Review #222: Void - Condensed Flesh 7" (1992)

CONDENSED FLESH (EP)

Year: 1992
Genre: Hardcore Punk
Label: Eye 95 Records
Tracks: 7
Length: 7 Minutes
My Rating: 6/8

Void was an amazing hardcore band from Maryland that existed from 1980 to 1983. The band's sound was, well, it was pretty fucking chaotic... their half of the Faith/Void split LP as evidence... and their live shows. Well, before Void made any records, the band recorded a demo tape in late '81, which caught the attention of Dischord Records. The Condensed Flesh 7" EP is basically that demo tape in the form of an E.P. So let's listen to the sounds of this band. NOW.

1. Organized Sports/Annoyed
The first noticable thing about these songs is that the vocals are a jillion percent more intelligible. Jon Weiffenbach sounds less like the Tazmanian Devil's bastard offspring and more like a human. No weird-assed group vocals in the chorus either. Both versions rock. Then there's "Annoyed"... that song is really short and it's about BEING ANNOYED ABOUT YOUR MOM'S FOOD SHE COOKS AND SHIT!!! The beat is sloppy, Void-style!

2. Controller/Revolt
HA HA HA HA HA HA... things are startin' to get a little wilder, I'm noticing... you can hear that Darby Crash/Bobby Pyn-like growl in place, incubated LIKE A LITTLE BABY WABY. Next song is "Revolt"... FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!! Fast, intense, sloppy, got psycho lyrics!! YAEY FOR +VOID+

3. Condensed Flesh
Another song that later appeared on the split album... the riff is in a different key, and I like it! This song is about Nazis taking burned flesh of their victims and putting it in cans... the chorus bubbles up like a bomb waiting to burst! End of Side A.

4. Black, Jewish, and Poor
This song's about a guy who's about as fucked in the ass by society as you can get... there's a little more of the lead guitar/cool metal-esque stuff going on here. BUTTHOLE SURFERS!! "It could be worse, I could be gay"... a later version of the song appears on the "20 Years of Dischord" CD.

5. War Hero
This song's about a crazyman who WANTS TO DIE IN A WAR!! Just like them crazy rednecks all over the U.S.A. Unlike his friends, this guy ain't no wussy afraid of bein' drafted, he wants to kill himself and burn his body to serve his country! YAEY YAEY FOR U.S.A. Later appears on split LP from '82.

6. Get Out of My Way
This song's a little slower... I like how it starts off fast and then the tempo shifts to being slower... the kind of reasons I love this band. Awesome singing. The riff in the chorus part has a real grind and slice to it!

7. Go South
The longest song. Not in the world, just on this record. Cool riff, nice fast, fucked drum beat! GO SOUTH GO SOUTH GO SOUTH -- total awesomeness!! TOTAL +VOID+?!? WHAT BERT AND ERT+ Y76P TIME IS UP SO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HEAR... HERE? The ending part is slow.

The E.P. doesn't quite reach the heights of insanity that the band would reach by the time they recorded the split album (see "Think", "Time to Die", "Change Places", "Explode")... several of the songs here were recreated for that record, but done even better that time. Still, even on its own it's unique compared to other hardcore acts. Just don't expect it to be as good as what came after it. Anyways, that's all I've got to say for now, so long...

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Black, Jewish, and Poor
2. Organized Sports
3. Get Out of My Way

Review #206: Flex Your Head (1982)

FLEX YOUR HEAD

Year: 1982
Genre: Hardcore Punk
Label: Dischord Records
Tracks: 32
Length: 41 Minutes
My Rating: 6/8

By 1982, the Washington D.C. hardcore scene had expanded to include many bands, and aside from Bad Brains, the oldest band of the type in the area, most of these bands had come to be apart of the Dischord Records roster. The Dischord Records rooster. You see, the Dischord Records rooster was in fact Ian MacKaye, and he sat on all of these eggs (because there were no hens around to do it for him) because he wanted to keep them warm so that they would hatch into more chickens, and these eggs hatched into the Untouchables, State Of Alert, Government Issue, Youth Brigade, Red C, Void, Iron Cross, Artificial Peace, and Deadline. So this is a very essential compilation of many of the early D.C. hardcore bands... many of these bands were apart of or supported the Straight Edge movement, which you've probably heard of but if you haven't it's about not drinking, doing drugs, smoking, or having a promiscuous sex life. Minor Threat and the Teen Idles are on this album also. Anyways, there's not much else I can think of to say right now except that there are about four different alternate covers for it, one with a piano and flowers, another with a wheat field, another with a picture of Ian's head, and another with three X's and two stripes on it.

1. The Teen Idles - "I Drink Milk"
I can't drink milk becuz I'm allergic to milk. In case ya didn't know that. The Teen Idles was the second (after the Slinkees) band that Ian MacKaye was in, but he only played bass guitar here. This song is fast, has a cool riff and it's about having a love for the art of milk-drinking.

2. The Teen Idles - "Commie Song"
Slower. The lyrics seem to be pro-communism and talk about a disgust at the capitalism and superficiality of American society. Nice riffs.

3. The Teen Idles - "No Fun"
Yes! A Stooges cover! This version is a lot faster... actually, I like the Stooges version better, but it's still pretty good. For those who don't know, the song is about staying at home with nothing to do and being really bored. A hardcore spin on a great song. Then there's a bunch of crazy animal noizes at the end.

4. Untouchables - "Rat Patrol"
The Untouchables were the band of Alec MacKaye, Ian MacKaye's younger brother, but his voice sounds just as close to Henry Rollins as it does to Ian MacKaye. And the guitars sound real sludgy and distorted. Makes for another wild song!

5. Untouchables - "Nic Fit"
I first heard this song years ago in the form of a cover of it by my favorite band Sonic Youth from their album "Dirty". This version is just as good if not better since it IS the original! I have no idea what a nic fit is, but my guess is that it's something really cool. You'd just have to had been there or something. Which I wasn't. NICFITNICFITNICFITNICFIT. Ever try saying "nic fit" over and over again really fast? Not easy.

6. Untouchables - "I Hate You"
Fast but not quite as fast. The riff is cool. The drumming at the chorus part sounds like something like what Void would later do... but don't worry, I'll get to that later. I HATE YOU (just kidding)

7. State Of Alert - "I Hate the Kids"
For those who don't know, S.O.A. is Henry Rollins from Black Flag's first band that he sang for! So you'll hear his familiar voice in the next few songs. The guitar sounds real mean and fuzzed-out. The beat is fast and it's about feeling alienated from your peers.

8. State Of Alert - "Disease"
Good guitar riff. It's about hating a person so much that you get a "disease" from being around them. Then Henry yells "THANKS MOM!" -- maybe he wrote it about his mom?

9. State Of Alert - "Stepping Stone Party"
Just like Minor Threat covered Stepping Stone by the Monkees, so did S.O.A.! Includes a bunch of inbetween-sung-lines spoken dialogue and that stuff. Even faster than the Minor Threat version and has a slightly different feel to it. Everybody sounds like they're going crazy on this juan.

10. Minor Threat - "Stand Up"
That's right, now it's time for good ol' Miner Threadt. The guitar riff rules, it's fast, Ian sings well, and the lyrics are about coming to a show to have some fun but then some asshole picks a fight with you and your friends and you use your friendship and courage to pull through.

11. Minor Threat - "12XU"
This is a cover of a song by the English punk band Wire. I have not heard the original version, but I'm sure it's not this fast and the song's about Ian (in this version) seeing a guy kissing another man in a magazine and outing him for it. Then at the end of the song he yells out FLEX YOUR HEAD... heyyyy... just like the TITLE OF THE ALBUM. WOW, IMMAGENIUS, MAYAN!

12. Government Issue - "Hey, Ronnie"
Starts out kinda slow, but it gets faster. The song accuses a guy named Ronnie of not being fun. The beat is neat because sometimes it alternates between being not so fast and being pretty fast. Hahah.

13. Government Issue - "Lie, Cheat, and Steal"
The bass riff here is awesome, and it goes perfect with the riff and the beat and the whole energy of the song! BUTT-FUCKED!!!!!!!!

14. Youth Brigade - "Moral Majority"
This is NOT the more well-known band called Youth Brigade that released albums like "Sink With Califjornia". This is a more angry, less melodic hardcore band. The guy has a angry-sounding voice. This song lashes out against the "moral majority" of 1980s America that was biased towards the values and opinions of rich white male Christian Americans.

15. Youth Brigade - "Waste of Time"
The guitar sounds awesome and real fucked-up.

16. Youth Brigade - "Last Word"
The verse riff kicks ass! Full of energy and fury. End of Side A.

17. Red C - "Jimi 45"
Starts out with a cool beat and bass guitar riff. The guitar slowly fades in. Soon you realize that you're listening to a semi-cover of Jimi Hendrix's cover of Hey Joe. Perhaps this is based off of hearing that song played at 45 RPM. It fades out after not long, though.

18. Red C - "Pressure's On"
The shouted lines are punctuated by segments of the guitar riff in the verse part. In the chorus it all flows more and the guitar sounds really really good here. Nice guitar-solo-age, too. For the final third of the song you're just hearing some lead guitar noodling around.

19. Red C - "6 O'Clock News"
The verse part is calm and kind of sad-feeling and the verse is fast and furious. I really like how well the guitarist in this band plays. This song criticizes how the news always places emphasis on sex and violence and tries to sensationalize it all for mass-consumption.

20. Red C - "Assassin"
ls,flksdfdsfsiksfps' f; s'fds

21. Void - "Dehumanized"
Yes! Void! Well, they don't sound quite as crazy here as they would later on, but this was their second official recorded appearance. The verse parts are really noisy and chaotic-sounding and the choruses are a little more linear. The drumming is a little sloppy, but it makes it sound all the more awesome.

22. Void - "Authority"
This song's about how the rightful place of the youth of today is to revolt against the cynical and greedy desires of the authority figures -- however, eventually each wave of revolution replaces the previous authority as authority itself and then "I'll wish I was young and I had the envy". Maybe it iz better to never grow up. As great as this song is, the alternate versions on "20 Years of Dischord" is a jillion times better.

23. Void - "My Rules"
Starts off with a rolling-type of beat and lead guitar tune... then it gets really really fast and angry about being mad that we're all being used as the cogs and gears of the machine. The chorus is slower. However, the version on the split album that came out a few months after this album is once again way better. So check that out also.

24. Iron Cross - "Wargames"
The guitar riff is amazing. The beat is cool also. The song is about war propaganda perpetrated by the United States government, making us believe that the purpose of war is to keep our country free when there are really usually other motives. The singer of his band has kind of a deep voice.

25. Iron Cross - "New Breed"
A song about punk revolution. WE ARE THE NEW BREED, AND WE WILL HAVE OUR DAY, WE ARE THE NEW KIDS, AND WE WON'T GO AWAY... FUCK YEAH!!!! The riff in both the verse and chorus are real cool. I like the sound of the guitar.

26. Iron Cross - "Live for Now"
This song reminds us to "live for now" and not place too much emphasis on the future but enjoy the moment because "kids today aren't kids tomorrow". I guess that's a pretty good message, though I look forward to the future because I'd rather not be living in this shithole where hardly anyone is any fun. There's only one guitar riff during the entire song. But it's a good one, at least.

27. Artificial Peace - "Artificial Peace"
A little faster than the Iron Cross songs were. In the intro, that is. Then it gets real fast. This song sings about how the hippie generation has created a false sense of peace with unneeded government programs to try to fix the problems of war when it's just a hollow facade to ignore the true causes of war. In the end of the song there's a slow psychedelic-metal type of section.

28. Artificial Peace - "Outside Looking In"
Fast. It's about feeling alienated from both the expectations of mainstream society and the punk scene as well. Feeling "caught between" and people who feel like they need to please everyone to be happy.

29. Artificial Peace - "Wasteland"
I like the guitar riff for this song's verse part. The song describes the suburbs as a wasteland where everybody tries to live the same and get a job/get a wife/stay at home all the time and it really is boring as shit. That lifestyle is bullshit. 'Cuz if I said "baloney" that would be a COMPLIMENT! Nice chugging guitar sound in the chorus. The guitar will chug all of your milk, just like singer from the Teen Idles.

30. Deadline - "Stolen Youth"
A slower song with a really heavy cool sounding guitar riff. I'm not sure what the lyrics are supposed to be about... some kid spends "two years on the run" because "he didn't believe" someone and now whoever somebody else was "stole his youth" and he "missed all the fun". But I don't know who that is. Confusing. But the does sound really cool.

31. Deadline - "Hear the Cry"
A bit faster. Once again, it has a cool guitar riff. I like the chorus guitar riff. It sounds cool. Can't find the lyrics for this one.

32. Deadline - "Aftermath"
Here we are, now... the last song. The intro is pretty mellow. The verse part is kind of slow and bass-centric. The chorus is fast and has a great guitar riff. "We're never free until we die". The guitar sounds cool.

That's a lotta punk! You'll hear almost all of the important bands from the early '80s D.C. punk scene here. Actually, it's kind of funny because some bands like S.O.A. and Youth Brigade (DC) only lasted for less than a year. But obviously after S.O.A. Henry Rollins got a place in Black Flag, thus making him even more notable. I rate this album 6/8 because almost all of the songs are good but a lot of the bands do sound pretty alike as you'd expect in a hardcore compilation. But don't pass over bands like Void and Red C and Deadline and Minor Threat who are better than average. Even the "average" bands sound really cool. But expect a lot of fast, hard, thrashing music for this compilation. Well, I'm going to get going to get going, now! Bye!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. My Rules (Void)
2. New Breed (Iron Cross)
3. Hear the Cry (Deadline)

Review #146: The Faith/Void Split (1982)

THE FAITH/VOID SPLIT ALBUM

Year: 1982

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Dischord Records
Tracks: 24
Length: 27 Minutes
Style: Angry/Emotional/Weird
My Rating: 7/8

The Faith and Void were two hardcore punk bands from Washington D.C. in the early '80s. The Faith was fronted by Ian MacKaye's younger brother, Alec MacKaye, and this was their debut release. Void had already released a 7" EP before this, and they are considered an influential band in starting the crossover-thrash genre (combining heavy metal and hardcore punk). Despite having many songs, the songs are often a minute or less in length, so the record totals up to just under a half-hour of music. And I dunno any crazy backstories for this one, so let's just get to it.

1. The Faith - "It's Time"
Pretty cool surf-y sounding beat and a great riff. The vocals have the classic D.C. snarl and it's a pretty damn solid track. Very angry-sounding. The chorus is a little more up-beat. The song is about wanting to get revenge on a judgemental society.

2. The Faith - "Face to Face"
Much faster! More melodic backing vocals are sung in the mid-section before the end of the song.

3. The Faith - "Trapped"
The song starts out sounding like the song before it, but the riff is much better. Then it changes up a lot in the chorus, with the ascending razor-sharp chorus riff.

4. The Faith - "In Control"
Starts with a slow section with a near-perfect guitar riff that just sounds really fucking awesome. Then that part ends and the song speeds up and the riff changes. After that part, the song repeats a little bit of the slow part one more time before ending.

5. The Faith - "Another Victim"
Fast. Sucks I don't know the lyrics. Not easy to figure out when Alec sings so damn fast.

6. The Faith - "What's Wrong With Me"
I love the little drum roll that intervals in the beginning of the song in the verse section. The chorus part is fucking awesome, with a little bit of extra guitar over-dubbed to harmonize with the main rhythm guitar, and adds to the flavor of the melody in that part.

7. The Faith - "What You Think"
Yep. Fast song yet again. This one's about the singer not caring what society thinks about him because they don't understand where he's coming from or his views on life anyways.

8. The Faith - "Confusion"
Slow, heavy intro. Eerie little lead guitar bits in that part. Alec's voice sounds all echo-y as he sings of his inner delusion and confusion that torments him. Then the song gets fast in the chorus part. The next section repeats the first part except the vocals are angrier and more intense this time around. Then another fast part. The song ends with some wisps of feedback.

9. The Faith - "You're X'd"
A song about posers in the Straight Edge scene who only claim it as their lifestyle as a fashion trend and secretly partake in drugs and alcohol anyways.

10. The Faith - "Nightmare"
This song's fast but not quite as much as the other ones. The tempo is sort of like "Circle One" by the Germs. The chorus riff is pretty cool.

11. The Faith - "Don't Tell Me"
Awesome verse riff! I love it. The song is pretty simple -- about people complaining about problems and pointless shit when we've already got our own problems to deal with. Great solo at the end.

12. The Faith - "In the Black"
Starts off with a weird backwards part. Then after a bit of jumbled bass, the song 'really' starts, and it's more mid-tempo. It's the longest song on the Faith's side. The melody here is more depressing and downbeat than the other songs. The song ends very abruptly! And that's the end of the Faith's side. Time for some Void...

13. Void - "Who Are You"
Starts out kind of weird, with some fucking around with the speeds, and then a false-start, and then the song just fucking blasts off like a rocket! John Weiffenbach sounds like an even angrier version of Ian MacKaye, and the synchronization between the vocals and the instruments with eachother sounds so shaky and strategically erratic that it just sounds like a big fucking blast of musical violence! Almost a response to the Faith's "Don't Tell Me" from the other side of the LP where this time the song's protagonist is mad because nobody ever listens to his problems! The song's chorus goes "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE??".

14. Void - "Time to Die"
Extremely aggressive and abrasive song! Kind of like a freakish cross between Minor Threat, Black Flag, and the Germs. The first riff is very cool, and the verse riff sounds real catchy, and then just sort of dark in the third riff. Seriously, this guy sounds like he's about to fucking lose it! I love it.

15. Void - "Condensed Flesh"
Very fast, with lots of tempo pauses and some parts feel like pure noise rumbling beneath your ears! An early version of this song can be found on the "Charred Remains" compilation tape.

16. Void - "Ignorant People"
Slow, heavy metal-style intro. The verse is full-speed-ahead fast, and the chorus is just like the intro riff and speed. A really fucked-up guitar solo can be heard near the end of the song before the song goes for an extended version of the verse section. The song attacks ignorant conformist people who "think they're individuals" when they only conform at every turn.

17. Void - "Change Places"
Slow, ominous intro. This song is pretty interesting in the sense that the tempo is constantly shifting between kinda fast and very fast, often when you don't expect it coming.

18. Void - "Ask Them Why"
The intro's slow and heavy. The verse and chorus are very fast, and John still sounds like he can barely keep up with the rest of the band. I like the riff that plays at the very end of the song.

19. Void - "Organized Sports"
My guess is that, well, this one iz about sports at school. Slow chorus with a shouted chorus that goes, well... uhh... see the title. Dude. There's some pretty fucking funny-sounding sped-up vocals in the background in the chorus section.

20. Void - "My Rules"
The first Void song I ever heard. There was another version of it on the "Flex Your Head" compilation. Awesome fast verse section, and a memorable-as-hell slow chorus part. I love it.

21. Void - "Self-Defense"
Don't know the words to this one. It's fast. It has a shouted chorus. Yeah.

22. Void - "War Hero"
Echo-y, spacey intro. Very fast. John's vocals are a little more muffled here. Gotta love the awkward tempo-shifts that happen in the chorus. The song ends in some clashing and bashing of noize at the end.

23. Void - "Think"
Second Void song I listened to. The vocals here are just about as loud and screamy as you can get without just sounding ridiculous. First half iz fast. Second half is slower and has a cool riff that goes perfect with the singing in that part. Neat backwards solo. And then MORE FAST MUSIC! HOLY SHIT!!

24. Void - "Explode"
The song begins with an ominous noodling about of the guitar and a one-note weird guitar noise. This is repeated, gradually faster and faster as Johnny just laughs n' laughs until the song segues into an extremely fast section that quickly does 'explode' into pure noise and musical chaos. And then, my friend... you die. YOU DIE! YOU DIE! YOU DIE! AAAGGGHHH!

Well, I strongly recommend this. I hadn't listened to the whole thing aside from a few songs prior to this review, but it definitely feels like one of the better hardcore albums I've heard. The Faith songs are fun as hell and very well-written, and the Void songs are overflowing with energy and hit you with un-expected twists at all the right times. Most of the songs here are great. So, definitely check this one out. Basically a step or two higher evolved than Minor Threat.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Don't Tell Me (The Faith)
2. Time to Die (Void)
3. In Control (The Faith)