Boneless - 1991 Demo

Sorta punk rock & roll from South Jersey. Boneless put this tape out in 1991. The Seattle "grunge" element is totally present. Don't let that put you off. This is a pretty cool little mix of punk, grunge, metal, art rock & plain old rock and roll. They sounded great live after 12 beers and a few shots.

Boneless - White Trash

Boneless - Hydrophobia

Boneless - Mike's Other Theme

Boneless - Suzy Cadillac

Tectonic Break - 2 Song Demo

Ok, so i usually do tapes here but i just stumbled upon this little cd-r that i had tucked in a box and had not listened to in years, and man is this good. Not sure if Tectonic Break ever really did anything officially other than a few comps but i was friends w/ the bass player Patric Carlsson, who at the time was also the bass player for Half Man. And he sent this to me way back when. The singer git man Janne Bengtsson was also in Half Man. I've long since lost the song titles so if anyone knows please let me know. After Half man & Tectonic Break Patric and Janne started another band called Skånska Mord. Below is the wiki info on Half Man and Tectonic Break and some info on Skånska Mord i pulled off youtube.

Half Man formed in 1986 in Örkelljunga Sweden but split after two years.[1] The original line-up featured Janne Bengtsson on guitar and vocals, Gunnar Andersson on guitar and vocals, Patric Carlsson on bass, and Mats Nilsson on drums. The band reformed in 1990 with Bengtsson and Carlsson accompanied by guitarist Peter Lilja and drummer Roger Bengtsson.[1] A demo was recorded in 1994 but an album was not recorded until 1998, when the band self-released The Complete Field Guide for Cynics in a limited run of 500.[2] Border Records picked up the album and re-released it in larger quantities. The band released a split 7" with Mothercake in 2000 and appeared on Small Stone Records tribute to Aerosmith, Right in the Nuts. The band released their second and final album in 2002 entitled Red Herring on the Italian label Beard of Stars.

wikipedia.org

Janne and Patric also had a side project called Tectonic Break featuring Mattias Nilsson and Peter Johansson who released a couple of songs on different compelation albums. Later Janne and Patric started the band Skånska Mord with members of the band Mothercake in 2006. The album Last Supper where released in 2010.

Skånska Mord was founded in 2006 by members from the then-defunct bands Half Man and Mothercake. Janne Bengtsson and Patric Carlsson have been playing together for 16 years in Half Man and before that for even more years in various constellations, pretty much inseparable through both their musical careers. Half Man released two full-length albums - The Complete Field Guide for Cynics (1999) and Red Herring (2002), the first being a self-released private pressing and the second released through the Italian label Beard of Stars. Janne Bengtsson and Patric Carlsson where also in the band Tectonic Break that contributed one track to the Small Stone Records compilation Sucking the 70's 2002.

Patrik Berglin, Thomas Jönsson and Petter Englund all came from Mothercake, another long-lived band. Mothercake also released one privately pressed album, an eponymous effort in 2003.

Half Man and Mothercake shared one split single, aptly titled Half Man vs. Mothercake Vol. 1, in 1999.

The different band members all have at least two things in common. First the fact that they all come from the same place, Örkelljunga, a small village in the south of Sweden. The three older members Janne Bengtsson, Patric Carlsson and Patrik Berglin have been friends since their early teenage years. The second thing in common is the love for old 70's hard and heavy rock. A lot of inspiration has been gathered through the years from Jan Bengtsson's and Patric Carlsson's sizeable collections of vintage vinyl, amongst the rich amounts of hard rock, progressive, blues and psychedelia. In some way this shared musical background have given birth to a special sound which is distinctive as coming from Örkelljunga. Where Half Man played a blues based heavy rock and Mothercake had more metal inclinations it still had that same sound. A sound with one foot firmly planted in the seventies, yet going somewhere fresh and new. Perhaps the music of Skånska Mord sounds something like a blend of both Half Man and Mothercake.

The album, The Last Supper, was recorded during the spring of 2009 by Martin Ekelund and was released by Small Stone Records in Januari of 2010.



Tectonic Break - 1

Tectonic Break - 2

Big Nurse - 1989 Demo

One of my fave (mostly) unknown New Jersey bands, Big Nurse w/ their 1989 self titled demo. These guys should have rode the Seattle "grunge" wave to superstardom but.... you know, the best laid plans and all that. "Hey Hey" & "Tied Up" from this demo tape only release were released on Heat Blast Records (HB 002) and "Love You Tomorrow" was released on the 7 inch compilation "Holier Than Seattle" also on heat Blast Records HB003.

I've already written a small little piece on the band over at my other blog "The Devils Music" take a peek if you feel the need...

Big Nurse - 1989 Demo

SIVLE - Live @ T-Birds Cafe Asbury Park, N.J. 6-13-94 & The Brighton Bar Long Branch N.J. 4-23-94

The King Is Dead! Long Live The King? Rock & Roll suicide.... I just got this tape in the mail from an old friend. Wow.... memories. Some live jamming shenanigans by a bunch of stinky acid taking hippes deconstructing rock & roll. They all lived in one house and it was actually dubbed "The Hippy House". Lots of jams & drugs and drinking and what not.... I promise you, you will not hear this anywhere on the web but here. And probably for good cause... Dose up maaaaaaaaaan.....

SIVLE - Live @ T-Birds Cafe Asbury Park, N.J. 6-13-94

SIVLE - Live @ The Brighton Bar Long Branch N.J. 4-23-94

Gigantic - Gigantic Demo 1990 or 1991?

I just pulled this out of a box a few days ago and posted it up for the boys in the band who i am still in touch with via the facebook. awesome little tool.... i asked the boys what year and they weren't sure. They said 1990 or 1991. anyway i did a post on Gigantic HERE: already so i won't bore u with details. If you dig some early 90's alternative post punk indie pop rocks dig in! if not, go in peace....

Gigantic - Gigantic Demo 1990 or 1991?

Penance - Bridges To Burn

Killer Doom Metal from Pittsburg from Long standing doomers Penance. Bridges To Burn from 1998. I've been lucky enough to see these guys (and girl) a few times and actually call them friends.

This shit rules. DOOM ON!

Wiki info:

Penance was an American doom metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

PENANCE began in 1989 with the members of Pittsburgh area band DREAM DEATH moving more solely in a classic Doom direction. Drummer Mike Smail, guitarist Terry Weston, and bassist Rich Freund (who had replaced original bass player Ted Williams in Dream Death, following Williams' departure to another local band, EVICTION) recorded the "LIVING TRUTH" demo, with Brian (Lawrence) Goodbread originally a guest member. One of these demo tracks, "Contemplation", was on the RISE ABOVE RECORDS compilation: "DARK PASSAGES", and Mike Smail would later record with Rise Above owner and ex-NAPALM DEATH vocalist Lee Dorrian, on CATHEDRAL's debut album "FOREST OF EQUILIBRIUM".

With Brian Goodbread (himself a founding member of Dream Death) handling vocals and rhythm guitar, PENANCE recorded and released "THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED" on Rise Above Records in 1992, and would go on and tour Europe in support of the album the following year, alongside fellow doom titans SLEEP and CATHEDRAL. Goodbread left the band before the tour, and Lee Smith became the group's singer, with Weston being backed by CATHEDRAL'S Gaz Jennings on rhythm guitar for the tour.
After returning to the states, Penance were free to sign with another label and would do so with CENTURY MEDIA, who had expressed interest in the group before Penance released "The Road Less Travelled", with Rise Above. New members Lee Smith and Frank Miller were on board following the departures of Goodbread and later Freund, and this line-up recorded 1994's "PARALLEL CORNERS". With better production and a broader release, the album helped the band to gain more fans worldwide. "Parallel Corners" was later hailed by Martin Popoff in "The Guide to Heavy Metal" as one of the top five "post-Sabbath" albums ever released.

Sometime after Miller left the group, and Lee Smith ran into visa issues, subsequently having to return to England, Weston and Smail would eventually begin working with vocalist Brian "Butch" Balich. In 1998 the band recorded and released the "BRIDGES TO BURN" demo, with a little help from Brian Goodbread, who played bass on the recording. The demo let fans and record labels know Penance was still active and working on new material. With new bassist Ron Leard on board, the band would release their next full length album, 1999's "PROVING GROUND", themselves. This same line-up would also record the "TURN FOR THE WORSE" demo in 2000, which featured songs later released on "ALPHA AND OMEGA". The band's eventual new label, MARTYR MUSIC, would remix, remaster and re-release "PROVING GROUND" in 2001.

2001 would also see a new Penance offering released by Martyr Music, with a new line-up as well. Ex-NOVEMBERS DOOM and MYTHIC bassist Mary Bielich, and guitarist Matt Tuite, formerly of WICKER MAN and MUSTACHE, joined Smail, Weston, and Balich for "ALPHA AND OMEGA". The arrival of the two new members brought in fresh viewpoints and influences to the band, and a bit of a positive shift in mood can be heard on the album.

2003 saw the release of "SPIRITUALNATURAL", again with Martyr Music. Founding member Terry Weston would leave at some point during the production of the album, but co-wrote and played on a few of the songs heard here, while Matt Tuite contributed a good portion of the music to this very vital final album. HUMBUCKER guitarist Dave Roman was recruited to join the band and contributed to the songwriting as well. This line-up would see Penance's return to Europe that same year. Penance would later disband, with its members heading in different directions. In 2004 drummer Mike Smail recorded albums with INTERNAL VOID, the legendary PENTAGRAM, and now operates his own drum shop in Kittanning, PA. Butch Balich fronts the metal bands ARGUS and MOLASSES BARGE in the Pittsburgh area, while Mary Bielich and Matt Tuite joined BEHIND ENEMY LINES, an Anarcho-Crust punk band, also based in Pittsburgh. Matt Tuite has since played with THE EVIL MACHINE as well, and both Tuite and Bielich are members of DEL RIOS and THE MUD CITY MANGLERS.

In April 2007 PENANCE played the DOOM OR BE DOOMED festival in Baltimore, Maryland, with Smail, Weston, and Balich being joined by Dave Roman on bass. Smail and Roman would go to record the UNDER THE SUN album "MAN OF SORROW" with Dennis Cornelius in 2010.


Penance - Bridges To Burn

Various - People Are Hungry Compilation Volume 1#

People Are Hungry Compilation Volume 1# from 1986 on Inward Visions Records. Carl Casanova from Psycho Sin was the man behind IVR and put out a bunch of comps back in the day. This was done with all local bands from the NY & NJ area and was supposed to help open up a soup kitchen in Jersey City New Jersey. I doubt that ever happened as i can't image these sold all that well...!? Anyway this is a fun romp and brings me back to those days. The quality is a bit dubious, as these i'm sure were all hand done by Carl is his bedroom. These early School of Violence tracks kick ass! Also: Beware seems to be Psycho Sin in disguise????

1 Beware – Riot In The City
2 Beware – The Livin' Dead
3 Mechanical Bride – No Destination
4 Chronic Fear – Discrimination
5 Chronic Fear – No Fear
6 Social Decay – Too Young To Die
7 Social Decay – Open You Eyes
8 Psycho Sin – Life's Gettin' Ridiculous
9 Psycho Sin – Ronald Reagan Must Die
10 Psycho Sin – Now
11 Psycho Sin – Bonzo Fucked Reagan
12 School Of Violence – Nightmare In Paradise
13 School Of Violence – Dark Design
14 School Of Violence – From Attitude To Action

Various - People Are Hungry Compilation Volume 1#