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American Standard were a great punk rock band from New Jersey. They were kinda grouped into the NYHC scene (the song "Away" even appeared on the "Sunday Matinee: The Best of NY Hardcore" comp LP released on Another Planet Records in 1994), although the band's sound was pretty far removed from the NYHC scene. They took influences from the DC scene, and the emo sound that evolved from Rites of Spring, gave it a bit of a harder rock edge, added some pop hooks, and created some unique and catchy music. This is a collection of material recorded prior to their amazing first album "Wonderland". Thanks to Jon Shiver, Jeremy Dean and Scott Bilbrey for the music. Enjoy.
American Standard: 1987-1988
William "Bill" Dolan - vocals
Matt Dolan - guitar
Scott Bilbrey - bass
Jay "J" Colangelo - drums
The "Thank You" demo (tracks 1-5) was recorded at Inner Ear Studio in Arlington, VA sometime in early 1988. These are my favorite versions of these 5 songs, and the sound quality is excellent. Versions of these tracks appear on other demos posted here, and all 5 were re-recorded for the "Wonderland" LP in 1989.
Tracks 6-9 are rough mixes of the Wonderland sessions recorded at Chung King in 1988. The opening track "Grin" is the only track exclusive to this session, as "It Comes Around" and "Building Blocks" are on the "Thank You" demo, and "Without Asking Why" is on the 1987 demo. Still, these are great renditions of these tracks, and definitely worth hearing. I cleaned up these tracks as best as possible.
Next up (tracks 10-16) is a great set recorded live on Pat Duncan's show on WFMU in East Orange NJ (at the time, the WFMU studio has since moved to Jersey City, NJ). This version of the set is strictly the music. I cut out all the in-between song banter because while de-hissing the set made the music sound much better, it made any talking between tracks sound much worse. You're not missing much though, the band introduces a few of the songs and makes one show announcement. The music sounds much better than any of the other copies you'll find, and that's all that counts. To me anyway.
Tracks 17-21 were the band's very first recordings, known as the "Paul Noser Demos". Some great exclusive tracks on this demo like "Blind Leading Blind", "Shadows" and "Love and Trust".
Scott Bilbrey on the "Paul Noser Demos":
Paul Noser was a friend and musical mentor of the band (and amazing musician) who had a small studio in his basement in suburban NJ, not far from where we lived and formed as a band. This was recorded in early 1987. Just some context, Matt and J were 16 years old -- juniors in high school. We were still finding our way musically and as a band, so go easy! :)
We played all of these songs in our real early shows (1987) but by mid-1988 the only one that survived was Away -- which we played pretty much to the end.
This is actually a rough mix of the demo, so there are a couple glitches (vocals fade in on Shadows; a clown horn that Bill was goofing with can be heard on Away -- was supposed to be edited out).
Blind Leading Blind was the first song we ever wrote.
I know we played Shadows at our first CBGB's gig in January 1988 (with Swiz) but I don't know if we played it much beyond that.
Away made it onto Wonderland -- this is the first recorded version.
This version of Where'd They Go is pretty much how we played it live, unlike the other version from the first Inner Ear Demos, which was a bit experimental. We played it live only a few times.
To read the full story behind the demos, check out the comments section of this post.
Also check the comments section for the original upload of the "Paul Noser Demos" (before i cleaned them).
Last in the collection are 4 demo tracks recorded at Inner Ear Studios in 1987. The quality varies from track to track, but considering these tracks were buried under so much tape hiss, i think they came out really well. The original '87 demo had 5 tracks. I didn't include the song "Thank You" due to horrible sound quality that was beyond repair. But that song is already in this collection twice, so no harm. Thanks to Scott Bilbrey for the info on all these recordings.
Matt Dolan on American Standard:
Washington DC. That was where our biggest influences were- the DC scene. Dag Nasty, Fugazi, bands like that. We were really inspired by that because it wasn't as 'aggro' as the New York scene was. There starting to call bands Emo-core now, and they were calling them Emo-core back in '95.
You can read the entire interview with the band here.
And check out the American Standard page on the Maggadee Records site for lots of great band pics.
This is a tribute to Frank "Skip" Candelori, the vocalist for Turning Point who died unexpectedly on June 19, 2002. I've compiled a collection of bands Skip was in from 1986-2000. Included are both Pointless (pre-Turning Point) demos, 3 Turning Point demo tracks, the Godspeed "Swimmer's Ear" ep, and the Memorial Day demo. All great sound quality. All great music. Thanks to Patrick Lindenhof for helping clean up the sound on the Pointless demos (they came out great). Also thanks to David Michaels and Jeremy for the music. Enjoy!
A Tribute to Skip Candelori
Pointless
"Confusion" demo (1986) lineup
Skip Candelori - vocals / bass
Jay Laughlin - drums
Ed - guitar
"One Force" demo (1987) lineup
Lee - vocals
Skip Candelori - bass
Jay Laughlin - drums
Ed - guitar
Pointless started in 1986, as Skip and Jay were just getting into hardcore and wanted to start a band of their own. For a bunch of kids who were just learning their instruments, Pointless put out 2 demos worth of some great memorable hardcore. The first demo "Confusion" (with Skip on vocals) is raw, stripped down, angry hardcore with a healthy dose of an early '80s punk sound (bands like 7 Seconds and Circle Jerks come to mind). The song "Confusion" has a bit of a darker edge, and sounds like it wouldn't be out of place on some '80s LA punk compilation. The "One Force" demo, my favorite of the two, is pure youthful energy. The first track "Staying A Youth" is just your classic hardcore punk song, with great riffs and a catchy singalong chorus. The kind of stuff that gets stuck in your head for days. On this demo, Skip just handles the bass duties, and the band's friend Lee steps in for the vocals. He does a killer job.
Jay Laughlin on Pointless:
Skip and I started talking about doing something, since we were both getting into punk and hardcore more and more. So I said "let's start a band!" I taught him how to play bass and then I taught this dude Ed to play guitar, and figured I would play drums. At first we would just goof around and play the intro to "We Gotta Know" or whatever. But we kept playing and this would end up being the band Pointless. The guy I took drum lessons from had a set up in his house to record, so we would go there to do stuff.
We were young, but we were playing out. Our first real show was at Club Pizazz in Philly sometime in 1987 with Government Issue. It sounds like it should have been a cool show, except the same night at City Gardens was DRI and GBH, so there weren't many people at Pizazz. But it was still cool, even if it wasn't so packed. Overall though, Pointless didn't play too much, I guess kinda due to a mix of things.
We did two Pointless demos. The first one is with Skip singing, the second is with Lee singing. Skip could play bass and sing, but not at the same time. We never played with him singing though, his first time singing in a band on stage was Turning Point.
Turning Point
Skip Candelori - vocals
Jay Laughlin - guitar
Nick Greif - bass
Steve Crudello - guitar
Ken Flavell - drums
I did a Turning Point post a while back, so i won't be redundant and ramble about how great they are again. I posted 3 tracks from the 1988 demo. The source of these 3 tracks is from a cassette given to my bud Jeremy from Skip and Jay when Jeremy sent for a Pointless demo and asked to do an interview. The 3 tracks from the (at the time) not yet released '88 demo sound much fuller and heavier than any Turning Point demos i've ever heard, including the ones on the discography CD on Jade Tree Records. I'd love to get a copy of the entire demo with this sound. Thanks to Jeremy for sending me these tracks. I was blown away when i heard them.
Jay Laughlin on Turning Point:By 1987 we were totally into hardcore, like full on. We met the guys from Failsafe by them playing with Pointless. We just got friendly through playing, so we knew their drummer Ken, who lived in Tabernacle. From dabbling with guitar more and more, I decided that's what I wanted to play. So me and Skip talked to Ken about doing something. And we also had met Nick through a friend of a friend, he lived in Vincentown and played bass. We all had the same ideas and focus, and we were all on the same page. We decided to get together and do a band - which was Turning Point.
For the entire interview, and lots of other great interviews with members of Turning Point (and shitloads of other bands), check out the fantastic Double Cross online blog-zine.Godspeed
Skip Candelori - vocals
Jay Laughlin - bass
Dave Grubb - guitar
Sean Byrnre - drums
After the demise of Turning Point in 1992, Skip and Jay started the short-lived Godspeed. Listening to later-Turning Point, the music they played in Godspeed was the logical next step. The "Swimmer's Ear" ep, released on Temperance Records in 1993, was more in the vein of the early '90s "emo" scene, and much more indie rock (for lack of a better term) oriented than the hardcore they played years prior. At times it's similar to what bands like American Standard were doing early on, and at other times it has a kind of Native Nod or Greyhouse vibe. Whatever the case, it's a great ep. I only wished they would have kept it going a while longer.Memorial Day
Skip Candelori - vocals
Steve Crudello - guitar
Nick Fantazzi - guitar
Anthony Montemurro - bass
Brandon Wallace - drums
Another short-lived project with Skip on vocals, and joined this time by ex-Turning Point 2nd guitarist Steve Crudello. Memorial Day only released one demo during their existence in 1999/2000. It's similar to what Godspeed were doing, but a bit more noisy and experimental in the guitar dept. Think Dinosaur Jr. meets Jets To Brazil. I'm not too good with comparisons, just check it out for yourself, it's an excellent demo, and my favorite Skip-related project after Turning Point.
Since 2000, members of Turning Point have continued to play music in countless bands. In 2002, Jay Laughlin, Dave Grubb, Sean Byrne and others (in a band called Lenola) released a a 2xCD called "Sharks and Flames" which they dedicated to Skip.
RIP SKIP
Note of interest: Both Pointless demos are missing one track each. There was a song on the "Confusion" demo called "Cardboard Box", which i left out because of the awful sound quality. It breaks apart in various spots and sounds like it was recorded under water. Also, the last track on the "One Force" demo is missing. It was labeled as "Untitled", and the mp3 i had cuts off after only 20 seconds. If anyone has these missing tracks, please get in touch.
The Pointless photo was taken from the Double Cross blog. Head over there to check out other pics of Pointless, Turning Point, and related bands.
Hardcore punk from Long Island. This is everything the band recorded between 1988-1993. Enjoy.
In Your Face discography
1988 demo lineup
Marc - vocalsEric - guitar
Joe - guitar
Mike - bass
Johnny - drums
The 1988 demo is my favorite In Your Face material. The music has a bit of a crossover feel to it, and juvenile lyrics as you can see from the song titles. Don't write this off because of Faggot Stomp (a song the band has since apologized about), it's a great demo.
1989 "Grub" lineup
Marc - vocals
Joe - guitar
Dave - bass
Ernie - drums / guitar
The "Grub" 7", released on Common Cause Records in 1989, has a more mature sound, although the lyrics are still a bit on the silly side. The music here is much different than the demo. At their best moments they sound like a mix of 411, Angry Samoans and Token Entry. Great ep, with artwork by drummer Ernie Parada, who also played in Token Entry as well as other notable NYHC bands. The song "My Turn" is a classic.
The first comp track, a great cover of Devo's "Gates of Steel", was originally released on the compilation 7" "Seeing With New Eyes" on Scooby-Doo Records in 1990. I'm not sure where the other comp track is from, if anyone knows, please leave a comment.
Up next is the unreleased "Henpecked" 7", recorded sometime in the early '90s. This ep sees the band changing sounds yet again. This one has much more of a pop-punk feel. Very Screeching Weasel influenced, even going so far as to cover Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now".
After that it's back to the early lineup for the live at WNYU set. This set has Timmy Chunks of Token Entry filling in for Marc on vocals, and Mike, the bass player for Ludichrist, filling in for Joe on guitar. The sound quality is a bit rough on these recordings, but it's listenable (and gets better as it goes along), and it's a great set. Energy and antics, that sums this set up.
Closing up the collection are 2 live songs recorded at CBGB sometime in 1988.
Thanks to Mark Anthony for the music and the artwork. I included the covers he sent me below.
One of my favorite '80s Canadian hardcore bands, alongside Negative Gain (which i already posted), Genetic Control and Nunfuckers (both of which i plan on posting in the future). Neos were just pure youthful energy. Absolute chaos put to vinyl. This is a collection of the band's 2 7"s, both released in 1982, an unreleased studio track from '83, and the "Fight With Donald" 7", recorded in '83 and released in '97. 43 essential tracks of frantic hardcore from one of the pioneers. The first 26 tracks were all ripped from the long out of print CD released on Break Even Records in 1997, so the sound is excellent. "Fight With Donald" is a vinyl rip i found online. I fixed it up as best as possible, but it's still pretty rough sounding compared to the rest of the collection.
Supreme Echo Records is planning on releasing a discography LP which will include remastered versions of all the material here, plus unreleased '82 demos, 7" outtakes, rehearsal tracks, live soundboard tracks and songs from an unreleased LP from 1983. For more info check out the band's Myspace page here. Until that happens, you can enjoy this:
Neos: 1980-1983
Steve Bailey - vocals / guitar
Kev Smith - bass / vocals / drums
Mario Kasapi - drums
Hassibah Gets The Martian Brain Squeeze 7" (Alandhiscar Records 1982)
Recorded at Hole In The Wall Studios, Victoria on Sept. 18, 1982. Engineered by Scott Henderson on 3 tracks. No overdubs, except vocals on tracks 4 & 9. Mastered as a combined effort of Hole In The Wall and Subteranean Studios by Scott Henderson and Bob Wright on Oct. 3, 1982. Pressed at IRC, Vancouver, in Dec. 1982.
The Hassibah Gets The Martian Brain Squeeze 7" was repressed in 1983 on Ratcage Records in NYC. For some odd reason, many of the song titles were changed on the repress. For instance the first song "Destruct" is labeled as "Racetrack". The recordings are the same though.
End All Discrimination 7" (Alandhiscar Records 1982)
Recorded with Subterranean Studios Mobil Unit. Rhythm tracks done in 25 minutes in Steve's basement on Sept. 11, 1981. Vocals done at the Vancouver St. House, in the living room on Dec. 22, 1981. Mastered Jan. '82. Pressed at IRC, Vancouver, Jan.-Feb. of 1982.
All recording info taken from original first pressings of records.
The song "Sleeve" was supposedly the only song recorded during the sessions for an LP the band was working on in 1983. It was released on both the Fight With Donald 7" and the CD on Break Even Records. Of course i included the CD version.
Fight With Donald 7" (Schizophrenic/Break Even Records 1997)
All material recorded live in 1983, except for the song "Sleeve", which was recorded at Hole In The Wall Studios, and "Fight With Donald" recorded in 1980.
Neos were on a few comps, although none of the comp tracks were exclusive. They had a few songs on the Raw War tape, Grevious Musical Harm tape, and Beating The Meat LP, all released on Xcentric Records between 1983-1984.
After the Neos broke up in late '83, Steve and Kev continued as Harvest of Seaweed for roughly one year, releasing various cassettes. Members also went on to Sludge Confrontations, Mexican Power Authority and Showbiz Giants.
Killer thrash hardcore from Toronto, Ontario. Fast and aggressive but with a dark edge at times. Classic stuff that was unfortunately never re-issued or released on CD. This collection compiles the band's 1986 "Back From the Dead" LP on Pusmort Records, and the band's self-released demo tape from 1985. Excellent quality on both recordings, and i boosted the demo to match the volume of the LP. Sounds great. Enjoy.
Negative Gain: 1985-1986
Peter Warner - vocals
Grant C. Slavin - guitar
Steve Currie - bass
Andrew Mosely - drums
Band History (by Grant Slavin):
Negative Gain was founded in Toronto, Ontario by Peter Warner who wrote all of the lyrics and provided rehearsal space in his basement. Filling out the lineup was Grant C. Slavin on guitar, Steve Currie on bass, and Andrew Mosely on drums. All members were in their mid-teens at the time. Their influences included Minor Threat, Millions of Dead Cops, the Misfits, and the Dead Kennedys, as well as local TO bands Direct Action and Sudden Impact.
Negative Gain got their first break in '83 when we were asked by local Toronto promoter Jill Heath to open for Jodie Fosters Army at the city's legendary punk club The Turning Point. After the show Pete and Grant went skateboarding with JFA. The evening was documented in a subsequent issue of Thrasher as JFA's guitarist Don Pendelton was writing a column for the rag documenting their tour. Other memorable Negative Gain gigs around this time include warming up for bands like the Circle Jerks, Gang Green, the Descendents and 7 Seconds. The young thrash band soon went from listening to their favorite bands' records on a daily basis to hanging out with them backstage and stealing their beer rider!
More help from Jill Heath came when the promoter sent Negative Gain's 1985 demo tape, Attack of the Killer Bears, to Pushead for review. Pushead evidently like the tape so much that he offered to release a full-length LP for the band. Negative Gain recorded their album in Oakville, Ontario in about five hours on a Saturday afternoon, as studio time was limited to what the young band could afford to spend on the recording. The session was produced by Brian Taylor of the Toronto band Youth Youth Youth.
Sadly, Pete Warner committed suicide not too long after the recording was completed, and never lived to see its release. His last gig with the band was with Toronto's Bunchofuckingoofs. Negative Gain continued on as a three-piece for about two more years, before splitting in the late 1980s.
Info taken from the Kill From the Heart site. Go here for more info and lyrics to the "Back From the Dead" LP.
This is a promo collection for the upcoming Rancor discography, to be released in 2010 on Youngblood Records.
Rancor played fast hardcore punk in the spirit of other early Younglood bands like Life's Halt, Rain on the Parade, Tear it Up etc. This has the riffs and energy of the late '80s "youth crew" sound, with plenty of sing along choruses and positive lyrics, but this is no carbon copy band, or "retro" by any means. Far from it. The songs sound fresh. And they rip.
I was stoked when i found out i'd be working with the label that released "We Sold Our Souls For Hardcore", one of my favorite records of the late '90s. And here we are 10 years later, and Youngblood is still putting out records by some of my favorite current hardcore bands like Iron Age, Mind Eraser, and Police and Thieves. Who said punk is dead? Oh yeah, that Bluth guy.
So here you go. A collection of Rancor's earliest material. The demo and first ep, all ripped directly from the master tapes for excellent sound quality. Thanks to Sean Youngblood for his enthusiasm with this project, and for turning me on to a great band. This stuff will all be re-mastered soon (with plenty more music), so here's your chance to get these early songs in their original pre-mix versions. Enjoy! I sure did.
Rancor: 1995-1996 Collection
In anticipation of the upcoming Rancor reunion at this year's Youngblood Records Showcase we wanted to work with one of our favorite blogs to bring you some out-of-print Rancor material. Hell, all of Rancor's material is long out-of-print but we are in the process of compiling and mastering their full discography which is due out in 2010.
This collection couples the "I Won't Take Part" Demo and "Flip The Switch" EP. The tracks are taken straight from the masters but are in un-mastered form. Despite the tracks being un-mastered, they are clean rips that sound pretty great.
Hailing from Allentown, Rancor's "Flip The Switch" EP was our first release so we will always be grateful to them. They were some of the funnest guys you could ever know and their live shows were intense. Andy (the singer) was especially nuts on and off the stage and he always had a prank up his sleeve.
Listening to these tracks takes me back to 1997 when hardcore on the East Coast was really popping with bands like Floorpunch, Ten Yard Fight, Hands Tied, Fastbreak, 97a, Atari, Rain On The Parade & Rancor playing out every weekend. It was exciting to be working with a band that we were 100% stoked on and the trips up to Allentown to hang out, plan records, work on layouts, etc. were some of the most fun we've had doing the label.
Thanks for checking it out. Enjoy.
— Sean O'Donnell
Youngblood Records
I Won't Take Part Demo
Recorded 1995
Jamie Heim - guitar
Andy Frobase - vocals
Mexically Mike Madrigale - bass
Chris Kayes - drums
Flip The Switch ep / The Time Is Now Comp Session
Recorded 1996
Jamie Heim - guitar
Andy Frobase - vocals
Ryan Buenaflor - bass
Chris Kayes - drums
Never Hold Back ep
Recorded 1997
Memories Of Tomorrow Compilation LP/CD
Recorded 1998
Jamie Heim - guitar
Andy Frobase - vocals
Greg Tomszack - bass
Chris Kayes - drums
Discography
"I Won't Take Part" Demo (1995)
"Flip The Switch" 7", Youngblood Records, YB-1 (1997)
"Time Is Now" 7" Compilation, Tension Building Records (1997)
"Never Hold Back" 7", Youngblood Records, YB-3 (1998)
"Memories Of Tomorrow" Compilation LP/CD, Youngblood Records, YB-6 (2000)
The Youngblood 2009 Showcase is Saturday, October 10th in Harrisburg, PA. More information can be found at the Youngblood Records website, and Myspace page. You can also check out the Rancor Myspace page here.
More late '80s hardcore from New York. Under Pressure had a heavy sound in the vein of bands like Outburst, Breakdown, Raw Deal etc, with a bit of a patriotic slant in the lyric department. So here you go, more short-lived "New Breed" NYHC brought back to like. This collection compiles both the bands demos and a rehearsal session, all recorded in 1988. Thanks to Mauricio for all his time in helping me put this together. Enjoy.
Under Pressure 1988 Collection
Mauricio Vega on Under Pressure:
Under Pressure started out started as an oi hardcore band, sometime in the early part of 1987. The band was originally from Staten Island, NY. I was the only member that lived in Queens, NY. In April of 1988, Under Pressure released an 8-song demo titled “Vicious Bite”.
With the line-up of:
Mauricio Vega – Vocals
AmeriKen – Guitar
Dom Viola – Bass
VinSkin Conti – Drums
By the end of the summer of ‘88, Under Pressure started to go thru line up changes. At one point, Eric (Guitar player from the first “In Your Face” demo) played guitar for few gigs. After trying out numerous musicians, the new Under Pressure line-up was set.
Mauricio Vega – Vocals
Louie Negron – Guitar
Jimmy Lean – Bass
Scott Goettelmann – Drums
This new line-up was from Hicksville, Long Island NY. The band went from being from Staten Island, to Long Island. Looking back, I did a hell of a lot of traveling just to rehearse, LOL.
This was the line-up that recorded the song “Supremist” for New Breed Compilation. But by the end of 1988, Louie Negron left the band and Garret Snied took over on Guitar.
In December of 1988, Under Pressure released a 9-song demo titled “Vengeance”.
The line-up of:
Mauricio Vega – Vocals
Garret Snied – Guitar
Jimmy Lean – Bass
Scott Goettelmann – Drums
I’ve noticed on a few blogs that they claim to have the Vengeance demo, but they do not. What they have is a rehearsal session that we recorded with Louie Negron on Guitar. We used that recorded rehearsal tape mainly for seeking a new guitarist, and for booking gigs.
I have no idea how they got those recordings but, they do not have the real Vengeance demo. You will be the first to have the real Vengeance demo.
The new Under Pressure line-up had a much more heavier sound than the original line up. By the summer of 1989, Under Pressure decided to change their name to “Vicious Bite”.
Vicious Bite released, “Till Death Do You Part” (Taken from the Vengeance Demo) for the Chop-Chop Compilation on Skene Records. By the end of the summer of 1989, bassist Jimmy Lean, was diagnosed with cancer and left the band (RIP Jimmy). Since I wrote a lot of the music, I decided to play bass, and Tommy “Thunder” Goettelmann became the new vocalist.
The final Line-up was:
Tommy “Thunder” Goettelmann – Vocals
Garret Snied – Guitar
Mauricio Vega – Bass
Scott Goettelmann – Drums
Vicious Bite played a few shows with this line-up, and played a live set at the WNYU Spermicide radio show. But by the end of 1989, Vicious Bite broke up. Their last show was at The Anthrax in Connecticut sometime in the fall of 1989.
Since then, I’ve been playing bass in a band called the “Accidental Tribe” under the name Moe Cash.
Recently, I’ve been talking to my former Under Pressure band members about doing a reunion show, and possibly, re-recording all our old songs. Unfortunately, there is a band from Canada called Under Pressure, which has absolutely no relation to the NYHC band Under Pressure. So if we do re-unite, it will be under the name Vicious Bite.
—Mauricio Vega
As usual, i restored the files a best as possible. The Vicious Bite demo was especially a challenge, as the songs were buried under a layer of tape hiss. I'm pretty happy with the end results.
I've been listening to these songs for the past week and it's all great stuff, but the rehearsal session is probably my favorite recordings. That could be due to the fact that the New Breed track, and the rehearsal (which i always thought was the Vengeance demo) was my exposure to this band. Such a great sound on those rehearsals though, it actually could have been a demo, or even made a great ep.
If anyone has the Vicious Bite live WNYU set, or any other Under Pressure rarities, please get in touch.
