The Dead C - 'Vs. Sebadoh' (Siltbreeze)

Apart from the heaving, panting excerpt of 'Air' that closes side two, The Dead C Vs Sebadoh sounds nothing like the Dead C or Sebadoh, though I imagine the Deep Wound 7" was somewhat of an influence. There's 8 songs at 45 rpm, most built around fast rock riffs and completely unintelligible lyrics, making this the Dead C's 'hardcore' record for sure. It's great, though -- the attitude and atmosphere blow past everything. Some cuts, like 'River of Lethia', merge the more exploratory tendencies associated with the Dead C ca. 1993 with the short format, and I wonder if this was taken on as some sort of challenge for them to record and release it. This isn't exactly a departure - 'Bad Politics' could fit on here easily, though the lyrics would have to be made less audible -- as a slightly different flavour.  Twenty years later, I consider this a prized cultural artefact, though the numbers of people who would understand or care about such an evaluation continues to dwindle.

Cheveu/Crash Normal split 7" (Rococo)

Crash Normal's side erupts with a blast of manic, industrial punk, with careful attention paid to get a sharp, metallic guitar tone. But barely a minute in, we hear the sound of a stylus streaking across a record and the music changes into something much more Cheveu-like. By which I mean, synth drums, and distorted, mostly spoken vocals. So which band are we actually listening to? The third song on the side also confuses me - both of these are slower and almost a bit loungier than Cheveu usually sound. But both bands are from France and probably have some member overlap. The end of (what I think is) the Crash Normal side descends into a collapsing mess -- well, a 'crash', I guess -- which could pass for Nihilist Spasm Band on a good day. The Cheveu side (we're pretty sure of that, as there's a certain twang to the vocalist that we've come to recognise by now) has a howdown feel, with a twangy riff accelerating, smashing into a brick wall, backing up, and doing it again over and over. The vocals are more like barks and it's hard to imagine all of this energy coming from a line-in recording aesthetic. The guitar is clean here and I like the way it rises above the tide. There's great things afoot in France now, as the legacy of Metal Urbain lives on.

The 1985 / Pressgang - 'Battle of the Brain Geniuses' (C.L.)

Source: Not sure - got from someone affiliated with one of the two bands in 1997 when this came out.

Attractively packaged on CL (which if my memory serves, stood for 'Cheese Log') Records, this split 7" is highly conceptual, see? It comes with a classic DIY 7" booklet containing photos and lyrics, rendered in near-unreadable fonts and handwriting, and a explanation on the back of the big concept behind this record. Because a split 7" is such a crazy, unique idea, isn't it? The '85 tracks sound a million times better than on their debut though maybe this is due to better mastering and pressing. The drums, they sound like drums, and the vocals have their proper screamy yelling quality that they deserve. The songs, well they're in the same manner as the first record: musical confection for those who snack on angry Northern white men, one foot in the post-hardcore camp and one foot still in art school. Pressgang, who we'll visit again when we get to the Ps, are somewhat more in the punker camp, though the guitar riffs (and lyrics) suggest influence from Mission of Burma, Moss Icon, etc. Growled vocals occasionally doubled by a female drive it along and cut against the occasional sunshine seen in the chord changes. The female takes lead for the last track but sounds she's struggling to stay out of high tide.