Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #186
A lot of people have been asking about the Code 13 13" LP "For Those Who Used to Rock". I finally obtained a copy of my own and let me warn you, this is a bootleg and should be boycotted. The worst aspects of collector nerdism, engineered scarcity and straight up piracy are manifested in this piece of wax. The cover features a picture of Rob Halford on stage with Judas Priest circa 1979 except it has been computer enhanced so that my head is on Rob's body, very fucking funny. The back cover features an innaccurate track listing, no label name or address. Mine was hand numbered #13 out of 130. It was mailed to me in an unmarked mailer postmarked Osaka, Japan. The vinyl is thicker and heavier than a normal record, and it does indeed measure 13 inches across. The record plays at the long obsolete 16 rpm speed. It took me several days of calling around just to find someone with an old enough record player that worked just to listen to it. I think it is totally fucked up to release an album that is only playable on antique record players. I'd like to thank Lori from Babes in Toyland for letting me use her antique phonograph that could actually play a record at 16 rpm. As for the program, there is a full forty minutes on each side but the sound quality and selection is terrible. Side "chaos" is a live set from a club called the Cage in Minneapolis, complete with goofball cover tunes and pointless stage banter. Side "punk" is a mix of studio and live material, mostly covers, many of which I'd hoped would never see the light of day as we cover old 70's rock material by AC/DC, Montrose, Van Halen and several Misfits songs. I don't know how the bootlegger got these tapes as only a few copies exist. The sound quality is so low it makes me think it was taken from a third generation cassette dub. This whole enterprise is ridiculous, a record of very poor quality, not approved by the band, in a virtually unplayable format, limited to (ostensibly) 130 copies. Worst of all the bootlegger sent only one copy to me! If you are going to bootleg a band at least send them enough copies for all the guys in the band! If you see this record, please don't buy it! Rumor has it that one guy already sold one for $200! That is just fucking ridiculous. I have the feeling that the guy who put this out is sitting on a whole pile waiting for the price to go up. I repeat myself Boycott the Code 13 13"!

I've been getting up earlier these days, watching what I eat, getting lots of exercise, preparing for the big fight. That's right, Felix Von has been called upon to defend the hardcore faith in gladiatorial combat, man to man and hand to hand. I will be representing my hardcore pride in a punk celebrity boxing match to be held at Extreme Noise Records on November 20th. My opponent is a sucker MC from the ska band Animal Chin. It seems that Animal Chin attempted to organize a boycott of Extreme Noise. We answered their challenge by throwing down the gauntlet with the battle cry "get in the ring!" Details are fuzzy at this time but so far as I can tell Animal Chin dropped off some promo photos at Extreme Noise where someone took the liberty of drawing moustaches and glasses on the members in the photo. The humorless poseurs retaliated by getting on the mic at a show and urging a boycott?! Plan A. was to jack these jokers on the streets but clearer heads prevailed and now the battle has moved into the ring, real sportsmanlike. The match will feature three Extreme Noise staffers (Myself, Billy of Dillinger 4 and Jason of THD records) versus the flyweight hornblowers in Animal Chin. Admission is five dollars and proceeds will go to the homeless children of Bosnia. I've never boxed before but I've seen Rocky one and two so I know all I need is good theme music, fighting spirit and a good lookin' pair of shorts. Like Negative Approach once said I'm "Ready to Fight!"

The music industry has decided to sound the death knell of the cassette tape. From what I understand it is now possible to record on CDs, but you have to buy a mess of new expensive equipment to do it. Such is the way of the music business, always pushing a new, more advanced format so you have to throw everything away and buy the same shit over again on a new format. (I feel sorry for everyone who invested in Quad or 8-Track) I'm not buying it. Just like I sat out the "CD revolution", Mini-discs or lazer discs or whatever the fuck comes around next won't hold a candle to the good old vinyl record. What saddens me about the phasing out the cassette is that it is the great DIY format. Cassette is great for demo tapes, trading tapes of live shows, dubbing your rare and valuable records to listen to in the car, making mix tapes for your friends who are still listening to the Offspring, etc. Tapes are so cheap as to be almost give-away items for a band looking to make a name for themselves. Since there is no minimum run for dubbing some cassettes at home you can make 50 or 100 demo tapes and give them away or sell them for a buck or two. In some parts of Asia, South America and Eastern Europe cassette is the main format for punk music and tapes are very actively traded and copied. What I fear is that the current trend of new bands going straight to vinyl or CD will continue, further flooding the market with poor quality releases by bands who need another year or two of practice before putting anything out on a "permanent" format. Distributors and stores are already bombarded with poor quality full length CDs that ten years ago would have been a free four song cassette. I recently bought a used pick up that had a CD player, but no cassette deck. What the fuck is this world coming too? Cassettes were made to tape cruising music onto so you can head out to the highway looking for adventure and all that. The times are passing me by, but not without a fight.

In my opinion the best place to play a show in America right now is the Stalag 13 in Philadelphia. Some of you may have read in Profane Existence about South Minneapolis' new home of DIY hardcore the Insur-Recreation center. The Insur-recrecreation center (Insurrec for short) is located on 38th St. at Chicago Avenue in the heart of Minneapolis' rockin' South Side. The staff are all volunteers from local bands, Profane Existence Collective, and the local punk scene. Many people who helped run shows at the Bombshelter are involved, proving that despite the efforts of the police to stamp out punk in this town we will always find a way to keep the scene going. More than just a show space the Insurrec has Vegan meals, a very well stocked library of books and magazines, and a comfortable lounge to hang out in. Admittedly the basement is cramped and hot and the sound isn't the best, but this place is run by the punks, for the punks and is totally DIY. Insurrec has hosted some of the best hardcore and punk bands in America this summer: Assuck, Drop Dead. The Casualties, Hellnation, Capitalist Casualties, Skitsystem and of course all the great bands from Minnesota and Western Wisconsin like Dreadnaught, Scorned, Calloused, Misery, Code 13, Servitude, USV, Asinine Solution, the Murderers, Legion of Doom, Efil, Banished, Pontius Pilate, Arden Chapman, Infinity Dive, Erishkigal, Onward to Mayhem, Hell on Earth, and tons more. The atomosphere is just what I look for at a punk show, everyone is hanging out, having a good time. I have yet to see a fight or other bullshit and the cops so far have left us alone as long as no-one is drinking outside. If you don't believe me come down and check out a show. If your town doesn't have a place like this or Stalag 13 its time you got off your ass and started one because there ain't no one gonna do it for you.

Hail to Sweden! Swedish hardcore is consistently some of the best, most intense, most powerful, most raging music on the face of the earth today. A lot of my favorite releases lately have been Swedish bands, Uncurbed, Totalitar, Accursed, DS 13, Svart Sno etc. I think its high time we went back to the roots and discovered the origin of the brutal Swedish sound. Back in the day it seems UK punk had the biggest influence on Sweden, most particularly Discharge, Chaos UK, Disorder, Varukers type stuff. Most of the classic Swedish hardcore bands play a driving aggressive hardcore with a crushing beat, similar to Discharge or the Varukers at their prime. I have selected a few Swedish hardcore 7"s from the 80's that I think no fan of hardcore should be without: Anti-Cimex, Shitlickers, Crude SS, Mob 47, and S.O.D.

Anti-Cimex were named after a Swedish insecticide. They were around from 1981 or so until just recently. Their first 7" Anarkist Attak is very rare (500 copies) but really not that great either. Their two following 7"s Raped Ass and Victims of a Bomb Raid are both excellent full on hardcore in the Discharge tradition. Also borrowed from Discharge was the graphic style, pictures of war victims and punks with charged hair. The lyrical approach, also not dis-similar from Discharge, was simple and to the point: anti-war, anti-authority, anti-animal abuse, and anti-religion. You could argue that this style has been played out over the years but I still love it and bands like Discharge and Anti-Cimex paved the way. Anti-Cimex later put out a 12" frequently called "Painkiller" on Distraught Records circa 1986. Here they come into their own more with a very dark, morbid and heavy take on the traditional Discharge sound. Anti-Cimex were around until just a few years ago and now members are in Wolfpack who play sort of a cross between traditional Swedish HC and Motorhead. All this stuff is re-released on Distortion records.

Mob 47 put out a 7" in 1984, frequently called "Karvapen Attack". This is a bit more of a departure from the Discharge influenced style as it is very fast thrash. For 1984 this was really fast driving thrash music. The only bands I remember being this intense were DRI and Neos. Some of you might remember Mob 47 from their track on the PEACE comp. These guys didn't put out any other vinyl releases although there is an excellent LP bootleg on Revoltation of demo material, and a different LP bootleg of demo and live material. This band became sort of a cult band and were very influential in the thrash/gind scene of the late 80's (much like Siege). Rupture even wrote a song about the guitarist! That one self titled 7" is a hardcore classic. If I'm not mistaken members of Mob 47 went on to form Protes Bengt and Discard, both excellent Swedish HC bands, just less influential.

The Shitlickers are one of those legendary bands. I see lots of people wearing patches of them who have never heard them. Cracked Cop Skulls 7" on Malign Massacre records, raw and brutal HC from 1982. And I mean raw and brutal. This record has an urgent feel to it that conjures up an image of the band breaking into a studio in the middle of the night and recording it in twenty minutes then splitting before the cops show up. This record has more of a Chaos UK, Disorder feel to it, but I'd still say early Discharge is the biggest influence. The cover art is classic, a cartoon drawing of the band dismembering cops. The Bass player is ripping a cop in half, the long way. Punk rock doesn't get much better than this. Has been re-released as a picture disc on Distortion Records.

Crude SS stood for Crude Society System. I first heard these guys on the Maximum Rock N Roll radio show and they still rule. Totally brutal hardcore in the Discharge style, very heavy and well produced. The "Who'll Survive" 7" is stylistically probably the most influential Swedish HC record. Once again they took the Discharge ball and ran with it. Anarchistic anti-system lyrics, spikey hair, lots of studded leather, and photos of war victims. Lyrically Crude SS put a lot more thought into their lyrics, at least to us English speakers. I still quote Crude SS to win arguments all the time. Crude SS would shift from very slow dirge core to a fast beat all the time and never lost it. A totally crucial band who I still listen too all the time. Lost and Found don't really need any press in here but they put out a CD of Crude SS stuff which includes the 7" and a lot of bonus tracks. It makes a great complement to the essential 7". I can't say exactly when these guys were around. 84-86 I think.

Last stop might leave some people scratching their heads but to me one the all time best Swedish Hardcore 7"s is the first 7" by Sound of Disaster (SOD). Their self titled 7" from 1985 is pure hardcore power. I mean pure power. Total fast thrash power attack. Total brutality with hoarse shouted raging vocals. This was world class thrash in 1985 and still rocks the house. No lyrics on this one but an anti-authority, anti-war, anti-religion theme is apparent. What a difference a few years made back then. 1985 thrash sounds a decade beyond 1982 thrash, much tighter, better produced but still raw and not set into a mold yet. SOD released a second 7" "Speak Swedish or Die" which was of course a satirical reference to the right wing New York thrash metal band with the same initials. SOD is back together with releases coming soon on Hepatit D records. Goran and crew I'd still be glad to re-release the first 7" on my label!

Of course I'm only scratching the surface here. There were tons of other really great Swedish HC bands in the 80's and the tradition continues. These were in my opinion the most important and influential records of the time. Then again, what the fuck do I know? I've never been to Sweden, I just collect records. Maybe you think EATER or the Headcleaners were much more important. I invite you to write in and tell us about it, because this magazine needs much more information about bands from Sweden that broke up fifteen years ago than it does about bands from Peoria that started yesterday. So go ahead, submit a four page letter about how the Missbrukarna/ Panic split is better than Crude SS. And no, I didn't forget the Really Fast Comps, I already wrote about them in Profane Existence.

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

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