Reviews For The Week of August 15th

A 1965 performance of Naima by John Coltrane.

 

Antidote
Thou Shalt Not Kill 7″
Bridge 9 Records

Along with Infest, when I got into hardcore there wasn’t another band talked about in such mysterious and hushed tones as Antidote. The record was expensive, but the music was great. There was a bootleg 12″ of it with other early NYC eps (Cause For Alarm, The Abused and either The Mob or Urban Waste), but for most people, this was a record to get on tape, which I had a really nice dub from a virtually mint copy in 1997. Obviously, Antidote influenced the youth crew sound, especially Youth of Today, combining the early NYHC sound with the guitar playing of UKHC bands like Discharge. Some pretty stupid lyrics (not really “racist,” just idiotic), with some righteous lyrics, plus perhaps the best artwork on any hardcore record this side of the Age of Quarrel make this one a keeper. If you don’t own an original or one of the other reissues of this, definitely pick this one up.

 

Invasion
La Caza LP
Deranged Records

Somewhere between Amebix and Discharge come Spain’s Invasion. One of the best records of the past decade, Invasion are noisy, but also very tuneful. I listen to this one all the time.

 

Hands Tied
Through The Wreckage 7″
Livewire Records

Released for their reunion shows last summer, this ep shows some progression from their first record in 1996, but there is also something lacking about these songs. I think my problem here is that they both drag to the three minute mark almost, but could lose 30-45 seconds each easily. They’re aren’t bad songs, just not something I am enjoying. What I am looking forward to is hearing the finally recorded Gagged & Bound ep songs, which were live favorites during Hands Tied’s second lineup with Geoff TDT, Dan from Ressurection, and Matt Smith of Rain On The Parade/Shark Attack.

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