The Problems - 2014 Cassette Demo

The Problems are a side project of sorts featuring former  Hello No frontman John Woods and some friends from Germany. The bands personnel originally crossed paths when John's band Hell No stopped off in Germany during their 1999 European tour. More than fifteen years later these friends have stayed close. Finally deciding to give their friendship a creative edge.

The demo opens with the song Drunk Again and while the opening skit/audio is absolutely unbearable. Problems Faced when Traveling. While Woods handles most of the vocal duties. You can easily detect a second vocalist on these songs.

It quickly moves in the right direction, ultimately winning this listener over with a sound that quickly recalls Soulside's
As for the previous mention of Soulside. There's no Dischord or Revolution Summer revival happening here. The rest of this tape seems to walk a line between the Killed By Death sound and that of early
Black Flag. Simple, raw and quite good. Not bad if you can get it.

Everything from the cassette format to the pedestrian cover art reads "No Frills" while recalling days gone long by and how, as kids of the 80's.
We'd scour our local indie record stores, fanzines and shows to get hold of the latest demo cassette before it was gone. So bust out the tape deck or dust off the old boom box and give this one a shot. James Damion

The Problems  Bandcamp
The Problems  Facebook

Johatsu - Demolition

I'm not exactly sure what's going on but with more and more tape releases popping up I'm beginning to think there is some diabolical plan being devised to trick us into re-investing our hard earned cash in outdated technology. Lucky for me, only a few days after receiving this archeological gem in the mail. I was lucky enough to haggle my way towards an old school turntable/tape deck stereo at a flea market down by Asbury Park. Upon listening to this, my twenty dollar investment made me feel like a Wall Street wiz.

Johatsu, which is Japanese for "Evaporated people" or "One who abandons life in society". (Ask my wife, she's from Tokyo.) Johatsu features Rich and Aaron, best known for their work in NYHC bands All For One (Recently added to the New Breed Tape Compilation) and Hell No. Both bands that kicked around before a lot of you had pubes.
With all respect to those bands, Johatsu's rookie release "Demolition" is a different beast altogether. After hearing some early demos I was intrigued but wasn't really sure the project would ever get the wings it needed to take flight. Here they deliver ten songs that immediately leave a mark. This was the first time my blog partner Dave and Me actually sat down together to listened to a new submission. I couldn't help but feel that overall, the tape really exceeded my already heightened expectations. Seeing Dave's ears perk as he looked over at me inquisitively was a little surprising being that we don't always share the same taste in music. Think New York Hardcore meets Amphetamine Reptile Records and gets stuck in the mud on the way to a Metal show.

The sound is heavy, ferocious and relentless. Mix that with some muddy production that may or may not be intentional but definitely works as a benefit to the songs. Are Johatsu covering Joe Jacksons "Biology" or mutilating it for their own consumption? It's hard to tell. You make the decision. So, is this a demo? An LP wrapped in a cassette, wrapped in a riddle? I'm not sure. Regardless, I'd like to see this one get the vinyl treatment. I also eager to hear more. James Damion

Wardance Records Order it Here

Johatsu  Facebook Page