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An Odd Sort of SupergroupJuly 2, 2006... Welcome to the new-look Afterbirth of the Cool! Okay, so the look hasn't really changed... But the focus has! Hereafter, and until further notice, the primary focus of this here blog will be hardcore punk and post-hardcore/pre-alternative from the 1980s and early 1990s. That doesn't mean that hardcore and post-hardcore will be the only focus of Afterbirth: I've listened to Frank Zappa and the Mothers' Freak Out too many times this week, and thought too hard about why Lenine is better than Seu Jorge, to paint myself into a corner like that. I will, however, ensure that at least 50% of my content from this point forward fits with the new focus. If you couldn't care less about what Paul Mahern did with himself after the Zero Boys broke up, if you actually come here to read my rants about insufferable gas bags and urban blight, fear not: I will continue to post on these topics ... on my other blog. Why the change? Well, I've got all these horrendously obscure records that few people would ever get a chance to hear otherwise. And after months and months of financial, logistical and technological challenges, I can finally do something about it. I hope you enjoy it. Warning: there will be guitars. ***** Generally, when one refers to a musical "supergroup," one is referring to a group comprised of members of other famous musical groups. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, for example, is a supergroup comprised of former members of the Byrds, the Buffalo Springfield and the Hollies--all of whom had had hit songs. In 1988, X-Mist Records sprang a very different sort of supergroup on the world. Comprised of current and former members of Angor Wat (?), Pissed Boys (??), L.U.L.L. (okay, I'd heard of that one) and "a number of local bands," Attent!on's true claim to fame was it mix of nationalities. The singer was from Denmark, the guitarist from Norway, the bass player from Poland und die drummer aus der Germany. Despite this, they did not suck total ass. Attent!on - Small Town Rockstar BluesBoth sides of Attent!on's 12" EP, Hearts of Stone, start off with jazz-punk noodling, a la Saccharine Trust, before settling into more straightforward fare. More straightforward, perhaps, but never completely straightforward: the musicians are just too good for that. The bassist plays runs instead of root notes and the guitarist throws in jazzy, dissonant chords and Middle Eastern trills here and there. That the band is fond of heavy metal is also clear: Black Sabbathesque and Iron Maidenite flourishes abound. Still, this is a punk record. The lyrics, mostly in English, are about not giving up, not selling out, loving one another and all that shit... It's a pretty good listen. Attent!on - Hearts of StoneHearts of Stone can still be purchased directly from X-Mist, which is both a label and a distributor nowadays. Permadink | | |
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