They hit the road TOMORROW, going down to Florida and back, and are playing the DNA Test Fest preshow in Baltimore on April 2nd (can’t find any info on this — someone help me out).  Go see them and rage hard.

March 26 Richmond @ Couch Heaven w/ Two Funerals, Hail Hydra, The Gift (DC)
March 27 Greensboro @ CFBG w/ Low Sky, Resistor, Stoned Fox
March 28 Atlanta @ Cat Cave w/ The Sunglasses, Archeology, and Dead in the Dirt
March 29 Gainesville @ Junkyard w/ Carbs, Dead Friends + TBA
March 30 Columbia SC @ 2402 Rosewood Drive w/ Gesundheit, Dissapear

Check out their MySpace page for the usual riffraff.  Not sure how many demos they still have, but a 7″ will be out soon on Lengua Armada.  I’m listening to these songs as I write this, and they hone the best elements of those on their demo.

LA VOZ + circle pit! (photo by OldHC Robert)

Also, I want to give a huge kudos to this scene.  I’d seen TUBERCULOSIS and RAYOS X up here, but seeing them in their own town and watching these kids, who probably have more reason to be punk than most, getting excited, dancing, singing along to all their friends’ bands, and making shit happen in general was rad and super inspiring.  Along with a bunch of great bands, this scene has also spawned a record store, radio show (not just an internet one either), and Fronteras Desarmadas, which is both a print and video zine with contributions from a lot of these kids.  For more info and updates, check out myspace.com/rawponxla.

The music and artwork here look and sound “authentic” as all shit, and I seriously thought NECRO HIPPIES were some lost early ’80s band until I looked at the recording date. This is music for another Saturday night spent drunk and alone in the basement of your shitty brownstone as it pours buckets outside: semi-snotty, thin-sounding vocals remind me of a more inept Otto from REGULATIONS, screaming and slurring over mostly mid-paced thick and dreary riffs, and stompy drums. This is also one of those bands that are able to come up with the simplest of riffs that still make you clench your fists. Put this record’s opener on your next mix tape.

Sounds, pictures, and more at the Necro Hippies MySpace page, where you can also the dates they’re looking to fill on their upcoming West Coast/Southwest tour, May 10th-21st, 210. Check it out and get in touch with them if you’re down to set something up!

Zombie Dogs! (Photo by Dave Sanders)

Here’s what Layla had to say about their demo in the July 2009 Maximum Rocknroll:

Really raw and rudimentary, (in the best sense of the word), all-lady-made hardcore from Brooklyn.  It comes with this rad lyric book/tape cover, with songs about creepy feminist for fucks dudes, street harassment and skateboarding!  It’s so refreshing hearing challenging, thoughtful feminist and goofy lyrics in this genre of hardcore.  So rad!!  Tamara has the coolest voice, it’s really tough sounding but not in a SPITBOY way, more like a more hardcore Jenna from MIKA MIKO.  She has a similar cool throaty/snotty thing, but this is way more aggro!  The guitar sound is so blown out, and listening to this just makes me think of the endless eternal sound of basement hardcore bands.  It’s a good feeling listening to a tape on which the riffs bring to mind Flex Your Head, but girls made it, so much cooler than another generi-dude band.

SLAVE SCENE

For those of you on the East Coast, they’re hitting the road with NAZI DUST in just a few days: Evidently, I live on the wrong fucking coast.

SLAVE SCENE/NAZI DUST “Slave to the Dust” Tour 2009/2010
December
27 – Orlando @ Stardust w/ LLLR, MY LEFT UTERUS, HORRID CROSS
28 – Gainesville @ 911 Depot w/ POST TEENS
29 – Atlanta @ Eyedrum w/ FAILURES, AEROSOLS, SALVATION
30 – Baltimore @ Hexagon w/ NEEDLE GUN, LOTUS FUCKER
31 – Philadelphia @ Terrordome / LEATHER
January
1 – New Brunswick @ ASK SOMEBODY w/ TROUBLEMAKER, THE MEN
2 -  NYC @ Stolen Sleeves w/ NOMOS, LOTUS FUCKER, POLLUTION
4 – Providence @ Mars Gas w/ SHV
5 -  Boston @ House 11 w/ VACCINE, FAILURES
6 – Amherst @ TBA w/ FAILURES, SQRM
7 – Pittsburgh @ Helter Shelter w/ THRAK, VIRGIN BIRTH, VILE GASH
8 – Columbus @ Legion of Doom w/ VILE GASH, HUMAN BOYS, VIRGIN BIRTH
9 – Nashville @ Little Hamilton w/ MY LEFT UTERUS, FROSTY, BRAINWRECK
10 – Tampa @ Heinrich’s Workshop w/ BRAIN KILLER, SCAPEGOAT

For all things SLAVE SCENE and otherwise Cult Maternal: cultmaternal.blogspot.com

With the ringing out of the first song’s main riff, the tone is set for these bitter, beaten-down, and captivating songs that are exceptional even by 7″ standards. This band already has a sound that’s their own, but likely draws from THE OBSERVERS and LEATHERFACE,and there’s something very Midwest about these songs as well, making me think of early ARTICLES OF FAITH and HUSKER DU. If Side A is the soundtrack to a frustrated, grey day, driven by disillusionment to live out of one’s own head, Side B it is that day’s night, as the desperation grows and all there is to look forward to is more days and nights of the same.

This demo can be downloaded at bloodygears.blogspot.com, and I believe will be pressed to vinyl soon. Let’s hope they tour in 2010!

The band, and friends

Along with LOTUS FUCKER, NO MINION, and THE GUILT, DEATHRATS can be added to the list of killer DC hardcore bands that have started up in the last couple of years.  This band’s demo knocked me on my ass a few months ago, and it was just pressed on 7″ by To Live A Lie, limited to 300 or something. Here’s the review I did in MRR magazine:

One of the best hardcore demos I’ve heard in a long-ass time. DEATHRATS play ‘dark and heavy’ hardcore that is likely influenced by bands such as DROPDEAD, DEATHREAT, TO WHAT END?, and SKITSYSTEM among others, with a lot of great riffs, cool instrument breaks, crucial feedback at exactly the right moments, and vocal phrasing that works really well with the music, all played a bit faster than usual for this style. Christine’s livid vocals seriously send chills down my spine, and there’s a refreshing earnestness and intelligence to her anger, as she takes on people that project their own misery onto how they treat others, how the male gaze keeps her from developing a positive self-image on her own terms, and how the need for girls to stop hating each other and band together is just as relevant now as it was in the heyday of Riot Grrrl. All of this serves as further proof that girls/women in punk have more reason to be pissed than their male counterparts…

The band’s blog can be found at deathratsdc.blogspot.com, with show info and downloads and what not.