em.

Listen - don't listen.