Shoot The Bastard - Demo 2012

This is one of my favourite grind-related things of 2012. Everything about this thing is just perfect; the production, the balance and the over-all vibe is amazing. Shoot The Bastard are a fast, punky grindcore act that features members of boozing grind unit The Afternoon Gentlemen. STB are most definitely more "to the point" though, with a stripped-down affair of super-fast hardcore goodness. Imagine Crass on amphetamines crossed with, I dunno...Unseen Terror or something. That's a pretty far-out comparison for such a simple, no-nonsense sound, but fuck it.

I caught these guys supporting Weekend Nachos at some crazy grind/hardcore all-dayer in the now sadly-defunct Croft venue in Bristol, and that's where I picked up this demo for £2. Best £2 I ever spent, I think (and that's coming from someone who's bought a lot of bottles of Estrella). I award Shoot The Bastard bonus points for the cover art. Whilst I don't think wetting up Cameron with hot lead would solve any of the country's problems it would be extremely funny to see, because obviously, he is just a dummy stuffed with used bank notes; a capitalist puppet on a series of invisible strings. Yes. Time to stop writing now. Enjoy the music!

By the way, I also made this whilst editing the photos for this post, although I have no idea why I did it. Looks cool though, I guess.

Gets Worse - Gets Worse (10")

I've had this EP (or mini-album?) for a while thanks to Grindcore Karaoke, and considering it is powerviolence to the core I really enjoy it. I can never seem to shake the comedy value behind the "low" powerviolence vocals (and this is coming from a guy who loves goregrind), but sometimes the music is so awesome that it all just fits together and I totally see where the sound is coming from.

 

The record initially comes on in a very similar vibe to Shoot The Bastard, whom Gets Worse kinda share personnel with through the medium of The Afternoon Gentlemen. The drum sound is very similar, but after an small settling in period, Gets Worse takes on a whole new violent form of its own; crushing, grinding power at it's purest! The guitar sound is one of the crunchiest I've come across in some time, the bass is Repulsion-grade fuzz and the drums are sprightly and bright enough to soar over the mix. The vocals are a dual-attack of powerviolence lows and more typical screamy highs, which keeps things interesting enough for me.

Mad props (yo) to the label here, the fantastically-named Evil Purple Bastard, as this 10" only cost me £7 with £2.80 postage, but the postage label reads it cost over £5 to send. Having been fucked in the arse at the Post Office many times myself, that got me right in the feels.

 

I would recommend this record to anyone who is into heavier hardcore or grindcore music. You can stream the entire thing for free below, so there's no excuse, tuck in my pretties! It's strictly limited to 200 physical copies though, so if you want one I'd act fast. Evil Purple Bastard sells the purple version that I have here but if you buy directly from the band you can get your hands on a red version.