in the case of darkness

#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.

#128: KASSIOPEIA - “s/t”

in the mid- and late-90ies there were lots of “emo-violence”-bands in germany. they didn’t really have a homogeneous sound. but the kind of singing, the poetic lyrics and the emo-attitude was quite the same. this really made a difference to other scenes in other countries that were more violent or had more machismo. not that something like that wasn’t happening as well, but it was slightly different. KASSIOPEIA was one of those bands.

this 7”, that was recorded in 1995, is like a fanzine. between the cardboard-cover there are several pages full of personal texts, lyrics, political messages and some kind of poems. the whole thing is really well done.

the four songs have this kind of fragile-emo-feeling, but turn out really loud at the end. the screamed lyrics and all the guitar-/drum-work is some kind of german emo-violence - if you want to label or call it like that.

#127: JR EWING - “integritas.consonantia.claritas.”

for me JR EWING was a “live-band”. their shows - i’ve seen them at least three times (#1 “emo is evil”-festival at kafe kult in munich, #2 tüwi in vienna, #3 together with PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES at the chelsea in vienna) - were awesome. every single one. but i never listened to their records that much. and i don’t know why, actually. this 7” is very, very good! it reminds me a lot of DEADGUY, KISS IT GOODBYE and the late REFUSED. still some of my favourite hardcore-bands of all time.

there are four songs on “integritas.consonantia.claritas”. the lyrics-sheet even says: “integritas.consonantia.claritas - ad pulcritudinem tria requiuntur” (“three things are needed for beauty: wholeness, harmony and radiance” - actually it should be requiruntur. thanks to google for that, i never learned latin in school). it seems that JR EWING never took themselves too seriously. one of the best qualities of a band.

with the references given, you know how JR EWING sound like anyway. a very chaotic and tense sound with a strong voice. the lyrics to “hate me tender” are based on the song “love me tender” by ELVIS PRESLEY. but they are very hard to understand.

my lyric-sheet is hand-numbered, by the way. it says “2nd press 234/500”.

#126: JIMMY EAT WORLD/JEJUNE - “split”

lots of people loved, really loved JEJUNE in the 90ies. i remember people crying in the audience during their show at the ekh here in vienna supporting KILL HOLIDAY. i like their songs too, but i never was that much into them.

the main reason i bought this (i guess at sacro egoismo here in vienna) were the two JIMMY EAT WORLD songs. “what sould i say to you now” is a pretty fast and hard song and “speed read” seems to be just a fragment of a very slow song. both are not the best JIMMY EAT WORLD songs, but it’s a great record anyway.

the two songs by JEJUNE (“early stars”, “that’s why she hates me”) have this special touch that really gets people just by hearing them for the first time. it’s just 90ies emo at it’s best - not too whiny and with a little indie-rock touch.