Top Sounds - E
THE EAT - It’s Not The Eat, It’s The Humidity {Alternative Tentacles} Existing in the swamps of South Florida in the late 70s/early 80s, THE EAT was a band many may have heard about, but few had actually heard. Those that had heard the band’s souped-up garage snot core would only be familiar with the classic debut, ‘Communist Radio’ or more likely the ‘God Punishes The Eat’ EP. Few would be familiar with the 30 studio tracks here - let alone the second CD of 29 live tracks! Yep, this is a whopper and the latest in AT’s exemplary ‘Re-issues Of Necessity’ series. So you get those two singles, the cassette-album ‘Scattered Wahoo Action’, the ‘Hialeah’ EP plus a load of outtakes. The live stuff is incredibly snotty and attitude-ridden high-energy Punk Rock ‘n’ Roll. The show at the Polish American Club in ‘81 takes the highlight - it’s almost on a par with ‘Metallic KO’! Soundwise, the band was somewhere between JIM CARROLL and early REPLACEMENTS with a few melodic and subtle twists that could be the BYRDS snorting speed! Tremendous stuff and surely a release that will fill a few holes in many record collections – it sure did mine!
ELEMAE - Popular Misconception Of Happiness {Embrace/ Engineer} A typical first-date album. Y’know the kind; some acoustic guitars, too many keyboards, a few polite bits of rocking. The kinda soppy goo that acts as an introduction before wading in with something decent! It’s not bad - just terminally dull. Think ELLIOTT meets SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE Indie/Emo guff with a hint of SAVES THE DAY commercial rock. There’s a few interesting soundscapes but it’s drawn out to the point of tedium. Who needs a 5-minute instrumental besides Genesis fans? This is the kind of ‘alternative rock’ you hear in the charts and it leaves me cold. Even a SHUDDER TO THINK cover failed to raise the temperature above tepid.
ELLIOTT - Photorecording {Revelation} Let’s face it; ELLIOTT has never been a band to ‘rock-out’. At best it mirrors SENSEFIELD; a worst it’s stunningly slow, introspective Indie jangling nonsense. This, the band’s final disc, thankfully falls into the former category and contains some of the band’s most aggressive out-put in the shape of ‘Dionysus Burning’ and the grandiose ‘Calm Americans’. Snag is, for every piece of rocking, there are three pieces of electronica and dismal guitar-jangling a’la Radiohead. The disc comes with an on-the-road DVD too; gotta say, the band doesn’t come across as a bundle of laughs but the live footage is oddly captivating (especially given the fact that when I saw the band in Brighton, UK, they bored me to tears). Better than Radiohead (but so are Abba) but very poor when compared with TEXAS IS THE REASON.
EMERY - The Weak’s End {Golf} "God is amazing and present in every step we take." That’s a quote from the press release that comes with this 10-track slab of depression-inducing tunes. Dunno about you, but organised religion being dogmatically forced down the throat does NOT equate to Punk Rock and certainly has no place in Punk as I see it. When the band is an ohhh-so sincere bunch of Emo whiners, then that theory is confirmed. You can have your beliefs, but don’t force them on me, fucko! Tenth-rate GRADE outtakes coupled with nice, jangling guitars that would see me clean out my butt with a rusty wire scrubbing brush rather than sit through this again. Man, the Romans knew what to do with the Christians - feed them to the lions!! Follow THOSE footsteps, please….
ENABLERS/BEDFORD FALLS - split {Newest Industry} Four track split 7" from this pair of well-matched bands. THE ENABLERS kick things off with a couple of fine 'Hangtime'-era SOUL ASYLUM style tunes; all rocking guitars, a bourbon-laced vocal drawl that also has a neat melancholic vibe about it. Way looser and cooler than I remember the 'Sweet Fuck All' EP being. As for BEDFORD FALL, they feature members of Household Name band THE TAKE. The sound is a rocking jangly-pop deal, much like I always remember BROCCOLI doing and, despite critical opinion stating otherwise, BROCCOLI always bored me to tears. So, it's no surprise that BEDFORD FALLS don't really do it for me either. Their two tracks went in one ear and flowed out of the other without dislodging any wax. 2-0 to the ENABLERS.
END OF A YEAR - Sincerely... {Revelation} A totally new band to me presents its second long player and it’s a band that I’m very glad Rev has brought to my attention. The whole sound is inspired by the Revolution Summer period of DCHC and it’s performed with aplomb and stunning conviction. The guitars spark off each other; all angular splinters of melody - both lead and rhythm. The singer owes more to RITES OF SPRING than EMBRACE with a defiant, driven voice. A tight rhythm section forms a smorgasbord of beats and bustling bass lines that nail the whole disc down with the same power as 'Wig Out..' era DAG NASTY. Don Zientara’s production, some what obviously, creates that vintage sound. This is a disc that has it all, from the arrogant, confident mid-paced swagger of ‘Bad Land Deals’ through to the deranged, frantic riffage of ‘Darnel’. It’s all decidedly effective Discordian HC which, unfortunately, will all too often get lumped in with Emo. Labels huh? Who needs ‘em... Sincerely...
ENEMY ALLIANCE/ THE INDECISION ALARM - The New Wind And The Second Wave {Household Name/ No Reason/ Eye Spy/ Cannonball/ Wasted Sounds/ Horror Business/ Eating Shit} Fan-fucking-tastic multi-label, split release from these two Swedish bands. ENEMY ALLIANCE kick things off with six tracks of political Punk that fuses PROPAGANDHI with FARSIDE and the sus of STRIKE ANYWHERE. ‘The Clashing’ is the best ENEMY... track and lyrically declares the futility of gang warfare while ‘Vultures’ attacks a complacent music industry. Great stuff indeed. THE INDECISION ALARM deliver another six tracks which aren’t as aggressive musically but lyrically share the political and social observations and anger of ENEMY.... The band combines CRIMPSHRINE’s barbed melodies with J. CHURCH structures and a PEGBOY muscle. Totally storming stuff highlighted on ‘Where Every Fucking Dream Is Killed’ and ‘Violence, Coercion, Surveillance’. I’m hanging out for full albums by both bands, although, if my gonads were on the chopping block to pick the preferred band, it’d have to be THE INDECISION ALARM (just).EPILEPTICS/FLUX OF PINK INDIANS - Fits And Starts {Dr. Strange} Let me state from the start, this is very much a 'Fans Only' release! Essentially, this is a 15-track round up on the career of THE EPILEPTICS dating from late '78 to '81. There's the 'Stortbeat' EP from '79 + a bunch of live and demo recordings. It's pretty raw, downbeat stuff but for those who are into this era of Punk, or more specifically the Anarcho scene that followed, it's interesting if not essential. THE EPILEPTICS mutated in the FLUX… a band I had - and still have - a great deal of time for. FLUX… only have six songs here: the 'Crass EP' from '81 and some demos recorded in early '82. Again, it's kinda downbeat stuff, angry and moderately experimental, but much better than THE EPILEPTICS in my opinion. This makes a good retrospective of an important UK band's early days, but it's not a good place for the curious or casual fan to start their journey of FLUX… discovery.
EPOXIES - Stop The Future {Fat Wreck} I'd heard the hype, but I'd not heard the debut album. So, this 13-track follow up has been my first real exposure to this futuristic quintet. I was hugely let down on first play too. It was way poppier than I expected, tame even. Given a few plays - and at a loud volume - and the band's mix of DICKIES, SCREAMERS and a big helping of REZILLOS won me over. The fast, vibrant and energetic opener 'Radiation' in particular is a highlight, as is the closer 'Toys' that hints to BLONDIE. In between is the robotic groove of 'Struggle Like No Other' and the snappy should-be-a-single 'Wind Me Up'. Vocalist Roxy Epoxy has a full voice; voluptuous and appropriately attitude-laden. Believe the hype: this is spiky New Wave with balls; the Fat generation's REZILLOS for sure.
EXIT CONDITION - 1988-1994 {Boss Tuneage} Wow - this takes me back! I always considered this Stoke 4-piece hugely underrated and this whopping 23-track retrospective justifies why. The tracks play in chronological order and kick off with four tracks of frantic and caustic HC thrash from the 1988 tape ‘Impact Time’. Pushead released a 7" by the band on his Pusmort label in ’89, the lead track of which (‘Bite Down’) is featured here and is equally frenzied. ‘Days Of Wild Skies’, the band’s sole (and minor classic) album from ’90 is represented by seven tracks including the reflective vigour of ‘Actions Of A Desperate Man’ and the exhilarating ‘Fighting Chance’. 1991 brought with it a session on John Peel’s show - three tracks are here - showing a new confidence and depth in the band’s brand of puissant, melodic HC. The remaining eight tracks see three SOFAHEAD covers, the dark, pensive ‘Furnace’ from a split 7" released in ’92 and four tracks from the final demo recordings the band did in ’94. These tracks display a greater dynamic while retaining the distinct sense and adventure of UKHC - ‘Still Burning’ in particular. A great band - one of the defining UKHC bands of the era in fact and if bands like INSTIGATORS, VISION OF CHANGE, SHUTDOWN, (early) SNUFF and SINK mean anything to you, then get your grubby Punk mitts on this sooner rather than later.