RED TIDE - Demos (1982-83)

I know there were cleaner versions of these demos out there, but I figured I'd put this up anyways. This was dubbed for Dave Spicer by a member of Red Tide in the early 90's. Whoever did it even took the time to make liner notes. Track 14 is actually a reprise of 'Fear To Live'. The first 5 songs were from when the Victoria band were still known as Suburban Menace. At the end of side B there was also two and a half songs from "Kelp And Salal", which I left off because you can get those songs on itunes. Still, it's a shame no one's ever done a discography of this totally unique hardcore band.

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ACTIVE GLANDS - Live At Kennedy Hall (1987)

This tape was lent to me by Dave Spicer who used to put out Subversive Behavior fanzine back in the 80's and played local bands such as Pipebomb, Dunderheads, China Creeps, and Ballast (and who also put on this show). This is a pretty decent live recording from January 9th, 1987 at Kennedy Hall in Delta, BC. There was no track listing, so I guessed the song titles from what I recognized off their 1983 demo and when the singer announced what the next song was called. If anyone can help me out with the rest, that would be great. Active Glands recorded two demo tapes between 1983 and '87, and appeared on a few cassette-only comps. Too bad they never got around to releasing an LP. You can get Mission Of Christ's set from the same gig over at the VDRP blog, which was also recorded by Dave. 

1. Unknown (starts mid-song)
2. Asshole
3. Unknown
4. Hooray For The USA
5. America The Beautiful (D.O.A.)
6. Unknown
7. Unknown
8. Unknown
9. Do Something
10. Unknown
11. Perfect World
12. Unknown
13. Unknown
14. Heavy Metal Freak
15. I'll Be Me
16. We're Alone
17. Clifford Robert Olsen
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TOTAL FURY - Spring Thrash EP (1997)

When I first heard Total Fury's "13 Songs" 12 inch a decade ago, I was blown away. That release is still not only one of my favorite albums to come out of Japan, but one of my favorite HC records post-2000. While Spring Thrash, their debut EP, isn't quite as intense as 13 Songs, it's still pretty damn good. I know it's been out of print for quite a while, so I'm stoked to finally own a copy of it. I think it's about time someone puts out a Total Fury discography.

1. Our Rules
2. Nothing's Easy
3. Outcome
4. Get Tough Enough
5. Wasted Life
6. I Wanna Be Like You
7. Essential
8. Slam Chop
9. Minor Of Heart
10. I Hate You (Untouchables)
11. That's All I Need
12. Silly Games
13. Burn Out
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VA - Canadian Relics EP (1995)

This 7" was a cool concept, some Vancouver bands covering obscure Canadian bands and TV theme songs. Nardwuar's band The Evaporators kicks things off with a rendition of Arson's "Coho? Coho!", The Tonics do a great version of The Littlest Hobo and July Fourth Toliet do the theme to CTV kid's show, "Let's Go". On the B-Side, The Sister Lovers tackle Goddo and the last one is an Ian & Sylvia song performed by the Insignificant Specks featuring Carl Newman (of Superconductor, Zumpano and New Pornographers fame) on vocals. Too bad they didn't do a volume 2.

THE EVAPORATORS - Coho? Coho!
THE TONICS - The Littlest Hobo
JULY FOURTH TOILET - Let's Go
SISTER LOVERS - Sweet Thing
INSIGNIFICANT SPECKS - So Much For Dreaming
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THE INTOXICATORS - Last Call tape (19??)

Mr. Walters gave me this demo months ago, but it was only recently that I finally got around to ripping it. Unfortunately, there's no info in the insert, so I don't know when it was recorded. I'm thinking sometime during the 1980's since the gig flyer below is from January 1984. All I really know about this band is that it featured a former member of The Bill Of Rights and a future member of The Deadcats, which I think is the same person. The Intoxicators definitely sound more like the latter band than the former. If anyone knows any more about these guys, help a brother out.

1. Wrong Side Of The Trax (live)
2. Black, Black & Blue (live)
3. Sinner Soul (live)
4. Fire Spirit (live)
5. Pull Of The Smoke
6. Heading Out
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FUCK ME DEAD - Unreleased Shit

Short-lived band from Vancouver who put out a couple of 45's in the mid-00's before members went on to form the B-Lines. There was talk of a third 7" that never saw the light of day, except for one song on the compilation, "Killed By Canada". I found pretty much everything they recorded on Soulseek about 5 years ago. Tracks 1-2 sound like they could have been out-takes from their first release, "Mechanize Me". I'm assuming tracks 3-6 are from the unreleased EP. Track 7 is a 25 minute live set and interview from CITR's "Thunderbird Radio Hell" show, recorded April 20, 2006.

1. Hijacked Brains
2. Coming Down
3. Lowlife
4. Spilled Milk
5. Patterns
6. Stockpile
7. Live On Thunderbird Radio Hell
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WRETCHED / INDIGESTI - Split EP (1982)

Classic Italian hardcore. Just got this in the mail today, so I thought I'd rip it right away and throw it up here. Both bands on this 7" are great, although I must admit I do prefer the Indigesti side. The original release goes for hundreds of dollars online, which is why I bought the 2012 bootleg instead. This version stays true to the '82 pressing with the same xeroxed inserts and stamped sleeve. Only differences are the labels are red instead of black and the track listing is reversed.

WRETCHED
1. Usa La Tua Rabbia
2. Il Loro Stato
3. Se Ne Fregano
4. Fino In Fondo
5. Promesse
6. Schiavo Del Sistema
INDIGESTI
7. Detesta
8. Mass Media
9. Polvere Fastidiosa
10. Mai
11. Crea Veleno
12. No Al Sistema
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THE DISHRAGS - There's No Dee Dee EP (2007)

The Dishrags not only have the distinction of being B.C.'s (and one of Canada's) first all-female punk band, they also played Vancouver's very first punk rock show in July 1977. I believe this CD EP was released to commemorate the 30 year anniversary of that gig. If you already own the 1997 out of print compilation, "Love/Hate", then there's is nothing on this you don't have already. I think this too may be no longer available, outside of a few record stores in Vancouver. Tracks 1 & 2 were from the Vancouver Complication sessions, tracks 3-6 are from their two 7"s and track 7 is live.

1. I Don't Love You
2. Bullshit
3. Past Is Past
4. Love Is Shit
5. Death In The Family
6. All The Pain
7. High Society Snob
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THE DETONATORS - Thousand Points Of Punk tape (1991)

I've never even heard of this band from Eugene, Oregon until recently when Dan gave me this tape to rip. Great stuff here! Catchy punk rock with vocals that sound A LOT like Jerry A. from Poison Idea. After ripping this, I went and checked out their previous album, "Balls To You", which is also great. Most of the tracks on this tape were later reissued on a few 7"s. Highly underrated.

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VA - Meet Cafe tape (1984)

I can't believe it's been a year since I first started up this blog. Big thanks to Dan Walters for all his contributions, including this tape. Another cassette comp from the 80's, made up of mostly obscure (and weird) hardcore. The sound quality is kinda rough on a lot of the songs, but that's part of the charm. I think most of these tracks were unreleased, or maybe only previously available on demos. I know the Bill Of Rights song was from their first 7".

1. Fatal Existence - Oppressive Police
2. Fatal Existence - A Living Hell
3. Red Tide - Cruise Missile
4. Red Tide - Tomatarama
5. Red Tide - Reagan Sucks
6. Dead End - Sheep Don't Care
7. Dead End - World So Shit
8. Mere Mortals - Liquid Laugh
9. Mere Mortals - DO 2079
10. The Bill Of Rights - Drunk Government
11. Immoral Minority - Practice What You Preach
12. Immoral Minority - Madagascar
13. Silent Minority - Jazz Drums
14. Silent Minority - What Is Freedom
15. Polkaholics - Zap The Universe
16. Hates - Also Watched
17. Hates - Punk 1301
18. Hates - No Talk
19. Fatal Existence - Alienated
20. Fatal Existence - Grand Ol' Flag
21. Mere Mortals - Death's Door
22. Mere Mortals - Normal
23. Immoral Minority - They're Cowards
24. Immoral Minority - Die Democratic
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TEN FEET TALL - Alive tape (1993)

I never saw these guys live, but I remember my old roommate playing the shit out of this tape back in the day. I got a copy a few years ago from their bass player Rob Hope when he was still working at Dutchman Tattoo.  

UPDATE August 29, 2019
I was never 100% happy with my original rip, so I was stoked when Rob recently hooked me up with a better copy of this tape (that also included a cover!). 

1. Livestock
2. Round Two
3. Onward
4. Not The Only One
5. Die By The Board
6. Alive / Winding Down
7. Lifelines
8. Pass Me A Beer
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ICEMEN - S/T tape (1988)

Icemen were, I guess you could say a "hard rock" band with a definite punk and metal influence. This was Ken Jensen's(RIP) band between Red Tide and D.O.A., which also had Grog (ex-House Of Commons) on bass. Judging by the professional layout of this cassette and by the fact it was recorded by Cecil English at Profile Studios, these guys were probably hoping to get signed. 

1. Hot City
2. Go To
3. (I'm An) Honest Cheater
4. Scarlet River
5. Painkiller
6. Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith)
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VA - Cana-Core Tape (1988)

Here's a rare cassette comp out of Ontario, featuring mostly lesser known bands from B.C., Nova Scotia, and of course, Ontario. A lot of these songs were at the time (and still probably are) previously unreleased, as indicted by (*). "Sick Of Being Sick" is a Damned cover, and "Ohio" was originally by Neil Young. 

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DUNDERHEADS - Stressed tape (1994)

After posting their 7", I decided to dig up the only other Dunderheads release I have. The version of "Anxiety" on this demo is the same compilation track that I included with the EP last month. This time I added "No Change" from the CD "Wade-Free Vancouver: The Club Grotesque Compilation", which is not on this tape.

1. Intro / Insecurity
2. Anxiety
3. To Serve And Protect
4. Will It Stop?
5. It's Another Story
6. Religious Deal
7. Equality
8. No Change (Bonus Track)
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TOE TAG - Compilation tracks

If you're still waiting for some new Toe Tag like I am, here's some songs I threw together from various 7" and CD comps to tide you over. Tracks 1,3 & 4 were later re-recorded for their split disc with World Of Lies. Last I've read, they've recently recorded some new material. Hopefully, they'll put something out by the end of the year. 

1. Run For Cover / Rotting In Sickness

2. House Of Shame

3. Morgan

4. Looks Like Shit

5. Whipping Boy

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LEGION OF DOOM - Keep Asking Questions tape (1985)

Big thanks to Dan for lending me this tape! I've never heard these guys before, but it's cool checking out these obscure local bands. I tried looking them up online, but all I came across was a few mentions in MRR's Canadian scene report. 

"LEGION OF DOOM are a cool band who sound a bit like S.L.F. They're currently going through a little line-upchange and have got a really good tape out."

"With recruits from DEAD BOB & KINKY TRIBESEMEN and the old guitarist from IMMORAL MINORITY, Don. These guys have potential and are sounding good from recent practice. They play a mixture of '77 punk to now-a-days U.K. SUBS. They've got a couple gigs lined up and remain a four piece band."

1. Joe's New Boots

2. Broken Morals

3. Dance

4. Paradise Lost

5. Surfer Girl

6. Beware: The Slee Stacks

7. Legion Of Doom

8. Eve Of Destruction (Barry McGuire cover)

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DUNDERHEADS - S/T EP (1997)

I saw this 7" in a local record recently selling for $25. If that isn't crazy enough, I just saw it online for $85! Is it because it's on red vinyl? Who knows. Anyways, The Dunderheads were a Vancouver punk rock band who were around for most of the 90's, but only released this 4 song EP and some demo tapes. "Equality" was taken from "We Are All Guilty: A Northwest Punk Compilation" LP.

1. Ghost Friend
2. 15 Seconds
3. Anxiety
4. The Station
5. Equality (Bonus Track)
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SOLDIERS OF MISFORTUNE - Unreleased Demo & Live (1999)

This is what I like to call Soldiers Of Misfortune 'Mach II'. These are the recordings of the later line-up after the original band first split up in early '97. They were given to me by their singer, Pete on a 'Best Of' burnt CD that also included a few demo songs from "Pay Attention". 

Updated 11.26.16

Tracks 1-5 were from a rough demo recorded sometime in 1999. Track 2 was taken from a 2nd generation tape I recently found in my garage after I thought it was lost forever. 6-15 were from a live soundboard recording at The Columbia Hotel in Vancouver, also from '99. Again, like their earlier material, it's a shame these songs were never recorded in a proper studio and officially released.

1. Question

2. Alcoholic With A Gun

3. Division

4. Heritage

5. Thanks For Nothing

6. Who The Fuck...

7. Untitled

8. Strapped

9. Old Macdonald

10. I4NI

11. Everybody Dies

12. Raining Blood

13. Mommy

14. Average Joe

15. Something More

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VA - Basic Sampler tape (1984)

Found this tape about 10-12 years ago. Wasn't familiar with most of the bands on here at the time, aside for The Fartz and DOA. Mainly a Northwest comp, with a few acts from Italy, San Fran and Phoenix. I think most of the songs on here can't be found anywhere else.

"CCM and I REFUSE IT from Italy; FARTZ and SOLGER (R.I.P.) and REJECTERS from the Northwest; MEAT PUPPETS, PART-TIME CHRISTIANS, and MAGGOT BRAINS from all around. Lots of live tracks and decent sound quality, but what's most unusual about this release is...no accompanying booklet with lyrics, addresses, etc., a rarity these days."

-Tim Yohannan (from Maximum Rocknroll #21, January 1985)

01. Maggot Brains - Intro
02. Maggot Brains - Charlie Manson
03. Mr. Epp and the Calculations - What's Right?
04. I Refuse It - Hit and Run Attack
05. I Refuse It - Sacrifici Umeni
06. The Meat Puppets - Problem Child
07. The Meat Puppets - Aurora Borealis
08. DOA - Slumlord
09. Solger - Raping Dead Nuns
10. Solger - Dead Solger
11. Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers - NO OBVIOUS TITLE
12. Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers - Getting Violent
13. Part-Time Christians - Strength Through Bowling
14. Part-Time Christians - Al Capone
15. The Rejectors - Patriot
16. The Rejectors - The End
17. The Fartz - Police Force
18. The Fartz - People United

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CULTURE KIDS - S/T EP (2009)

Culture Kids are from San Francisco and play noisy lo-fi hardcore. This self-released 7" was their vinyl debut, and appears to be out of print because I haven't seen it for sale online anywhere. I think they also have some demo tapes out too, which also seem hard to track down. If you like this EP, check out their first full length, out on cassette through Burger Records, and LP on Make A Mess Records. You can listen to it in its entirety HERE.

1. Drop Off The Block
2. Dumbhead
3. Join The Cult
4. Keep Control
5. Good Ol' American Boys
6. Beer Battered Bullshit
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INDIGESTI - Osservati Dall'Inganno LP (1986)

Indigesti are often referred to as 'The Italian Bad Brains'. Although their vocalist does try to sing like H.R. at times, I think they really pulled off their own sound with this record, their debut full-length. While their earlier material is straight up fast USHC, 'Osservati' showed how much they evolved as a band, and not in a bad way either. This album sounds like it could have been released in the early to mid 90's, so I guess you can say they were a bit ahead of their time.

On a recent trip to Rome, I picked up a CD reissue that included some video footage from their 1987 US tour, and a book featuring photos, lyrics and liner notes (in Italian). But what really disappointed me is that CD itself sounded like it was ripped from vinyl, crackle and all. I'm not sure if was either a case of 'this is the way it was meant to be heard' or the master tapes were long lost. Had I known that, I would've just bought the LP instead and done it myself. So I did that anyways. This was ripped from the 1995 Vacation House reissue. 

1. Silenzio Statico
2. Doppio Confronto
3. Diretto Nel Mio Sguardo
4. Senso Di Abitudine
5. Fragile Costruzione Mobile
6. Osservati Dall' Inganno
7. Alone D'Oro
8. Dune
9. Dubbio Legato
10. Permessi Nel Disagio
11. Uguale Nell' Uguale
12. Oltre Camera
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PERSONALITY CRISIS - Take A Drunk To Dinner LP (2011)

I'm not sure exactly when this bootleg came out, but the art on the back says 2011, so I'm going with that. This is a great soundboard recording, not taped from the audience or with a boombox. Recorded live in Seattle, 9/6/83 on their 'Take A Drunk To Dinner Tour'. 'The Jam' was used as the B-Side for their posthumous "Twilight's Last Gleaming" 7 inch. Strangely enough, that song is not listed anywhere on this record, along with 'Intoxication' (Rancid X cover) and 'People In Glass'. 'Demolition Girl' is a cover by The Saints. This show was also videotaped (see below), too bad it was never released. 

1. Wonder What They're Thinking
2. Case History
3. Mrs. Palmer
4. The Look
5. The Advocate
6. Vampire's Dream
7. The Jam
8. Twilight's Last Gleaming
9. Scavengers
10. Creatures For A While
11. Demolition Girl / Intoxication
12. People In Glass
13. Case History (from Rat Music For Rat People Vol. 2)
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