Onward - Survive Death

A couple of days ago Oslo City Straight Edge band Onward did a reunion show together with Supertouch.
Anyone who knows his classics, must agree that Onward was one of the few bands keeping the spirit of youth crew hardcore alive during the midnineties. Besides Mainstrike and Mouthpiece there weren't that many bands playing this kind of music and especially not many bands doing it as good as Onward. Check this clip and get the These Words Still Pray record.

Insurance Risk - Violence In Our Minds - lp

I remember there used to be some controversy arround this Norewegian band. When they were scheduled to play in Tilburg some people were talking about a boycot, this was during the end of the nineties when the scene was still way more politcally correct than it seems to be nowadays.
The problem was Insurance Risk had a song called ' We don't care' with these lyrics:
'You take it up the butt
Suck it like candy
Think you're a man
You're a fucking sissu

Do we offend- we don't care

Friday night is here
You wanna get fucked
But you don't want no pussy
You wanna butt-fuck

Do we offend - we don't care!'

Here was this band in the middle of the youth crew revival playing tight as shit early Boston hardcore and with lyrics like this. Some people didn't understand how Crucial Response, the label that released ManLiftingBanner could also release Insurance Risk.

However the show went on without incidents and Insurance Risk turned out to be decent fellows. Fast forward three years and another Insurance Risk is released by at the time legendary MY WAR records, again full on Boston hc with simple lyrics that could have been on any early SSD or Project X record. Both 7" sold out pretty fast and were never repressed.

Fast forward to 2009. Crucial Response had all the songs remastered and releases both 7" on one lp. With a suitable layout and an explanation by drummer Ollie Anderson on the origins of Insurance Risk and why they wrote the controversial song. Looking back I'm amazed how good these songs actually sound. At the time I paid more attention to the controversy around the band than to the music itself. So it's great that Crucial Response made these songs available once again.

Common Cause - The Power Change

I know this record is out for a while. Still I wasn't able to get it until I was at the TeenagexLust release show last weekend. Damn did I miss out on something. 'The Power To Change' is right up there with the releases of The First Step and True Colors.
Just awesome, inspiring, generic youth crew to singalong with and do some dancing on. Don't expect posthardcore influences, hatebreed mosh or gaslight anthem rock. Just classic '88 style hardcore. Something that isn't played too often anymore nowadays. Fans of the genre pick this up cause WE HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE!

Oh did I say the band features exmembers of Eyeball, Damage Control, Sportswear and Onward?

Myspace: Common Cause

Death Is Not Glamorous/Another Year 7"

Another record from Take The Risk records, this time a split 7" with Death Is Not Glamorous on one side and Another Year on the other. Two Scandinavian bands with Death Is Not Glamorous being the most well known, so I'll start with their contribution to this record.
For those who don't have the Undercurrents record by this band with exmembers of Damage Control, shame on you. Especially if you like Lifetime, Shook Ones and Gorilla Biscuits because if anything DING is the European answer to these bands. A position they once more confirm on this split. Especially 'Compassion' about the meat industry is a great song. It's up there with 'No More' by Youth Of Today and 'Cats and Dogs' by Gorilla Biscuits. In fact this song sounds like it's lyrics are written by Cappo during the heydays of Shelter, the music is made by Lifetime and Civ and Ari Katz are both singing. This split is worth to check out if only for this song.

Another Year brings a more standard approach to hardcore. The songs rage like the faster Go It Alone songs on their first record. Other bands that come to mind are American Nightmare (minus all the poetic stuff) and one way or another Battery. The Another Year songs aren't bad but rather pale in comparison with the Death Is Not Glamorous site.

Myspace: Death Is Not Glamorous
Another Year
Label: Take The Risk Records