Blurt - Blurt + Singles (2009)

Wonderful comp from the epileptic jazz-punk trio Blurt which includes their self titled album and a few of their singles from the early 80s. It's a really hyper, energetic, yet simple album, just repetitive lyrics chanted (or screamed) a few times, followed by some gorgeous sax molestation and other somewhat post-punky sounding instrumentals. The album is just real catchy and fun to just listen and sing along (or dance like youre having a seizure) to, it's best played loudly.

The fish needs a bike
The fish needs a bike

God Is My Co-Pilot - Speed Yr Trip (1993)

So apparently Queercore is a genre of music. It's actually pretty good too. Well it was more of a scene and a movement, occurring it a lot of mediums, journalism, art, music, etc. but this is just a music blog so let's talk about it like it's just a genre. God Is My Co-Pilot was a great little gem from the music side of it. Best described as noisy, unorthodox, anarcho-punk. They were spastic and all over the place in the best way possible. This album is full of short, blunt DIY punk songs. It's such an in-your-face kind of album, like a big musical revolt against mistreatment of the LBGT community. It's a splendid politically-fueled album that's definitely worth a listen.

Anywhere but here
With anyone but you

Dog Faced Hermans - Mental Blocks for All Ages (1991)

Dog Faced Hermans, wacky, crazy, hyper, epileptic post-punk, what more could you even want? This Scottish group really just brings such a memorable sound to the table, what could best be described as a unique blend of post-punk and anarcho-punk. And along with that their unconventional instrumentation and sweeping female vocals, that are almost operatic at times, really make them a band that doesn't lose their appeal after a few listens. Dog Faced Hermans is one of the few bands I can honestly say has not released a bad album in my opinion. And this particular album just seems to perfectly sum up the band's hectic sound, and it's definitely my favorite release by them, and even one of my favorite albums of all time. Fun, noisy, quirky, and enthralling all at the same time, it's a really hard album to pass up.

Fortune has a double edge
Sometimes I think it cuts
Today you've got enough
And others not too much

Destroy All Monsters - 74 76 (1994)

Destroy All Monsters were quite an interesting group. Emerging in Ann Arbor in the early 70's, their sound could best be described as an extremely noisy and hectic proto-punk group. The band, however, is very eclectic and it's difficult to define their sound with just a genre or two, and this album, compiled by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, definitely shows it. They were certainly ahead of their time, and quite out there too, with songs that are full-on improvisational freak outs, to really droney songs, to songs that seemingly signal and hint at the Post-Punk, Punk Rock, and Anarcho-Punk movement that were soon to come. I definitely feel they had an influence on all three of those genres. Although the album is quite intimidating, clocking in at just under three and a half hours, its definitely worth it and I highly recommend giving this album a chance. It's a great look into one of the many (but in my opinion one of the best) precursors to the Punk movement.

Disc One: Gospel Crusade

Disc Two: Crying In Bed

Disc Three: To The Throne Of Chaos Where The Thin Flutes Pipe Mindlessly

Flux of Pink Indians - The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks (1984)

Flux of Pink Indians were an Anarcho-Punk band formed circa 1980 in England. Their relatively short career  which ended in 1987, saw the release of 3 politically fueled, noisey Punk albums. The band was previously known as The Epileptics (and later Epi-X after some British association regarding epilepsy started whining about their name) a couple years prior to changing their name to Flux of Pink Indians. They were certainly one of the better bands to come out of the Anarcho-Punk scene in the early 70's/late 80's. Anarcho-Punk itself helped shape other popular genres such as Grindcore or Crust Punk. It also helped in the foundation of Folk-Punk, which in turn shaped Indie-Folk as it is today. I've always found it interesting how genres that seem so different, like Anarcho-Punk and Indie-Folk, can still end up being very related.

Psalters - The Divine Liturgy of the Wretched Exiles (2006)

The Divine Liturgy of the Wretched Exiles from Pennsylvanian tribal/anarcho-punk band Psalters starts off with powerful droning hums, then breaks open into beautiful chanting of "Agios O Theos; Agios Eschiros." The chanting itself is wonderful, all of their voices are very strong and emotional, it's actually quite hard to describe. It's all very hypnotizing. A few track later is "Rich Man and Afghanistan," who's beginning consists of manic and splendid screaming, with a chant between each line. It breaks down into tribal drumming with other instruments thrown in.