in the case of darkness
p.s.: i've got another blog as well.
#138: KOBAYASHI - “s/t”
in the mid/late 90s the hardcore-scene in and around vienna had quite a vital band-scene as well. together with KONSTRUKT (from vienna) and PROHASKA (from baden), KOBAYASHI (from st. pölten) was one of my favorite bands of that time. the five-piece (two screamers, bass, guitar and drums) played some kind of screamo with a pretty low-fi sound. especially the guitar had this crackling sound that makes their songs pretty unique.
there are 4 songs on side a of this self-titled 7” (recorded in 2000). especially “eisenherz” and “gomorrah” let me think of all the live-shows i’ve seen. this mixture of super short mosh-parts and thrash-parts was very typical. i’ve seen KOBAYASHI pretty often, but the two most intensive shows i remember were the shows in berlin (only 5 people showed up) and in hamburg (supporting CHISPA at rote flora) at the 3-dates-germany-tour we (PROGRAMM C & KOBAYASHI) did in 1999 (i think it was 1999). the tour was so much fun!
the hardcore-scene in and around vienna never was homogeneous at all. KOBAYASHI were more those slick arty guys. so the remix on side b of this 7” (“equilibrium disturbance rmx” by TMA) fits perfectly. it starts pretty slow and ends up in this hard breakbeat-sounds. great record.
#137: KITO - “julius seizure”
i remember buying this 7” at a KITO-show at the ekh in vienna. i think it was a show together with KONSTRUKT. beside of being from great britain, i don’t know anything about KITO. and it’s not that easy to find out anything about them. they released a split-7” with KONSTRUKT for sure - i’ve got this one as well.
the four songs on the “julius seizure”-7”, which i bought without cover for 30 or 40 schillings, are pretty raw. at least the sound is. the music is really interesting. the first song sounds like mid 90ies post-rock but the rest is pretty slow and reminds a bit of hardrock-/70ies-metal-influenced hardcore. funny stuff actually.
#136: KISS IT GOODBYE - “choke”
the second KISS IT GOODBYE-7” in my collection. again released by revelation records. this time in 1999.
wikipedia says the songs were recorded to be released by sub pop records, but never came out because of tim singer leaving the band. so sub pop missed out on at least two great songs. “choke” and “cement” again have this chaotic/metallic-hardcore-touch that RORSCHACH and DEADGUY were famous for.
especially “cement” really gets you. i really should try to get the “she loves me, she loves me not…”-lp.
#135: KISS IT GOODBYE - “preacher/target practice”
it’s a little bit weird that i only own the two KISS IT GOODBYE-7”s and not the album (“she loves me, she loves me not…”). members of DEADGUY and RORSCHACH teaming up for a band, i mean, wow! and you really know what you can expect from members of those bands. really chaotic, metallic and noisy hardcore that - and i have to use this idiotic phrase - blows you away. but it’s really like that.
the songs (“preacher” and “target practice”) are so tense and have this kind of sound that causes a stress-reaction on people who don’t like this kind of music.
the two songs seem to have been recorded during the “she loves me, she loves me not…”-recording session and were released in 1997 on revelation records.
#134: KING FOR A DAY - “s/t”
another initial records release. i really trusted the label back in the days. i liked most of their releases and bought lots of them. i don’t know, where i got this KING FOR A DAY-7” (released in 1997), but it was quite satisfying too. especially “sleeping hero” on side a, which reminds me of TEXAS IS THE REASON or SPLIT LIP/CHAMBERLAIN. emotional indie-rock, i would say. “lazy” on side b is in the same vein, but not that good actually.
the packaging is very nice too. through the cut-out-cover you see a picture on the front side of the paper sleeve. on the backside there are pictures of the band-members with the lyrics printed over it. very cheesy for today’s standards, but it’s 15 years old already.
#133: KINDLE - “s/t”
im not sure, if i really like KINDLE. sometimes their songs sound like german punk (deutschpunk). and i never was really into that. but on the other hand they have those northcore- and even some emo-influences which are quite okay actually.
the three songs (“ethik”, “mut”, “repression”) deal with the (political) topics that were big in the scene in the 90ies and were recorded in 1997.
the record is a split-release by desperado syndikat and no more heroes. i’m really wondering what stephen and paul of desperado syndikat are doing nowadays. i’m not sure, if i wrote this before, but they generously gave me a place to crash after an AVAIL-show at rote flora in hamburg in 1998 (i guess), because the youth hostel i was staying in closed at midnight.
#132: KILL HOLIDAY - “meant to let you down”
i listened to side a of this 7” so many times, that i’m surprised it still works properly. unlike others, i really liked all the stuff of KILL HOLIDAY (especially the “somewhere between the wrong is right”-album), even though the new band of steven andrew miller didn’t really sound like UNBROKEN anymore.
the two songs on this 7” are still more hardcore than indie-rock, but especially “meant to let you down” is a first preview to the “somewhere between the wrong is right”-album. “one more time for me please (then i’ll go)” could be on the split-7” with DEMPSEY as well.
both songs were recorded in 1997 and the 7” was released on simba records, the label of vique martin.
#131: THE KILLERS - “voice of reason”
i guess there have been various bands called THE KILLERS long before NEW ORDER used the fictitious name in the video to the song “crystal” and THE KILLERS (pop-rock-band) from las vegas went big. this 7” is by a powerviolence-/fastcore-band from the late 90ies.
i remember lots of people talking about this record or band, because some ex-members (or at least one) of CHARLES BRONSON were in it. and CHARLES BRONSON was, together with REVERSAL OF MAN, one of the most popular powerviolence bands (at least here in vienna) of that time.
the record was released on a german label called chappi records in 1999. the 11 songs are really straightforward fastcore/powerviolence with some nice moshparts. lyricwise you get lots of political topics (e.g. a hate-song against nike), which is quite typical for that era.
by the way: that’s for sure the heaviest vinyl-7” in my collection. i just put it on a scale: it weighs 70 grams!
#130: KEROSENE 454 - “blown clean”
i can’t really say that much about KEROSENE 454. i just remember that the name turned up on lots of distro-leaflets and in -catalogues and that they were from washington, d.c.. they play some kind of rock/hardcore that nowadays would be filed under post-hardcore, i guess. while listening to the two songs (both recorded in 1993) i had to think of CABLE. the record is quite okay actually. the only weird thing: side a (“with age”) and side b (“blown clean”) are on totally different volume-levels. first i thought the songs for sure were recorded in different studios, but it doesn’t seem like that. but nevermind.
#129: KASSIOPEIA/NOTHING LEFT TO GRASP - “split”
again a release of two of those german emo-violence-bands.
the two songs by KASSIOPEIA were recorded in 1995. while the first song (“scham”) is a pure powerviolence one, the second song (“knife”) sounds more like the songs on the KASSIOPEIA-7” that was recorded earlier in the same year. again it begins like this fragile emo-song and gets more chaotic and loud pretty soon.
NOTHING LEFT TO GRASP from augsburg start off like an emo-rock-band, but just by listening to the very tense drum- and bass-sound you can guess, that it will get more chaotic soon. which it does. the song (“gravitas”), which is better than the KASSIOPEIA-songs by the way, was recorded in 1995 too.
