bedford - crappy xmas tape

happy holidays!

here we have a rare treat from northeast PA's most favourite pop-punk band during the mid to late 90s, bedford. i'm not sure exactly what year this came out, but i'm thinking 1998 or 1999, and as far as i know, the songs were recorded for a tape to be given away at one show around the holidays. despite this ultra-limited cassette release, a year or so later, there was an even shorter run of the same songs on CD-R format.

bedford pull out all the stops on this lo-fi stocking stuffer.  if you're not familiar with bedford's brand of punky rock, imagine taking that old record reviewer's blender and inserting equal parts elvis (fat AND skinny, but mostly skinny), elvis (costello, this time), buddy holly, husker du, action patrol, and doc hopper, blend until smooth, and there you've got a close approximation to the bedfords, as they were sometimes affectionately known.

bedford - crappy xmas tape
http://lix.in/-3e3aa7
mp3 320kbps VBR [14.67 MB]

01 silver bells
02 hurry xmas
03 (night before xmas) sleepwalk
04 hawaiian xmas
05 santa claus is coming to town

members of bedford went on to form an albatross, a highly progressive grindpunk mindfuck synthrash ensemble, as well as the swims, and maybe some other bands you should find out your own damn self!  ha!

ps. the songs are labeled and tagged incorrectly, so FUCK YOU! ;D
MERRY PUNXMAS EVERYONE!!

awakening - demo 1992

(not to be confused with the more recent awakening, from here in columbus, oh)

an historical document in it's own right, a hardcore demo from a band in hazleton, pa back in 1992.  i always wondered what type of underground music happened there before this era, if any.  i mean there had to be something, right?  i completely remember seeing alleyway graffiti there when i was just a wee lad that read PUNK OUT! in red spraypaint on a white wall just behind the main street downtown.  years later when i was a skaterat punker, i would sometimes see this mob of older goth punks that used to hang out, but i was too shy to talk to them.

we always used to laugh about how hazleton was 20 years behind the times with everything, and if hardcore began in 1982, then i would say that this demo from 1992 was way ahead of it's time!!  pioneers of mob city hardcore?  who knows.  i was friends with all the kids in this band, was there when they recorded this demo at the unisound in reading, pa, and always helped drive equipment to the shows.  i'm not sure if the band even lasted more than a summer.  i only remember there being less than a handful of shows and then the band was no more.  such was the fate of most NEPA hc/punk bands from back in the day.

i think there was a big oi! influence in this band, especially with the more melodic edge and gruff vocals.  i think the bruisers were a favourite at the time.  for what it's worth, hardcore existed in hazleton, pa in 1992.  this is a document.

awakening - demo [cassette rip]
http://lix.in/-22514f
mp3 320kbps VBR [30.36MB]

01 shrug
02 rise
03 pale embrace
04 crazy
05 social prejudice

option - not forgotten '91 demo

i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this tape might very well be THE holy grail wilkes-barre, pa hardcore demo. option (usually along with sideover) played support to just about every major name in hardcore that came through the area during the early to mid 90s, and ventured out of town on occasion as well.  option could headline a bill of all locals and there would be 2-300 kids there, all singing along!! these songs were staples in their super-energetic live set, the choruses often inducing large dog-piles of kids with backwards baseball caps. wilkes-barre has a pretty rich history of hardcore, DIY shows at firehalls, kids doing fanzines, etc. and where most bands and spots were flashes in the pan, option were there through the thick of it, and really deserve their due.  or at least an MVP award for keeping the scene alive all those years.

the inspiration for this post came from EMS's COREGASM blog, where i was delighted to find the option demo that came out in 1993. a tape which i had never actually owned a copy.  thanx, eric!





option - not forgotten '91 [cassette rip]
http://lix.in/-29f1d4
mp3 320kbps [22.86MB]

01 photo-negative
02 not forgotten
03 mind trap
04 transparent