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Hello and thanks for reading. I think the week before last I mentioned a handful of bootlegs we had just got in stock. It appears the 7"s are sold out now, but we still have a few copies of the East Punks compilation. It seems like the same person had made all three boots, but I don’t really know that for sure and I probably shouldn’t try too hard to figure it out, haha. I haven’t written about a boot in a while, and I don’t buy them often. Usually, I don’t think much of them cos more times than not an official reissue follows. I think the last boot I wrote about was the BLACK UNIFORMS Faces of Death 12". It was nicely done. It seemed just like the original. But if it’s unofficial and looks seemingly identical to the OG, I think that is a bit whack. I felt super inclined to pick up a copy of each of these Japanese boots cos I had never heard of a single band except GASMASK. This 7" split with GASMASK and BARRICADE seems like total fan club shit, haha. The idea of creating your own split for a bootleg, I mean. I will talk more about that split in a minute, as it is my actual staff pick this week. But first, the PISS 7" I know nothing about. At first, I wondered if it was this same PISS from this compilation. I had never heard of this compilation either, but it’s pretty sick. It’s also sick that all the bands are comprised of only women! Luckily, a friend informed me the PISS on the boot are from Kyushu, the same city as CONFUSE, and this recording is somewhere between 1982 and 1985. Cos of the GASMASK split 7", I thought the East Punks 12" was also a fanclub kinda layout cos I could find nothing about an original release online. I managed to find a demo of one of these bands on YouTube, ZAMZA, and it fuckin rips. But luckily again, the same friend informed me that this compilation was originally released on cassette, and it features bands from Shizuoka. The sound quality ain’t amazing, but I think it still sounds good for what it is. Who knows how good it even sounded originally. And obviously whoever made the boot sourced it from their original mega-hyper-rare cassette. The A side starts off strong as hell with this raw ass-beater shit called WILD BONVERS. The sound quality is probably best for them and ZAMZA. Regardless of the sound kinda being all over the place, it’s safe to say each band fucking rips.
Getting into the GASMASK split with BARRICADE, the GASMASK tracks were unreleased until now—what the fuck?! How did they do that? Fuck. Maybe these recordings have been passed around in some tight Japanese nerd circles, and some are not impressed. But for someone like me, I find this incredible! Haha oh shit, but now I am thinking about how Crust War previously reissued GASMASK, so maybe permission could have been granted. I think this is where I say something like ‘but I digress.’ The GASMASK tracks on this split are so damn good. I’ve just been listening on repeat. It sounds pretty much nothing like their one and only EP. Ah shit that’s a lie. On that GASMASK/COWARD split reissue Crust War did, they featured a good amount of bonus songs. One of them is an unreleased GASMASK track from 1987. That must be from the same session as the tracks on this boot 7". The sound and the style are the same. They play much faster on the material after their EP. They still have their noisy characteristics, but it comes out in a different, more chaotic fashion. Their catchy aspects evolved more into a metallic, anthemic sound. I absolutely love the evolution. I don’t think there is any relation to BARRICADE with GASMASK. I don’t think they share members, and I am pretty positive they weren’t from the same city. The BARRICADE stuff on this split is from 1983 as well. See what I mean when I said this is some total fanclub shit? Haha. Two bands from different cities, and a handful of years apart. Maybe I am just not knowledgeable enough to recognize the relation. I learned the BARRICADE stuff had been previously released on a super obscure compilation called Rock’n Roll Boogie ‘83 Now Hits. It seems they stand out unbelievably by being the only band on the LP playing hardcore punk. It’s interesting they are the only band who’s got more than one song on there too. If you hadn’t heard this shit like me, you can check a song here. Alright, I should get going actually. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support. Cheers!