Glue - Demo 2012

I need more stuff like this in my life! I stumbled across this little hardcore punk gem last month, and haven't been able to get enough of it. It's not exactly aeons long with six tracks clocking in at just over eight minutes, but it's a dirty ride, with a proper old-school production style. The bass drum is so fat, and whilst the guitars have Dead Kennedys written all over them, the riffs are busy and fresh. 

There's not a bad track here in all honesty, but my favourites are the intro, "The Jokes Write Themselves" and the fast/slow fuckery of the closing tune, "Falling Apart". Glue are from Texas, in the US of A and seem to have a bit of a cult following, with the 7" version of this demo selling for up to £20 on Discogs, which is a hefty price for a 7" EP. Have a goosey.

Fiend - Derailed

What a glorious face-full of hateful grinding malice! It’s like somebody has bashed you across the face with a snow shovel swarming in maggots. That’s EXACTLY what I’m fucking talking about, ladies and gentlemen! The recently-released Derailed is the band’s first tape since their 2013 demo, and contains 9 blasts of spasticating grindcore that is just over 6 minutes in duration. Rock ‘n’ Roll.

 

It’s funny, there’s a song here called “Nevermind the Nugrind”, which is actually quite ironic as I pick up a lot of modern American grind/hardcore related twists in the band’s music. To me it’s more Insect Warfare meets Archagathus than anything pre-1990 and from the other side of the pond. I’m not knocking it at all though, this shit is the fucking tits, as us Brits like to say. Fiend have just done a split 7” with fellow Americans Dead Issue, so I’ll have to check that shit out too.