Artist: Defcon 4
Title: File Under Fuck
Label: Black Box Recordings
Release Date: May 30, 2006
Tracklisting:
Fast Car
Lonely Hour
Comet Relief
File Under Fuck
Insomniac's Daydream
One of The Girls
Pearls Before Swine
Simian Sidekick
Nice Neck
Berzerker's Rage
Girl Named Jail
American Society
2084
Death In A Cup
My Ghost
The spirit of Black Flag burns bright on the Black Box Recordings
debut by Boston dirge punkers Defcon 4. Ragged, tormented, and
unpredictable, Defcon 4 spits venom straight from the heart,
delivering an utterly genuine version of hardcore that is nothing
about fashion, everything about the pain of living.
On "File Under Fuck", songs erupt, subside, and erupt again in erratic
arrangements, following no precedent but their creators' unstable
moods. Frontman Dug Moore's unhindered tantrums emanate from the
deepest recesses. It is the sound of a man relating his own ugly
experience, his own genuine gut-level feelings, shot from the hip with
an intensity that recalls Henry Rollins, Kurt Brecht, and Mike
Williams. "File Under Fuck" is nothing short of a total immersion --
a nervous breakdown, immortalized and set to music.
The rhythm section of drummer James Powers (ex-Last Rights) and
bassist Skot Kennedy (ex-Kingpin, Arise) bolsters the mayhem with a
bare-bones battery that propels the band's schizophrenic episodes like
a machine on the fritz. Their clatter is every bit as volatile as
Moore's vocals, exploding forth in angry fits and retreating quickly.
Unifying the chaos is guitarist Robin Goodhue (ex-Coleman, Kill
Ratio), whose monolithic riffage blazes transcendently. His crushing,
mind-baking sound reveals a level of amplifier-worship uncommon in
hardcore. Anthem-like riffs twist and coil in stoned bliss, carrying
songs confidently, seamlessly, from raw breakneck outbursts to
hellbent freedom-rock refrains and back again.
"File Under Fuck" was recorded by Richard P. Marr (Toxic Narcotic,
Sebadoh) at Galaxy Park Studios in Allston, MA, in August 2005, and
was mixed and mastered by Steve Austin (Today Is The Day, Lamb Of God)
at Austin Enterprises. It is a rare slice of unbridled, bona fide
honesty that recalls the true originals of the hardcore scene who laid
bare their aggression in all its real, raw, unsettling glory.
***
DEFCON 4 BIO
Defcon 4 was founded in Boston in 2001 by four veterans of the Boston
hardcore and skateboard scenes: renowned skater Dug Moore (vocals);
skate entrepreneur and ex-Last Rights member James Powers (drums);
ex-Kingpin/Arise member Skot Kennedy (bass); and ex-Coleman/Kill Ratio
member Robin Goodhue (guitar).
The band recorded its first demo with Bill T. Miller (Grief) at
Headroom Studios and hit the Boston circuit, playing shows with the
likes of Converge, Slapshot, and Toxic Narcotic and with touring bands
from Floor to Municipal Waste. Defcon 4 shows were marked by
excessive intoxication and violence, by band and crowd alike.
Defcon 4 completed a US tour with Adolf Satan (ex-Anal Cunt) in 2004.
Defcon 4's first full-length, "File Under Fuck", is set for release on
Black Box Recordings in May 2006.
http://www.myspace.com/defcon4