Sunday 24 July 2011

Crow Eater - Grave Wax (2011)





Here's another new release from the good folks at Bart Records. Crow Eater is straight-up hardcore, with former members of the Sharp Ends, Corta Vita and Chupacabra. The four songs on this tape - which boasts one of the most ambitious tape covers we've seen in the past 15 years (which we realize may not be saying much) - clock in at just over five minutes. Which actually gives this tape one of the highest ratios of production value to recording length that we've ever seen.

Get the tape from Hot Wax or download from Crow Eater's myspace.

Update: Myspace? Sheesh! How about bandcamp instead?

Monday 18 July 2011

tion - tion (1991)



Along with the Gravity Thugs tape we featured yesterday, Ben Docktor gave us this three-song tape when we visited him.

This pre-dates Ben's more well-known work with Drench, and also features future Glider drummer Rene Chayer. We note two things about this tape: first, the j-card is backwards, perhaps tying into the Arabic-themed artwork. Second, Ben's a pretty fine guitarist.

Sunday 17 July 2011

Gravity Thugs - Gravity Thugs



Shortly before Sled Island, we got an email from Ben Docktor telling us he had unearthed a copy of one of our Holy Grails, along with a few warnings: it was a dubbed copy, he didn't have a proper j-card, and someone had accidentally punched record in the middle of one of the tracks (apparently someone was a bit excited about recording some AC/DC for Ben).

Obviously, we didn't have to think twice. We did, however, have to get off our lazy asses and make time to ride the complex system of busses, C-Trains and sidewalks between the CCPS offices and Ben's secret hideout. After the three-hour round trip (thank you, Calgary Transit), we finally have this in our library.

Despite the lack of a j-card (update: we got it! Thanks to Daaren Boreham!) and the missing second towards the end of "Shotgun Love," this is a must-have. "Take You Down" has always been a favourite of ours, and the other three tracks on here are just as good. We assume this is from the recording referenced in the above VOX article, which would peg this as an artifact from 1989.

Honestly, we're just happy to hear more of Brent Cooper's amazing guitar work.

Saturday 16 July 2011

Grown-Ups - Stopped Caring (2011)



We caught wind of this tape back in the spring, but operations in the CCPS offices have been a bit of a shambles this summer (we've gone through about four summer students already - no one seems to appreciate our deftly-crafted corporate culture, which is soon to be featured on Hoarders), so it's taken us a while to actually get a copy in hand.

We're somewhat glad we have - we're fans of the Grown-Ups' snotty and flippant brand of what the kids call punk rock these days. For the limited tape release of their limited vinyl release of their unlimited digital release, they've thrown in a few covers - including a nice swipe at Beat Happening's "Hey Day." Plus, instead the a hand-silskscreened (yawn) cover their record, they've got a machine-photocopied (yeah!) picture of Woody Allen. None of this recycling the CD/vinyl art for the tape business here!

We suggest you grab this from the Grown-Ups' bandcamp site, if you're so inclined.