Nitad - "Ger Oss Mer"

Nitad is a Swedish street punk leaning more towards oi and flat caps than liberty spikes and the Casualties. All their 7 inches feature awesome artwork, as do most of the things No Way Records puts out. The music is not anything special but good fun for anyone who likes street punk without the embarrassment of getting caught listening to the Casualties. How many times can I make fun of the Casualties in one review? As many times as Jorge has been told by his doctor that he is way too old for this shit. Anyways it is decent UK Subs worship and a great piece of art.

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Discharge - "Never Again"

Discharge is one of the most influential bands of all time. Not only did they start their own genre with a worldwide following known as d-beat, they were a huge influence on other genres like crust punk and thrash metal. The band had an anarchist worldview that moved away from the snottiness and nihilism of bands like the Sex Pistols to a rejection of social norms and a healthy paranoia of the power of the state. And few things about the government are quite as scary as nuclear weaponry. "Never Again" is a reference to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the song is an anthem amongst anti-war punks. What it may lack in regards to the eloquence of a Crass or the Ex song it replaces with audible vitrol set to that perfectly driving beat. The B-side is an often overlooked gem, featuring one of my favorite Discharge songs "Death Dealers." The harmonically descending chords of the verse are the perfect backdrop for the condemnation of our world's leaders. The cover, as with most artwork associated with Discharge, is a classic, the dove of peace impaled upon a bayonet. If you like punk and hate war, there are few things I could more highly recommend. Havoc Records sells it for $5.50 which is a great deal considering what a classic it is.


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Deerhoof - "Matchbook Seeks Maniac"

Deerhoof is an awesome band because they understand how powerful dynamic and melodic variation can make music. That is why I was slightly alarmed when I expected to hear the growl of noise pop and was instead greeted with something more along the lines of a J-pop ballad. Of course Deerhoof's vocals and various sections of their songs have been influenced by J-pop, but rarely in such a blatant way. To my surprise however, both of the songs on this single were awesome. It gave the band an opportunity to clearly present, without the clutter of their normal noisiness, how great of song writers they are. I'm a huge fan of picture vinyl (especially when it is this affordable) and David Shrigley's minimalist stick figures in interwoven orange bands (which evoke vines or highways or so many other things) fits the band's attitude perfectly.

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Digging Up Virgins - "Early Singles Vol. 1"

So this isn't a 7 inch (don't worry I'll make it up to you with a huge post following this one) but it is a great band that has not gotten enough recognition. Digging Up Virgins is the surf rock/noise pop dream of the Brian Wilson-esque William Huberdeau, whose thoughts on girls, puppies, school, and being cool makes for lyrics that range from cute and fun to complex and dark. This most recent incarnation of DUV is probably my favorite. Guy provides a Marvin Gaye bass melody to the songs (he'll tell you it is from Lagwagon), Tiffany is responsible for those hauntingly beautiful licks (such as "Catch the Disease"), and Steph keeps a solid and pressing beat that gives the music both rhythm and energy. "Early Singles Vol. 1" is the recording that DUV has long deserved: all the levels are pristine while maintaining the band's indie tone. If you ever get a chance to check out this awesome band live, do yourself a favor: there will probably be at least one person in the crowd dancing the whole time, sporadically yelling "Dig dig dig!", and singing along to every song. Be careful, the energy is highly infectious and by the end of the show you may want to get a puppy in outerspace tattooed to your bicep.

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Disrespect - "Wartorn"

Crust punk standards Disrespect are one of the best crust bands to grace us with their scabies-ridden presence. Part of the rise in popularity of the ever-awesome Profane Existence Records (not a big fan of this new website and prices though yeesh), Disrespect quickly earned the respect of the scene with their rapid fire dueling vocals and lyrical punk perfection. This 7 inch reads like a description of what crust punk is about, and every song is well-written and catchy. The band only got better with age, and I'll post my favorite 7 by them later, "Justice in a Bag." The album cover is hauntingly awesome, perfect for the title of Wartorn. Sadly the band is no longer around, and even more unfortunately the site which once hosted all their music to download for free is also no longer around, so please everyone post this shit so this awesome band does not fade into obscurity.

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Bracket - "Stinky Fingers"

Bracket is pretty much my favorite pop punk band ever. It is the Beach Boys meets the Descendents, with the vocal harmonies really coming out more in their later work. I picked up this 7 at the "water pipe"/record shop Fantasy, the lone oasis of a good record store in the Hampton Roads area. The owner is an anarcho-capitalist tool, but most of the staff is friendly and cool. Anywho back to the record: it features their most famous song 2RAK005 which you may remember from Tony Hawk Underground. But the b-side should not be neglected: WWIII gives us a preview of their later work with its vocal harmonies and tempo variations. And Warren's Song Pt. 3 is one of the best break up songs ever at only 20 seconds long.


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Sons of Tonatiuh "Chain Up the Masses - Single"

And this is why ya'll should support your local record stores. On a trip to Asheville I stopped by a sweet little spot downtown that I unfortunately totally forget the name of. I found a copy of the Nux Vomica / Kakistocracy split I'd be looking for, and I also found this 7 inch in the sale bin. The cover looked pretty cool and it was in a beautiful grey marble vinyl. So I threw it on the table for a listen and it took me about a minute to decide that I was going to buy it. It is that awesome southern sludge sound we have come to expect from any band south of the Mason-Dixon. They do not share the melodic sounds of many of their Georgian fellows like Kylesa and Baroness, perhaps from being in the Emory U outlier of Avondale Estates. They're much more like the dark uncompromising sounds of bands like Indian or the less-bluesy moments of Eyehategod. A quick glance at their lyrics or this awesome music video shows that these fellas are awesomely radical in a way unfortunately lacking from much of the southern metal scene. The best part of this band for me is the vocals: Dan C. has a voice that sounds like a velociraptor with a pack a day habit. This 7 came out in 2008, an EP featuring the two songs came out in 2010, and the full length just was released last month, the latter two you can get of their band camp for $5 and $8 respectively. If you can though I'd really try to get a physical copy, well worth it for the awesome artwork (no idea if the other releases are in color).

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