slow death

A sturdy backlog of tapes leads me to today's post. First up is the second demo from Melbourne's Kicked In. These guys play a pretty ragged take on rough Boston Hardcore I suppose, but without the real macho sentiments. They've copped a bit of flak from a few people for various reasons, but I really like this stuff. A few of the tracks here make a reappearance after the first demo and to be honest I preferred that recording over this tape, but from what I can tell, this one seems to have gone down better with general hardcore public.
Never Right from Sydney seem to be reasonably popular at the moment. For those internationals concerned, this marks something like the 4th or 5th band from (former Deadstare frontman) Brett Eberhard in the last few years. This is vastly different from that band though, much more along the lines of popularised NYHC vibes. I think I heard these guys compared to Think I Care at some point too and I guess I can see the similarities. I'm not hugely excited about this demo though, just comes across as relatively standard stuff.
This is the Square One demo "Suburban Rage". Not too sure about all the details of this band, but I know they're fronted by a German fellow who is mutual friends with some people I know. I think they're from Sydney too. They play a really cool take on the late 80's Rev Records vibe. Similar recording, and sound in general. Hard NYHC. Pretty cool little tape. This is the special 'Edge Day Release' version (yes, we Aussies had an edge day show this year) with a red cassette. A few other colours exist as well.
And last but not least, the new demo tape from Sydney's Sick Society. Really cool, gruff hardcore, these guys have been compared a few times to earlier Violent Minds, and I am positive that these parallels have been drawn entirely due to Ben Coyle's vocal style on display. Very similar. The music is somewhat different though, certainly baring a few similarities, but generally just much more bouncy and hooky. On a side note, since this demo was recorded, my mate Sick Rick (of Sick People) has joined ranks as vocalist so Ben can concentrate on other duties within the band (guitar I think). Not sure if they plan to record with Rick, but it would be cool if they did, his style would suit this music perfectly. Released by Thomo and his label Rain On The Parade, mine is numbered 22/50.