Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Psycho on Patac Records



Here's another single from, Psycho on the Boston-centric hardcore label, Patac Records. The last thing I expected was this jagged sawblade looking vinyl when I pulled it out from the sleeve. Incredible....looks like they had to start cutting the tracks way inside to allow room for working out the blades, but then how did they cut those into each vinyl? That's completely insane...there must have been some kind of jigsaw form or something. Another step after they're pressed...a shit-ton of work. I honestly have no idea how you would do that on a scale of 500 or so like this. Lucky mastered these at least... and then they were pressed somewhere else? And maybe then cut/melted somewhere else? Damn, Patac had the idea it would work with Psycho...putting the needle on the record, that sawblade is a nice touch.
Sounding an awful lot like Suicidal Tendencies, on "Vertigo", the first track...but that probably jut says more about the last time I was listening to this stuff. To know there is this kind of well documented and supported scene in Boston is great...it's almost intimidating, and Patac is giving you plenty of places to start. They really have nailed down this sound and it's players throughout the genre's history. Turns out these guys have been around since 1982, breaking it off in 1994, and coming back 16 years later with this 4 song EP. Why? Probably because they can't stop playing. This grindcore is always going to be a part of them, obviously. They could help shape a new scene.
Wouldn't it be weak to say "Well, I grew up, so I had to quit"....you loved it in the first place..what changed? You got older? Who cares! I swear if a band gives up like that, you almost have to discount their body of work a little. I guess they never had that drive. It's easy to load up your shit every night at 18, and play as fast as possible, but to hear these guys keeping this up on the uncomfortable "Animal", is more hardcore than anyone under 20. The real balls come when your band has been around for 30 freaking years and then crush you with a punk EP like this.
"Religious" on the B-Side, is as condemning as you can imagine, the vocal rhythm back and forth of Cody is overlapping, delivered at inhuman speed. They always seem to find an internal rhythm that doesn't seem to repeat in any regular way...well it breaks out at the beginning and ends with a solo, but I think it's just to mess with you.
"Legalize Murder" features lyrics written by GG, I don't know if this was based on some published writing he did, or it was some kind of spoken word track...or is this what he said at NYU when he was sticking the banana up his ass? However they found it, they ended up making it my favorite track. (They actually recorded with GG on "Freaks,Fags, Drunks and Junkies" (1987) - ed) Going almost Black Flag with a party on punk version of "Fucking Pigs! Legalize Murder!" railing heavy headbanging chords, this is a rally cry for occupy wall street. They need some punk rock attitude down there to really make a change. Forget the drum circles, play "legalize murder(ing the rich)" and I'll happily be down there.

Sawblade black vinyl with double sided sleeve, with lyrics and liner notes inside.
Boston's own godfathers of grind are back with a brand new platter of splatter! Four raging tracks that are gaurenteed to give your turntable a real kick in the ass. This is the first new set of recordings in fourteen years. PSYCHO formed in 1982, and stood out in the Boston scene due to their unique blending of hardcore punk and thrash metal. Bands like PSYCHO, CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and THE ACCUSED laid down the groundwork for modern mainstream acts like MUNICIPAL WASTE and TOXIC HOLOCAUST. This record has been die-cut into a 'sawblade' shape, and limited to 600 copies, the first 150 are on red vinyl.

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