Point of Interest compilation tape #1

The first Point of Interest compilation tape came with the 15th and final issue of the Point of Interest zine (pictured above). POI was focused almost solely on the local 90's punk rock music and this compilation serves as a glimpse into what was going on in the Northwest scene at the time. I remember buying this tape from Jay who ran the POI zine and distro, at a punk show in Woodinville (mentioned briefly here) back in the day. When I took it home and played it in my boombox, my 13 or 14 year old mind was blown away by the sudden realization that anyone who wanted to could put out a tape, compile a zine or form a band. DIY was something I'd heard talked a lot about before but this zine, this tape and that local scene were the first time I'd ever witnessed any of it in action.

Containing 15 tracks of varying sonic quality, our final download in what has been without a doubt the blog's most exciting year in existence thus far, take a look at this tracklist:

01. The Degenerats - Do Society a Favor
02. The Degenerats - Riot Squad
03. The Degenerats - America is Dead
04. John Q Fascist - Manhood
05. Larry - Custom Engine/Stone Cold
06. Flight 800 - Fly the Friendly Skies
07. Flight 800 - Isle of the Lepers
08. Submission Hold - Ed Anger
09. Submission Hold - Analysis
10. Cease and Desist - Crust as a Solution b/w Burnt Out (these two tracks run together)
11. The Bloodclots - Common Cause
12. The Bloodclots - Paint Thinner
13. The Deviants - Beer
14. Mark Bruback - Society's Disorder

P.O.I. compilation tape (I am currently out of town and unable to scan images but when I return I will be updating this post with the actual cassette artwork)

I left in all of the tv show soundbites that were used (in most cases) in between bands but edited out some of the longer silences. The two Cease and Desist tracks were much quieter than everything else on the tape and in an effort to further amplify them it also amplified the accompanying tape noise - also, given their running together, I found it impossible to separate the tracks.

Cannibal - Tryin / Wasted Lives 7" (1985)

I've been running low on things to post these days, what with my usb turntable crapping out on me a while back, but I still browse sites like Discogs, Gemm and ebay regularly in the hopes of finding stuff for the blog. And That was how I discovered this gem, which promptly shot up way out of my price range but, thankfully, the seller had uploaded great quality rips of the two tracks from this release, so a big "thank you!" to whoever you are.

Cannibal featured members of other oldschool local punk bands such as The Fartz, Enstruction and Maggot Brains. This 7" serves as their only apparent release and it is a two track blast of dirty mid-80's Seattle style punk rock that was self-released in 1985.

I don't know any more about these guys, if you've got any information about their history please don't hesitate to share it with us in the comments.

Tryin b/w Wasted Lives

Display - Album, Demos, Rarities, and Live

The way I see it, everything I've posted here has been leading up to this moment. This is my second favorite album of all time (first is Pet Sounds), and over the 9 years since its release, I've come to accept that one of the main reasons I've been put on this earth is to be a Display evangelist. Now, I realize that hyping something makes it more difficult for a new listener to enjoy it, so if all my fawning is sounding like a too good to be true situation, then stop reading and just download the album.

Display were an arty dance-punk (or is it dancey art-punk?) trio out of Everett, formed by bassist Jim Paschall and guitarist Jeremy Cooper of The Past, and Danny Moore on drums. They wrote short, taut songs in Sonic Youth-inspired alternate tunings, anchored by Danny's fast and crisp beats. In contrast to the largely instrumental, slow moodiness of The Past, Display was more poppy and accessible, with Jim and Jeremy trading lead vocal duties, but no less artful and forward-thinking. Display was unlike anything else in town at the time.

Despite frequent positive write-ups in the local music press, a commanding set at the Capitol Hill Block Party, and many shows with other forward thinking bands like Shoplifting and The Gossip, Display never reached the heights they should have. The sad story of why you may not already know this band is that they refused label offers to release their music, opting to self-record and self-release, but doing it all themselves delayed the process, and by the time they finally got it out (packaged beautifully in a thick hinged mirror case they designed and assembled), sudden health problems forced the band to break up within about a week of the album's release. It was only available on consignment in a few shops, at one show, or direct from the band. Only a few dozen copies were made, as far as I know.

Download their sole album, 2003's Display, here.

Download their demo, a couple full shows, and recordings of some songs in their early stages, including a couple that were never released, here.

I've also just uploaded 11 old videos to Youtube, in this playlist:
Be advised that the video resolution isn't great, but I originally got them in this resolution and don't have the originals.

For more videos, check out scumstachewizard's Youtube channel.

Merry Christmas from Fishboy and Carleen Jean Death Machine

Alright, so this one qualifies on something of a technicality, and I'm ruling in its favor because I always look forward to listening to it around the holidays. A home-recorded 12-song Christmas CD-R from I believe 2003, given out to family and friends of the duo, Eric "Fishboy" Michener, a prolific Texan musician, and Carleen DeCamp (now Micheneer), an Everett native who moved to Texas after playing in several Everett-based bands. So, this was recorded in Texas, but there's enough Everett in it to totally qualify. Between the upbeat rock of "That's What You're Getting for Christmas" and "It's Tomorrow!", the not super serious but still poignant melancholy of "xHappyx xHardcorex xXmasx", "Lonely Santa", and "Werewolves on Christmas", and the brief but instantly memorable "Cowbell Christmas", this one is a winner all around (a winter winner, if you will). Guitar, drums, piano, synth, jingle bells, glockenspiel, whistling, what's not to love?

Download the 12-song album with felt sleeve and insert scans here.

EXCLUSIVE: Akimbo - 3 Early Unreleased Songs

Here are 3 songs recorded in the early Akimbo days, late 2000 or early 2001. The first two were intended for a split 7" that never happened, though "Sense of Smell" was eventually re-recorded  for their debut LP, Harshing Your Mellow. The final song is an unfinished demo thrown together to make use of some extra studio time. As far as I know, these have never been available until now. Enjoy.

Download the 3-song EP here.

Shitlist - A Cold Slap of Reality 7"

Continuing on the track started with yesterday's post, here's another blast of brutal local crust punk.

Shitlist were a band that existed during the late 90's and into early 2000's. Their only releases that I know of were this 7" and a split LP with Calloused. They were fronted by former Flight 800 vocalist Ryan and if you checked out yesterday's link, you pretty much know what to expect: noisy, hardcore crust punk. Other than the fact that members of the group went on to play in Deathraid and Consume, I don't much else about these guys so feel free to fill in the blanks if you've got any info.

A Cold Slap of Reality (with lyric and sleeve scans)

Flight 800 / Noisome Faugh - Patriotism In Action split 7"

Every October I seem to follow a similar music-listening pattern. At the beginning of the month, as my anticipation for Halloween starts to build, I embark on the journey by listening to some of the earlier Misfits material (Static Age, 13 hits From Hell, etc.), by mid-month as the climate and, with it, my mood darkens I start spinning The Doors s/t debut on repeat and, finally, as we round the bend heading towards the last week or so leading up to the holiday I find myself revisiting the Misfits again, this time though it's their later, more aggressive and fast-paced material - which in turn leads to an all out, several day long binge on hardcore, grindy, crusty punk rock - the dirtier-sounding, the better. Why do I bother telling you all of this, you may ask? Because, in their own ways, these two bands meet all of those criteria perfectly.

Flight 800 were a band you'd usually find sandwiched somewhere on a bill featuring mid-90's local punk bands like Bristle, The Degenerats and The Bloodclots, but their music was always a bit different than those guys and also a bit different from the crust bands they had more in common with. One of their vocalists (the screamer) looked the part, appearing unwashed and greasy with a hard-to-decipher-the-lettering-of band shirt, the other guy (the yeller) however had close cropped hair, thick-rimmed glasses (this is before they were cool, mind you) wore bright colored hawaiian shirts (pictured here). I don't know if their image was conceived intentionally, but the whole thing, especially when combined with the dark and grinding crustiness of the music coming out of the instruments, created something truly unique. I'm sure these guys went on to play in a million other bands but the ones I'm aware of are Shitlist, Deathraid and Consume.

Noisome Faugh are a band I never saw and whose presence on the scene I'm aware of solely thanks to their songs that appear on the flipside off this disc. Somewhat akin to Flight 800, Noisome Faugh were a female-fronted, hardcore/crust group whose members later went on to play with Cephlotripe and the Feederz.

Patriotism In Action