The Cancer Kids

Perhaps the reason this record has seemed to fly under the radar in the hardcore world for so long is due to The Cancer Kid's extremely brief tenure as a band. They (as the now well-known story that has been passed around in reviews and on message boards goes) played only two shows as a band before suddenly retreating to their garage and penning 50 songs, before releasing 19 onto their debut and final LP, The Possible Dream.

Still, it seems that more people should have taken notice to these guys. Members have been associated with acts like Failures and Bucket Full of Teeth. Will Killingsworth engineered their album, in addition to releasing a one sided, one song 7" from the Possible Dream sessions on his Clean Plate label. Mark McCoy, of Charles Bronson/Das Oath/Holy Molar/Ancestors/Failures (etc, etc, etc) fame put out The Possible Dream on his Youth Attack label.

And yet, their LP, The Possible Dream, which was pressed to only 700 copies, JUST sold out through Youth Attack's mailorder. For some reason these guys remained overlooked for years. However, their name seems to be getting thrown around more and more. If you haven't given these guys a chance yet, I strongly recommend you do.

These guys serve up a powerful brand of hardcore, which some have labeled a nod to "West Coast Bandana Thrash", a tag I have to say, sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. If you like bands like Negative Approach, The Pist, or Infest, or if you like these guy's other projects (Bucket Full of Teeth, Failures), these guys are worth giving a shot. Their sound is defined by riffs pumped out at grind speeds (their 19 song album clocks in at just over 15 minutes), satirical and intelligent lyrics, and some of the most pummeling breakdowns ever pressed to vinyl.

Here's a video from their show at the Florence VFW Hall.



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Bostom Cream 7"





The Cancer Kids/Melee Split



The Possible Dream

Loma Prieta Discography 05-09/Punch LP

Loma Prieta


Punch



Well, seeing as these two bands share a member I figured I would post these two albums together.

You probably already know who both these bands are, if you haven't been living under a rock for the past few years.

Loma Prieta plays intense, riffy screamo that heralds back to the glory days, incorporating elements of bands like Honeywell, Ampere, and You and I, into a modern-day, refined package.

Punch is a vegan straightedge thrash/fastcore band from the Bay Area featuring a female vocalist. Between their Eyeless EP, released last year (which you can download here), and this year's self titled LP, these guys (and gal) are putting out some of the most refreshing, in your face hardcore of the decade.

I recently got a chance to catch Punch when they came through Baltimore on their summer tour. Charm City Art Space, a fairly small venue, as anyone who has been to a show there can tell you, was packed pretty full. The entire basement was crammed with kids, who for the most part, seemed to have showed up to see Punch play. They played first, which confused me just a bit, seeing as they were the touring band and Death Rats and Pulling Teeth are both from the immediate D.C./Baltimore metro area, but whatever. They opened the set with the first song from their new LP, "Don't Start". The energy in the room immediately changed, and everyone was either nodding their heads to the point of whiplash or dancing. The set was short, fast, and feedback-laden, and after about 15 minutes of sonic assault, front woman Meghan announced they were done. She had hardly reached the drum set by the time the crowd start asking for one more, and she made her way back to the mic, protesting only mildly by saying, "But it's so hot..." It was. They launched into "Convenience Store," a comment on the vegan lifestyle and one of the highlights of the Eyeless EP.

The Loma Prieta Discography is a Japanese import that was released for The Punch/Loma Prieta Japanese Tour earlier this year. It features the two tracks from the upcoming split with L'antietam (discussed briefly here, where you can glimpse the artwork for that release), their Last City LP, Matrimony 7" (featuring an unreleased track), Our LP is Your EP 12" (featuring an unreleased cover song), and their 2005 Demo CD-R. So, in short, everything but 2009's Dark Mountain LP.

Download Loma Prieta's back catalog here.

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Loma Prieta Discography '05-'09 (2009)



Punch LP (2009)