Daniel's Staff Pick: December 8, 2022

Raw Power: Screams from the Gutter LP (Toxic Shock Records, 1985)

Earlier this week I was listening to Raw Power’s phenomenal second album, Screams from the Gutter. It’s one of my all-time favorite records, and listening to it prompted some reflection about how my listening habits have changed over the years.

This is one of many records I picked up back in the 90s, when buying records was very different. I had a small collection of records when I moved to Richmond for college in 1997, but I started buying records in earnest once I got there. I’d visit Plan 9 Records at least once a week, often more, searching for anything that looked cool or interesting. Most used LPs were priced at $8… occasionally you’d see a collectible punk record for a premium price, but it was rare. I remember seeing a copy of Bad Religion’s Into the Unknown for $50 and thinking it was insane that anyone would pay that much money for a record. $8 was about my hourly wage at the time, and since my tuition and living expenses were covered by a scholarship, the money I made at my job went to Plan 9 (as well as Soundhole, the punk and metal-focused shop that was out in the west end of Richmond, which I didn’t get to as often). I bought aggressively, and while I ended up with plenty of records that sucked, I also found gems like Screams from the Gutter that form the backbone of my personal musical canon.

While I don’t miss paying hard-earned money for shitty records because I didn’t know any better, I miss discovering records like Screams from the Gutter free of anything but the most minimal context. Nowadays when I’m exploring music that’s new to me, I start researching its context as I’m hearing it, the record playing on the stereo while I sit on the couch with my phone or tablet. I start by going to rateyourmusic.com and Discogs to see where the record fits in the artist’s and the label’s discography. Rateyourmusic is helpful as you can see how the users on that site have rated that record versus other similar ones, and you can also skim through the user reviews on the site. A lot of them are trash, but many of them are perceptive, and the site’s display algorithm puts those more thorough reviews first. I’ve learned so much from that site that I never would have known otherwise.

However, if I’d had these tools when I discovered Screams from the Gutter, would I have taken in the record the same way? I’m pretty sure I bought the record just because it looked cool and punk. I doubt I even knew Raw Power was from Italy, though the back cover makes that pretty clear. More than the mystique of the band being from a far away land, though, it was the music that knocked me out when I first listened to it. Raw Power recorded Screams from the Gutter with Paul Mahern from the Zero Boys, and much like the Zero Boys’ Vicious Circle, it’s a beautifully produced record. The tones are clear, heavy, and powerful, the recording hi-fi but free of bells and whistles. It sounds like a well-done recording of the band ripping it up in the studio, which is presumably what it is. That’s still my favorite kind of recording for hardcore punk.

As tools like eBay, Kill from the Heart, Soulseek, and Discogs developed in the 21st century, my love for Screams from the Gutter sent me down a deep rabbit hole where I’m still discovering things. What else is on Toxic Shock Records? Whoa, this Corrosion of Conformity record called Eye for an Eye is pretty cool, as is Dayglo Abortions’ Feed Us a Fetus. What other hardcore bands are from Italy? Wretched and Negazione sound insane! (I already knew Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers, as their Into the Void LP was another 90s Plan 9 used bin purchase.) Hold on, did Raw Power release any other records? Turns out Screams from the Gutter is their second album, and many (most?) people think their first one, You Are the Victim, is even better. Not to mention their demo tape, which Ugly Pop Records released on vinyl in 2019.

Of course I’m thrilled to hear all this stuff. My life is much richer for it. However, if I had access to all this when I first heard Screams from the Gutter, would it have hit the same way? I can imagine not even making it through an entire listen before I dialed up You Are the Victim on YouTube because that’s supposed to be the superior record. And I almost certainly would have thought it was too, because putting You Are the Victim side by side with Screams from the Gutter, the double-bass drumming on Screams would have been a deal-breaker, particularly since there’s so much track listing overlap between the two records. Since I heard Screams so much earlier, though, the double-bass drumming is how I hear these songs in my head.

Going further, would I have responded to Raw Power at all if I had the history of music at my fingertips? After reading so much chatter about music, I “know” that 80s Italian punk is characterized by a loose and unhinged sound. Aside from the wild lead guitar breaks, that’s not the vibe on Screams from the Gutter. The playing on the record is tight and powerful, and based on the sound of this record, Raw Power could stand toe to toe with any punk band in the world in terms of chops and, ahem, raw power. But it’s not what Italian hardcore is “supposed” to sound like, and if I was curious about that sound maybe I would have gravitated toward Wretched or Negazione’s early records because they are closer to what I would expect.

Or maybe not. Maybe Screams from the Gutter is just such a great fucking record that it would have knocked me out whenever and wherever I heard it. In this timeline, though, it serves as a reminder to be in the moment, to take music on its own terms, and to trust my ears above all else.