some Bay Area bands that should be on your radar...

I decided to put together a list of all the good Bay Area bands I've seen in the past month that are either totally local or just a little below the radar... almost every show I go to I see a local/regional band I've never heard and love it, I needed to share the love!

Jesus Fucking Christ - I'm sure some of you know them, scathing Poison Idea/Accused/old Neurosis style punk from Oakland that includes Dave Ed, bassplayer of Neurosis... lit their drumkit on fire this past Friday night and sonically owned live. check out their new LP "Life's Hateful Seed"!

Fix My Head - played with JFC the other night, totally fast oldschool Japan-style punk in the style of Gauze, SOB, Outo, etc... extremely catchy and nasty. if they come to your town, you should probably wear a helmet if you don't want a mic thrown at your face. just released a new EP called "Empty Slogans"

Stormcrow - you probably know about these dudes, but you might not know they're confirmed for MDF this year and have a split coming with Coffins!! real powerful live, check out their splits with Laudanum, Massgrave and Stormcrow, it's all good stuff. new material is way more death/doomy and epic.

Laudanum - schizophrenic sludge/drone for fans of Burning Witch/Khanate, Thorr's Hammer and other angry slow painful music. just put out a split with Stormcrow, haven't heard it yet but I can only expect it'll be A class..

Abrupt - also fast nasty punk kinda like the aforementioned Fix Your Head. with a bit more metal, has a rad female singer and the guitarist from Born/Dead. Sadly I think they played their last US show last week, atleast for awhile. they have a new s/t LP out and I wanna get my hands on it.

Population Reduction - Just put out a split with Abscess, brutal stoner thrashing deathgrind... for fans of Groinchurn, Terrorizer, Morbid Angel, Insect Warfare and assorted death and destruction! check out their LP "Each New Birth A New Disaster", you'll be happy you did.

Acephalix - rocking crust/metal from Oakland, for fans of Parasytic, Syphilitic Vaginas, Inepsy, Nux Vomica, etc., has a bit of everything. you can find their demo pretty easily on blogs, pretty pro sounding and worth checking out... good music to wake you up in the morning and kick you in the balls.

Saros - sounds a lot like Lesbian, Ludicra and Rwake; ie. sludge and black metal in a slightly post-metal flavored soup of heaviness. opened for YOB, definitely cool live.

Acts Of Sedition - These guys play locally constantly but are always quality, just released a split with Maladie, if you're into Harm's Way and Left For Dead and The Swarm and other heavy & fast hardcore you'll probably dig it.

Born/Dead - you might know them already, they've been laying down fist pumping d-beat hardcore not unlike State Of Fear, World Burns To Death, The Holy Mountain, etc. for I think about a decade. just played their last US show last week.

Thousandswilldie - fuckin insano fast grind from San Fran. tons of 10 second songs, lightning fast blasts, great if you're into PLF and Assuck. threw tons of blood all over Gilman and was yet another band to light their drumkit on fire in my presence. bad ass.

Instant Asshole - the only one of these bands that I haven't actually seen... totally forgot to see them at a FREE midday benefit show yesterday in Oakland and I'm kicking myself. really fast snotty punk/hc that sounds like Youth Of Today, Deep Wound and Born Against in a blender. vocals kinda sound like Jello Biafra. check out their split w/Mouth Sewn Shut!


I strongly recommend myspacing as many of these that sound interesting to you as possible, download and/or buy some albums and look out if they tour your way. I'll try and get some links up for listening for you lazy types, and maybe buying/downloading for some.

Oi!