The Shortwave Channel - Bright Lights They Hurt 12"/CD (1997)

    The Shortwave Channel was a post‑hardcore band from San Diego, California. A somewhat unorthodox band even for the San Diego scene, The Shortwave Channel was a three piece band that featured drums, bass, and Moog synthesizer. The band's sound was a surprisingly well meshed mix of post‑punk and post‑hardcore, comparable to fellow rockers Antioch Arrow and Giving Up The Ghost. 

    The Shortwave Channel's songs are hypnotic and repetitive, prone to breaking out into bursts of energy; the bass is played as a lead instrument most of the time, which reminds me a lot of Canadian indie rockers The Inbreds, while the Moog either slips in sparingly or rises up to give the songs an extra atmospheric push. In their short existence, the band only managed to release one album, "Bright Lights They Hurt," on Wrenched Records. Fellow Wrenched bands included Evergreen, The Interstate Ten, and Antioch Arrow.

Bright Lights They Hurt

Bright Lights They Hurt CD 1997

Buried Inside - Early Work (1997-2001)

    Buried Inside was a metalcore band from Ottawa, Ontario. Buried Inside started out drawing significant influence from the eastern Canadian emocrust scene, taking cues from bands such as One Eyed God Prophecy, Uranus, and Drift. Following their first two albums (which are not available on streaming platforms or Bandcamp and are preserved here) the band shifted towards a more experimental, post-metal direction. This evolution resulted in two more albums that, while still good, sound completely different.

    Buried Inside is often absent from discussions of notable bands that blend Bremencore and Canadian emocrust; a style that blew up in popularity in the hands of Orchid and Kaospilot. Despite this, the band has carved out a distinct niche of their own, one that draws heavily upon the influential sounds of their peers within the Canadian scene.

(Buried Inside's 4th album making an appearance in Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 2)

Early Work

In And Of The Self CD 1999 (Matlock Records/Standingwave)

Suspect Symmetry CD 2001 (Cyclop Media)

Network 34 - ST CD (1996)

    Network 34 was a three-piece hardcore band based in Newark, Delaware active for a couple years in the mid-90s. Members of the band would go on to play in Eldritch Anisette, Fields Lay Fallow, Dorian Gray, Boysetsfire, Midvale and Dear Tonight. They released a 6-song demo in 1995 which would later be included on their CD album release on Planaria Records. 

    Network 34 was an intense and heavy band with frantic drums, guitar riffs and abrupt starts and stops reminiscent of Indian Summer and shrill screamed vocals. They had a rawness and originality to their sound, their release coming out at the peak of the 90s D.I.Y. movement. Instrumentally they were more experimental and complex than your average hardcore band using elements of math rock to back the throat-shredding vocals. 

    As a three-piece, you can hear how in sync the band is with each other, all starting and stopping with each other in an ebb and flow, but they still have a genuine emotional rawness to them that so many lose in the aim of perfecting their sound. Network 34 brings a sense of each note being played with purpose, power and meaning; without care for how it comes across to the world. 

    Thank you to Lia for putting me on this band! They've quickly become a favourite and deserve more attention!

ST CD

ST CD 1996 (Planaria Records)

Hoppers 13 - Colonization: An Indigenous Perspective Into A Culture Of Rape CD (1999)

     Hoppers 13 was a political hardcore band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the late 90s, the Canadian hardcore scene had an explosion of really meaningful and original bands. Along with bands like Chupacabra, Manner Farm and Moral Panic; Hoppers 13 was at the forefront of the biting and stylistically diverse Canadian D.I.Y scene, maybe even being the best of the bunch. Hoppers 13 blended the poppier-punk sounds of bands like Propaghandi with the shrieks, intensity and experimentation of bands like Submission Hold and Countdown To Putsch; keeping the aforementioned bands radical political edge. 

    This CD would have fit right in on The Mountain Collective For Independent Artists's roster and the 26 page informative booklet shines some light on the ongoing plight of indigenous peoples in North America; despite this CD being 24 years old, everything in the booklet is still strikingly relevant today. This CD represents something that I wish more hardcore bands would focus on today today; experimentation, political values and originality before boring music theory stipulations, fake toughness and cookie cutter riffs. 

Read more about the late 90s Canadian D.I.Y scene here (Moral Minority fanzine)

If anyone has more info/demos/flyers/live footage of Hoppers 13, please send it my way!

Hoppers 13 CD

Colonization... CD 1999 (Bad Food For Thought Records)

Follow n' Believe: A Food Not Bombs Compilation / The Quadraphonic Sounds Of The Miecia CD (1996)

    The Follow n' Believe compilation was a Food Not Bombs benefit CD released in 1996. It included 11 different yet equally amazing emo/screamo/hardcore bands like Elements Of Need, Reversal Of Man, Grade, Constatine Sankathi and Bev.Clone to name a few. 

    

    In the grand scheme of 90s D.I.Y. hardcore; compilations are easily forgotten, even though they usually contained unique tracks by excellent and influential bands. In most cases these compilations were fundraisers for different charities, political organizations and righteous causes such as Food Not Bombs. I'm doing our first ever dedicated compilation post for this CD as it is one of the more unique and less remembered compilations of the time. 

    This compilation also is a bit of a curiosity because it contains a FULL ALBUM of material by a one and done band called The Miecia; situated right after the other 10 bands songs. This album is titled "The Quadraphonic Sounds Of The Miecia" and contains 11 songs of wacky, Hose.Got.Cable esque technical punk-ramblings mixed with shrieked vocals and spoken word breaks reminiscent of bands like Native Nod and Moss Icon. 

    I wish I could tell you more about The Miecia but the truth is the only remaining context for the band is the 1 page insert included with this CD. Anyways, everything on this CD is complete D.I.Y. punk gold and you should really give it a listen!

Follow n' Believe

Follow n' Believe CD Compilation 1996 (Element Records)