You’re not too used with the more well known bands here. It’s called KBD for a reason. Still there are bands that where on quiet big labels that’s still criminally overlooked. Punishment Of Luxury is one of them. They didn’t look punk and didn’t sound punk by numbers. Lump them in among inventive bands like Devo, early Adam And The Antz etc. They where a little too good at their instruments to play the usual three chord chuga chuga. Not only that. They knew how to write tunes which was well arranged but without getting lost in instrumental masturbation that’s often the case with too many well skilled musicians(funny I said that considering I’ve been listening to Rush three days in a row now). A bit theatrical and too proggy for the real punx and of course that’s why I love them. Fuck the punx!

Country: UK
Year: 1978
Label: Small Wonder
Format: 7″
Songs:
Puppet Life.mp3
The Demon.mp3

“Earl has been playing drums since he was a kid and gives an accurate interpretation of new wave percussion.” Yes kids this is NEW WAVE so stop rambling about this being the first Hardcore record. Fast New Wave but still New Wave. Obvious influences from Adam And The Antz-Dirk Wears White Sox era comes through in Stay Close To Me. Head in to 1.37 and you could just as well been listening to Never Trust a Man with an Egg on his Face. Brilliant. 

What’s even more amazing then the fast interpretation of New Wave done in 1979 on this one is the rehearsal demo from 1978 that I’ve found online somewhere. If Middle Class where the forerunners of the D-Beat New Wave, Bad Brains is the forerunners of the fast New Wave coming out of D.C. in 1981. Another Damn Song…I mean if that was released in 1978… don’t know what to say.

Hardcore never was and never will be. Long live New Wave!

Country: USA
Year: 1980
Label: Bad Brain
Format: 7″
Songs:
Pay To Cum.mp3
Stay Close To Me.mp3 

Bonus. Rehearsal demo from 1978



Country: USA
Year: 1978
Label: Internet
Format: MP3
Songs:
Pay To Cum.mp3
Red Bone In The City.mp3
How Low Can A Punk Get.mp3
Another Damn Song.mp3

“How much longer will people wear nazi armbands? And dye their hair? Safety pins and spray their clothes? Talk about anarchy, fascism and boredom. When you don’t know nothing. But you don’t really care. ” First verse in How Much Longer. How much before their time they where. Already in 1977 they had the guts to question the punk dogma. Sniffing Glues Mark Perry had been there done that for over a year and saw what was to come. Another stale youth culture trapped in how you should look and think to be “punk”. Fair enough he question himself too: I don’t know nothing. Soon enough Mark moved fast forward with ATV to a more experimental stage bounding friendship with the likes of Throbbing Gristles Genesis P. Orridge(who lately got himself a pair of brand new tits from his wife).  

A solid two sider who’ve been following me since spring 1978. Great looking front sleeve too!

Country: UK
Year: 1977
Label: Deptford Fun City
Format: 7″
Songs:
How Much Longer.mp3
You Bastard.mp3

I doubt it can be said enough times so I say it again. This is one of my favorite records ever! Very snotty, funny and with a hint of hard rock in the drums and guitar solos which usually makes me feel sick, but here it’s on the right side of the border. The overdubbed guitar parts makes the guitars powerful and super crunchy and I would love to figure out how to get a sound like that. The only thing this record lacks according to the Bruce Dickinson is more cowbell!

The band came from Hjo (Jo, det gjorde dom visst), the wooden town know for it’s huge population of Sweden’s pride and glory, raggare. This made life hard for the members and their first planned show had to be canceled after the band received death threats from the local motor heads. At least this gave the band some publicity and set the path for their future as violence and canceled or disrupted gigs became their thing. Luckily the members was really talented when it came to find emergency exits after insulting the audience, and they even gave some future members of Anti Cimex a lesson in how to escape from a window faster than you our dutch friends says als een potvis in een pispot pist, heb je een pispot vol met potvispis.

For you English masturbators who only understand the lyrics to Fonstertittaren (thank Joe Strummer for that) head over to the bands myspace site while the rest of us enjoys the complete story with the all the fights, booze and born again madness over at punktjafs.

Country: Sweden
Year: 1980
Label: NR
Format: 7″
Songs:
(Trivs du i) Hjo?.mp3
Svensson.mp3
Tacka din herre.mp3
Fonstertittaren.mp3