V/A THE NEW HOPE- Compilation LP (New Hope Records, USA, 1983)
How can such a fantastic compilation LP be forgotten? Producer Tom Dark (who was also in THE DARK) mentioned in an interview that he feels sorry for the countless regional bands that somehow disappear in the shadows of more popular bands. But somebody, he said, will dig out the forgotten bands. Judging by the many great videos of these bands available on Youtube, somebody’s been digging before - great job!
On THE NEW HOPE, there’s plenty to dig out. 11 bands delivering 30 songs, not one to be missed, if you ask me. THE GUNS two tracks sound like an unreleased pre-Rollins Black Flag demo tape which, as you can guess, is not exactly a bad thing. POSITIVE VIOLENCE follow with three mainly faster tracks, “T.V. Blues” being the best here. Next we have SPIKE IN VAIN. “The Funeral” kicks me right in the face. Next up is the comps highlight maybe - AGITATED play very agitated Hardcore with a great drummer. Imagine they had recorded a few songs more and released them on a 7″ in limited edition - myspace fansites would jump up all over the place, so on the other hand, it’s not that bad maybe they get dragged out onto the light so late. NO PAROLE is one of the few female fronted Hardcore bands of the early 80s. I guess nobody outside the Cleveland scene knew about them until now. “Disposition: Hellion” is a great simple song and the singer sounds a bit like Donna from No Thanks. THE DARK, producer Tommy Dark’s own band, have three more fast and furious HC tracks, including the short “Sacrifice”. The flip starts off with “Drop the A-Bomb on me” (remember the PEACE WAR double LP on Rradical? Yeah, there you go!) and three equally great smashers by ZERO DEFEX. OUTERWEAR have two slightly more dissonant, FLIPPER-ish songs, another band that just doesn’t deserve to be without a tombstone in this little blog. OFFBEATS play “humor-laden Hardcore”, fast and funny. Another winner. PPG (in the booklet, they give plenty of options of what the three letters mean, “Penis Pump Gun” being one of them) are more on the darker side again, kinda gloomy Hardcore Punk with a weird edge. And finally, we have STARVATION ARMY with four more fast and furious thrashers. The final song, “Fun” is cut into the outleading groove on the actual vinyl. Love such details.
Please note that although I had bought the LP still sealed, the B-side has some pressing defects that will result in occassional crackling unfortunately.
And finally, here’s a trailer of a Cleveland documentary I’d love to see, “Cleveland’s screaming”. I’d be happy to review this, dear producers.
It would of course be great if some of the old scenesters would stop by and give more info on this. And I think it’s about time such a great record will be re-released one day.
THE GUNS: Locked inside.mp3
AGITATED: Death warmed over.mp3
ZERO DEFEX: By the Day.mp3
OUTERWEAR: Knife Lust.mp3
Get the complete NEW HOPE compilation in 320 kb/s quality, carefully edited and uploaded with love here. (100.5 MB)
Phew, that was a lot of work. Now I need some rest.
Joey M. wrote:
Massive thanks for this! New heard of it before and the few tracks you have there streaming make me want to hear it so bad (download is slow with my shitty cable modem). You know it’s kinda funny to learn that euros are doing so much for american hardcore (flex with the discography, you with this blog. Respect!
Posted on 19-May-08 at 11:02 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Music has no fatherland, Joey
Posted on 19-May-08 at 11:13 am | Permalink
Mad Mike wrote:
great great great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on 19-May-08 at 1:29 pm | Permalink
Jerry B wrote:
Hidden gem alert! Just when I thought I knew it all and was getting ready to rest my bloated corpse on the mattress of ennui, along comes GBM with another kick in the ass. Great stuff!
Posted on 19-May-08 at 2:09 pm | Permalink
::beatMe:: wrote:
Eric your collection of music and your talent in digging up such nuggets make this my favorite blog. A bit scary though. I always wonder when you’ll run out of either records or passion …..
Posted on 19-May-08 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
planckzoo wrote:
You might want to contact Robert at http://www.scatrecords.com to find out more about this compilation. He was in Spike in Vain.
Posted on 19-May-08 at 8:09 pm | Permalink
Geoff wrote:
Thanks a lot for this post, been looking for good quality rips of the Spike in Vain compilation tracks. Their 12″ is fucking fantastic
Posted on 19-May-08 at 8:24 pm | Permalink
not guilty wrote:
killer comp, The Guns are one of the best USHC bands that never get talked about. The “THEY PELTED US WITH ROCKS & GARBAGE” comp is another killer, although its got more proto/post punk songs.
Posted on 19-May-08 at 8:59 pm | Permalink
ZeroZero wrote:
I love anything with zeros in it. Thanks for the beats!!!
Posted on 19-May-08 at 10:19 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Thanks planckzoo and all for the comments and info!
Spike in Vain 12″? Gosh, need to get me one of these.
Posted on 19-May-08 at 11:19 pm | Permalink
Down in Texas wrote:
I like No Parole they sound like Kremlin Korps. This is a nice addition to the Cleveland Confidential Comp, nice to see where it went after 1981.
Posted on 19-May-08 at 11:29 pm | Permalink
OTTO wrote:
You are my hero! I shared a few tracks from this comp with Joe Stumble a ways back (ripped from a much used tape)…. because I thought this baby had some of the absolute best middle-of-america punk/hardcore on it. The Guns “I’m Not Right” is in the top 10 ever category for me. Never actually owned the record… now I do. Genuinely big thanks.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 3:39 am | Permalink
Peter - KBD Records wrote:
One of the best comps. I’ve heard. Not a single bad band. Fave tracks: The Funeral by Spike in Vain and You Got What You Wanted by The Dark. Amazing post Erich! Kisses and butt plugs.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 3:53 am | Permalink
Peter - KBD Records wrote:
Must add that Offbeats is among the top here but those songs can also be found on their amazing and of course underrated 7″ E.P.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 4:01 am | Permalink
Michael Gifford wrote:
Thanks! I have wanted to hear this for a while now. Much appreciation for your work!
Posted on 20-May-08 at 7:41 am | Permalink
Curious Guy wrote:
Smog Veil released an Agitated 7″/CD a few years ago. It’s still available. The CD version has extra live songs.
http://www.smogveil.com/ecom/cart.php?target=category&category_id=5
Would like to have a copy of that Spike In Vain 12″ myself. Seen a few copies on eBay lately but they went for a lot of money. Too bad that Scat Records ran out of copies just recently. I shouldn’t have waited so long to order one.
Great comp. I could get through a trade with a friend.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 8:55 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Here’s an email that I received from Robert Griffin who now runs scatrecords.com and was the main man behind Spikes In Vain. Go to his website - there’s a limited supply of original Spike in Vain 12″s available!
________________________________________
“Very cool blog you’ve got there, nice to see some love for that old scene, thanks. I’ve gone on to play lots of other music, but the attitudes and aesthetic of those days will always guide me.
Sometime next year I’m going to release all the Spike in Vain recordings on cd. After Disease Is Relative, there was a cassette-only album, “Jesus Was Born in a Mobile Home,” and there is also an unreleased third album, “Death Drives a Cadillac.” There may be a DVD in there also, I recently got a video of an almost complete 1983 gig. There are some other odds and ends too, it will most likely be a 3 disc set. If there’s enough interest I might press up some of the unreleased material on vinyl also.
Some other info for you - Outerwear were kind of a sister band to SiV. I played drums, Chris Marec on gtr/vox, and Beth Scarf on bass. There was a cassette album called “The Outerwear Limits.” Our slogan “loud slow bad rules” heh.. We had a great time pissing off all the “correct” punks. But Beth and I did eventually learn our instruments, so we started doing things like wrapping ourselves in bandages so that we couldn’t play so well. Very fun band and Chris wrote some pretty cool songs for it.
Funny, the Guns were the youngest band on that compilation, 14 or 15 years old at most, and both the main guys have passed on. Dave died of a brain aneurism in his 20s, and Scott died last fall of a heart attack. Just before he died he put together a Guns cd - all their original recordings, maybe a dozen tunes, then re-recorded versions from a reunion a few years ago. Not sure how you’d get one of those. These two were also the drummer & bassist in The Dark. Small scene, lots of inbreeding!
There’s also a 2CD by The Dark on Grand Theft Audio called Scream Until We Die.
cheers
Robert”
Posted on 20-May-08 at 11:40 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
And here’s yet another with more recording details concerning The Gun:
_____________________________________________
“I pulled out that Guns CD I mentioned. It’s called “Attack” and was self-released a year or two ago. Someone still in Cleveland might be able to hook people up. It’s all re-recorded versions and focuses more on later, more metal kind of material from their later days, circa ‘84, ‘85. But it’s good stuff for those who dig that later crossover sound. I think there’s a GTA release planned of the original recordings. Those did come out (without permission I understand) as bonus tracks on Bowel’s “Rotten Fecal Duct” CD on Dark Empire. That CD came out in ‘94 but the recordings are from the original band in 1984. Very weird, nonsensical thing - no relation between the bands at all and The Guns aren’t credited on the spine or cover, but there’s a drawing and tracklist on one page in the booklet. Not exactly a “split” release and I know the band was pissed about it. There are 13 songs, including later versions of the 2 songs on The New Hope.”
Posted on 20-May-08 at 11:42 am | Permalink
eddie wrote:
my faves on here is Guns, Starvation Army, Agitated, and No Parole.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 12:08 pm | Permalink
john wrote:
can’t thank you enough for this. always wanted to hear this compilation but it’s extremely hard to find, especially in cleveland itself.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 12:19 pm | Permalink
Geoff wrote:
EXCELLENT Spike in Vain news. I knew they had an unreleased LP, but never heard anything about a tape only album. Really interested in hearing those in the future, as well as possibly seeing a complete gig. That would be swell.
Also, http://badtrashing.blogspot.com/2008/05/kill-yourself-kill-someone-else.html
Posted on 20-May-08 at 2:09 pm | Permalink
Tomas wrote:
Damn, I´m Not Right by The Guns is such an awesome song!
Posted on 20-May-08 at 2:23 pm | Permalink
not guilty wrote:
I cant recall the exact story but I know that the original Guns tracks were given to Dwid (Dark Empire/Integrity) so he could use one on a compilation he was doing. When Bowel recorded they had like 11 minutes of music so the Guns stuff was put on the end (without permission) to round it out so it could be sold as a full length. It sucks because Bowel are fucking terrible and the Guns should have been god. I hope The Guns stuff sees a proper reissue, even if its a single of their comp tracks.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 5:42 pm | Permalink
johnny wrote:
thanks for the hardcore…
johnny
there is a tape called “there is more” with most bands on this comp.plus idiot savants,urban mutants.
Posted on 20-May-08 at 5:50 pm | Permalink
Tony wrote:
I was born and raised in Cleveland but did not get into punk until 87 (”until 87″- ha ha, that sounds funny since it was over 20 years ago!)- Cleveland has always had great punk and HC bands that were sadly overlooked and had to be “rediscovered” years later. College radio stations in Cleveland like WCSB were so good in the 80’s and played this LP, Spike In Vain, all those local bands all the time on various shows (like the almighty show Blows Against The Empire show). In fact, the first time I heard Starvation Army was on that show in 88 via the amazing song “Political” from this comp. That tune blew me away at the time, and still does to this day. These records were all over the place in Cleveland at the time, I shoulda picked em all up at the time but I was a broke student back then, oh well… even into the 90’s this one store in Cleveland supposedly still had a stack of Defnics 7″s- ha!
Posted on 21-May-08 at 2:58 am | Permalink
justin wrote:
Nice one Erich, made for a good listen. Also liked what, beat me, said way up there.
Posted on 21-May-08 at 2:29 pm | Permalink
Slurkodan Burker wrote:
Not convinced, think this compilation is kind of so-so. Thanks for posting anyway, nice to read the writeup and the comments…
Posted on 23-May-08 at 9:11 am | Permalink
overdrive666 wrote:
this one ROCKS - thx
Posted on 23-May-08 at 10:03 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
@ Slobo: Loving or not loving this is maybe a bit of generation thing.
(Means: Fuck the kids, haha)
Posted on 23-May-08 at 10:34 am | Permalink
James wrote:
Get Revenge Records has a Zero Defex 7″ and discography CD in the works!
Posted on 23-May-08 at 5:41 pm | Permalink
Steve Distraught wrote:
Thanks for reminding me of this comp. I got it for 25 cents like 20 years ago and because of your post, I am listening to it now and drinking a beer and saying to myself, damn 25 cents well spent!!!!
Posted on 23-May-08 at 7:32 pm | Permalink
brushback wrote:
DEFINITELY a great post, and “I’m Not Right” is a friggin’ AWESOME song!
Posted on 23-May-08 at 8:11 pm | Permalink
the way I act wrote:
Resting time over, Sir. Come back with more, please.
Posted on 24-May-08 at 3:37 am | Permalink
fernando wrote:
I got a rhyme that comes in a riddle,
what’s round on the ends, high in the middle?
O-HI-O
(Devo)
Thanks man
Posted on 24-May-08 at 5:24 am | Permalink
smodeski wrote:
wow erich, and some of us even though you were serious about going on hiatus.
also, on behalf of the kids, it’s agreed upon; we are fucked. so, no hard feelings.
Posted on 24-May-08 at 4:02 pm | Permalink
mrpoopy wrote:
Spike in Vain did a reunion show a few years back and they were selling the original sealed LP for like $8 or something. They were selling this comp for about the same price (still sealed). Do a little hunting in the Cleveland area and you can probably still get a sealed copy for not too much $$$.
Posted on 24-May-08 at 6:46 pm | Permalink
Manuel wrote:
The unreleased Guns LP on the Bowel CD was supposed to be released on Toxic Shock and is one of the best hardcore punk albums out of Cleveland - right after Boulder… just kidding. Members of The Guns also played in False Hope, Integrity (Dark Empire connection), Government Issue and Starvation Army.
Another great Cleveland compilation around that time was the “there is more” tape compilation - at least to my ears - with 0DFX, Starvation Army, Idiots Savant etc.
Yours,
Clevomanu
Posted on 15-Jun-08 at 4:34 am | Permalink
Spike in Vain–best postpunk pre-emo experimental hardcore band ever « The Trickle-Down wrote:
[...] news via the Good bad Music for bad, bad Times! blog: Here’s an email that I received from Robert Griffin who now runs scatrecords.com and was [...]
Posted on 19-Jun-08 at 4:51 pm | Permalink