Favourite Irish hardcore punk records Part 2

Our second contribution is from Jamie Grimes who has played with Debt, Easpa Measa and Serpents, and currently plays with the amazing Drainland, a band well worthy of your time. He also wrote and sang Sir Killalot's best song and put out the Crowd Control/Mob Rules split so he's cool with us.



Here's what Jamie chose:





My Name is Satan - Refuse to Kneel







"
Winter 1998. Bielefeld, Germany.It's freezing fucking cold.I'm standing in the dark with a can in my hand at a makeshift carpark opposite some youth centre that my band are playing. My friend Chris who used to be in Jobbykrust from Belfast has arrived, and is playing me practice tapes of his new band through some massive speaker in the boot of someone's car. It sounds good, sort of like Stalingrad or Ire or something. He's telling me they haven't decided on a name yet, but they're joking about calling it My Name is Satan. This name, added to the effect of the multiple beers and complete lack of anything remotely resembling sleep in the last two days reduces me to stitches of laughter. I presume good as it sounds that it might not ever get past a few practices, and after about 5 minutes later we turn it off and go back to getting shitfaced and watching bad European Crust bands.



It's crazy to think now that the first time I heard the band who would be responsible for what I genuinely believe is the best Irish Hardcore record ever, I was not really paying attention, because if there was ever a record that demands you sit up and listen fully, it's Refuse to Kneel. Seriously. It comes out of the gates after Mac's spoken word intro (no, it's not out of film, it was a piece written by him for the record) like a rhino on steroids and proceeds to trample everything in its' path. It's got everything you could want -that epic intro, intensity, total power and rage, amazing catchy songwriting, articulate lyrics, fast bits, slow bits..it's like Catharsis having a go at writing Master of Puppets. It's that good. And what made it that little more special was the fact that this was a bunch of my friends - not some bunch of random guys I saw a picture of in Heartattack, but my friends. The people who taped records off, got ratarsed with, and whose couches I crashed in Belfast whenever I went up. This was the real eye opener that it was time to fucking concentrate instead of just busting out the first few shoddily assembled riffs that came to mind.



It's hard to explain now in a climate where Ireland is full of Crowd Controls and Famines and Bacchuses and Divisons Ruins and what have you how completely alien this record was to the Irish "hardcore" (chortle) scene when it came out ten or so years ago. MNIS were like a dark storm cloud breaking over a sea of smiley popcore, shitty post-Slint indie rock, lame crust and bad mohican and spikes clad bullshit "old school" punk. To angry, alienated little fucks like me who wanted it louder, harder and faster (and were trying to do so in their own bands to little or no response), this record was a huge vindication. This was heavy shit at a time when folks here just were not interested, and I can tell you right fucking now they probably still wouldn't be if this band hadn't made this record. MNIS were the band that made the punk folks who normally didn't like heavy DIY hardcore take notice for a while. I've always been jealous of them for that.



The sad thing is this is the entire My Name is Satan discography. This is it. This is all there is. All these songs. There were never any unused tracks lying around, and I could be wrong but I don't think they evere wrote another song after these. So unfortunately any hope of unearthing some rare tracks is non existent. But the one bit of personal trivia I can tell you which you probably didn't know is this.. In the late 90s and early part of this record I worked in the Rejected store, which was also the default Rejected/Control (Mero's side label for heavier bands which pretty much just put out this and the Debt cd) headquarters for things being delivered and mailed out. At the same time as the cd, there had been talk of a vinyl version which unfortunately never transpired and was, I believe, to be coreleased by Rejected, some German label and possibly Enslaved in the UK if I remember correctly (though I'm old and my memory is fucked so that could be wrong).



Now, if you know anything about Belfast punk and Hardcore over the last two decades, you'll know Chris Black, MNIS's drummer, is something of a legend. For starters, he's the man who sold Courtney Love the Dennis the Menace jumper that Kurt Cobain wore for most of Nirvana's existence- and here's the proof:







Basically, everyone has a Chris Black story. They normally involve booze, nudity, violence, or some combination of all three.Indeed, at the time of the aforementioned roadside listening party that began this piece, Chris provided me with a few gems over the days that followed. So when the vinyl version of the MNIS LP was first being talked about, there was initially to be a limited edition zine with the copies sold in Ireland called My Name is Chris Black. The plan was to canvas various local scenesters and put together a bunch of their favourite Chris stories in zine form for the first 50 or so copies. Some of his band mates poo-pooed the idea however, as they felt it was kind of mean. In retrospect they were right. In the end, the first bunch of cds we sold had a badge stuffed into the tray instead.



MNIS only played a handful of gigs, of which I saw two, and one of them (in the cafe in Giros with Debt and Circle Again) was probably the best gig I've ever either seen or been involved in over the last decade. They were utterly intense in that cramped little space, and it was like being hit by a fucking truck. They went to the UK and broke up a little while later. Gary continued on with Kabinboy(who had co-existed with MNIS), Knifed, then Oak and now busts out Germs style punk in Weil Rats; Glynn went on to Dagda whose Threefold is my second favourite Irish hardcore record (and one so good that they never quite topped it), and has since forged a path as a reknowned graphic artist;Chris moved to the UK and played in Losing the Battle who broke up after the guitarist went batshit,m and is now in Waste of Rations; Trues is..uh..I have no idea what Trues is doing actually..and Garth was last seen elbowing giant skinheads in the face at a Madball gig in Dublin.



Refuse to Kneel is now a decade old. It's near impossible to find on cd now, being long sold out. In the meantime, if you can't be arsed searching obsessively for it, you can have a listen at this link - Gary allowed me to upload it last year:



My Name is Satan - Refuse to Kneel



It still sounds as fresh as it did on it's day of release, and has aged a whole heap better than some other Irish bands' releases. As Glynn would say.. CRUSHING POWER."





Jamie's own blogs can be found here:



OBJECTION! - music



SUBJECTION - non-music




SUBURBAN MAYHEM RECORDS - Jamie and his girlfriend Una's awesome record label






Thanks Jamie! And thanks to Gary for the picture.

Favourite Irish hardcore punk records Part 1

I asked some of the older guys from the Irish hardcore punk scene to write a little bit about their favourite Irish hardcore/punk record or about a record they felt was maybe a bit overlooked. I think most people, me included probably, for one reason or another don't listen to much older Irish hardcore.

I'd like to think it's because it's simply more difficult to find Irish records and not just because most of the bands were never that big or hyped or whatever, but I wouldn't be sure about that.

I think it's definitely easy to just presume that these older bands must not have been up to the standard of bands from the UK, the mainland, the US or wherever, but there have definitely been some incredible records in Irish hardcore history that I really think more people should check out, hence the reasoning behind these posts. That and being obsessed with the
Double Cross blog.

This first post is from Gary Sloan who has played in
the Kabinboy, My Name is Satan, Knifed and Oak, and currently plays with Weil Rats.

Here's what he sent me:


Pink Turds In Space - Greatest Shits (In Your Face Records,1988)




"So,I was asked to write a little bit about my favourite Irish record. It was never going to be hard to choose. There's not another record in the world that can bring me back to my teens in Belfast getting into punk and hardcore. To be honest,I don't remember the first time I saw Pink Turds. I believe I saw them once with Shane singing,the original singer. But they didn't
really impact me until the regular gigs in the Art College in Belfast. If I remember correctly,gigs started happening in the Art College in about '88. They were probably about once a month or so,but I can't be sure. It was usually UK bands,Ripcord,Instigators,HDQ,Concrete Sox,Generic,Snuff,Doom,and loads more would make the ferry ride over and play with local bands opening. I always felt that Pink Turds were as good or better than any band they played with.

By the time the Billy Hartley File demo came out,I knew every song on it before I even heard it. Live tapes,usually recorded from the desk, circulated and Pink Turds sounded ferocious. The demo didn't disapoint either. Sure,it was raw and lacked some clarity between instruments,but Marty's guitar slashed through sounding so powerful in comparison to many of the Irish bands of the day,the riffs couldn't be more catchy. Even Ann's vocals sounded way more pissed off than any of the other bands. And the bass playing? No one played like Dee. Not in fasthardcore bands I'd heard. It was so melodic,and yet only added to the anger and power. Not long after,word got round that the demo was getting released on vinyl. In Your Face records were releasing it. For something I already had albeit as a by now worn out tape,I couldn't have been more excited to get the vinyl. They were the first band I "knew" who released vinyl,and they'd set the standards high. Reading the lyrics was quite a treat,as the songs mentioned local areas and mentioned the troubles etc. You could relate to the lyrics and hearing them sang with a strong "norn iron" accent only made more impact (when I first moved into a house in the Holy Lands of Belfast "Eugene's Shop" was my local shop and I always found that funny)

The lp version ,now called Greatest Shits soon sold out,even though it wasn't available in the shops. At 2.50 a copy it was never going to last and I was pleased to have my own copy. In fact I bought and traded many a copy and I doubt I ever got the better deal. Pink Turds next record was a split lp with Sedition and after that they did a split 7" with Charred Remains (aka Man Is The Bastard) and although most people favour the split lp,it'll always be the first record coming out tops for me. When I listen to it,I'm straight back in the Art College,hearing the shouts of "Yer Ma!!!!" coming from Ann in between songs and a lot of old faces come back too,people I've not seen in maybe 20 years. The Art College is completely different now,outside and inside. But I'll never see it in any other way than how it was for those punk gigs of the late '80's.

For me Greatest Shits summed up the punk/hardcore scene in Belfast at the time. Even though I didn't always have direct experience of some of the topics covered in the lyric's it wasn't hard to find someone else who did. Singing about local topics always made more sense to me than
singing about war,animal rights,multinationals or even being straight edge etc as many of the other bands I listened to did.

Of all my Irish records, Greatest Shits would be my most treasured and I would urge anyone who likes early raw hardcore with a hint of metal riffage to check out the first Pink Turds record. It may not be the coolest record in the world,or the rarest or anything that makes records desirable. But to me it can hold it's own against any record. I don't believe an Irish band will ever better it."


As Toxic Waste Records in Belfast still stock the record, I am instead including a link to the Pink Turds in Space discography as posted on Ed's amazing DIY Irish Hardcore Punk Archive Blog.

Part 1

Part 2

Thanks so much Gary, we really appreciate it.
I'll post up the other replies as I get them.

Leo fucking Burdock's



BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN



They spelled Aslant wrong.



MR. PUSSY PAT KENNY



PACKIE BONNER MATALICA



What a chipper.

WINTER

Ed has clearly covered the lame aspects of the holiday season, stuck in the realm of friendship, understanding and the impending disaster mess that comes with Christmas tree needles. Those of us who understand the true meaning of our holy saviour's birth day, however, know its all about that intensely frustrating decision regarding which videogames we're going to pick out of the overcrowded seasonal line-up. That, action figures and new underwear. In the spirit, then, here's some inventive set-ups courtesy of AFC:







And the countdown motherload: Catering for both DC and Marvel fans.

Loose Nut will be recording for our first release this week, with the aid of our mate Cian Nugent. The cassette EP will feature most of the songs from our demo, along with some new jams. Things are also being put together for a 7" ep, which will hopefully follow soon after.

WINTER









I bought Chris a sick nug for Christmas.



This is a fashion blog now.



GOTTA DO WHAT I GOTTA DO FOR THE CREW



Rhythm to the Madness's second last show apparently. Come for the hardcore, stay for the messing.

To get in the mood check out this video of some early 80's New Yorkers buzzing:



Things to look out for: Harley Flanagan when he's about 5 (and his incredible stage mash) and Cause for Alarm being fucking awesome.

Fuck



Hardest thing since the breakdown in 'It's the Limit'.

COOL FUCKERS

Zach's blog post about his dream job got me thinking. What job could I imagine myself never tiring of that would at the same time provide enough stimulation to keep me happy until I retire?
I spent the hour long bus journey home from college thinking on it and by the time I got home the best I had could come up with, all things considered, was being one of the lads that gets paid for thinking up shit like this:








Mindblowing.

LOOSE NUT DEMO 2009



Rough practice recordings. Better recordings soon.
Download dem shittaz.


Demo

Lyrics