Lucta, Italian Black Magic Punk

note: misanthropaganda is so much more fun when you view it on your desktop or laptop. Your tablet is fine I guess, as is your phone, but for full enjoyment and understanding of the artist's (ha ha) vision, take my suggestion. It gives the posts a look that's a bit more reminiscent of an old 90's fanzine layout, which is the whole point of this bullshit blog...

Well, Christmas is upon us today and it could not have come and gone soon enough! The Christmas season is without a doubt the most irritating time of the year to get through when you're a hard-nosed, godless sonofabitch like me. I spend 334 days a year dreading the inevitability of another Yule-tide season! I'm sure anyone else who's stuck doing sales and/or retail for a living feels the same way. Such a gay olde thyme this is, when the very best sentiments of peace on Earth and joy for all mankind are best exemplified by two women landing brutal blows upon one another as they fight for the last Barbie on the shelf at FAO Schwartz. It's the new Barbie that's all the rage this year, the one that's anatomically correct with full blown '80s bush and gets her period.  

For a working-class hump like myself, some of the fun secondary effects of Pissmas (just to name a few) include the following: my workload and hours becoming unbearable, my hairline receding at double-time march from the stress of covering my monthly nut plus gifts, the seasonal traffic becomes like Chinese water torture and worst of all, all of these dumb fucking Americans perform a unified assault on my eyes with their god-awful decorations. You have all seen the stupid fucking lawn ornaments of a plastic nativity scene, I'm sure. You know, where Joseph and the wise-men look like four/sixth of the Allman Brothers coming to visit young groupie Mary, trying to figure out who fathered that manger baby. The culmination of all of these elements of course is the traditional Christmas party, where my barely legal Cuban neighbors plug their iPhone into a very, very loud amplifier and blast the Daddy Yankee Pandora station full blast until about 3am for all of the neighborhoods' delight. Sometimes you just want to fire back at the sensory overload of this wretched time of year. Well, this year, I'm sending one shot across the bow...

I've got some tunes that are just perfect for opening the windows wide and watching the holiday cheer wither under some Italian miasma. I would love to take a big shit on this entire zip code while they're having their just-add-water Walmart cocoa and giving each other gift cards to Chili's...

I discovered Lucta through my trusty recommendations on the Youtube app. Every now and then the algorithm gets it right on the money, and this is one of those times! This band is from Milan, Italy and their LP Black Magic Punk  was actually released digitally in 2018, but I believe that a label named order05 Records may be the culprit in pressing this on vinyl. My apologies for the spotty journalism. I tried to do my homework on these cats, believe you me, reaching out to both band and label alike for a press kit at minimum, but to no reply. It almost feels like they are doing a shtick, like being spooky-ooky for an air of mystery or something. That'll get you a mystique for sure. I've certainly bitten the bait; but you'll have a hard time collecting everybody's twenty bucks that way. 

But if Lucta want my twenty bucks, they don't even have to ask, it's theirs! This is the most exciting discovery that I've made this year without a doubt! I have to be frank, I've consumed a lot of music this year, but this is the one! This is the one that sent a shiver up my spine and put a fucking sneer on my face. From what I can surmise from their promo pic, Lucta is comprised of three broads with some dude on guitar. I haven't heard horror/death Punk that inspires a chill like this since the unholy Only Theatre Of Pain by Christian Death, and that's a hell of a high praise. Not that I am necessarily making a comparison of sound, though there are some parallels, I'm making a comparison of atmosphere. Black Magic Punk is a masterpiece. It is a mix of energetic Hardcore Punk (complete with plenty of rolling floor-tom parts to pick up change to and creepy-crawl by) and a macabre, Goth-ish context that is probably the greatest example of what "horror-Punk" should sound like. (Think Discharge and Christian Death huffing embalming fluid together, sort of.) If this LP were to reach Rikk Agnew's ears it may just be the cure to his erectile dysfunction. 

Lucta is a tour de force! Just purely exciting to listen to. Their sound is very driven, with a furious execution of grim tones that border on disassembly but are held together by the commanding bellow of their vocalist, who's name was not available at time of print. This broad is the one irreplaceable cog in this horror machine. Her voice, a wall of presence, is not shouted, but rather wailed like a banshee, and her timbre and perfect Italian annunciation make her vocals as sexy as they are horrifying to my uncultured Cuban-American ears. It sounds like a fucking exorcism for chrissakes! Eva O, va' a fare in culo, I'm not scared of you no more bitch! You've been replaced as the queen of horror-Punk! 

(I'm just kidding, you still scare the shit out of me Mrs. Ortiz, maam!) 

So if your neighbors are like mine, meaning that the festivities go on until the 26th of December, and the sweet holiday tones of Wisin and Yandel reverberate on the block, just open up the doors and windows, crank this on eleven, and watch their nativity scene wither and die...

Congratulations Lucta, you have received the highest honor on the dark web, the MISANTHROPAGANDA album of the year award for 2019. What did you win? You win ugats! Ciao, bambina!

  

Happy Birthday to his divine grace, The Earl of Hudson from the mighty, mighty Bad Brains

note: misanthropaganda is so much more fun when you view it on your desktop or laptop. Your tablet is fine I guess, as is your phone, but for full enjoyment and understanding of the artist's (ha ha) vision, take my suggestion. It gives the posts a look that's a bit more reminiscent of an old 90's fanzine layout, which is the whole point of this bullshit blog...

Yo, I'm not even going to brush the dust off of the old thesaurus for this one. This one is coming straight from the heart. I wanted to post today to say Happy Birthday to Hardcore music's best drummer, one of the four wise men, his grace the Earl of Hudson, of the mighty, mighty Bad Brains. I'm sure that I am speaking for an enormous number of people when I say that the Brains mean a lot to me. It's ironic that a miserable, loathsome, morbid fuck like me can be such an admirer of such a soulful, positive and uplifting noise which the Brains offer unto their lord; but I guess that there is a small part of all of us that is searching for the light... any kind of light! 
  
I'm sure Sir Earl would be thrilled that he's being feted by some obscure truck stop bathroom on the Earth's internet highway. Hey, why not? I can only wish that I was so meaningful to someone that they gave me a write up in praise on a truck stop bathroom somewhere! Wait, um, no back up...   

         Speaking of Truck Stop Bathrooms, now it's time for a public service announcement... 

On second thought, if you've got your name being praised on a truck stop bathroom wall, that might not be a laughing matter. If that's the case, then chances are you may have already been burned with V.D. and a thousand other viruses to go! Gloryholes and Tinder hookups are cool and the gang, but bag your capital dome in some latex, don't slip, or your pinga-head will end up looking like the crusty nozzle tip of a mustard squeeze bottle. 

What was that you said? You were at Churchill's Pub last night and brought home some broad who had dreadlocks and was wearing an Aus-Rotten T-shirt? How low can a punk get?! I hope you bagged it, otherwise you're going to be pissing Grey Poupon, mon frere! It's going to feel like lightning struck your urethra so I hope you stockpiled some opioids. 

I'm sure that his grace, the Earl of Hudson is even more thrilled that now that asides being feted for his birthday by this crappy blog, it was done in conjunction with a PSA parody bit on venereal diseases. What an honor! The Earl can dig it I'm sure! I'm more than confident that he's dodged the "Fiyah Bun" on his jimmy from all of the groupies that these dudes must have gotten. The Earl laid down some serious pipe. friends! 

Anyways, rock on great one, oh Earl of Hudson, Hardcore music's most revered drummer, Timekeeper of the mighty, mighty Bad Brains, prophets of light and righteousness. I salute thee, whom on this 17th day of December in the year of his lord 2019 turneth the age of 62 years. He looks damn good at 62! (Black don't crack!) That's 62 years of spreading the gospel of Rock for light upon Jah earth! Sail on, oh great Sagittarian sage... 

The Faith... D.C. Hardcore OGs and a retraction of comments from an earlier post.

note: misanthropaganda is so much more fun when you view it on your desktop or laptop. Your tablet is fine I guess, as is your phone, but for full enjoyment and understanding of the artist's (ha ha) vision, take my suggestion. It gives the posts a look that's a bit more reminiscent of an old 90's fanzine layout, which is the whole point of this bullshit blog...

I really like The Faith.  Their split LP with Void is definitely among the first vinyls that I ever got my hands on. I have mentioned before how unfortunately I paid this classic collectors item very little mind. (Well, this and Alec Mackaye's other band that succeeded this crew, Ignition.) It's just that I discovered this band a decade after the fact (in the early '90s) and there was just so much going on musically across the genres at the time that any dope band could have gone by unnoticed. Also, I had drank the '90s Hardcore Kool-Aid around that time and this band's sound was not what I was really looking for back then. I would now like to conjure the old idiom/cliche': "Better late than never!"  

In an earlier post, where I had reviewed a laundry list of Dischord releases, I described the Faith and/or Void as having a non regional tone, in other words they pre-dated such a thing as the 'DC sound'. I then went on to insinuate that the DC sound was not truly born until the "Revolution Summer". Well, I'd like to offer a retraction because having paid much closer attention to The Faith's Subject To Change EP I have now come to realize that I was wrong. So now, I'd like to retract my earlier comments and replace them with a new outrageous claim. The DC sound was already present on Subject To Change. This EP has all the elements such as the introspective lyrics and traces of melodic intent (thankfully not melodic overload.) Quite frankly I was a fool to have let it slip by my stiff little fingers (reference!). My apologies!

The Subject To Change EP is where The Faith came into their own as a band. While their demo cuts and the songs on the Void split are all formidable pieces of work, they weren't really offering something too unorthodox musically as opposed to their contemporaries. I feel that Void got the most attention from that release with The Faith, and the reason why is because Void was just on some other bizarre type of shit that made a lot of people say "what the fuck was that", whereas The Faith was still doing Hardcore by the numbers (step one, step two and step three now chorus and then repeat.) Had The Faith have come on that split with their true sound, the emotional and impassioned sound of this EP, I think The Faith would have had a lot more attention

Now I view The Faith a little differently, having assessed the fact that they already had the blueprints in their clutches for the DC thing when they dropped this EP. It makes me reconsider them to have been a lot more influential to that town's musical shenanigans then I previously thought. (Dag Nasty and Dag Nasty derivatives like Samiam owe their entire existence to this Subject To Change.) I now can also see how immensely the work of Alec Mackaye influenced an old favorite band of mine called Turning  Point. In hindsight I can hear a lot of The Faith's tricks pop up here and there in Turning Point jams, and also as I've mentioned before, Turning Point did record a cover of "Anxiety Asking" by Ignition (Mackaye's other band, post-Faith).

So don't be a smelly little pink, don't stop and think, just hit the link to Dischord Records and hook up all The Faith's shit. Yes, the whole shabang, the Void split and Subject To Change. Come on, don't be a tightwad, you probably spend more on product for your neckbeard than what these joints will cost you. Move!

(The feminists are going to love the "smelly little pink" reference...)

And if you really want a dope enhanced listening experience, put this in your shopping cart too while you're at it... Banned In D.C., the book, was first introduced to me in eighth grade by this kid named Rene Garcia. Rene was probably the third person I met who was into punk. Anyways, this book is a collection of photos, show flyers, and written anecdotes from lots of people that were there in the wee '80s when that shit went down, everybody from Ian Mackaye to HR of the mighty mighty and a whole lot of other DC musicians of bands you millennials may never have heard of before. The book has lots of dope action photographs from DC shows featuring all the City's usual suspects: Henry Rollins and S.O.A., Minor Threat, Government Issue, Void, The Faith, Youth Brigade, Teen Idles, Iron Cross, Black Market Baby, blah, blah, blah, I mean the list goes on and on... the scene was that populous! Cop the book, it'll blow your mind how vivrant the scene was.

 Back in eighth grade, my biggest takeaway from the book was the fashion. I developed my "Punk look" based off of what the kids in this book were rocking. I ordered this book recently for old memories and with the intent of using it as a coffee table book. I have to tell you, just relaxing on the couch with a joint listening to The Faith and Void (or any old DC band really) while viddying (Clockwork reference) the Banned In D.C. book simultaneously is so relaxing and such a cool enhanced listening experience that I highly recommend this weird kind of  Hardcore meditation. The book is great, definitely a great coffee table book for useless old retired Punks like me. I tried to see how many hot chicks were hanging out at DC shows based on the photographs, but pickings were slim, fellas. Better head south to Atlanta if you're looking for some top-shelf tail muchachos...

Chain Cult. Rocking post-Punk from Athens Greece. New LP Shallow Grave Out Now!

note: misanthropaganda is so much more fun when you view it on your desktop or laptop. Your tablet is fine I guess, as is your phone, but for full enjoyment and understanding of the artist's (ha ha) vision, take my suggestion. It gives the posts a look that's a bit more reminiscent of an old 90's fanzine layout, which is the whole point of this bullshit blog...

Shallow Grave LP

Chain Cult are a three-piece crew from Athens, Greece that I thankfully discovered through the recommended videos on my Youtube app. I have found myself going back to this band's music quite often, as if compelled. They are part of a budding Greek Post-Punk scene, a scene recently revived from it's dormancy since it's salad days in the '80s. According to an article on diyconspiracy.net, there are currently 7 Greek bands that are genre-adjacent, not too shabby a number considering that the whole country is about the size of Florida! Also, take into consideration that currently there are only half as many bands in the style as that nation claimed in the '80s! I was aware of Greece having a strong Black Metal scene centered around a few very high quality bands, but I was oblivious to the fact that the small nation was such a hotbed for Post-Punk. 

Chain Cult's particular take on the genre is refreshing. Blending the driving guitar sound of bands like Joy Division and early The Cure with a more rocking approach, Chain Cult really takes its unique shape from the anthemic, Hardcore-style shouted vocals of their singer. To date they have released a strong demo in 2018, a two song digital EP titled Isolated, and now they have dropped an LP titled Shallow Grave on the UK-based label La Vida Es Un Mus Records (hit up the links, you little pinks.) 

    

demo 2018

I am particularly an admirer of their cover art, which up until now has featured imagery that is reminiscent of esoteric symbolism. To me it looks as if the artwork for all three of their releases were extracted right from freemasonry or O.T.O. books and it really adds a flare of mystery to this band. But imagery aside, Chain Cult can get by on the strength of their work, more specifically the hard work of the rhythm section. The bass lines throughout their work always standout, and not as a result of sound engineering. You can thank singer (just) Jason who gets the MVP for his double duty on bass guitar and vocals. Their music is full of passionate tone and off the top of my head I can't think of any bands that are completely similar in sound. The closest I can think of is maybe Second Empire Justice era Blitz ( you know, once they ditched all of the Skinhead stuff), only Chain Cult are more energetic and pack more of a punch than Blitz in the time period that I referenced. In fact, anything by Chain Cult can kick Blitz Second Empire Justice ass (ironic considering the latter's upstarts as a rugged Oi outfit.) 

Jason, Chain Cult's multi-tasking singer, adds new dimension to what's been previously thought that vocals in bands such as these should sound like. Whereas typically you would get mopey crooning in an anemic baritone droning away mournfully ( like an Ian Curtis or a Peter Murphy, etc.), the lyrics are sung with a spirited and energetic delivery, hence the parallel made earlier to Hardcore vocal stylings (particularly in the vein of "posi" style bands.) All allusions to Joy Division and The Cure aside, If you dug early '90s Emo or D.C.-style bands then this is right in your wheelhouse. Here you go, if you want my coveted quote to print as a pretentious blurb, you got it:

"Passionate and energetic, yet morose, and full of longing!  

There, print that on your front page"

                                                                           Lord Frank. Misanthropaganda blog

Isolated EP

My only complaint is that much like about 99.9% of all bands nowadays, Chain Cult has only released digitally thus far, and if/when they do drop a tactile release, it'll probably be on fucking vinyl, so that's it for me, I'm out! I'd love for them to have my twenty bucks, because I am a fervent believer in paying a musician for his work (especially if it speaks to you); and I certainly hate having to listen to a band that I enjoy by streaming them on Youtube rather than owning a piece of their music and holding it in my hand, but I hate digital downloads and I am just not going to make the switch over to vinyl! What do people have against the CD nowadays? Fucking cassettes are back in style now as well as vinyl and you are going to tell me that the CD is the one that's going obsolete! Fuck Me! These cockamamie labels can't press a couple of CDs along with the fucking vinyl and the cassettes? I'm just saying! I love CDs, they're all I collect. I'm 2000 plus deep at this point, I can't just switch to fucking vinyl at this point! But I digress...

Potential groupies of Chain Cult please take note- these boys are Greek; so be warned that if you are planning on offering yourselves as a sacrifice to one of these mortal gods of music, know that they are going to shoot straight for your dookie-hole! It's a time honored Greek custom, and I think it may be rude to refuse. Be forewarned...