Second chance listen: New York Hardcore - Where The Wild Things Are

Before I go any further with this, let me just say that I like this record a lot. But...I only like the songs on the first side of this record along with the two songs by Sheer Terror on the second side. I see and hear people rave about this record as being so great, but I remember getting this record when it first came out and hating everything after Sheer Terror. (Except for the Gorilla Biscuits cover). In lieu of this, I have decided to give those songs another chance. Maybe I've been wrong about the greatness of this record. 

Let's start with Maximum Penalty. Not a big fan of the vocals, but I can hang with it for the most part. Musically, "Immaculate Conception" sounds ok. The guitar solo's are a bit much and the breakdown doesn't make me wanna mosh. "Hate" doesn't really do much for me at all. Quite frankly, it blows. This band sounds like so many of the New York bands that I hated in the 90's and even today.

Next up is Uppercut and "Down For The Count" actually doesn't sound bad. Definitely like the vocals on here. This is a lot better than I remember. The song kind of suffers at the end with the breakdown, but oh well. "Am I Clear" is their next tune and I am not digging it at all. Too long and just boring.

Norman Bates And The Showerheads is next on the docket and I like the name a lot. Points for creativity. Stupid name, but I like it. Kinda like Gorilla Biscuits. Their first of two is "Hellminded" and it's not bad. Nice tempo, vocals are good, musically tight. "Desperate" is another catchy tune that I can totally see myself listening to in the future.

Um, excuse me while I go turn off the tv. I think I just heard Jaime Lee Curtis scream in Halloween. Hmmm nope, tv is off. It's in the song! Interesting. I highly doubt it's the singer and I highly doubt that they got Tom Araya to do a guest vocal session for them. Now I wanna know what the song is about. I've now listened to this song three times in a row and I am loving it. Totally wrong about these two songs.

Final verdict, this album is not as overrated as I once thought. In my world, I would've never had Maximum Penalty or Uppercut on this record. That's four songs that could've gone to two far worthier bands. Maybe Agnostic Front? Warzone? Murphy's Law? Sick Of It All? Oh and Gorilla Biscuits being on this comp has always been weird to me. Just didn't seem to fit in and worse yet, they only got one song on it and it's a cover song! I like this album a little more than I did some 20 plus years ago. This is more than what the other half of the D.C. Sniper Team has to say about this record. Check out his take.

I liked the Buzzcocks cover by GB, but to be honest, the late 80's early 90's brand of NYHC didn't really float my boat (other than GB, Token Entry, Underdog, YOT). Never really liked the hard guy bands, and it seemed like a lot of it started with many of those bands. Or at least, that's when I started to take notice of it. I find nothing inspiring about those bands. They were always so negative. Not my thing as far as liking a genre of hardcore.

PS: I think my partner is crazy, because those songs by Outburst, Raw Deal, Life's Blood, Breakdown and Sheer Terror are nothing short of AMAZING. But, he's entitled to his opinion.

D.C.S.