Various - 80 Records And We're Not Broke (Yet) [2005 Level Plane Records]

 

Little torn on posting this...Level Plane isn't around, but still feels kind of icky with some known bands on here like Melt Banana and Coliseum. See the Discogs page for the complete track list.  

Me being an old, I'm not familiar with the label, but hot damn there is some good stuff on here. The biggest weakness of this comp is that it's so damn long that by the end you've almost forgotten about some truly amazing shit. 

Some of the bands I've never heard of who dropped my jaw: A Day In Black & White, The Holy Shroud (channeling At The Drive-In), Transistor, Transistor, Hot Cross, City Of Caterpillar, and Newgenics. 

Lickgoldensky has their songs from this on Bandcamp, go throw them a buck. 

D1 DL - Label sampler

D2 DL - Unreleased material

Random Damage - Descending World (1995 Self-released)

 

Another obscure San Diego metal band. We're on a roll! Pretty good musicianship and riffage, hampered by the vocals, which are a more cheesy classic metal style that doesn't match the music well, in my opinion.  

DL

Death Penalty - Conviction [1998 Wild Rags Records]

 

This is on the infamous Wild Rags Records, which issued a wide variety of metal from the late 80's throughout the 90's. The Meatshits, Benediction, Emperor, and tons of lesser known bands (like this). I went down a brief Wild Rags rabbit hole, and I'm still not sure if being on the label was a blessing or a curse. There's definitely a story to be told there, if anyone cares to tell it. 

Death Penalty were a metalcore band from North San Diego County. They put out this and an EP (also on Wild Rags) and then, as far as I can tell, nothing. 

DL

5¢ Redemption - Blood And Soul Demo (2002 Self-released)

5¢ Redemption was a bluesy rock band with southern influences.  As for a bio...there's not a single thing I could tell you about who they are, where they are from. 

DL

The Whitewall Slicks - Bedroom Rodeo [2000, King Of Firewood Records]

 

Rockabilly from Chico, CA. Rockabilly is not my bag, so I have no idea whether this is good or bad. All I can say is that despite my predisposition against the genre, I didn't mind this. 

1. Edge Of Town
2. Blue Dot Boys
3. Rock My Shoebox
4. Time For Me To Be A Man
5. Titty Twister
6. Hoggin'
7. Ace, King, Queen, Jack And A Three
8. Hot Rodabilly
9. Gin & Tonic
10. Bedroom Rodeo
11. This Little Pussy Always Gets What She Wants
12. Neuspeed Burn in HELL!!!!!!

DL

Skydiver - Origami (2003 Self-released)

 

Skydiver was an alt rock band from San Diego active in the late 90's / early 00's. Good production, solid songwriting. While it's a little too slick for me for the most part, I'm still surprised Skydiver did not become more well known outside of San Diego. 

1. Picture Perfect Silence
2. Therapy
3. Jonny On The Wire
4. The Balance
5. Gravity Let Me Down Again
6. Innocuous Lass
7. Origami
8. Allstar (No Star)
9. Longer Than Miles
10. Skylight
11. Changing My Scene
12. Shelflife
13. Mad Cow

DL

Doom Society - Doom Society EP (2002 Self-released)

 

Throwback metal with some 80's styled vocals to boot. Makes sense, as the band features Mike Walish, who sang for Hellhound back in the 80's.  The first half of "Bloodletting" has a pretty blatant Alice In Chains influence, before to transitioning into a metal song. "Freedom" has truly some of the worst lyrics ever. This has flashes of being good, with some decent riffs, and vocals that vary from a Chuck Billy growl to a Steve Grimmett shriek. But the lyrics and decisions like the stop-start chorus on "Fear Of Fear" make it pretty cringe overall. 

1. Social Predator
2. Crisis Junkie
3. Bloodletting
4. Freedom
5. Fear Of Fear

DL

J. Hell - Darkness And Light (2004 Wicked Witch Records)

 

Another album I can't ramble on about because there's almost nothing out there on it. Pretty mellow female fronted indie rock. It's not really my cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's not good. If the vocals were a little worse, I'd probably like it more. That reflects worse on me than this album I guess. 

1. Makers
2. Blind
3. Competition
4. Short Noise
5. Chat w/ Mother
6. Drinking Problem
7. Backwards Light
8. Life is But a Dream
9. Daggers
10. The Light

DL

Down To Earth - Down To Earth (2000 Self-released)

 

I'm going to tell you that this reminds me if Sublime and 311 got together and decided to try and play actual reggae/funk and that's going to stop you from downloading this. And, yeah. 

1. Nobody's Business
2. What Type Of MC R U
3. Mannequins
4. L.U.C.Y.

DL

Jebel - Jebel (1996 Communicable Records)

 

Jebel were a post-punk band from South Carolina. These songs were all recorded live in studio. I get Nomeansno vibes at times, and Primus vibes at others. Not a lot out there about these guys. If you know anything, comment.  

1. Meet Me At Taps
2. Triage
3. Underground
4. Banana
5. Rot³
6. S.C.U.D.
7. Pallendrome
8. Autumn
9. Snippets
10. Fm
11. Argument For Population Control
12. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

DL

Various - San Diego Is Burning [2004 Loud + Clear Records]

 

Some well (ish) known bands (Black Heart Procession, No Knife) and a lot of unheralded and unknown bands from the mid-oughts San Diego scene. Wide range of styles here. Lot's of good stuff. I'm partial to the Twenty First Century Lepers track because of the terrible vocals that I love, and the Resolver track, for it's Hum-ness. 

1. Comfortable For You - Double Barrel Breakfast Cereal
2. Kill Me Tomorrow - Xerox My Hand
3. The Black Heart Procession - From The Shores Of A Washed Up Heart
4. Goodbye Blue Monday - I Am The One
5. Via Satellite - Close As I Can
6. Sleeping People - Nasty Portion
7. Hot Like (A) Robot - To Die For Glue
8. No Knife - Riot For Romance! (Remix)
9. Channing Cope - Jung Hao
10. Bunky - Rodents In Love
11. Champagne Kiss - Her Name Was Kanada
12. Twenty First Century Lepers - Pills
13. Lowcloudcover - Chowder Head
14. Sin Sin 77 - Lies
15. Manuok - Happy Cause
16. The Dropscience - One Lung And A Heart Full Of Fear
17. Ryan Ferguson - Wait For Me There
18. Resolver - Inside Synthetic
19. Waterline Drift - The Owls Are Not What They Seem

DL

Azure Days - Anything For You EP (1991 Grapes)

 

Early 90's Irish indie rock, but sounds a lot like the mid-80's. A Johnny Marr-ish guitar tone and Andy Rourk-ish bass lead to a Smith-y sound at times (especially track 1), but there's bit of Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) in the vocals, and a lot of Psychedelic Furs in the songwriting.  It's a bit derivative for, but it is well done and may scratch a nostalgic itch. 

1. Anything For You
2. Azure Days
3. White Horses
4. Back Down To Justice

DL

Death Crisis / Diatribe Split (2011 Too Old To Die Records)

 

A must have. Death Eyes feature San Diego scene stalwart Alberto Jurado. Diatribe are a legendary local band purported to be among the first D-Beat bands in the USA. That's just the internet talking, I have no idea if that's true. As I was getting ready to post, I realized this is a free download from the Death Crisis Bandcamp page, so go do that. 

1. Diatribe - Veneno Politico
2. Diatribe - It's In The Blood
3. Diatribe - False Flag
4. Death Crisis - Problem Reaction Solution
5. Death Crisis - Comfort Shelter Lies
6. Death Crisis - Can't Die Young
   
   

Tin Tree Factory - Rough Cuts (2004 Maplehood Rekkids)

 

TTF is an acoustic / folk project of St. Louis' John Druelinger. I see it referred to as folk punk, but like a lot of sub-genres, I don't even what that means. This is a pretty rare CDr, with the cover being screen printed on lined paper.  Quite a change of pace from Lowbrow.

1. Wiped Clean
2. End Is Nigh
3. Bridge Afire
4. Work Will Make You Free
5. Unfinished
6. Coldwater Creek
7. Jumbled Hair, Missing Toes
8. Skin & Bones
9. 71 Million Miles Of Wire
10. I Need To Leave The Country
11. Dantes Inferno
12. Sleepy Song
13. Time Foretold
14. Change

Bandcamp

DL

Lowbrow - Sex Death Violence (2001 Crook'd Records)

 

Look, I like death metal, but an entire album of post-1991 death metal is a bit of a chore for me. There's not a whole lot left to mine out of the genre (cue the "yer stupid check out band x, y, and z" comments, which I welcome). So I was happy to see mostly sub 4:00 track times on this. But I was pleasantly surprised, which I shouldn't have been since Lowbrow hailed from Florida, the death metal capital or the world, and featured Allen West of Six Feet Under.  Nothing groundbreaking, but solid. 

1. March
2. Destroy Yourself
3. Sex, Violence, Death
4. Addiction
5. Trophy
6. Enforcer
7. The Hatred You Create
8. Free Ride
9. Maniac
10. Rights

DL

The Designer Drugs - By Rx Only (2008 Altercation Records)

 

Not the greatest band name or album title, but for a pretty unknown band whose sole output is seemingly this CD, it's a pretty fantastic album. Glammy garage-y punk with female vocals. Yeah, a bit derivative at times, but there's a lot of raw talent on this, and I'm pretty surprised a band with this sort of confidence went nowhere (or so it seems, if I'm wrong, let me know). 

1. Shot Up!
2. Red Carpet
3. So-Called Saint
4. The Running Song
5. Crime Of Mine
6. Los Bandidos
7. This Plastic Fantasy
8. Coke In The Bathroom
9. Victory And Violence
10. Frostbitten
11. Room 313

DL

Narthex Structure - Expression (1994 Undermind Music)

 

Honestly don't know anything about this band. I did some light research and the best I can come up with is they were from Ventura and possibly were in San Diego for a bit? Tracks were recorded in Ventura (1985), San Diego (1986) and Santa Barbara (1990). They are also on record as playing Wabash Hall. Looks like they were in high school when the early stuff was recorded. Researching this did bring me to this page, which documents addresses listed in the review section of MRR in the 80's. That's kind of creepy and amazing. I dunno, maybe one of the old timers who contribute to 185 Miles South know more.  

Lyrics are mostly what you would expect from high schoolers, but musically, this is way more sophisticated. Not sure how I'd classify it overall. Has it's post-punk moments, some more punk-ish moments, but it's hard to pin them down. 

I sold this CD for a cool hundo, so pretty sure the physical copy is pretty rare. If you know anything about the band, please comment. 

1. Blind
2. Chill / Plastic World
3. Disappear
4. Distance
5. Zone Of Expression
6. Wave Me On
7. Scream
8. Man Of Status
9. Today
10. Gutter
11. Turn Around
12. Facsimile
13. Nonsense
14. Human
15. Come Alive
16. Spoke In The Wheel
17. Cancel And Drain
18. Today (Live '85)
19. Max / Exit The Rabbit (Live '86)

DL

Gazoonga Attack - Sex Nerd (2005 self-released)

Really great female punk band from Brisbane. If The Undead Apes, The Tremors, or Hits are Aussie bands that ring a bell for you, well, all had members of Gazoonga Attack. 

1. Random Act of the Devil
2. Disko #69
3. 3am & Who Are You?
4. Almost Through
5. Down the Alibi
6. Muthafuk It Off
7. Looking for a Trespassing Passenger
8. Play That Junky Music, White Boy
9. Test Strip
10. Easey Street
11. Careful Now
12. Flash In The Panty
13. Happy Hour
14. Washing Your Dirt

DL

MEG: An L.A. Sampler (1993 Pronto Records)

Indie rock sampler. Some of these bands (Possum Dixon, The Sugarplastic, would go on to have major label releases, but most of the others would remain unknown. Spindle apparently featured Danny Westman, who played with TSOL and Down By Law. 

Not sure where Pronto Records fit into the early 90's indie scene, but it seems plausible they were briefly a feeder label for Interscope. 

1. Pudding - Patty
2. Pudding - Elsewhere
3. Pudding - Alone
4. The Sugarplastic - Jesus Doesn't Live Here Anymore
5. The Sugarplastic - Hank
6. The Sugarplastic - Ottawa Bonesaw
7. Spindle - Collapsible You
8. Spindle - William Tell
9. Small Tribe - Kings
10. Small Tribe - All The Kings
11. Small Tribe - Trainsong
12. Possum Dixon - Here She Comes
13. Possum Dixon - Stare Into The Sun
14. Possum Dixon - Sister
15. The Mumbletypegs - My Life In A Nutshell

DL

Dee Why Head - Check Your Headwear (1985 Palomar Records)

 

Big departure here, from a request made via Discogs. I don't really know anything about this. The Google tells me they were from Detroit, and Discogs tells me this was a one and done for the band, and most of the band member's published music careers. 80's melodic rock. I'm told it has some prog rock influence, but between you and me, I don't know what that means. If the requestor would like to throw some more info in the comments, that would be great. 

1. In This Room
2. In The Night
3. Table For One
4. What Have They Done

DL

Hilltop's Finest Noise: Music For The Average American (1997, no label)

Picked this up on a whim, as my wife teaches at the referenced school. Considering this is a compilation of bands with a nexus to Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, I was expecting this to be a heart-in-the-right-place-but-ultimately-embarrassing listen. But that's not the case. A rundown:

• Alterna-metal ain't my bag, but Send It. do it well if it's your thing. 
• Endure play some competent post-hardcore.  My favorite tracks on the album. 
• The Half Wits are a ska (veering into ska-punk) band, which is usually a huge red flag for me. But I like this. "Proud American" is pretty great, assuming it's sarcastic, which I'm sure it is. If it was released today I don't think I would be so sure.  
• With No Sympathy, we're back to the alt-metal, and again, not so bad. Kind of reminds me of Prong at times. 
• Lazy Susan rounds things out,  90's influenced indie-rock with some groove. 

Overall, shockingly decent comp. The Hilltop Lancers have more to be proud about then their amazing English teachers. 

1. Send It. - Alternate God
2. Send It. - In Silence
3. Send It. - Breathe
4. Endure - Exit
5. Endure - Control
6. The Half Wits - Proud American
7. The Half Wits - I Wish I Knew
8. The Half Wits - Metro Ska Police
9. No Sympathy - 619
10. No Sympathy - Daddy's Li'l Girl
11. No Sympathy - Broken People
12. Lazy Susan - Serendipity
13. Lazy Susan - Drain

DL

Super Mixer - A Goldenrod Compilation (1996, Goldenrod Records)

 

Not all these bands are from San Diego, but most have some elements of the San Diego sound. Goldenrod was a great, unheralded label. If you're not familiar, it's catalog is well worth diving into, and this comp is a great place to start. 

Unfortunately, COVID took label co-owner, skateboard photographer, and universally beloved human being Mark Waters earlier this year. RIP Mark. 

As I was looking for a track listing online to copy and paste here, I discovered that this is actually on Goldenrod's bandcamp for $6. Not sure who is running things now that Mark is gone, but no DL link, go BUY. 

1. 100 Watt Halo - Super Good Chromatic
2. Radio Wendy - Fucknut
3. Fluf - Waffles
4. Tina, Age 13 - Foggiehead
5. Knapsack - Don't Mind
6. Chinchilla - Tall
7. Deerheart - Novacaine Slip
8. G.U.I. - Two-Fifty the Box
9. Big Drill Car - Nothin' At All
10. No Knife - Heavy Handed Man
11. 99 Tales - Thursday
12. Unleaded - New Orifice
13. Cold Crank - Hissy Fit
14. ColdWater Crane - Pelican Brief
15. Supernova - Calling Hong Kong
16. Kill Holiday - Cold Shoulder
17. Hemlock - Leg Room
18. Boilermaker - Trunk
19. Overwhelming Colorfast - Sway

Planting A Seed - A Compilation To Benefit Parkinson's Disease Research (2004 Discos De Rok)

This one is for your mom. A great hardcore / fastcore / thrashcore / power violence / add subgenre ad nauseum comp. Deadfall, Holier Than Thou?, Vöetsek, Crispus Attucks, Conga Fury, Hewhocorrupts. Damage Deposit, and tons more for her. Thrash it up, mother! 

DL

The Age Of Quarrel

So I'm listening to 185 Miles South, and once again the subject of the brilliance of the Cro-Mags The Age Of Quarrel comes up. This is the default view, and I don't think I've ever seen it disputed. 

For real, can someone teach me how to listen to this album? It's been over 30 years and after multiple attempts, I still just don't get it. I do get that a lot of it is about a specific time and a place, and I do get it's influence on what was to come in NYC, but musically, what am I missing? I don't hate the album, but I feel left in the dark about what makes it so special. I'm sure this is a "me" problem, so help me out. I need a new perspective on how to approach this album. 

The Smitten Love Song Comp (1994 Karate Brand Records)

 

A couple of heavy hitters on this one (relatively speaking), so hopefully doesn't get pulled. You'll see this and probably rightly grab it for the Jawbreaker, but I'm loving me some Engine Kid. 

1. Jawbreaker - Housesitter
2. Slug - Choker
3. Engine Kid - Insulate
4. Big Damn Crazy Weight - Teenager Went
5. godheadSilo - Spoon
6. Lifelikeweeds - The House Is in Between the Porch and the Barbeque on Mouth Speed
7. Johnboy - 10w40
8. Cherubs - I Want Candy
9. Steel Pole Bath Tub - The Seventh Hour of the Seventh Day
10. Distorted Pony - Insatiable Times
11. Grifters - Look What You've Done to Me Now
12. Unwound - New Radio Hit
13. Beekeeper - Sore Fingers
14. Soul-Junk - Cathleen

DL

Youth For Justice CD Compilation (1995 Earth House Records)

 

Got this for the Quadiliacha. Latter half is spoken word, which has never been my thing, but Quadiliacha.  

1. Faultline - 100% Natural
2. Faultline - Unloved
3. Council Of 5 Nations - Black Belt Jones
4. In Vain - Build Up 13 Stones
5. Faceless - Carewhen
6. Faceless Shroud
7. Ego Filter - Identity
8. Ego Filter - Can't Keep It Inside
9. Emberscent - Toppling
10. Emberscent - Fall End Me
11. Quadiliacha - Ken's Squirrel
12. Quadiliacha - Razor Blade
13. Element 33 - Matthew
14. Element 33 - Viril
15. Mark Lucy - Readers And Writers
16. John Faultline / Mark Lucy - Justice Isn't Equal
17. Bridgette O' Donehue - Dissection
18. John Faultline - The Ladder
19. Jah Hawk Shotgun - Decline
20. Mark Lucy - Scatter The Ashes
21. Bridgette O' Donehue - The System
22. Erin Shafto - Women
23. John Faultline - Guns
24. Alex Farkas - I Am One Person
25. Erin Shafto - The Bitch

DL

Vida-Life Benefit 7" (1997 Lengua Armada)

Kinda speaks for itself.

1. Charles Bronson - Tabloid Suckass
2. Palatka - This Place Is Shit
3. Palatka - New Fdbck
4. In/Humanity - No Thanks Mr. Roboto
5. Dangermouse - East Side Killing Spree
6. Short Hate Temper - Figurehead
7. Eucharist - The Finish Line
8. MK Ultra - Mississippi Freedom Summer Project
9. The Locust - Cattle Mutilation
10. Q-Factor - Waste

DL

Frezno Smooth Soundtrack (2001 Spitfire Records)

 

I don't know what this movie is all about, but the title, cover art, and the dialogue (Ice T!), not to mention the fact that I attended the Harvard of the South Central Valley, Fresno State, means I gotta track this movie down.  Has anyone seen it?

Not going to post the track listing, as there are a lot of well known metal and hard rock bands that may be a magnet for getting this removed, but there are a couple of punk bands like 4 Gazm and White Kaps. 

DL

Lonely Phantoms - Lonely Phantoms (2007, self-released)

 

San Diego based lo-fi hip-hop duo of Aki Kharmicel (Oggie Clog) and Shokraw. Released on a CDr. 

1. No No Bos
2. Blak Chinaman
3. Unhappy
4. Hip Hop Hypocrites
5. She
6. Non Stop
7. Conspiracy Theory
8. Splashin'

If you like it, give them money.

DL

"Shut up and play er I mean post some music."

 Alright, things are about to get a little weird around here.

1. Over the past decade, opinion blogging mostly moved to Facebook, Twitter, etc., and I, for one, am feeling a little nostalgic for old school blogging. I don't like to admit it, but when I post to social media platforms, there's a certain level of conscious and unconscious self-censorship, as a part of me is concerned with how friends and family will react. Here, it's just me you, and no offense, but it's kind of easy to pretend you're not there (I see the stats). So I'll probably bring more of that stuff here, just to get out some of my frustrations, serious and serious, off my chest. Wading through it is the price you're gonna need to pay to get to the music (unless you're using those fancy new buttons over there ----->). 

2. So, I sell music on Discogs . It's a side hustle to get some money into my kid's 529c account. One of the surprising things I learned almost immediately is the appetite for CDs, a supposedly dead format. I sell 10x as many CDs as records. So I'm always on the lookout for rare/unknown CDs. When they sell, if it's something that looks interesting to me and it's not on slsk, I'll rip it. I have a large folder with those rips. It's not all good, it's not all punk, but it is all relatively hard to get. So I'll be going through that folder and posting things. There's still plenty of punk, but lot's of other stuff as well. And I'll still be posting whatever vinyl from my collection that I rip, provided it isn't easily available elsewhere (including slsk).  

Mercury 4°F / Plainfield ‎Split 7" (1995 Bovine)

 

Two bands that scare me more than Deicide for reasons I can't quite discern.

1. Mercury 4°F - World Of Flame
2. Plainfield - Teething Biscuit

DL

Five By Nine - S/T 7" (1997 Soda Jerk Records)

 

Late 90's melodi-punk that would have been right at home on the Fearless Records (at the time. Not now. Oh god not now). If you recognize the name, they were on a couple of Backspin Comps and the Check This Out, Baby comp. 

1. Chasers
2. Voyagers
3. Lifetime
4. Fat Carla

DL

The Acrylics - Throw It To Lucas (1995 Charity Records)

This probably sounds like a million other teenage snotty punk bands from the 90's to you, but this band holds a special place in my heart. They were from Bakersfield, about an hour and a half from where I grew up in California's Central Valley. If you're not from California, then you may not know that, geographically, most of the state is Arkansas, politically. So it's always nice to see Valley bands doing the thing. This is the first thing they put out, and they were still finding their footing. I still like it plenty, but check out their split with Crosswalk and especially their full-length (which I don't think I ever got around to posting) for the more aggressive sound they ended up with. "I Wanna Go To The Prom With You" may sound familiar, as it was on the illustrious "Swimming In The Secret C" comp. 

Things I didn't know until now, or maybe knew but forgot I knew: Singer Zach was in Vendetta Red

1. Hate Your Guts
2. I'm So Glad She's Mine
3. What Are You So Angry For?
4. I Wanna Go To The Prom With You

DL