Frites Modern Veel, Vet Goor En Duur LP reissue
There is a pantheon of classic European hardcore that most stalwart fans of international punk and hardcore all know and love. Although some of these folks may know the name FRITES MODERN—if from nowhere else then from their track on Maximum Rocknroll’s classic Welcome to 1984 comp—I have the feeling that too few punks have ever really given this brilliant Dutch band their proper due. Veel, Vet, Goor En Duur is their first album, and it’s an absolute classic for anyone who likes their hardcore equal measures of fast, urgent, tuneful, and melodic. I suspect that they got less love in their own day (and beyond) because they were more whimsical than countrymates BGK, they sang in Dutch rather than English, and they seemingly didn’t tour as relentlessly as some of their peers. Regardless, this LP — reissued for the first time by the label that released the album in 1984 — deserves to be put on a pedestal among the classics of ’80s Euro hardcore. Veel, Vet, Goor En Duur is just a picture perfect punky hardcore album, equal parts pogo and slamdance worthy. A classic!