WCF was a band from Babylon formed around 1997 by Mike Longo and Brian Funk. They were an interesting and very melodic band, and they had this crossover thing happening inasmuch as they played with any bands, on any shows... and never really seemed to out of place. Their music was kind of pop, kind of indie, so they could fit in on Punk shows, Ska shows, emo shows and shows with the poppy sort of thing that would be going on at Mulcahey's or The Downtown. The band always seemed kind of aloof to it and always just seemed pretty happy just to be playing.
They formed while the members were all in high school and quickly started churning out melodic tunes. To this day, I don't know what the name WCF means. I've been told it was an inside joke which really isn't worth repeating, so it shall remain a mystery to the universe. The band included Longo and Funk as well as Tom Gambino on guitar, Dave Ferraro on bass and Dan Lazerek on drums. I'm pretty sure that Tim Ruggeri from ASOB and Channel 59 and Paulie Wozniak from Mad Circle also both were drumming at some point. They were usually compared to Weezer, which the music only beared a very mild association with due to both bands being poppy and melodic. They definitely could have fit in and played more shows with the emo bands of the time, but as I mentioned they just seemed kind of detached. Or high. It certainly could have been the latter!
I only saw the band a handful of times. I think at some church in Babylon and The Rock Lobster in Glen Head. I remember playing a show with them at Ground Zero and really being blown away by how well they used 3 guitar players and how good they sounded.
Years later, I was playing a show at Mr. Beery's and the sound guy there gave me the 'What's Up?' nod as if we knew one another. He did look familiar but I couldn't place him immediately. A few months go by and while I'm doing this blog, my bassist Bill suggests the band My Summer to play with us at a show and mentions that I may know the singer who also is the sound guy at Beery's. I checked the stuff out on their bandcamp site (and it is great, by the way) and I realize I know the guy. The singer is Mike Longo.
WCF broke up in 2000 and I'm not sure what happened to all of the members. Brian Funk and Dave Ferraro formed Ace Green and and are currently in Project Nairb. Mike Longo did a lot of solo recordings, and as mentioned formed My Summer in 2005 with Joe Lambiaso from Bookstore.
I had mentioned to Mike that I was doing this blog and I had none of WCF's music and remembered it pretty fondly. He was glad to help out so, thanks go to Mike for getting me WCF's Who's Listening and their 2000 demos as well. Enjoy it.
WCF - "Who's Listening" and "WCF 2000"
http://www.mediafire.com/?4h40403zkri4wer
Here is the band's myspace: www.myspace.com/wcf
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
48 in the Basement
48 in the basement was a punk band from Huntington that formed in 1996 by childhood friends Paul Laino and Mike Koscik. They added members Jeremy D'Amico and Matty Lupinacci which completed the original lineup. They played a fun style of punk clearly influences by Fat Wreck and Asian Man records bands. The band though had undeniable hooks and fun lyrics which made them incredibly memortable.
Over the years the band did go through a number of lineup changes. Through the 7 years that the band was in existence they apparently were often banned by the venues in which they played, due mostly to the antics of lead singer Mike Koscik. They often played with bands such as WCF, Sprout, and Channel 59. A few months after their second US tour the band called it quits. They played a reunion show with the original members in 2004 at Cedar Beach in Rocky Point, NY and later in 2010 at the Broadway Bar in Amityville..
To be honest, 48 in the Basement is a band I only have rudimentary knowledge of. My first exposure to them wasn't even live or a recording - they had done the theme song for a local cable access show called Slacker TV which I randomly stumbled one day on Cable. I don't know if the song was kept as the theme song for the entirety of the show's run (from 1997 to 2004), but it was there for all of the episodes I had caught. I saw the band perform 3 times I think, once at Hofstra, once at the Rock Lobster in Glen Head and once at a bowling alley... which one I couldn't tell you.
Many thanks to Paul Laino, guitarist for the band who has went on to become a composer and provided these tracks. This includes their tracks from their demo "She's Not Feeling Well", their tracks from the "Young N Abrasive" split with the Microwave Orphans, the tracks from the "Hurry Up and Wait" split with the Backup Plan, the self titled final EP and unreleased tracks as well.
48 IN THE BASEMENT - Discography:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mssw8r2f37olsvq
Go here for the band's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/48inthebasement
Links to video footage from their last reunion in 2010 is here: http://dragonmare.com/wyrmlog/?tag=48-in-the-basement
Link to the Slack Pack/Slacker TV site here: http://www.theslackpack.com
Over the years the band did go through a number of lineup changes. Through the 7 years that the band was in existence they apparently were often banned by the venues in which they played, due mostly to the antics of lead singer Mike Koscik. They often played with bands such as WCF, Sprout, and Channel 59. A few months after their second US tour the band called it quits. They played a reunion show with the original members in 2004 at Cedar Beach in Rocky Point, NY and later in 2010 at the Broadway Bar in Amityville..
To be honest, 48 in the Basement is a band I only have rudimentary knowledge of. My first exposure to them wasn't even live or a recording - they had done the theme song for a local cable access show called Slacker TV which I randomly stumbled one day on Cable. I don't know if the song was kept as the theme song for the entirety of the show's run (from 1997 to 2004), but it was there for all of the episodes I had caught. I saw the band perform 3 times I think, once at Hofstra, once at the Rock Lobster in Glen Head and once at a bowling alley... which one I couldn't tell you.
Many thanks to Paul Laino, guitarist for the band who has went on to become a composer and provided these tracks. This includes their tracks from their demo "She's Not Feeling Well", their tracks from the "Young N Abrasive" split with the Microwave Orphans, the tracks from the "Hurry Up and Wait" split with the Backup Plan, the self titled final EP and unreleased tracks as well.
48 IN THE BASEMENT - Discography:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mssw8r2f37olsvq
Go here for the band's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/48inthebasement
Links to video footage from their last reunion in 2010 is here: http://dragonmare.com/wyrmlog/?tag=48-in-the-basement
Link to the Slack Pack/Slacker TV site here: http://www.theslackpack.com
Come Down
I feel that I need to do this entry. In part because I said I would in response to the post that Mike put up on the Here On This Island Blog, and because Come Down were a band that I was friends with and wrote some incredible music. Unfortunately, I feel that my preparation for the task is lacking, and that Come Down's bassists/keyboardist will call me out on any and every inconsistent detail, my grammar, my manhood and who knows what else. Nevertheless, I will give it a shot.
Come Down grew out of the ashes of In Transit in 2000. Mark Pernice and Scott Altmann were both guitarists for that band and wanted to distance themselves from that band's post-hardcore style. They were introduced to drummer Nicole Kieper, who had recently left On the Might of Princes. Nicole brought in Tom Mallon, a friend and co-worker from their CMJ jobs and they pursued a sound that was distinctly shoe-gaze and atmospheric with influences like Curve, My Bloody Valentine and Verve evident. I believe that their first show was with The Cotton Weary at a place in Merrick that I can't remember for the life of me. I think it was the Courthouse, but we always referred to it as "Dog on A Barstool" since there happened to be a fairly mangy looking mongrel sitting at the bar and looking none-to-pleased to be there every time we played the venue. In any case, it is now is home to a Subway instead.
Needless to say, theirs was not the type of music that the scene was accustomed to and they were greeted by often cold responses on Long Island. One listen though to the band's first effort, the EP "Sender" will have you scratching your head as there is certainly more than enough rock to go around and live they had a undeniable energy thanks to Nicole absolutely murdering the drums.
They followed up Sender shortly afterwards with another 4 Song Ep on a mini-disc called "Whose Side Are You on Anyway?", which featured the eponymous tune which became something of the band's signature song. This EP so the songs get a bit more intricate songs and featured continually improving singing from Mark. They followed this with the "Happy Hunting" EP which they did a limited release of.
They were offered a week-long tour of the UK, which they did and they released a live set on their website which showed the range and depth of the new stuff they were writing such as the partially acoustic "You Are Not A Song."
An influx of different factors made the band decide to call it quits in 2004. Scott had a child on the way, Tom planned to move to Philadelphia to live with his fiancé, and Nicole was in a relationship with Keith Childrey (who she would eventually marry) from a band from Tennessee called Imaginary Baseball League. By this point they had sworn off playing on Long Island and played a final set at Pianos in NYC. The final set had a few technical difficulties, one which saw the usually low-key Altmann fight back against a non-functioning wah pedal by tossing it off the stage. Other than that, it was a great set that I was glad to be there to see.
The band would record a song via file transfer after this show that surfaced as "Strange Places" on their myspace. There were more tracks intended that were not completed. I have included several of the tracks from the unreleased album as there is some really fantastic stuff. The playing on the tracks is top notch but there is the unfortunate lack of vocals on it. I freely admit that I think I've ripped off Scott's riffs a few times, and I think I recently cribbed something from "How I Got There."
Tom Mallon went on to join Sleep Dept., Scott and Mark both concentrated on their art careers but have recently began a new project called No Yes No which feature both Tom and Nicole's playing. Nicole moved to Tennessee and currently is better known as Nicole Childrey. She has played in several different projects including Sleeptalker, Cassino, Destry, Brendon Benson, and more recently with The Mynabirds, Aaron Robinson and Field Days.
Many thanks to Scott Altmann and Tom Mallon for providing some of the missing pieces for this post.
Here are the tracks.
COME DOWN - Sender EP/Whose Side Are You On Anyway? EP/Happy Hunting EP/Strange Places: http://www.mediafire.com/?1h9647p0nx9mngy
COME DOWN - Live in London/More Live Tracks/Unfinished Album Tracks: http://www.mediafire.com/?0sclt3jj090ndpn
Here is the band's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/comedown
Come Down grew out of the ashes of In Transit in 2000. Mark Pernice and Scott Altmann were both guitarists for that band and wanted to distance themselves from that band's post-hardcore style. They were introduced to drummer Nicole Kieper, who had recently left On the Might of Princes. Nicole brought in Tom Mallon, a friend and co-worker from their CMJ jobs and they pursued a sound that was distinctly shoe-gaze and atmospheric with influences like Curve, My Bloody Valentine and Verve evident. I believe that their first show was with The Cotton Weary at a place in Merrick that I can't remember for the life of me. I think it was the Courthouse, but we always referred to it as "Dog on A Barstool" since there happened to be a fairly mangy looking mongrel sitting at the bar and looking none-to-pleased to be there every time we played the venue. In any case, it is now is home to a Subway instead.
Needless to say, theirs was not the type of music that the scene was accustomed to and they were greeted by often cold responses on Long Island. One listen though to the band's first effort, the EP "Sender" will have you scratching your head as there is certainly more than enough rock to go around and live they had a undeniable energy thanks to Nicole absolutely murdering the drums.
They followed up Sender shortly afterwards with another 4 Song Ep on a mini-disc called "Whose Side Are You on Anyway?", which featured the eponymous tune which became something of the band's signature song. This EP so the songs get a bit more intricate songs and featured continually improving singing from Mark. They followed this with the "Happy Hunting" EP which they did a limited release of.
They were offered a week-long tour of the UK, which they did and they released a live set on their website which showed the range and depth of the new stuff they were writing such as the partially acoustic "You Are Not A Song."
An influx of different factors made the band decide to call it quits in 2004. Scott had a child on the way, Tom planned to move to Philadelphia to live with his fiancé, and Nicole was in a relationship with Keith Childrey (who she would eventually marry) from a band from Tennessee called Imaginary Baseball League. By this point they had sworn off playing on Long Island and played a final set at Pianos in NYC. The final set had a few technical difficulties, one which saw the usually low-key Altmann fight back against a non-functioning wah pedal by tossing it off the stage. Other than that, it was a great set that I was glad to be there to see.
The band would record a song via file transfer after this show that surfaced as "Strange Places" on their myspace. There were more tracks intended that were not completed. I have included several of the tracks from the unreleased album as there is some really fantastic stuff. The playing on the tracks is top notch but there is the unfortunate lack of vocals on it. I freely admit that I think I've ripped off Scott's riffs a few times, and I think I recently cribbed something from "How I Got There."
Tom Mallon went on to join Sleep Dept., Scott and Mark both concentrated on their art careers but have recently began a new project called No Yes No which feature both Tom and Nicole's playing. Nicole moved to Tennessee and currently is better known as Nicole Childrey. She has played in several different projects including Sleeptalker, Cassino, Destry, Brendon Benson, and more recently with The Mynabirds, Aaron Robinson and Field Days.
Many thanks to Scott Altmann and Tom Mallon for providing some of the missing pieces for this post.
Here are the tracks.
COME DOWN - Sender EP/Whose Side Are You On Anyway? EP/Happy Hunting EP/Strange Places: http://www.mediafire.com/?1h9647p0nx9mngy
COME DOWN - Live in London/More Live Tracks/Unfinished Album Tracks: http://www.mediafire.com/?0sclt3jj090ndpn
Here is the band's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/comedown
Friday, January 28, 2011
It Certainly Was A Grand Piano Compilation
This comp is made up of several Long Island bands, but also contains a bunch of Jersey bands and who knows what else. It was kind of interesting that there were a couple a fairly big names at the time like Piebald, The Anniversary and A New Found Glory who contributed to the comp. From the LI side of things you get indie rock from Knox Overstreet and OTMOP, good pop punk from 48 in the Basement, Whoopie Cushion and Fair Warning and the wacky wackiness of Space Robot Scientists. I think Lark was an LI band as well.
I don't think that Abominable Records released much else besides this comp and the Knox Overstreet 7". For some reason I thought that there may have been a Flight of the Navigator or HelicopterEjectionSeat release as well. I clearly remember buying this comp, mainly for the Knox Overstreet song, from Nick who ran Abominable at a show I set up that had With Every Idle Hour, The Cotton Weary, Radio 4, The Waiting Process, Breaking Pangaea and Knox Overstreet. I recall Nick wearing a Nintendo Power Glove the entire time for reasons unbeknownst to me.
You can still purchase copies of this from Rok Lok's distro here: http://www.roklokrecords.com/distroitems.php?category=cd
Tracklisting:
1 Mr. Miyamoto -Enemy Quaid
2 Piebald -If Marcus Garvey Dies, Then Marcus Garvey Lives
3. Fair Warning -Sometimes
4. A New Found Glory -Third And Long
5. Knox Overstreet -I Shot The Clerk
6. Hometown Hero -Charlie
7. On The Might Of Princes -As Long As She Doesn't Smoke
8. Keepsake -Sweet White Lies
9. Mr. Miyamoto -Why Did You Paint My Ass Blue
10. Cooter -Missing The Innocence
11. Whoopie Cushion -Emilie
12. Lark -We're No Miracle
13. Saturday Supercade -Long Gone
14. Space Robot Scientists -My Control
15. Verdicts -No One Cares
16. River City High -Anybody, Anywhere
17. Life Of Riley -Fuck Your Politics
18. The Anniversary -Low Tide And Hospital Bed
19. Fletcher -My Least Favorite Mistake
20. Good Clean Fun -On The Streets
21. 48 In The Basement -Carol! "Carol" Carol?
22. Penfold -I'll Take You Everywhere
It Certainly Was Grand Piano Compilation
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?6zxwbq6jfadah9g
516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation
The first one today is the fairly well-known "516" comp which harkens back to a time when we only had one area code for all of Nassau and Suffolk. The 2 disc set was released on "None of the Above" records which was basically a cool record store in Centereach that sold a lot of hardcore and punk stuff. I believe that the guys that ran None of the Above were Tom and Brett - and I'm pretty sure that the latter of the two also mastered the first Satellite Lost CD too. I believe that Tom passed away around 2002 and the store and label shut down. I know that as a label None of the Above also released one of Tension*'s CDs and the first Kill Your Idols 12".
I think everyone had this comp back in the day. It's got early tracks from Glassjaw, Motive, Cleanser, Splinterface, Reach, and stuff we've covered in posts from Inside and Silent Majority. I don't remember a good deal of these bands, so if anyone has other stuff from any of them - please let me know.
Track Listing:
Disc 1
Betrayed - Voices
Betrayed - Setup
Cleanser - Transfuse
Cleanser - Questions
EBD - Welcome to Suburbia
EBD - Desensitized
Glassjaw - Faust
Glassjaw - Pravado
Headkase - Slippin Away
Headkase - We Don't Care (Boner's Song)
Inside - Absence
Inside - Radio Flyer
Justice Unknown - Smash Depression
Justice Unknown - Rejected
Leech Implant - Leech Implant
Leech Implant
Man Down Alone - Separate and Waste
Man Down Alone - Emotions Past
Motive - First Quarter
Motive - Borders
Outrage - It All Ends
Outrage - Flashback
Disc 2
Putdown - Rapids of Addiction
Putdown - No Way Out
Reach - Waiting
Reach - Plant A Seed
Retribution - Lower Class Citizen
Retribution - Kicked To The Curb
Silent Majority - Expectations
SOE - Day It Stood Still
SOE - Briefcase
Splinterface - Amends
Splinterface - Mindslave
Sub DK - Hardcore Underground
Sub DK - Burnt Freedom
Tension* - See You In Hell
Tension* - Waste of Time
Thirty08 - Dejected
Thirty08 - Never Used To Be
Neglect - Mind Games
Neglect - Good For Nothing
516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?txcdowo461h5wtr
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Three Years Older - You Can't Live Your Life on Maybes + Live Radio Show
This post comes to us thanks to Justin Schwier of Underground Communique Records. Check out his site as he's done vinyl releases for J. Robbins's band Channels and will be doing the next Capital release as well. Justin got in touch after the last post on Three Years Older that he had a copy of their full length from 2004 You Can't Live Your Life on Maybes as well as a live radio performance as well. He was kind enough to send this over.
I still don't know much about this release though! If General George drops me a line with some additional background I'll be sure to update this post.
THREE YEARS OLDER
You Can't Live Your Life On Maybes + Live on WLUW - http://www.mediafire.com/?9r8k2qlml7toauo
I still don't know much about this release though! If General George drops me a line with some additional background I'll be sure to update this post.
THREE YEARS OLDER
You Can't Live Your Life On Maybes + Live on WLUW - http://www.mediafire.com/?9r8k2qlml7toauo
Geometry
In celebration of Glassjaw of having new music released for the first time since 2002, this post is not about Glassjaw but a Glassjaw side-project called Geometry.
Geometry was one of Daryl Palumbo's many side-projects that were started but never seemed to come out with any official releases. Geometry though was a fully-encompassed band that featured Kamen Goddard, Matt Mateus and JJ Onthesun on guitars, and from J. Majesty there was Jim Kimball on bass and Dale W. Miller on drums. Supposedly Jeremy Chatelin of Handsome was originally the singer of the project before Jim Kimball moved to New York and recuited the rest of the band. There were no offical releases besides a Live Demo. There was an album called "Ear To The Ground" that was planned to be recorded at some point, and there are a few tracks from the sessions that were leaked a few years ago. Their shows seemed to mainly be in the city, Miller recollects shows at Brownies, Arlene's Grocery, LES and CBGB's.
I'm not entirely sure what happened with the band, outside of everyone seeing to be busy with other projects. Kamen and Matt both went on to do scores for movies, Dale joined Palomar, Jim joined Retisonic, and JJ joined Walking Concert.
The music has a kind of interesting reggae vibe on the tracks. This download is for the 4 "Live in the LES" demo tracks and the two studio tracks that were recorded for the proposed "Ear to the Ground" album.
Geometry
Demos and studio recordings: http://www.mediafire.com/?cqt8gjmqojlreg9
More Information:
http://www.dalewmiller.com/geometry.html
Geometry was one of Daryl Palumbo's many side-projects that were started but never seemed to come out with any official releases. Geometry though was a fully-encompassed band that featured Kamen Goddard, Matt Mateus and JJ Onthesun on guitars, and from J. Majesty there was Jim Kimball on bass and Dale W. Miller on drums. Supposedly Jeremy Chatelin of Handsome was originally the singer of the project before Jim Kimball moved to New York and recuited the rest of the band. There were no offical releases besides a Live Demo. There was an album called "Ear To The Ground" that was planned to be recorded at some point, and there are a few tracks from the sessions that were leaked a few years ago. Their shows seemed to mainly be in the city, Miller recollects shows at Brownies, Arlene's Grocery, LES and CBGB's.
I'm not entirely sure what happened with the band, outside of everyone seeing to be busy with other projects. Kamen and Matt both went on to do scores for movies, Dale joined Palomar, Jim joined Retisonic, and JJ joined Walking Concert.
The music has a kind of interesting reggae vibe on the tracks. This download is for the 4 "Live in the LES" demo tracks and the two studio tracks that were recorded for the proposed "Ear to the Ground" album.
Geometry
Demos and studio recordings: http://www.mediafire.com/?cqt8gjmqojlreg9
More Information:
http://www.dalewmiller.com/geometry.html
The 52X
I had posted these tracks on mediafire for a friend and I figured that seeing as they are up there I should do a post on THE 52X. The thing is, outside knowing that The 52X were the band that was often responsible for shows being shutdown or often being kicked off of them (in fact, I believe that they were banned from playing ABC No Rio) and singer Ruben Cano going on to the band Dynasty, I can't offer much. I remember hearing their 7" with Milhouse and just thinking "WOW - what in the hell is this?" Hearing the music now, I think I still have the same reaction! It's wild and chaotic, noisy and heavy.
I yanked the following from Chris Tzompanakis from One Day Savior/Sky Came Falling's blog here. I'm not sure if he is back to posting on his blog at http://blog.lifeofaspectator.net/, but all of the links for the music there are dead. Links for the split with Milhouse and the Liver Damage EP are at the bottom of this post. Here was Chris's write-up on the 52X:
I don’t think Long Island had a more infamous band than the 52X. In the late 1990′s they were a band that everyone loved to hate and yet everyone somehow hated to admit that they loved, but looking back there will never be another band quite like the 52X. Drummer Joe Gorelick even described his former band as “a crazy, noise core quintet with insane time changes and very odd song titles. That band was very much fun to play in, but comprised of the most insane personalities a band could muster.”
To put it bluntly, the 52X became the band that promoters didn’t want on the show yet all the kids did. Basically, it was assumed that if they played the show would inevitably get shut down. From blowing snot rockets on the audience, breaking equipment, smashing the lights out, members getting naked, the 52x were as intense as their music made them sound. However it was not their live show that would make the 52x a hardcore household name, it be a song title that would earn them their reputation. Vocalist Ruben simply stated that he hoped a certain female’s genitalia would explode and it prompted a boycott from just about every female rights group associated with the hardcore scene. It brought the 52x to the frontline of confrontation, a spot that they would fill proudly until their demise.
Similar to bands like Angel Hair, Heroin and CR, the 52x were controlled chaos to some degree. Hints of rock n roll could be noted throughout their songs, while discordant guitars loosely played over frantic percussion. Vocalist Ruben’s high pitched screams and melodic yell seemed to tie it all together, a sound that didn’t seem like it made sense at all, yet somehow it did. Songs that built up such aggression, madness, paranoia that by the time you realized just what was happening, it was all over.
Though the band existed for several years, their discography is just about as short as their sets were. They would release a split 7″ on Reservoir Records with Milhouse (a band was almost as notorious as the 52x were) and go on to record an ep titled “Liver Damage” that while scheduled to be released on Reservoir, never actually did make it to press. There are countless stories surrounding the reasons why it was never made available, but none which I could ever quote as being credible. While I have also heard that other labels and individuals would attempt to buy the rights to the album over the years, the possible release of the album would circulate around the Long Island rumor mill for years on end. the “Liver Damage” ep (or lack there of) was the perfect ending for a band who throughout their existence was shrouded by mystery and drama.
Members would go on to form the much more rock influenced Dynasty, who were just as controversial, and release (though I have never actually seen a copy) their debut ep on the label The Omega. Members would resurface in other projects over the years such as the Hope Collapse, but none would leave their mark like the 52x had.
Download:
THE 52X
Split with Milhouse and Liver Damage EP: http://www.mediafire.com/?3c6trwbbwkqkvq2
I yanked the following from Chris Tzompanakis from One Day Savior/Sky Came Falling's blog here. I'm not sure if he is back to posting on his blog at http://blog.lifeofaspectator.net/, but all of the links for the music there are dead. Links for the split with Milhouse and the Liver Damage EP are at the bottom of this post. Here was Chris's write-up on the 52X:
I don’t think Long Island had a more infamous band than the 52X. In the late 1990′s they were a band that everyone loved to hate and yet everyone somehow hated to admit that they loved, but looking back there will never be another band quite like the 52X. Drummer Joe Gorelick even described his former band as “a crazy, noise core quintet with insane time changes and very odd song titles. That band was very much fun to play in, but comprised of the most insane personalities a band could muster.”
To put it bluntly, the 52X became the band that promoters didn’t want on the show yet all the kids did. Basically, it was assumed that if they played the show would inevitably get shut down. From blowing snot rockets on the audience, breaking equipment, smashing the lights out, members getting naked, the 52x were as intense as their music made them sound. However it was not their live show that would make the 52x a hardcore household name, it be a song title that would earn them their reputation. Vocalist Ruben simply stated that he hoped a certain female’s genitalia would explode and it prompted a boycott from just about every female rights group associated with the hardcore scene. It brought the 52x to the frontline of confrontation, a spot that they would fill proudly until their demise.
Similar to bands like Angel Hair, Heroin and CR, the 52x were controlled chaos to some degree. Hints of rock n roll could be noted throughout their songs, while discordant guitars loosely played over frantic percussion. Vocalist Ruben’s high pitched screams and melodic yell seemed to tie it all together, a sound that didn’t seem like it made sense at all, yet somehow it did. Songs that built up such aggression, madness, paranoia that by the time you realized just what was happening, it was all over.
Though the band existed for several years, their discography is just about as short as their sets were. They would release a split 7″ on Reservoir Records with Milhouse (a band was almost as notorious as the 52x were) and go on to record an ep titled “Liver Damage” that while scheduled to be released on Reservoir, never actually did make it to press. There are countless stories surrounding the reasons why it was never made available, but none which I could ever quote as being credible. While I have also heard that other labels and individuals would attempt to buy the rights to the album over the years, the possible release of the album would circulate around the Long Island rumor mill for years on end. the “Liver Damage” ep (or lack there of) was the perfect ending for a band who throughout their existence was shrouded by mystery and drama.
Members would go on to form the much more rock influenced Dynasty, who were just as controversial, and release (though I have never actually seen a copy) their debut ep on the label The Omega. Members would resurface in other projects over the years such as the Hope Collapse, but none would leave their mark like the 52x had.
Download:
THE 52X
Split with Milhouse and Liver Damage EP: http://www.mediafire.com/?3c6trwbbwkqkvq2
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Edgar - Lost Tracks
And also taking up from that same post on Tetsuo, Elliot checks in with more on Edgar:
I'm right there with Jason's anal-ness when it comes to documenting music, so to follow up on his Tetsuo update, I have a little Edgar nugget for all of you.
According to John English, sometime in mid 1995, Edgar recorded 2 songs at LOHO Studio in New York City, The original dat tapes were stolen from the guy who recorded them at LOHO, but the band kept a tape for themselves and thanks to John who recently converted and slightly touched them up, here they are. These songs were supposed to be on a compilation that never came up, but allegedly a friend of the band saw one at a show at some point, but the facts on that story are slim.
EDGAR
"Voices" and "Her Romance" - http://www.mediafire.com/?2p2fpzpozxg2lxh
PS - This is unreleased Edgar material
I'm right there with Jason's anal-ness when it comes to documenting music, so to follow up on his Tetsuo update, I have a little Edgar nugget for all of you.
According to John English, sometime in mid 1995, Edgar recorded 2 songs at LOHO Studio in New York City, The original dat tapes were stolen from the guy who recorded them at LOHO, but the band kept a tape for themselves and thanks to John who recently converted and slightly touched them up, here they are. These songs were supposed to be on a compilation that never came up, but allegedly a friend of the band saw one at a show at some point, but the facts on that story are slim.
EDGAR
"Voices" and "Her Romance" - http://www.mediafire.com/?2p2fpzpozxg2lxh
PS - This is unreleased Edgar material
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tetsuo - WUSB Riptide Tape
Some people have accused me of being a bit anal, a tad obsessive compulsive. They'd be right. I simply need to make sure we close up all the loops, and when I've done a post on a band and there's music out there that hasn't been included, I'm bothered by it. It's just the collector's habit that I have. Everything must be complete.
With that being said, here is the second half to the TETSUO post from a few weeks ago. This download is for the WUSB Riptide split that they did with Bor. Some of the track names are definitely seem incorrect to me as the songs don't match up with the ones on the split 7". As I don't know the proper names of the other songs, we're just going to go by what was on the tape.
Thanks to Nick for getting me this recording!
Here is the download:
TETSUO -
WUSB Riptide Live Recording - http://www.mediafire.com/?p1bcb886n9voqc2
With that being said, here is the second half to the TETSUO post from a few weeks ago. This download is for the WUSB Riptide split that they did with Bor. Some of the track names are definitely seem incorrect to me as the songs don't match up with the ones on the split 7". As I don't know the proper names of the other songs, we're just going to go by what was on the tape.
Thanks to Nick for getting me this recording!
Here is the download:
TETSUO -
WUSB Riptide Live Recording - http://www.mediafire.com/?p1bcb886n9voqc2
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