Go! Impact LP
What if late ’80s NYHC had been heartfelt and honest and without pretension? What if ’80s NYHC had been made by nerds and emo kids (before emo kids were even a thing)? What if ’80s NYHC had had a sense of humor (BORN AGAINST notwithstanding, of course)? If those things had been so, then ’80s NYHC would have sounded like GO!, but fortunately there was GO! so the answer is yes, this is what (late) ’80s NYHC sounded like. They were but a blip, but somehow managed to crank out a half-dozen (or more?) records between ’89–’91, and their approach to hardcore might sound even more refreshing now than it did then. Mike’s vocals are almost lazy, but it feels like he’s just confidently spitting facts to a backing track of no-bullshit USHC punk…because that’s what is happening. Impact compiles the two EPs (Reactive and What We Build Together) from a reformed GO! that were released in the mid-’00s with a ripping live WFMU set from 2006, and this is the anecdote to oppressive toxic hardcore. “Your power means nothing at all.”