Monday 13 July 2009

Freewill - Sun Return



For some reason this record never got an official release. Wishingwell Records had planned to release it, and there are a few test presses doing the rounds, but for reasons I cannot remember anymore it never saw the light of day until the infamous German rip off label Lost & Found saw fit to release it sometime in the mid 90s. Around the same time, in fact, that the band actually took the original tapes for the album and re-recorded the vocals and the bass tracks with a new bass player and released a vastly inferior version of the album under the name Stone Telling. Confused?

This is the definitive version of the album - it's total, total Dag Nasty worship. If this had been released after 'Field Day' with the name Dag Nasty on it they would've gotten away with it - it is that blatant. But it's a straight edge hardcore record, where things like originality and innovation do not exist. And the tunes are actually, really fucking good.

Freewill - Sun Return (Wishingwell Records)


1. Almost Again
2. For Times
3. I Can't Stand To See You
4. Disappear Here
5. Always
6. Every Breath
7. Easy
8. Shine
9. Reach
10. Nothing Lasts

http://rapidshare.com/files/244030130/freewill_-_sun_return.zip

Kill Creek - St. Valentines Garage



I picked this album up merely for the fact it was dirt cheap and in the punk section of the record shop. I had no idea who the band were or what they sounded like, and on first listens I did not like. Not one bit. Luckily for me I grew out of only liking music recorded by people with big shorts, backwards caps and Airwalks and this record seemed to be on hand when I realised the new Pennywise record pretty much sounded exactly the same as the last one, and the one before that.

Kill Creek actually seemed to be doing the rounds on the indie circuit for quite a bit of time, releasing 3 albums and a retrospective CD which are all handily available at their webpage here. 'St Valentine's Garage' is their first album and, in my opinion, by far their best. Whereas their later stuff slowed down and mellowed out, this album is filled with self loathing, hate and repressed anger. Seriously, check the lyrics of songs like 'Busted', 'Gett On' and 'Kelly's Dead' - the guy sure does have some issues with the opposite sex. Maybe he ironed them out after this record and settled down with a wife and kid but there is something really fucked about this album that I love.

Kill Creek - St Valentine's Garage (Mammoth Records, 1994)

1. Cosmetic Surgery
2. Busted
3. Stretch
4. Mother's Friends
5. Gett On
6. Kelly's Dead
7. Seven-Eleven
8. Killing
9. Fruit Pie
10. Million
11. Harass
12. Wuss Cliff
13. Die Young
14. Funeral

http://rapidshare.com/files/244069950/kill_creek_-_st_valentine_s_garage.zip

Alligator Gun - Onehundredpercentfreak



Oh man, this is a beauty. Absolutely ripping pop punk from mid 90s Milwaukee released on the same record label as Sick Of It All, Steve Vai and Tigertailz! No wonder this band disappeared quicker than a pork pie at a Weight Watchers meeting. It would seem psuedo major label Relativity tried to cash in on the pop punk boom of the mid 90s with this release but failed miserably, Alligator Gun were just not immediate enough to appeal to the MTV types looking for a new Offspring. It takes a few listens for the beauty of songs like 'Countdown by Fives' and 'Hundred Year Stare' to really sink in but once they do you will not get bored of them - believe me, I have been listening to this album for nearly 15 years now and I still put 'Countdown By Fives' in my playlists.


Alligator Gun - Onehundredpercentfreak (Relativity Records, 1995)


1. From The Top Of My Lung
2. Sinker
3. Lowell
4. Hundred Year Stare
5. Cut To Fit
6. Countdown By Fives
7. Johnson
8. Gantner
9. Strange That I Have Not
10. Curfew
11. Flinch
12. Square One
13. I Told You So

http://rapidshare.com/files/244030129/alligator_gun_-_onehundredpercentfreak.zip

Seaweed - assorted B Sides



A collection of relatively hard to find b-sides and compilation tracks from one of my big favourites back in the day. The trio of albums starting with the pop punky 'Weak' moving onto the big soaring choruses of 'Four' and ending with their major label flop 'Spanaway' are pretty unbeatable in melodic hardcore terms. Only Samiam and Texas Is The Reason give these lads a run for their money.

These songs are mostly taken from their Sub Pop years before they got caught up in the Green Day explosion and went absolutely nowhere - the Fastbacks cover 'My Letters' is awesome.

Seaweed - B Sides


1. Measure
2. Turnout
3. Taxing (demo)
4. Baggage (demo)
5. Go Your Own Way
6. Losing Skin (remix)
7. She Cracked (Johnathon Richman cover)
8. Pumpkin
9. Squint, The Killerest Expression
10. Sing Through Me (Dehumanizers cover)
11. Days Missed Dearly
12. Shepherd's Pie
13. Foggy Eyes (Beat Happening cover)
14. Bewitched (Beat Happening cover)
15. Brand New Order
16. My Letters (Fastbacks cover)

http://rapidshare.com/files/244069954/seaweed_-_b_sides.zip