7" reviews: Fed Up!, Critical Picnic, Youths, La Piovra

Fed Up!- Lashing Out 7"
It's a sad fact that you don't see too many hardcore 7"s coming out of the Big Apple these days, so respect to Fed Up! for taking on this format. Rough and tumble hardcore from New York City. There's a heavy Breakdown and Raw Deal influence on these tracks; imagine if those bands had been skinheads and came up in the 90's, and you might take a guess as to what Fed Up! could sound like. They lay it on pretty thick--2 of the 3 songs on this disk are about fighting, and this was even recorded at "Beat Down studios," but having known the guys from Fed Up! for about 10 years I can vouch for the fact that they're the real deal. For folks who like the gruff, oi! influenced hardcore of folks like 86 Mentality should lend an ear to these dudes here.

Critical Picnic 7"
Really noisy and lo-fi hardcore from California. In fact, I haven't heard as trebly a record since the Satanic Malfunctions 7". That is to say, as far as productions valuesgo-- not very good. However, it's hardly the point, as the guitar and trash-can sounding drums almost meld together in a whirlwind of hardcore noise. With songs like "Bob Saget Was a War Hero" and "Disgruntled Pedophile," you get the impression that the delivery is just as important as the songs themselves. And as for delivery you get some serious piss and vinegar here. The Meatmen would be proud, methinks. Fun stuff that you might have to clean up some to pull off an LP's worth of material, but it works fine for a 7".

the Youths- Youths Youths Youths 7"
For a long while in the 90's, there seemed to be dearth in really good melodic hardcore bands. I don't mean pop-punk, emo, Fat Wreck Chords style stuff--- that was always a dime a dozen. There seemed to be a good amount of crazy thrash bands that were pretty good, and not a whole hell of a lot of bands that pulled off a Zero Boys, Adolescents, Kraut type of vibe well at all. (Sure, there were exceptions, and I think that one Krayz record is a shining example.) Then bands like Young Wasteners, the Observers,or Clorox Girls popped up, and nowadays kids seem to be able to pull it off much better again.... And Portugal's Youths are one such band. Catchy, hook-ridden hardcore punk full of mid-paced songs of shouted lyrics and amped-up, jangly guitars. A real nice hardcore 7" for sure.

La Piovra- Risacca b/w Danni Collaterali 7"
After hearing that Ohuzaru LP last year I'm convinced Italian hardcore has some serious shit up their sleeve, and along comes La Piovra to lend some more evidence to that claim. Though this is just a 2 song 7" (I think limited for a tour of theirs) they seriously manage to do more damage over the course of 2 songs than most hardcore bands can manage over a whole album. They've got one hell of a backbeat, and their Dictators-meets-Sonics through a filter of Minor Threat-meets-State of Alert mayhem is pretty powerful. But they're the heirs to a great tradition over there that spans from Raw Power, CCM, Declino and some dozen more powerhouses, so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.