315 Hardcore

When I get my tax refund, I’m gonna get a pizza from Cam’s in Camillus. Yes-Suri-Bobby-Brown.

Noyes - S/T

http://www.mediafire.com/?bd9d0ml2a9p

Noodle Kidoodle from Victor Villareal & Co.
Incredible flourishes that recall moments from Yes’ earlier records.
Victor was in Ghosts and Vodka, Owls & Cap’n Jazz.
He struggles with heroin addiction, poor chap.
Sadly at the time of this bloaughe post, there isn’t much more of this music available to the public.
A tune or two that didn’t make S/T are on the myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/noyess

5 Tom Hanx

During the last ACHC fest, I came picked up a zine(the name of this zine escapes me). A quick flip through this zine made me optomisitic of the contents. It dealt with a lot of political issues and hardcore/punk. Finally something that i could read when i was bored at work or bored in general. Nothing like a good zine.

However, the zine was filled with nothing but political bandstanding and holier-than-thou posturing. Comments about how if you own a Hatebreed shirt, you condone violence against women and homosexuals or how a writer of some zine in Pennsylvania is a mysogenist because he gave a positive review of some alkaline trio album that had descriptions of violence against women. The fineger pointing and preaching never ended in this zine.

The zines constant reminder of what hardcore was about(in this case: super militant left wing politics) left me wondering….what the fuck is hardcore about? It is a question that i struggled with for a few weeks. Why am I into hardcore and what is it about? Is there some universal reason and meaning that plays such a big part in my life and the lives of a lot of us?

No, there isn’t. Throughout its short history, there have been a lot of different people getting into hardcore, going to shows, starting bands and writing zines for a lot of different reasons and causes. What does Negative Approach and XfilesX have to with Earth Crisis and Discharge? Is one group more “hardcore” than the other and have a better claim of belonging?

The fact of the matter is is that we all got into this music, this scene for many different reasons. Some came simply because they were angry at something or someone. Some came because they wanted to be apart of a community and didn’t fit in with any other group at their school/neighborhood. Some came because they wanted to help fight injustice. Some simply came because it was the cool thing to do.

So anyways, Hardcore means everything to me(well, almost. it takes a 2nd to my fiancee), but i’ll be damned if or anyone else can tell you what the fuck it’s about.

I logged in listening to the new Life of Crime song, “Excuse Me Sir” (http://www.myspace.com/lifeofcrime315). I’m a guy who listens to grindcore, thrash metal and more than my fair share of Cleveland hardcore, and these guys are what have me excited on Syracuse hardcore right now. If you don’t hear the Black Flag within a minute of listening, well listen longer. It’s a great way to get up . . .

. . . as opposed to the real fun I had going to sleep last night. It just wasn’t happening. Roll over, not fall asleep, repeat. So, what do I do? Go through my music. The last thing I looked at was my Godbelow / Ringworm split CD. For those that don’t know, most of Godbelow formed Brand New Sin (YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!), Joe Murphy’s currently drumming for Unholy, the new incarnation of Santa Sangre that will tear your soul apart (http://www.myspace.com/unholy), and Danny Johnson is raising his family by example, sailing across the land on a pair of Heelys.

Now Danny has been in a few bands over the year. Godbelow, Unholy up until last year, The Last Season, Blood Runs Black (no, not As Blood Runs Black. Get out of here with that.) and more. Looking through my CDs or my collections of CDs and records there’s a bunch of Syracuse bands that I wish were still around (Another Victim), ones that have led to how Syracuse is today (Attitude, Black SS) and ones that have stuck it out (Ed Gein, anyone?).

Older guys that are still around have shared stories about the past, like seeing Quicksand at the Lost Horizon or seeing Deadguy foam at the mouth with their own rage. Syracuse Sluggers . . . moving on.

Some of this magic was caught on a compilation, appropriately titled “Syracuse Hardcore 1998-99.” 2 songs by each band on it, like AV, Hermon Dekalb, Beta Minus Mechanic and 2 Earth Crisis tracks, pre-Slither. (Yeah, I know it’s not everyone’s favorite album. I like it. Stuff a banana in your tailpipe.) It’s been almost a decade since this came out and a lot has changed. A bit of the progress was captured with Reaper Records’s Assault City 7-inch (www.reaperhardcore.com), but why not go all out with another Syracuse hardcore comp? Same deal as the last one: 2 songs from each band (perhaps for a vinyl release, one song on each side?), and JD and Tom Ranger are a must — just switch Another Victim for Unholy and Eternal Youth for Attitude.

I can say myself that Syracuse now isn’t what it was when I saw what hardcore was for the first time. And that’s ok. Kids today have a lot to be excited about. Culture Shock, Forfeit, Election Day, Another Breath, Life of Crime, Ed Gein, Mistletoe, I can go on but they’re all on that site . . . yourspace or something. Do your homework.

(P.S. This is my first attempt at this type of thing. So if it’s incoherent or not visually pleasing, you live and learn. Forgiveness denied!)