[engl] Well shit, PDX's 21st century Kings of Punk have graced us with yet another slab of the hardcore punk perfection that they've been crafting for quite some time now! The world we live in has changed considerably since 2017's "Sewers of Babylon" EP and that is reflected in these two songs that serve as a precursor to the band's forthcoming and long awaited full length. While keeping to the tried and true hardcore punk formula that has served as a sonic vessel for numerous trips around the circuit there are some far more rocking elements in the mix this go around which is just a taste of what is to come. Each record comes in a full color glue pocket sleeve featuring a rather arousing back cover.

[engl] The second of two brand new singles that one of NYC's greatest will be gracing us with during this balmy winter and their first recorded output since the release of their highly praised "Evening Reception" full length, the Beach Impediment Label is honored to be an even minuscule component in releasing yet another slab for the almighty VANITY. With a track record of releases that spans the past 7 years, the style and approach of the group has (much to the dismay of some yet absolute delight of others) arguably seen it's fair share of metamorphosis over the course of this particular project's run. Yet amidst the sonic evolution exhibited by VANITY as their catalog has progressed, the expertise in conceiving an ever so catchy ditty still holds true as is evident with the A-Side "Rarely if Ever" - a track that is guaranteed to remain embedded in one's head for quite some time. "We're Friends" closes it all out on a triumphant and decidedly rocking note, bebe, leaving those who've been on this journey thus far yearning for what comes next. Limited to a one time pressing of 500 copies.

[engl] After turning some heads with their debut 7" entitled "SHUTTING DOWN" released on the high quality Feel It Records label back in 2017, HAIRCUT have finally unleashed their follow up with the "SENSATION" EP. Four tracks of pummeling hardcore punk that retain the velocity and ferocity of the band's previous output whilst adding a decisive dose of meat and potatoes to the sonic formula, all the while Juliana belts out lyrics in both Spanish and English at a feverish pace. As we collectively sit on the cusp of entering the 2020's within a matter of months, HAIRCUT is a wonderful reminder that when it's done with equal parts precision and passion there's just no room for the gimmicks, posturing or other eye roll inducing baggage that tends to afflict the genre of hardcore punk, be it regionally or internationally. Such purity can stand on its own two feet and present itself loud and proud which is something that all enthusiasts can take great delight in as this genre cascades into yet another decade of continuation. Each record comes in a glue pocket sleeve with art and layout done by Colombian punk artist Juan Sebastian Rosillo.

[engl] A lot has happened in the three years since the "FUTURO PRIMITIVO" EP dropped in correlation with the band's 2016 Japanese tour and now VAASKA returns to a world that's worse off with what could possibly be their final statement in the form of the "INOCENTES CONDENADOS" EP. Six tracks of smoldering D-Beat based hardcore punk which could arguably be the greatest recording session of their 10+ years as a band. Mastered by Kenko at Communichaos Media Clay Station in Sweden AKA exactly who you want to be twisting the knobs on a project like this. Each record comes in a Discharge style pocket sleeve with collaborative effort imagery by Todo Destruido, Jack Blackmon and Ryan Fromdeland. Limited to 500 copies.

[engl] Ya know that Big City Records compilation "Montreal New York Connection 85 Live" with all the wild looking cartoon punks on it? STIGMATISM is the sonic equivalent of that big fella on the cover with the mohawk rocking boots and braces whilst letting off and undoubtedly blood curdling howl doing key bumps of meth with that flag toting skinhead from the back of the "United Blood" EP in a real seedy alleyway at like, 3:41 AM on a Tuesday. STIGMATISM is an infatuation with and/or an astute observation of the more, dare I say, "early man" aspects of that first wave of NYHC. Featuring an ex OMEGA and a native New Yorker united in their love of this particular style of hardcore punk, this demo recording has been slapped onto some slabs of plastic that can be played loud on a phonograph or utilized as a level plane for those aforementioned servings of meth. Each record comes in a glue pocket sleeve adorned with a design by the illustrious Spoiler.

[engl] While one should hesitate to use the term "super group," it would be kinda hard to not consider utilizing some kind of label in that vein in regards to Portland, Oregon's FETISH. For starters if we're gonna talk about genre altering personnel within the ranks of this group, you'd have to note that this recording showcases the first time that Thee Slayer Hippy and Vegetable have come together to create ugly hardcore punk music since their stint together in the "War All The Time" era of the legendary Kings of Punk POISON IDEA three decades ago. It also doesn't hurt that 3/4 of PDX punk heroes LONG KNIFE (Colin Jarrell, Scott Goto, and Chris Reid respectively) are in the mix as well along with later era PI guitarist Brandon Bentley. Their debut track "TAKE THE KNIFE" showcases the sheer power of this group and is just a sign of what is to come with the band's full length record that will hopefully see the light of day later this year. On the flip side, a stirring rendition of LOVE's classic track "A House Is Not A Motel" closes this one out leaving us hungry for more. Each record comes in a glue pocket sleeve featuring cover art by the talented Joe B.

[engl] FRIED EGG are back with a new EP for Beach Impediment Records following their debut 7" on Negative Jazz and a self-released flexi. For the uninitiated, FRIED EGG have been one of Central Virginia's most exciting and original hardcore punk acts to watch over the past couple of years. Their style has a very contemporary feel, yet manages to stand out based on consistently inventive songwriting that is matched with the finesse and power that belongs in the hardcore punk genre. "BACK AND FORTH" boasts four new cuts (tracked live including vocals for anyone keeping score) that truly stand out from the pack. From the precise and original guitar lines to the absolute wrecking crew of a rhythm section, FRIED EGG have produced an EP that commands your attention - a stark, original effort that obliterates any generic, poorly recorded garbage in its way. Need we say more? Each copy comes housed in a glue pocket sleeve adorned with artwork by Nathan Ward.

[engl] Following a couple years of relative dormancy after a series of tours in support of a well received full length that spanned various continents, PDX punk heroes LONG KNIFE return with five tracks of sonic venom in the form of the "SEWERS OF BABYLON" EP. The recipe remains the same, the delivery just as biting, and the addition of Keith Testerman on drums (WARCRY, LEBENDEN TOTEN, HELLSHOCK, etc) adds even more to the already savage total package. Portland's 21st century Kings of Punk are still alive and well. Each record comes in a glue pocket sleeve with full color cover art by Dennis Dread.

[engl] Synthesizer Dystopia From Pre-Nuclear War Earth.

[engl] New York's Brandy (Ex-Pampers, Running) are back with their sophomore LP and first on TOTAL PUNK. "The Gift of Repetition" is an eight track study in just that. Loud plodding and rhythmic. It will have you bobbing your head till it breaks off your neck. They all share vocal duties often chanting over each other and the lyrics are singular in vision. Bleak with a grin. Synth is added on a few tracks with mind-melting results. When the only other bands that come to mind are A-Frames, Lamps and Mayyors you are obviously doing something right. Pulsing, throbbing, and 100% TOTAL PUNK!!! Limited to 350 copies!

[engl] New York’s Foster Care is back with a brand new LP for Total Punk, and the first since adding Allison Busch (Awesome Colors, Call Of The Wild) on drums. El Abuso finds Foster Care at their most realized. It’s tight wound, ferocious, dark and dare I say smart. Has Foster Care grown up? Have they left their foster parents for the half way house? An 11 song nineteen minute punk maelstrom. This isn't a collection of songs it's a heaving beast. An absolutely relentless wall of pounding drums, vicious guitar, and gnarly bass rumble with Chris Teenager biting the air above it all. They even finds some moments to get weird and reflective between the throbbing outburst and violent spasms. Mean, loud, and 100% TOTAL PUNK!

[engl] We're kicking things off with an album from TIMMY VULGAR'S GENETIC ARMADGEDDON. Vulgar (Human Eye/Clone Defects/Timmy's Organism mastermind) wrote, recorded and played all the instruments on “Music From The Other Side Of The Swamp”, a 15 song exploration into the deepest crevices of his chromed cranium. An acutely personal and raw album showcasing elements of his previous projects while adding some new motifs to his arsenal. Psychedelic crooners, kraut influenced instrumentals, and guitar heavy rockers all processed through Timmy’s patented caveman via space alien filter. The tracks flow in and out of each other, covered in broken synthesizers and feedback, creating a lurching, breathing, late night masterpiece. This is not the kind of album one casually listens to. This requires complete submergence. It’s exactly what we had in mind when we came up with MIND MELD and he’s setting a high-water mark right from the get go. Turn down the lights, turn on, and turn up your stereo because it’s time to meld minds with Timmy Vulgar.

[engl] Nearly four years after delivering a handful of demos along with a live tape then seemingly dropping off the radar release wise, Bloomington's LAFFING GAS swing back at any and all credulous hardcore punk enthusiasts who might have forgotten about them or thought they'd just run their course and faded into obscurity as so many tend to do. "It's a Beautiful Day in the Gulch" showcases 10 blazing tracks of classic Midwestern hardcore punk, the vibe of which is more in debt to the revolutionary aural offerings of the early Touch and Go and/or Version Sound labels or even Kick N' Punch Records as a slightly more modern reference than what the region has become synonymous with in more recent times. Each record comes in a stunning glossy jacket featuring art and layout by the band's guitarist Kora Puckett.

[engl] With the passage of two years since the release of their demo, along with a hefty helping of gigs under their belts, Mid-Atlantic powerhouse WITCHTRIAL have at long last bestowed upon us all the absolutely thunderous offering that is their self titled 12" EP. Drawing equally on the cult sounds of mid-80's international hardcore punk and the early days of underground extreme metal, WITCHTRIAL has made it their duty to remind us that there'd be no HELLHAMMER without DISCHARGE and no BATHORY without GBH. This slab features 6 brand new cuts of the driving metalpunk madness that many a maniac has embraced since the group's inception. Recorded by Carson Cox and mastered by Will Killingsworth ensuring a sonic assault that is unmatched. Each record comes in a jacket emblazoned with a dazzling layout designed by Reuben Storey.

[engl] A lost episode of Fawlty Towers set in the present day astride a shoddy sofa in a den in Brooklyn: Instead of not “mentioning the war” the challenge is to swim through this LP without uttering or even entertaining the tiniest sniff of dearest Nanker Phelge. This proves far more rewarding than throwing a knee-jerk ticker tape parade for the open-tuned greyzone murk of Guitar-Centre blues musicians everywhere and frankly, that would be a lazy disservice to what you're about to hear. Rising up instead, we have the grandiose and pampositical return of the perfectly named, Vanity. Yes that’s a compliment, no it's not a real word. Energetic punk consommé indebted to rock and roll but coming across less like the deliberate broken chains of Vans slip ons and Target 501s swapped for sequins, strides, and scarves - but more like an effort forged in Billy Zoom’s living room on Warren Zevon’s gear as played by the Saints’ roadies in a bar that serves really, really, really cold beer. Coincidentally, I would endorse that as a suggested serving. Take a long hard look in the mirror, slyly lit so your cheekbones pop, and preen yourself ’til your skin peels off.

[engl] When admiring a piece of cultural and historical significance it's not uncommon for the admirer to question where it all began; to trace it all back to the epicenter of the event that set it all into motion. If RICKY AND THE WHITE BOYS were the punk rock meteor that crashed into an unsuspecting Richmond, VA in the age of disco then L'AMOUR was the shock wave immediately following that fabled and chaotic impact event, forever altering the cultural landscape within the city limits. Formed in 1978 by a couple of disciples of rock and roll who'd had their lives altered by said genre / belief system in the years prior to that, Tom Applegate and Dave Stover recruited other like minded rockers to aid them in their aural conquest over the next few years that followed in the group's all too brief existence. In that time they left behind a trail of broken bottles, perhaps a few broken hearts, and definitely some perturbed club owners up and down the east coast. But most importantly, the fellas in L'AMOUR left us with documentation of their rock in the form of some long forgotten tapes. Nearly 40 years after the band entered the studio to lay down tracks for their first and only 7" single on the band's own legendary ZERO DEGREE RECORDS (a label that became synonymous with the release and widespread circulation of the early Richmond punk scene that was soon to follow), Beach Impediment is proud to not only re-release those classic songs but also bring to light a slew of previously unreleased tracks, alternate demo takes, and even a rare later era soundboard recording of the band live in their hometown that exhibits a grip of originals that sadly never made it into the studio before the band's untimely demise the day before Reagan took office. Lovingly transferred from the original 1/4" reels (some of which were a wee bit moldy after years of being M.I.A. but were thankfully salvaged via professional cleaning) along with a new mastering job, these tracks hit harder than ever! Members would go on to play in other classic and ground breaking Richmond bands like BEEX and THE PREVARICATORS. Each record comes with a fold out 12" x 24" double sided insert chock full of archival photos and flyers plus liner notes from Tommy the Rock himself that give the reader a glimpse into the counter-cultural explosion of the late 70's / early 80's in the land once known as Dixie. Electric guitars were (and still are) their only desire. Limited to 500 copies.

[engl] Polish Hell, Pittsburgh's EEL have once again crawled out of a dimly lit basement a few blocks from Gooski's to offer up their most forceful effort yet. "NIGHT PARADE OF 100 DEMONS" is the culmination of a band spending half of a decade perfecting their particular interpretation of the microcosm that is punk. The end result is eleven tracks of violent and destructive commotion that seems to mirror the world that has always surrounded us but is becoming far more apparent as of late. Once again, these freaks of nature achieve their prime objective - bombarding the listener with a relentless barrage of their rust belt style noise drenched hardcore punk... an all out aural assault. Each record features stunning black and white cover art by the legendary Japanese hardcore artist Kazuhiro Imai accompanied by a stellar piece on the reverse by Luke Kislak.

[engl] Much anticipated answer to 2011's "Blasts of Lunacy," the Omegas leave off where they picked up, coming back to their personalized vision of the nooks and crannies of early NYHC and proto hardcore cum Darby Crash cum Nollywood prankster at ever more obtuse and challenging angles. The riffs implode and the changes are impossible to follow without a map that probably leads somewhere unpleasant. Even still, the confusion feels like a stroke of luck. The gift is not knowing what you're hearing yet but knowing you've wanted to hear it your whole life. Duck, dive, spit, slam, kill: Makes you go Boom Boom. Flash forward, the power to exist. FFO: getting stop and frisked by the NYPD and having them find a giant lollypop in your otherwise empty bag/wondering who killed Tony Frenchman

[engl] Frozen in time over four decades this 1984 “cyclic incantation” combines electroacoustics, grazed euphoria, industrial aesthetics, sampled salvage and recycled mechanic folk to score a widely revered dystopian physical theatre performance from the UK’s hugely influential Impact Theatre Co-Operative. From a seminal post-punk art-action faction (formed in a Leeds warehouse space alongside Gang Of Four and The Mekons), this apocalyptic prophecy not only cracked avant-garde stage boundaries but provided a captive audience with stunning set design and an incredible broken-music soundtrack before its swan song amidst Poland’s 1986 power plant panic. From the sonic workbench of the very same bedsit-Situationists that created the haunting 1983 music to The Moomins TV animation comes the eventual isolated music release to this pioneering theatrical spectacle of truly mythical status. The Carrier Frequency (1984) was a legendary stage work that emerged from the collaboration between the influential performance company Impact Theatre Co-Operative and cult novelist Russel Hoban. The incantation of Hoban’s text voiced in the broken verbiage of a post-apocalyptic broken language and the entranced physicality of Impact’s ritualistic performance in a pool of cold dark water printed deeply on those who witnessed it. It reached an impassioned crescendo on the rising score by Graeme Miller and Steve Shill who also performed in the work. The music exploited samples from Hoban’s own recordings of the shortwave radio broadcasts which he tuned in as he wrote, helping him order the green phosphorescent letters on the screen of his Apple computer. Shill and Miller mirrored Hoban’s channelling in their approach to making the score, following the notion that this was the broadcast of some Central Eurasian radio station doomed forever to circulate fragments of static interlaced with desultory public information broadcasts and “The Record”, its only surviving fragment of a lost culture. The score was forged on an 8-track tape recorder sandwiching harmonium and accordion with the output of a digital delay machine that could trap and fragments of audio to be triggered and manually pitched. It is a knowingly crude montage where samples denote fragmentation itself and their reassembly, like Frankenstein’s monster, shows the stitches that join the stolen body parts.

[engl] One of the most underrated and misunderstood directors to emerge from the rising smoke of the 1968 Parisian social explosion, Jean Rollin – a director with early links with the Paris underground, The Letterists, the Surrealists, improv theatre and the free press – is best known for his films in the fantastique genre, producing the first French vampire film (Le Viol Du Vampire, 1968). As part of our (slightly interrupted) 15th birthday celebratory retrospective reappraisals we present an updated package of the title that launched our new Rollinade series, documenting some of the finest musical moments of the director’s career as an avant-gardener, counter-culture vulture and Gallic vamp-tramp, the entire unreleased soundtrack from the ultimate French vampire hippy flick Le Frisson Des Vampires on blood red transparent vinyl (with a black vinyl pressing to follow in the new year). Also available in the series is Jeunes Filles Impudiques, a five-track EP of drum heavy Gallic hard-bop and risqué acidic folk, François Tusques’ previously presumed lost/unreleased studio sessions that went on to score both La Reine Des Vampires and La Vampire Nue, and more!

[engl] In 1967, 1968 and 1969 most of my works were happenings loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting Of The Snark, a not-so-cryptic poem that, to my mind, gave clues to free the theatre in the same way the “new music” had freed jazz. It never made it to record and I gave up on the idea when I met Sunny Murray and Alan Silva when they arrived in Paris in the summer of ‘69. Few concert venues would have anything to do with us but we didn’t want that kind of connection with the public – famous or not (Jacques Higelin joined on occasion!) – which more often than not would join us on stage to bang percussion, sing, dance, freak out. Our favorite part was when we shut down the lights near the end, silently left the stage, and when the light went on for the curtain... The public had formally taken our place. Galleries, museums and art/theatre/dance festivals, on the other hand, were open to this early multimedia event – complete with films, masks and early electronic devices (Bernard Vitet, the trumpet player, brought an early portable reverb system to the proceedings). The reels and cassettes we rescued from my basement are rather evasively labelled and the following data is far from precise. The core group was me on piano, Bernard Vitet on trumpet and electronic treatments, Beb Guérin on double bass, Daniel Laloux (who later had tremendous success in film, theatre and voice acting) as MC, Jean Frenay and Jean Vern (who did the artwork for le nouveau jazz) on saxophones, Michel Kurylo, Annick Astier, Lambert Terbrack and my then wife Françoise Tusques “singing” and “acting”, so to say. Jacques Thollot, Aldo Romano and later Noel Mcghie were on drums. I know for sure side A is a studio recording carried out in august 1968 by the comité action musique, an activist group of artists and engineers aiming to reclaim the means of production from the “record industry”. The line-up is me, Vitet, Guérin, Laloux, Frenay, Vern, Astier, Françoise Tusques, no drums (everyone doubling on percussion), and Michel Portal on bass clarinet and saxophone as guest. Side C is a montage of the surviving bits of the happenings that took place at La Vieille Grille between August 1967 – March 1968 (sometimes on a daily basis in ‘68!), the museum of modern art during the May ‘68 demonstrations, and the Biennale Of Paris in February 1969. Sides B and D are less theatre oriented and may have been recorded either at the American center in October 1968, the international students center in November 1968 (Barre Phillips on bass and Barney Wilen on sax guested on these dates but I’m not able to confirm they are on the tapes), or in the winter and spring of 1969. However, the cassette for side b only read “Snark 1969”... The name of the group (it changed every time it ventured out), the title of the concerts and accordingly the cuts on these LPs were all lifted randomly from Lewis Carroll’s poems and novels. Back then, I described what we did in this way: “Composers, directors, writers, band leaders, those people are vampires sucking the blood of musicians and actors. They are byproducts of the current state of our society. Yet, someone who has something to convey needs performers... Unless a cultural revolution happens soon, I think it’s impossible to overcome those contradictions. Therefore, I wish that this rendition of the hunting of the Snark would be the last ever rendition of any work of art, and that the next stage of evolution is that any individual craving for expression will have the physical and intellectual means to create without constraints, to freely associate with others, without bearing the weight of so-called geniuses and nobodies. We want to bring to the stage the same revolution that happened in jazz with the new music.

[engl] White Canyon & The 5th Dimension is psychedelic rock with shamanic shoegaze desert rock. Deeply engrossing and each song takes the listener on a new trip. This is the debut from White Canyon & The 5th Dimension! White Canyon & The 5th Dimension has ripping guitar leads, experimental drones, garage rock and a lo-fi approach which creates a spectacular album. The guitars are a highlight with their vibrato tones that call back to the Velvet Underground at other times they are blowing out fuzz and echo to blast craters in the Moon. The vocals are dripping in reverb and always add to the melodic arc of the songs and are a bit catchy at times. The use of drone instrumental like the tanpura and reverse echo is classic psychedelia and very well done. White Canyon & The 5th Dimension is from S?o Tomé das letras in Brazil. The album has diverse musical styling that connect with the psychedelic movement of our current times. Shoegaze dreams collide with garage rock, space rock and desert rock. Only 250 copies.