Bastard

i haven't really done a post about a hardcore in awhile, mainly because nothing has really jumped out at me that i felt like i should post about, then tonight i decided to pop in this album and give it a listen and knew instantly i had to make a post about it, i decided to keep the post pretty short because i know there's already quite a bit of info out there about this band (especially on mp3 blogs) but hopefully this will reach some new ears.

Bastard were a (now somewhat legendary) crusty hardcore band from Tokyo. In the late 80s and early 90s, they self released their "Controlled In The Frame" 7" ep and "Wind Of Pain" lp as well as a couple comp tracks, all of which are collected on the "No Hope In Here" Discography cd.

Bastard's sound is, easily put, what Tragedy (and all the watered down tragedy rip offs) wants to be but can't seem to pull off as well as they'd hope. So, that means you take the standard Discharge style d-beat with some crust but add in alot more speed, some really rad thrash metal guitar solos, gnarly gutteral vocals and even a lil melody (ala Paintbox) and there you have it, one of the best d beat/crust/hardcore/whatever bands of the last 20 or so years.

I have but one complaint and that is that there isn't enough! this entire discography is only about 35 minutes which means by the time you've really started enjoying it, it's over. So, anyway,  I'm not gonna go on and on about standout tracks or certain things i enjoy about this band because everything about this is great and this collection is ESSENTIAL!

Enjoy!

Bastard "no hope in here" discography

Io

For me personally, the mid 2000's were an incredible time for music in Pittsburgh,PA, for three reasons (bands) 1. Pikadori 2. He Taught Me Lies 3. Io. They were all creating interesting and amazing music with alot of thought and plenty of interesting things to say. I was lucky enough to get to tour with and become closer friends with Pikadori and He Taught Me Lies, Io on the other hand i was only able to see twice and despite them being in the same group of friends, i never got to hang out with them much or become very close friends, despite all that i think their limited discography is one of the finest things to be bestowed upon my ears in the last 10 years or so. What we have here is a mix of frantic mid 90s emotive hardcore (ala bands such as mohinder) and thrash (their drummer jd, was also in crucial unit) with great trade off vocals and personal/political lyrics. (im actually quite terrible at describing things and im certainly not giving them their due credit here)

included in the two links below you'll find their lone full length "The Willow Snag" as well the 4 song demo that predates that (and has earlier/more raw versions of songs to be featured on the full length) as well as the track from the "Go Down Fighting,Come Up Smiling" (which was also re-recorded for the full length) in the other link you'll find their 'final songs' 7" which was recorded right before their last show but remained instrumental until about a year a half later when lyrics were written and recorded and the 7" was released at an Io reunion show in 2005 (in my top 3 best shows ever). Enjoy


the willow snag,demo,comp track
final songs 7"

A Review of "The Willow Snag"

Local Article/Interview with Io from 2002