The Doomed - Electric Ballroom (1978)

The holy grail of recordings for me. Being a huge Damned fanatic and a massive early Motorhead fan, this is a dream come true. There are other recordings of The Doomed period, but this is the best one I've come across. There's nothing more to say about this other than enjoy.

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3 - Dark Days Coming (1987)

After Jeff Nelson and Ian Mackaye recorded the Egghunt 7'' they decided to form a new band together and recruited Steve Niles and Geoff Turner from Gray Matter. Very quickly Ian decided he wanted to move on so the remaining three grabbed Mark Haggerty, also from Gray Matter. They recorded this album and some extra tracks. toured and imploded, all in a very short space of time.

The D.C. scene has to be my favourite anywhere in the world. The incestuous nature of the musicians has produced a huge amount of music, allot of which I know is sitting in a  few very lucky people's basements gathering dust.

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Personality Crisis - Creatures for Awile (1983)

There's certain bands you listen to and end up feeling lucky and robbed at the same time. When I listen to this I can't help feeling sad as it's soooooo good I wish they'd recorded more. Personality Crisis were an instant hit with me from the very first hearing and where ever I go I have a copy of this, car, ipod, desktop, laptop it's a constant. If I were to construct a top 50 albums list this would definitely be in there, I absolutely love it.

Hailing from Winnipeg they formed in 79' as Le Kille morphing into Personality Crisis around '81 and splitting up all too soon in 84'. I imagine most people have heard this, but just wanted to throw it out there just in case. They should have been huge.

Chris Walter has written a good biography on the band that's worth checking out Find it here

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Tom Lyle - Sanctuary (1992)

After Rollkicker Laydown disbanded Tom Lyle did some solo work, probably with Pete Moffett on drums again. The ex GI guitarist has released two albums, this is the second and, personally, I think it's a bit of a killer. It's not hardcore and not even punk, it's more in a rock vein. I never get tired of listening to it.

Unfortunately I've never been able to lay hands on his other album entitled "Lyle". If anyone can locate it I'd be very grateful. He really needs to stop slacking and get his arse back on stage, or in the studio, he's too good to waste doing nowt.

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Eric

A classic is all I need to say. :)

Eric

Dove - Wrecking Ball (1992)

After Double-O split up Eric Lagdameo wasted little time in gathering a new band around him recruiting Pete Moffett Drums, Toni Young (ex Red C) Bass, Stuart Casson Guitar and Ben Pape Bass who replaced Toni for the recording of this release. In '86 they entered a band contest and won a $20,000 prize. They spent the money on a more "professional" studio and recorded this excellent album which for unknown reasons sat on a shelf for years.

I was fortunate enough to get a rough tape with some of their songs early on which I wore to death.  When this was released on CD it was a god send. Dreaming Man is just perfect with some of the catchiest guitar work ever. Such a shame they stopped at this.

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Rollkicker Laydown - st (1992)

After G.I. disbanded in the late 80's the members went their separate ways to various projects three of them regrouped in the early 90s to record two unreleased G.I. songs as Rollkicker Laydown. This was really a "tying up loose ends project", but on the evidence of this single they could have gone on the produce some exceptional music.

With Tom Lyle on guitar, J. Robbins on bass/vocals and Pete Moffett on Drums they covered so many bands that I love....Wool, Dove, GI, Jawbox and many many more.


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Asexuals - Dish (1989)

Continuing the poppy theme......

I remember the Asexuals hitting my radar like a bomb when I heard Be What You Want in '84; a year when many were starting to turn into poor metal copyists. The Asexuals offered a new hope for hardcore and I followed them over the next few years. For whatever reason John Kastner decided to bail from the band in the late 80's and formed the Doughboys. It seemed like the end of a good band. Happily I was wrong.

They released this album in '89 right at the time that Soul Asylum and the Lemonheads etc were at their peak. With this release I thought the Asexuals were surely due for stardom, but the album sank without a trace. From the first hearing I was hooked on this release and it remains my favourite Asexuals release.

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Manifesto - st (1992)

There's certain labels and artists I like to follow as they always seem to come up with the goods;2 of these artists appear in this band: -

Michael Hampton (Extorts, SOA, Faith, Snakes, Embrace, One Last Wish)
Bert Queiroz (Untouchables, Youth Brigade (dc), Double-O, Second Wind, Rain)

Along with Ivor Hanson (Faith, Embrace, Geek) they formed Manifesto at the tail end of the 80's. This is where I have to put an advisory warning up.....This is POP music.

You could be forgiven for thinking with this pedigree, they would have to turn out a hardcore/punk album, but by this time they'd had enough and wanted to create more challenging melodic music.

If they'd been an English band at the time this was released, I have no doubt they'd have been huge.  This could easily have fitted into the baggy madchester scene and would have pissed allover many of the bands associated with that wave. Listen to Sugar, Walking Backwards, Different day and you'll hear what I mean. I know some people will listen to this and promptly delete it, but I love it and hope you do too.

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The Outsiders - One to Infinity (1977)

Adrian Borland: Guitar, Vocals, Bob Lawrence: Bass, Adrian Janes: Drums

Such an underrated band.  Tony Parsons once slagged this band off calling them a bunch of hippies, but that just shows what a fool he really is. When I was young I used to dig around record fairs trying to find bands I'd missed, or ignored, in the 70's and this is one I found very early on.This was before the interweb so you had to wade through mounds of crap to find the odd diamond and this one shone brighter than most.

I think it was the cover that attracted me if I remember correctly. I found their two albums shortly after, this was '80 I think. Andrew Borland was one of those quintessential British artists who produced a wealth of material to enjoy. The Outsiders morphed into The Sound in the late 70's and Adrian went on to a flourishing solo career. Sadly he was plagued with mental illness and he took his own life in 1999.

To this day I can't understand how this band can be so over looked when crap like The Killjoys, my opinion, seem to gather speed with more and more saying how good they were. They weren't.....The Outsiders on the other hand were good.

Adrian Borland site: - Here

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HVY DRT ep (1985)

I really can't praise this release highly enough, it just reeks of the OC sound. A band comprising members of the Adolescents and D.I. can't really go wrong. Released by the mighty Savage Beat label in 1985 it only had 6 tracks, but it's quality that counts not quantity.

Frank Agnew on guitar and future D.I. members Steve Garcia and Hedge as the rhythm section, along with Micky on vocals and Alfred Cruz on guitar. I can't remember how this record came into my collection, but since I got it I never stopped playing it. If you're into melodic OC HC then grab this, sit back and enjoy.

If anyone can decipher the lyrics to Chocolate Rat I'll buy you a pint as a reward.


Music

The Abductors - Suburban Unrest

Here's a classic for you.  This is a mates band from a million years ago, well 82 or 83, I can't remember exactly, released on a local tape label. The Abductors were from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and were all friends of mine, Carl and Hindey especially. They were typical brit punk from that era, war lyrics etc, but they showed real promise early on. Sadly Carl decided he wanted to go in a different direction and after he left the band split up.

I've not played this for years and still think that the production never captured them in the right light.  They were so much better live and I have a different mix somewhere which beats this final released version. We all had fun bouncing around the place to them when they played live. Sadly I've not seen these guys for 20 plus years.

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Nuclear Socketts (1981)

Formed in that hotbed of 70's UK punk, Kings Lynn.  They were much loved by John Peel, who gave them lots of airtime. Releasing two excellent singles in 1981, both of which I snapped up after hearing them. Their first Honour before Glory sold so well the band started their own record label, Subversive records. The second, Play Loud, is still a huge favourite of mine and really shows the diversity of punk at the time and how good the band could have been had they not split up.

A flexi disc was released by Trees & Flowers fanzine in 81/82 which I'll upload one day when I dig it out the loft.

A quick search before posting showed that there's been some recent(ish) activity with them.  Overground records, ran by that lovable Minehead reject John, have gathered together the two 7'' plus a John Peel roadshow recording. This can be found here: - http://www.overgroundrecords.co.uk/

Their Myspace is here: - http://www.myspace.com/nuclearsocketts

Link removed due to someone reporting me.

Void - Hit & Run Demo

Formed in '79, but they really made their mark in the early 80's as part of the DC hardcore scene.  They must be one of the first bands to fuse metal with hardcore, pre-dating the crossover trend by a good few years. Their crowning glory will always be the Faith/Void split album released in '82 released on Dischord, but this comes a close second.

I hated this band when I first heard them...after 4-5 listens I loved them, and still play them to this day. Enjoy....or hate, whichever it may be :)

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Tank - This Means War (1983)

A Damned related post.

After Algy Ward had his spat with Rat in 1980 and was "exited" from the band he wasted no time in recruiting a couple of very talented brothers, Pete & Mark Brabbs, and he formed Tank. Very much in the Motörhead template, they appealed to punks and metelheads alike in their early days. Their first album is a cross over classic.

This is their 3rd album and show cases the direction they took until their split in the late 80's. I have a huge fondness for Tank and have great memories about getting pissed with Algy in '82 when he reminisced about stories of The Damned and setting people on fire.  Ahhhh great days.

Metallica were big fans of Tank and it's a huge travesty they aren't better known as they put to shame 99% of the NWOBHM. They reformed a few times over the years, but sadly Algy has now left them due to health issues. God bless him and his hammer!

Tank official website: - http://www.tankfilthhounds.net/
Algy's my space: - http://www.myspace.com/algytank

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The Damned - Fuck Off & Die - Live at the Whiskey a go go (1979)

I couldn't name the blog "13th Floor Vendetta" and not have some Damned on the first day.  Here's a great live gig by THEE best punk band of all time.  This shows them at their chaotic best, insulting the crowd, fucking up, ripping up their own, and others, songs as they tear through their set.

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Cracked Actor - Nazi School 7'' (1981)

I thought long and hard about what to make my first post and here's the winner. I remember hearing this record in '82 when a friend bought it and it's been a favourite ever since.

They were grouped in with the early 80's hardcore, but they have a more punky feel to me. This a a band who you just know have recordings sitting in a box somewhere waiting to be released; until that day we'll have to do with this. The guitarist Jim Majowski resurfaced recently in a new band who you can check out here, they're purty darn good.

http://www.charmingbastards.com/

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