Thursday, February 26, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
Page 7
Having been refreshed by recent
travel, my return home was
made all the more pleasant by
the appearance of a few surprisingly
good recordings in my mail pile.
From across the Atlantic, Bri
tain's Bluurg Records has produced
the versatile "Open Mind Surgery"
compilation, which highlights a
small but growing trend among
hardcore labels: bands using a var
iety of musical styles. Nine bands
from three continents each con
tributed two songs. Each band also
contributed a page of writing and
art to an informative booklet that
comes with the album.
fifth by bryan
column Peterson
One standout is Culture Shock,
whose vocalist Dick sang for the
Subhumans. Culture Shock has a
heavily reggae influenced style.
Steve L. sings and plays acoustic
guitar on two of the album's best
songs, "There's a Place" and the
brilliant "Song of Freedom." Civ
ilized Society, who just released
"Shrapnel," and fellow Brits the
Depraved unleashed some mighty
thrashers.
The two non-English bands on
this album provide further interest.
You ctit
1304 Harlan Dr.
(Hwy. 370 & Galvin Rd.)
291-5669
BELLEVUE
MottorCord
K4, hailing from New Zealand, uses
alternating malefemale vocals in a
pair of songs about sexism and
chauvinism. Americans Scream con
tributed two more blasts of unpre
dictable reggae-funk-punk mix.
Songs of all styles are interspersed
on each side, resulting in a very
listenable outpouring of music and
lyrics.
Forethought, a three-piece band
from San Francisco, is gaining many
listeners with its toned-down hard
core style, sometimes reminding me
of fellow SFers Short Dogs Grow.
Forethought, however, has crafted
more serious, challenging lyrics. An
inability to provide labels gives
Forethought's music its attractive
ness. The band's earlier, 10-song demo
tape is full of quirky, catchy songs
that strike me as "almost hardcore,"
slower and more laid back, with a
greater emphasis on musical abil
ity. One of the best songs is "Life is
Revolution" The song's entire lyrics
are: "Beauty can't be madeFrom
diseased bricksLife is change."
Other notables include "I Found"
and a vicious attack upon American
"Easy Life."
Last October, Forethought re
leased an EP with five pointed
songs in a similar style. It is titled in
Spanish and lyrics are printed in
both English and Spanish "Eng
lish is a foreign language too." Fore
thought also touches on this idea in
"Let Them Come Across," concern
ing "illegal" immigration. It urges,
"Storm the bordersThat legalize
greedDon't label meNo govern
ment is mineI'm a member of
humanity."
As if to balance a number of posi
tive songs (notably "I Love Life"
from the tape), Forethought offers
"What Makes the Machine Keep
IRsy. tiG ten $3.SS2
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1 ,000 frames to choose from. First quality lenses only.
Our only Extras: Cox Coating (scratch guard)-$10 and
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237 S. 70th St.
(2 blks. south of "0" St. in Esquire PI.)
" Lincoln" "
M-F 10 a.m.-6 p.m.. Sat. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Running?", a wrenching look at
despair and the system's absorption
of individuals. The overall effect is a
well-rounded, enjoyable pair of re
leases. The seven members of the Nether
lands' the Exhave completed an
interesting package about the 1936
Spanish Revolution. Included are
four songs recorded on two 7-inch
discs and a 150-page book. The book
is made almost entirely of black-and-white
photos from the Spanish
Civil War.
The songs combine folk and post
punk influences and are quite list
enable. Lyrics alternate between
English and Spanish, since three
are based on songs popular during
the revolution. The fourth song,
"People Again," describes how the
revolution transformed the lives of
ordinary people; with lyrics culled
from an interview with a day laborer
of the time.
The photographs document the
people's support of anarcho-com-munist
trade unions such as the
CNT and its anarchist core, the FAI.
The photos are taken by people in
the movement and reveal the human
aspect of the revolution. Much
emphasis is placed on the activities
of these unions and their fight
against the fascist forces of Franco,
who was struggling to control the
whole of Spain.
The entire package is an excel
lent source of educational material,
from Emma, the longtime squat in
Amsterdam. Emma, a vacant ware
house basement, served as home,
gig space and recording studio for
many European hardcore and oth
erwise underground musicians. Yet
they plan soon to release another
followup to their earlier double
albumposterbooklet set, "Blue
Prints for a Blackout."
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339.5310
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