:: HOW'S YOUR EDGE? :: Hardcore Straight Edge

How do these people find me?

According to Mr Mroz's press sheet, "there is a crisis at hand and Pete Mroz is the inexhaustible hero." Of course, the PR sheet goes on and on joke after joke, hyperbole topping hyperbole. Before listening, I assumed I was getting a Good Clean Fun solo project. I was truly expecting some Atom And His Package shit.

Of course, this is nothing at all what I would expect. My assumption that people actually send me "hardcore punk" is constantly challenged. This album is the other end of the spectrum. It's acoustic rock with an occasional piano or string accompaniment, with a chill male voice over it all. Sadly, this music immediately puts me to sleep. It also makes me think about possibly knifing myself. If broken hearted love songs are your thing, I have the disk for you. Ugh, "my tears, they fall like rain." This must be the youth crew of cliche broken hearted acoustic tracks.

Honestly, I'm not even sure why I'm reviewing this. The review will probably pop up high on Google results, and Pete Mroz will ask me to take it down because it isn't a sparkling review. I should just stop now.

Try this, go to google right now, and type "pete mroz hardcore." What an ironic first hit. Fate is fucking with me.

See It Through is from Reno, Nevada. Maybe they know Zeke. They certainly give shout outs to xAFBx in their liner notes. I'm sure thy must end up on the same bill every now and then. Which leads to the next question.

Will bands from Nevada forever be categorized by that National Geographic "documentary?" Will they be under the microscope because of that footage? Who knows. Hopefully not. Pigeon holing is hardly ever accurate. I mean, consider this. 7 Seconds is from Reno, Nevada. Isn't Big Bob from Reno too? That's a lot of positivity for one little town. I think I drove through their once on a quiet Sunday night. I was expecting a bustling Vegas vibe, but was greeted by a Sunday Worcester vibe instead -- ghost town. Real strange.

Of course, hardly any of that has anything to do with See It Through. They aren't metal, they aren't kick boxing material. They categorize (hey now!) more along the Outspoken / Verse side of hardcore. I can see kids fast skanking to these songs, maybe finger pointing, singing along. Not bad. This band could have played Detroit Fest in the late 90s and they would have fit in perfectly. Word.

What do you know about This Is Hell? Here's what I know. The only harder working band that I can think of, in recent memory, is Champion. This Is Hell are basically work horses for the kids. If This Is Hell isn't playing your state this month, you can be damn sure they'll be there within the next 3 months. These dudes are always on tour and are always touring with the best bands. And when they aren't touring Europe or Australia, they are in the studio recording split EPs or amazing full lengths.

That's what we have here. An amazing sophomore effort from This Is Hell. It's really freaking good. Following up where Sundowning left off, Misfortunes rips from one track to the next. I don't know if this album has as many finger pointing opportunities but it'll still get you off your ass moshing. You can try and hang in the back of the club when they play, but that won't last. You'll be drawn in and before you know it, you'll be having a stage diving contest with Travis. He'll win, but you'll put your best foot forward.

If you are in Europe, prepare as they are coming to your hood later in April. If you are in the north east, you better doubly prepare. This Is Hell is playing all the H2O record release shows, and if you skip those, you aren't my friend. Think about it. A new H2O album and This Is Hell at some top notch venues with great stages. Dumb if you aren't diving.

The First Step have been a staple in hardcore for many years now. The first time I remember seeing them was way back in 2002. It was this big show at the Knights Of Columbus in Wallingford, CT. I can recall Fred and Ashley being up front losing their shit. And almost everyone else was just standing back soaking it all in. Like everyone had this common thought, "holy shit, this band is going to be something big." At least that's what I was thinking. More likely, kids were probably too busy trying to confirm internet rumors or talking shit to enjoy this experience. Sad. Sad because The First Step was mind blowing that day. It didn't hurt that they were playing before Champion and What Feeds The Fire. Aram and Fred were in the same room soaking it all in. Where was Greg? Wack.

I think it is safe to say that this album is my favorite release by The First Step so far. Yes, very safe to say. This album grabs me and makes me want to stage dive and finger point. It follows up nicely to their other albums, but something about it straight sticks out. Could it be the melodies or Steb's heart felt lyrics or maybe the influence of Fred, Aram and Greg? Maybe. Something about the album is just that appealing to me. Not sure what, but it's there. I can see kids losing their shit to these songs.

I love that every song clocks in at less than 2 minutes. That's the sign of a great hardcore song. Now this next statement isn't a negative. You'd think coming from me, it would be a negative, but I swear it is not. This album appears to have more of a religious feeling towards it. Not some "I love Jesus" tunes, but a definite Krsna/Buddhist undertone. Take Learn To Trust for example. The song isn't over the top spiritual, but you can see the metaphors used are pulled from krsna/buddhism (life is an illusion ...). It doesn't take away from the album, but rather enhances it as the message is super positive.

I can dig this album. I suggest you go to Rivalry Records and order this EP now. Kyle throws in a digital download too so you have no excuses. Do this. Now.

ps. How's that Mr TFS?

Trial. What do you know about Trial? 10 years ago, I didn't know squat. 10 days ago, I barely knew more than squat. As of right now, I know a hell of a lot more. It's funny how much can change in 10 years. Then again, it's funny how much remains the same.

10 years ago, I has absolutely no idea who Trial was. Not a clue. I'm from New England, not the northwest so this isn't so unfathomable. It wasn't until 1999 that I had my first Trial experience. Let me set the stage for you. Fuck, actually, it must have been 1998. It couldn't have been 1999. Hmm, anyway.

Tre (from Deathwish Inc) and Dalbec (from Bane/Converge/Velocity Engine/...) had just moved out of 34 John St (ooh, did I drop something there? hey, now!). Dalbec was a terrible collector and had tons of shit. When he moved out, he left behind weird random crap. I say "left behind" because I would feel bad if I took stuff he was going to come back and get. Anyway, he left behind a million No Reason stickers and some random odds and ends. One of these pieces was a Trial hooded sweatshirt. It was pretty chill. Black with maroon/brown font and oddly, white hood draw strings. This seemed strange, but I was down for a hooded sweatshirt that said "STRAIGHT EDGE," you know?

I washed the sweatshirt that day as I wanted to wear it to a show that night in Connecticut. When I pulled it out of the dryer, I also mysteriously found the smallest iron maiden shirt. Complete schmedium or youth large. Shit was tiny. But it was amazing and super soft so I ended up wearing both to the show. Now this was going to be some late, all nighter gig in CT. As all CT shows started late and ran super later.

We rolled up to Billy Willys in Brookfield CT expecting to see Bane, Reach The Sky and Fear Tomorrow. We actually ended up sitting in the Converge van (Dalbec borrowed it for the the long ride to CT for Bane). And sitting and sitting and sitting. I think Billy Willy didn't show up until much later and no one could get in the club. During our long wait, we found out that Trial was playing a show somewhere else in CT, but their show was canceled. And they were now going to play the Billy Willy show. So there I was, that guy. I was rocking the trial hood and was totally that guy. But I was semi embarrassed to remove the hood because the iron maiden shirt was soooo fucking small. In the end, I removed the hood and watched Trial play a long set. Maybe it just felt long because they probably didn't start playing until 9pm. I think Craig Mack also wore a gas mask during the Fear Tomorrow set and he more than likely was throwing stools. Actually, I guess it was someone else who was throwing stools. But in my mind, it was Craig Mack.

So that was my first and really only Trial experience. The only thing that could be considered a partial Trial experience was eating dinner with Greg Bennick in Seattle. Of course, this was in 2006 and I was sitting at a table with about 14 other people. In fact, if asked, I bet he wouldn't be able to point me out in a lineup. Not that I would expect him to be able to, of course. Just saying.

So, long story short, my exposure to Trial is pretty damn limited. I don't think I even owned the cd. I think I always lumped them (unfortunately) in the whole politcal metal hardcore genre.

Fast forward to 2008. 10 years later, I'm a little older, a little wiser (HAHA), and I've come to realize that there is a difference between "time and place" and "acquired taste." Like I said, I wasn't from the nortwest in the mid 90s. I was from the home of Ten Yard Fight and In My Eyes. My time and place involved The Space and the OCBC (old cambridge baptist church, harvard sq). But after watching the retrospective and reunion shows featured on this dvd, I think Trial can easily become a great acquired taste in 2008. Of course, you won't be seeing them live anytime soon, but you can settle back with some popcorn and watch these DVDs at your leisure. Fuck it, you can even put these DVDs on and mosh in your living room.

So yeah, you have 2 amazing DVDs full of great content. Plenty of live shows from 2005 and plenty of older footage from the mid 90s. Even better than that (well, at least to me) is the retrospective with Greg and Timm. They really break it down and tell it like it is. They make it easy to love Trial as individuals, more than just a band. They talk about straight edge, veganism and political hardcore. They admit to being that political hardcore band I heard about way back in 1998. But then again, they prove that the band was WAY more than just that genre label.

There you have it. You better look into this dual dvd set. In fact, go order it from Panic Records right now. You owe it to yourself.

Edit: Looky what I found!

A poser but not a liar.