Short List 4.21.23
The Short List is a weekly dive into EPs, Splits, Reissues, Comps, Live Records, etc
EPS
Slugger Rabid Dogs Longshot Music Vinyl / Try And Stop Me Records
April 21 2023
NorCal’s bovver boys are back. Slugger, after the hailed self-titled record from last year, return with three tracks and a live cover of CCR’s “Fortunate Son.” Fast and gritty riffs lead the way with clapping drums pounding away. The lyrics are spat with contempt and are about removing yourself from society and the price of that; this is exemplified in the opener, “Johnson Park”, finished with a sample from Easy Rider.
The other two tracks are “Rabid Dogs” and “Turn Their Back.” The title track is badass. and has a brick wall sound for foundation but employs big riffs and slides which announce Slugger’s presence and allow a solid ‘rock’ influence. Violent lyrics also establish the band’s tolerance to take shit is nil. “Turn Their Back” is a quickie at two minutes, but all of the tracks are two to two and a half minutes. The track drives hard and crushes with energy—definitely meant for crowd participation.
Buy at Warthog Speak.
LSM Vinyl instagram.
Try And Stop Me Records shop.
REISSUES
Negro Terror The Voice of Memphis Rock Against Racism
Out Now
If you’re a fan of Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be Or Not To Be or Taiki Waititi’s JoJo Rabbit, you may agree that biting satire is a piercing weapon against racism. Bats and chains work, too. Well, the late Omar Higgins flipped nefarious imagery and lyrics of the scene’s most notorious band. With an abrasive and brash moniker, Negro Terror get some shine via the Rock Against Racism label.
Omar Higgins was known as an upbeat, gregarious man, and Negro Terror was his uncompromising, vengeful voice. There was a 2019 documentary about the band, heavily lauded and adorned with festivals’ laurels. As a band, Higgins was joined by Ra’id Khursheed and Ricardo and a self-released bootleg of five digital tracks. The Voice of Memphis repackages those.
Negro Terror took the song “Invasion” (originally about immigrants filtered through a severely racist lens) but with altered lyrics and video visuals of cops attacking and murdering black people. Obviously, they switched up “Voice of Britain” to “Voice of Memphis.” On their own, “We Need Support” as a title shows the concerns of the band for their community. Higgins was also in a reggae band and worked heavily with his church and St. Jude’s Hospital. He died on April 18, 2019 after a stroke.
Negro Terror did not have the time to leave many songs, but this 12-inch commemorates their output of these Memphis natives. Their complete output is online, and it consists of mostly covers, but the influence is vast and inspiring: Warzone, Combat 84, Cro-Mags, The Clash, and Red London. Those influences fused with the raw aggression of the members created a singular entity which will not be seen again.
Negro Terror: The Voice of Memphis Documentary.
100 copies on black haze and white swirl vinyl.
200 copies on black vinyl.
200 copies on white vinyl.
You can try to track it down on discogs. There are a few copies.
Exploding Corpse Action Inter-Dimensional Annihilation: Complete Transmissions 1995-1997 Armageddon Label
April 23 2023
A passion project over at Armageddon Label rendered this intense and rare collection of a little known early death/grind band, Exploding Corpse Action. Armageddon have been digging, researching, and harvesting tracks from this band of treachery and fetid debauchery since 2004.
A total of 21 tracks inhabit this compilation of dark sorcery. The releases here are the band’s Subsonic Torture EP, Excerpts From the Compendium of Alien Atrocities, Global Cremation Demo, Live From the Depths of Space, one of which is a Possessed cover. Titles such as “Robotic Surgery Malfunction,” “Mass Sterilization,” “Liquid Nitrogen Abuse,” “DNA Re-alignment,” and “Biological Atrocities” help formulate the vivid homages to bands like Autopsy, Carnage, Repulsion, Carcass, Possessed, etc.
It’s 1995 underground death metal, so you can make presumptions about the production. But all the morbid chaos still is relayed. The guitars wail and randomly get a touch of groove. Drums clamor as guttural vocals are belched. You can hear the conviction. No tech ego motivating anything so the sound is simply focused on being brutal and ugly. It’s a terrifying sound and well played. This is a true treasure for any death metal fan.
Preorder via Armageddon Label or Armageddon Label Bandcamp.
LP on 150gram Asteroid Gray colored vinyl housed in heavy board sleeve with printed inner sleeve, poster and OBI. Ltd to 500
Exploding Corpse Action were:
Sardonicus – drums
Sadismo – guitars, vocals
Sinistar – vocals, bass
