More 7" reviews: the Jury, Wasted Time, Everything Falls Aprt & more

Here's that other bunch of 7"s I thought deserved the ol' review treatment. That should give you something more to read while I get my ducks in order for another sort of update with more material. I should mention that if you're in the Montreal area and feel curious enough about any of these records to pick them up (and they're all recommended), you can do so at Sound Central as they got copies of all these here pieces of wax and a hell of a bunch more.

Wasted Time- No Shore 7"
You have to hand it to Grave Mistake Records. I must admit not being terribly interested in the majority of what hardcore was producing for a number of years-- at least, the cross section of it I was encountering. Part of this was due to being way too busy with other things at the time. (Yes, it happens. And will probably happen again at some point.) Some of the things that got me to take a bit more notice again was coming across a Career Suicide 7", and then there were a slew of great 7"s coming from this Richmond label Grave Mistake. That first Wasted Time 7" was one of them. About a year and a half later, after Wasted Time developed enough of a name for themselves where they could have easily dropped an LP, they opted instead for another 7" on Grave Mistake, showing how both the band and the label can do some great justice to the format. Beefy hardcore punk with gruff vocals; the tempo remains pretty constant throughout, but with enough hooks to make the songs sound distinct. It's amazing how far some angry tunes and some rub on letters will go.....
(Grave Mistake)


Time to Escape 7"
Time to Escape is a DC band, and they really wear it on their sleeves... quite literally, as the record sleeve is emblazoned with a picture of a rally of some sort on the Capitol Building's steps. I've seen this record compared to the likes of Government Issue and the Faith, and I'm not going to disagree. It's got a similarly blown-out sound as the Faith side of the Faith/Void split, and some of the guitar work recalls the crunch of GI's "Boycott Stab". Apparently, these 5 songs first saw life as a demo with limited circulation, and Grave Mistake saw it fit to put it on vinyl. Lest I give the impression that the sound is derivative, it's got the same energy and heart you'll find on those other Grave Mistake Records, so while it draws liberally from those bands of yore, it has a fun and vibrant quality to it. In other words, GM done did good in giving this one a second life on wax.
(Grave Mistake)


Everything Falls Apart- Escape 7"
Here is another 7" that isn't quite that new anymore, but deserves a mention nonetheless. I actually sought this one out myself after seeing a very favorable review on Hardware courtesy of Dave K. The band released this themselves, and did a nice job on the packaging, screening some smaller, Dangerhouse-style covers, and hand stamping the labels. Musically, they straddle styles a bit, at times leaning more towards the thrashy hardcore punk style of the spectrum. Still, between the breakdowns and some of the riffs, they also seem to draw from some of the faster youth crew style bands. Nitpicking about micro-genres aside, as a first outing and having done it all themselves, Everything Falls Apart pulled it off very well, and hit on a pretty good sound, treading similar territory as Tear it Up, for example.
(self released)

the Jury- Can't Fight the Feeling 7"
Here's the newest 7" by Albany's the Jury, who just recently had a record out on Gloom and did some US dates with Japan's Total Fury. Upon my first impression, I thought they had a bit of a Nine Shocks Terror vibe going on between the speedy thrash riffs, rockin' breakdowns, and throat-shredding vocals. I'd reckon my favorite track on here is "Endless Hunger" with the guitar solo piss-take at the end; the Jury's definitely got their own take on that sound. Speaking of sound, though, my one complaint would have to be the sound quality, as the vocals overpower a lot of the instruments in the mix and the drums sound a little flat. They definitely aren't in need of great production, but a little bit of punch in the drums and some more depth to the guitars would serve them well. Still, this 7" was over in heartbeat, so the sound "problem" doesn't persist long enough to really offend. This disc appears to be self released, numbered and limited to 500 copies. I bet the Jury have some more tricks up their sleeves, and I'd be keen on hearing more, particularly with a bit more flattering recording.
(Electric Mayhem)