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TE TEEN TIDIES
FIGHT BACK
"Broken!" the voice bellowed out
at my face as my grandfather stared
at me with that twisted glare.
What's broken, Gramps?" I ask-
ed in bewilderment, as I could never
predict what would come out of his
mind; he was a bit checked out.
"Silence, that's what is broken.
The silence. He roared at my face,
now dripping sweat. "There's always
some sort of noise that breaks the
silence, young fella, he spoke loudly
I'm sure he was close to deafness,
but his pride would never allow him
to admit it. I was glad that no one was
around to witness this conversation,
I was a bit self-conscious about the
whole affair.
"What are you getting at,
Gramps?" I asked with a confused
tone, since I'm usually confused
throughout any conversation with my
grandfather.
"You see, it's all this racket you call
music. It drives the ears to deafness
which drives the fingers to turn it
louder and it leaves no room for
silence, since that dang lasted
sound travels so far when it's blasted
so loud." He spoke to me with a
harsh tone.
"Gramps, why are you telling me
this?" I asked.
"What?" he said without chang
ing his blank expression.
"I said, why are you telling me
this?" I shouted at him.
"You don't have to yell!" he said.
"I ain't completely deaf yet, but I'm
sure I will be soon, theri I'll get some
silence. As he spoke to me I was a
bit scared. He had that effect on me.
Like a wise man with a hypnotic voice
who could convince you of anything..
for it would seem so believable. He
never lost the power of speech. His
hearing was another story. I noticed,
as we sat on the porch, that the
weather was changing. Dark storm
clouds were rolling in. "You see.
young fella," he spat at me. I wiped
my arm across my jaw. "Long ago.
I would turn the music up. Got a great
deal of pleasure out of it. Me and the
friends liked it real loud, but one day
there was this bee buzzing in my
head that just wouldn't go away. I
plugged up my ears with my fingers,
and that bee was still in my head. It
got a bit irritating after a bit, so I went
and saw the doc. And you know what
that doctor said to me?"
What's that, Gramps?" I asked
as I realized that this was an in-
teresting tale he was telling, plus !
didn't want him to think I wasn't pay-
ing attention.
"He said it was that loud music
that had damaged my hearing and
for the rest of my life I would hear that
buzzing sound. He best advised me
to turn it down, but in those days, that
was a hard thing to do. To this day
I plug up my ears and that old bee
is still buzzing away. Try it he
directed me.
I took my forefingers and pressed
them inside my ears. At first I didn't
hear anything, but a faint, continuous)
ringing. Then, sure enough, it was
that bee inside my head.
"You got it too," he said. "I can tell
by that look on your face." Lightning
struck in the distance. It was very
dark under the thick storm clouds.
"Hear that thunder?" Gramps ask-
ed me.
"What?" I said.
"Do you hear that thunder? It
comes in rounds of two. There, you
hear that? There it goes it again."
Now I was scared. I didn't hear a
thing I thought he was joking but
could feel the vibrations when the
thunder roared. I started to shiver, it
started to rain, I was in shock. Sud-
denly grandfather tapped me on the
shoulder, I spun rapidly and looked
at him. He was talking and I could
not
hear him. I could not heart I freak-
ed out, what had happened? Why
now, when grandfather talked to me?
Was it subconscious? I knew for sure
it wasn't the Puszone, because it
wasn't around. I now knew the
silence. Now I wished it was broken..
HA HA, Puszoners, a little tale
passed on through generations, for
your inspection. You don't need to
hear it. This month the Puszone
features a retrospective on some
monumental slices from a few years
back, in the era that speed went
faster and the sound flung madly to
influence the current crop. Some of
these releases are long out of print
but definitely hot material. Send three
22c stamps for Zone sticker and list
and don't forget $1.00 gets you the
Will Evil Win? flexi. Thanx, friends.
Pushead, PO Box 701, SF, CA 94101
U.S.A.
The energy was ready to boil, the
heat was turned way up, the aggres-
sion, power and rawness was there,
with a turn of a dial something hap
pened and before we knew it tur
bulent slabs of vinyl were cooking
everywhere. Maybe you witnessed it
all, maybe you didn't, this is definitely
not a "best of" but just personal
faves from earlier days, starting
about seven or eight years ago
1. I didn't know what to expect of this,
the cover was strange, and the A-side
was total garbage, but in 1979 when
we flipped this thing over, it had a
lasting impression. The band was
Punishment Of Luxury and the
song was "Brainbomb," the B-side
of the seven-inch Secrets. The band
was not known for this kind of music.
nor did they ever follow up with.
another like Still, at the time, it was
the fastest-quick drums. rapid
guitar grinding and just an intense
assault. We wanted more.
1
2. A gossipy mention in an English
music tabloid naming the bandi
Discharge got me interested in fin-
ding their Ep. Just a hunch, you
know. The Ep was Realities of War
it was their first; it was 1980 We walk-
ed into a cool Hollywood record store.
a clerk was unpacking a shipment.
asked the guy, he didn't know what
I was talking about, so I looked
through his shipment that had just
come in from England. I found it and
asked him to play it. The sound
roared, yeah, that's it. We went into
hysterics. This band was the best. My
friends wanted copies. None. They
were bummed. Two days later, we
drove down to Long Beach to another
cool store, asked the guy and to our
surprise he told us, "We thought it
was a joke so we sent it back." No
way!" we said To say the least. that
guy didn't last long. True story.
Discharge's Fight Back Ep came out
a few months later, it was perhaps the
start of a new era in explosive hard-
core. We were very happy.
3. All this time on the East Coast, a
band called the Bad Brains were
hauling faster than anyone thought
possible. Their first seven-inch Pay
To Cum proved that. It was intense,
matching the lyrics to the songs was
impossible. The Bad Brains influenc
ed a generation. And they're still go-
ing strong.
4. In Los Angeles a band was caus-
ing commotion. Most people didn't.
take them senously, but a cult follow-
ing was growing. The Germs added
a touch to the music scene there that
was just the tip of the iceberg. Harsh
growling vocals over brash hardcore
made this band a force to be reckon-
ed with. The release of the G.. Lp
was welcomed in hardcore homes
everywhere. A classic.
5. Perhaps one of the best things
Black Flag ever did was this first Ep
entitled Nervous Breakdown and they
scon went on to cause a lot of com-
motion. The energy level and agres-
sion on this vinyl had the flailers wail-
ing it out in the new thrash zone as
the pogo deteriorated into combat
warfare. The raging H.B'ers and the
riots became somewhat of a tradition
surrounding Black Flag, besides the
fact their logo was spray painted all
over L.A. and any other city they
visited. After that Ep. lead singer
Keith Morris went on to form the
Circle Jerks whose Group Sex Lp
paced the speed in an effective man-
ner. The L.A. scene became a
legend.
6. Over in England a band was mix-
ing a bit of punk with a bit of metal.
and a bit of oi to really
bash out a hardcore delight.
The Cockney Rejects effectively
crossed a new barrier while being
bad boys at the same time, or so the
press would lead you to believe. Still
when Cockney Rejects Greatest Hits
Vol. 1 came out (their first Lp) it did
smoke. Fiery action shouted loud.
punch and quick melodies. Disco
Sucks and The Prisoner are two
classic vinyl gems by D.O.A. who still
pack it raw and wild.
9. One day while reading an English
fanzine, I came across a mention of
a new noise" band called Disorder
whose first Ep was out on Riot City.
Knowing how choice the Discharge
7"s were, I decided to check this out.
What I got was level-10 feedback
rushing the blood to my head. In-
tensel This slab packed the meanest
blow yet. Total mayhem, insane
vocals and an ability to keep it all
together while ripping the sound-
waves to shreds. The 7" Complete
Disorder definitely lived up to its
name. This four-song Ep howled with
havoc and paved new ground for
bands like Chaos U.K., Asylum and
Chaotic Dischord, a joke band try-
7. Hidden away virtually unknown to
the major scenes was the birth of a
new stance that was extreme and
hardcore. One dedicated label
brought that music to our ears. Run
by lan MacKaye and Jeff Nelson,
Dischord Records was born when
they released an Ep by their own
band. Teen Idles, in 1981. Their
straight forward, speedy hardcore
took everyone by surprise and
brought smiles to our faces. Their se
cond release was a knockout by
S.O.A. with lightning quick mayhem
melodies and the vocals of one
Henry Garfield, who went on to sing
for Black Flag Dischord's third
release was lan and Jeff's new band
Minor Threat. With age, this 8-song
release grew to be a monsterous sucing to make fun of that distorted
cess Dischord continues to pump sound.
out the good vinyl.
8 Up in the Vancouver area of
Canada, a band released two Eps
that charged with a strong, tight
10 Circa 1981, while playing the
dynamite best of the new hardcore
rage, L.A.'s good ol' Rodney
(Bingenheimer) on the ROQ whisked
out a track by a Seattle band called
The Fartz, who were extremely
chaotic with a mean crooner. That
singer went on to yell for the
Accused. Good thing I had friends
in Seattle, since that Ep Because this
Fuckin' World Stinks.
was a hard
one to find. Well worth the search.
11. The energy was everywhere, even
in areas unexpected, it grew radi-
cally. The Midwest pushed out some
hat ones on the Touch and Go label,
named after a crazed fanzine edited
by one Tesco Vee, a staunch sup-
porter of the booming HC movement
Eps by The Necros and The Fix saw
lightning strike down chaos as speed
and explosive momentum took off.
quick and powerful. Bands like
Negative Approach, who featured
a growling vocalist and rapid riffs
followed. This was happening.
12. In a copy of a New York new wave
magazine. I saw an ad for a new Lp
entitled This Is Boston, Not LA, it
was enticing enough that myself and
many others ordered it through the
mail. We had no idea we would be
Frantic Scratchings:
Bob Bratt Neal
blown away by bands like
the Freeze, Jerry's Kids, The
FU.'s and the mindbomb speed
thrash of Gang Green, who were
perhaps the fastest band we had ever
heard. Played that Lp to death. It had
it all, a great compilation from a great
scene.
Now, how can I stop at 12? Well,
I can't, but there are so many classics
out that I'd be writing for hours if I
didn't stop somewhere. So I'll just list
a few more for reference. Check 'em
out, for some of us it was the
beginning.
Partisans "Police Story" No Future
Weirdos Solitary Confinement"
Dangerhouse
T.S.O.L. Untitled 12" Posh Boy
Neos "End All Discrimination" Eo
Rudimentary Peni Untitled 1st Ep.
Process Of Elimination ?" comp. Ep
-Touch and Go
Subhumans Untitled 1st Ep
Spiderleg
Kraut "Unemployed" - Cabbage
S.S. Decontrol Kids Will Have Their
Say Lp
Youth Brigade Possible Ep
Dischord
Antidote "Thou Shalt Not Kill"-
Antidote
Cause For Alarm Untitled Ep
85