Agnostic Front - The American Dream Died

On the legendary bands 11th full length studio album. Agnostic Front, a NYC institution as recognizable as the legendary Katz's Deli,
tackle issues that are as time tested as they are current. Songs about police brutality, injustice, the scene and war,
to name just a few.
Subject matter that was as relevant in the 60's as they are today.

The 2:01 intro featuring doom and gloom news soundbites and sirens introduces
The American Dream Died like a tried and true Hardcore clique. The end is nye, but first, a sound bite. The albums title track follows and your immediately reminded of Agnostic Front'a history of relentless, unapologetic crossover aggression. For better or worse. Love them or hate them. Agnostic Front have more than earned their reputation as the Godfathers of NYHC as well as the Mad Max's of
Road Warriors.

Stellar tracks on this 16 song bruiser include and are somewhat limited to Police Violence, Never Walk Alone. Old New York, the albums 10th track, might make one long for the days when NYC was awash with junkies, pimps, murderers and abject poverty. A time that many, including myself, look back on fondly. Preferring the stark contrast to the current sea of soulless high rises, franchises and yogurt stands.

No disrespect intended  but, listening to Roger Miret sing is like watching Guy Fieri cook. Unfuckingbearable. And while his caterwauling was the catalyst for what AF were to become and to be. That voice, along with the bands music. Just doesn't speak to me the way it did so many decades ago. it might have worked for me in the early 80's, more than 30 years later. I'd liken that voice to someone retching over a public toilet. If there's any saving grace in all of this. There are a couple A list guest appearances by Lou Koller (Sick of it All)
Freddy Cricien (Madball). Toby Morse (H2O) also makes an appearance. 

Overall, listening to The American Dream Died reminded of when I first hear
Cause for Alarm. and to be more specific Every album that followed. Lucky for me, none of these 16 tracks make the three minute mark. James Damion

Nuclear Blast  Get it Here

 Related; Agnostic Front - No One Rules

NYC Mayhem - For Real!

I still remember first hearing the NYC Mayhem demo at my friend Richie's apartment on 92nd Street in Jackson Heights. At the time, I was trying to come up with a name for a new fanzine I was working on.
Just as Richie, who might have been high at the time, suggested the name "Arf it Up". He dropped a tape that featured a badly drawn figure called 'Speedy' on a green demo cover into the deck.

I can't help but recall my immediate disappointment as I listened to the first few tracks. Having been a die hard fan of the NYC band Straight Ahead and often referring to Tommy Carroll as NYHC's undisputed, best frontman. N.Y.C. Mayhem, a band that predated Straight Ahead by about a year, seemed like a let down at the time.

As I listened to N.Y.C. Mayhem's "For Real" all these years later with, perhaps, a lot more knowledge and appreciation for early 80's Thrash Core. I found as if I was righting some wrongs. And though N.Y.C. Mayhem and Straight Ahead were very different bands with similar roots. "For Real", though many years later, allows me to appreciate both bands on more of a leveled playing field. Though I can't say I really appreciated the March '85 and June '85 demos the A side offered. Side B's June '85 and "For Real" 7" sessions had me in a complete stranglehold.

The 26-track LP "For Real" contains all of NYC Mayhem's studio recordings: two demo tapes and their unreleased "For Real!" 7" that was to appear on Urinal Records. Also includes a 12-page full-color book containing extensive liner notes by Laurent Ramadier of Snakepit Magazine. "For Real" also includes many rare/unseen images. Limited to 500 copies.
This is a must have for Hardcore and Thrash fans alike. A perfect document and time capsule for what was being created at the time. Get yourself a copy before they're all gone.
James Damion

Radio Raheem Records  Get it Here

25 Years Later. N.Y.H.C. Classics from 1989

1989 was a banner year for me. One year removed from High School. I was back in my hometown of Jackson Heights and had published a whopping thousand copies the second issue of Unite, I was in either the studio or a practice space somewhere in Queens or Manhattan and shared what was my first apartment with a couple of Gorilla Biscuits and the drummer for Beyond. My first car was on it's last leg but still kicking. I was going to shows two, three times a week at places like CBGB's, The Anthrax, The Sundance,
The Right Track Inn and The Pyramid to name just a few. Above all, it was a banner year for two music genres I found myself deeply immersed in, Hip Hop and Hardcore. As I begin to collect my very own, opinionated and albeit flawed list of favorites from 1989. I'll present you with my list of favorite LP's to come out of the bursting NYHC scene twenty five long years ago. Feel free to comment with yours. James Damion                                                             

Blackout Records - Where The Wild Things Are

Killing Time - Brightside

Leeway - Born to Expire

Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today

Sick of it All - Blood, Sweat and No Tears

Youth of Today - We're Not in this Alone

Judge - Bringin' it Down

Token Entry - Jaybird

Underdog - The Vanishing Point

Beyond - No Longer at Ease

The Last Stand - The Time is Now LP

Many of my favorite records require a few go throughs before really getting a sense of what works and what makes me really appreciate  just what it is about that particular grouping of songs that resonate with me. "The Time is Now" reminded me of that, with one exception. In listening to these songs the first and second time through. I felt an immediate kinship with the music and the songs. However, it wasn't until
I sat down to write this review that I realized just what that connection was. It was that
The Last Stand and
"The Time is Now" reminds me of all the things I loved about late 80's Hardcore mixed with  the very few things that kept me interested in the genre during the 90's.
Heavy riffage, deep rhythms and pile on backing  vocals run rampant throughout the records thirteen songs. Scondotto's voice is powerful, delivering smart lyrics that convey strength and mental toughness. Imagine, if you can, a more fluid, cohesive sounding Roger Miret (Agnostic Front).Though  the bands sound easily follows the lineage of acts such as Sick of it All, Madball and the aforementioned Agnostic Front. The Last Stand clearly create their own identity while establishing themselves as a Hardcore act to help fuel the future of the genre. James Damion

Eulogy Recordings  Buy it Here

The Last Stand  Band Site

Trailer for 'Riot on the Dance Floor' Documentary.

Check out this awesome trailer for the documentary film about the infamous City Gardens club in Trenton, NewJersey. The film features a slew of interviews with musicians from bands that performed  there. Directed by Steven Tozzi, the film represents a piece of 

New Jersey history that needed to be told.

http://www.citygardensfilm.com/

Sick of it All - Non Stop

As with any of Sick of it All's prior releases I met the news of a new record with a level of excitement reserved for few other bands. Having been a Hardcore fanatic since my early teens I followed the band from their very first demo to their first 7 inch and everything that followed. As much as I love many of the NYHC bands from that particular era, Sick of it All are in my mind both the ambassadors and kings of NYHC.

Just as my excitement reached the highest peaks, those feelings quickly faded when I heard the band was re-recording old classics as opposed to delivering new ones. The reworking, re-imagining classic tracks had me thinking of horrible choices that unlistenable bands like Asia and Emerson, Lake and Palmer would undertake. I debated for weeks as to whether or not to take the plunge, ultimately coming to the conclusion "It's Sick of it All." "There's no way they can mess this up."

"Non Stop" opens up with an updated version of "Clobbering Time" which welcomes back legendary rapper KRS-1 with his newly classic intro "Fresh for 2012 you bitches." Once Craig's Bass line introduces Lou's vicious growl "It's Clobberin' Time" even the most cynical ears are won over. The band rips through all the classics including "Clobberin' Time", "Injustice System", "US VS. Them", "World Full of Hate", "Pushed Too Far", "GI Joe Headstomp" and many other classics. All of the twenty-one songs featured are worth mention. Lou's vocals are venomous. Pete's guitar work adds chainsaw like results while Craig and Armand 's rhythms rage like dueling jackhammers.   I really felt a certain raw, live quality to this. It was as if the band were sitting with me in my living room, up close and in your face. Sick of it all haven't only updated these songs, they've thoroughly upgraded them. "Non Stop" closes with a spoken word by KRS-1 that will definitely have you thinking. Though I will always favor the original recordings I will surely check in with "Nonstop's" versions frequently. Fans of the band will definitely feel rewarded. The CD version includes a bonus DVD featuring the bands 2001 Documentary "The Story So Far" which  marks the first time it has been made available in DVD format. (As I listened to this record I couldn't help but think fondly of my old friend Gina "Last Daze" Lawson. She was a die hard
Sick of it All fan from day one. She would always refer to Lou and Pete motherly as  "Her Boys". Gina, wherever you may roam I hope it's with a twelve pack and a walkman blasting "It's Clobberin' time".")
James Damion


Buy it Here