Our Souls Release “Ekman’s 7th” Single & Video
Leicester, UK's Our Souls have released a brand new video for Ekman's 7th, a track that appeared on 2023's I…
Anthology: 88-98 - Dead City Records
Yuppicide is one of those influential, yet often forgotten, seldom-cited hardcore bands that, thanks to someone’s preservationist intent, have been given the opportunity to live on in anthology form. Forming in the twilight of the 80’s New York Hardcore scene, the Brooklyn four-piece made a name for themselves by following the brutal honesty and rampant political mindedness of pioneers Agnostic Front and Madball, but fitting in more with the Oi! scene (sounding influenced by The Business) than their geographic contemporaries. Unapologetic and loud, Yuppicide was garnering crowds to challenge societal authority of fresh faced youth while I was still in diapers. Consequently, Dead City Records’ freshly composed career-spanning anthology, Anthology: ’88 – ‘98, will likely serve as a point of entry for young ears.
Today’s listeners will likely embrace Yuppicide for their simple, non-commercial take on traditional hardcore – the type that largely kept the 90’s afloat, and that now keep labels like Bridge Nine Records credible. Those tired of the Trustkill school of over-produced breakdowns and kids hiding behind face-covering hair does, can take refuge in the comfort of past sounds for proof of artist driven passion.
Being an anthology, the whole package comes without filter, tracing Yuppicide from infancy to decline. Consequently, listeners must take the good with the bad, the exciting with the predictable, and the ordinary with the fantastic. The album opens with their 1988 Demo, progressing through compilation exclusives and seven inches, to their swan song, Dead Man Walking LP, all over 52 tracks spanning two jam-packed CDs. As one might expect, the first couple offerings, 1998 Demo and First 7”, are included as more of a history lesson than for offering superior vision. They sound as if recorded in a garage (which isn’t an unlikely scenario) – and even after re-mastering, aren’t quite strong enough to overcome their stylistic redundancy. It isn’t until listeners reach the group’s first full length, Fear Love, that one can really get a full appreciation for Yuppicide’s knack for having fun with their dark subject matter that won over their following.
In actuality, Fear Love contains a good number of re-recorded tracks from the original demo, in effect offering a great point of reference for a retrospective. Other than a distinct improvement in production quality accenting each member’s inclusion, the biggest change comes in vocalist Jesse Jones’ cleaner enunciation and fluctuating mentality. Largely abandoning his more coarse nature, James instead takes on a deep, pseudo-spoken word approach, appropriately matching the “wackiness” of their album covers and logos. Compare demo with full-length versions of “Yellow Journalism,” “Bang Bang,” and “Big Head,” for the best example. But the biggest improvements come from the LP’s original content, particularly the oddball inclusions. For instance, the twisted tale of “Dr. Extermination” spices up the twisted thoughts of a mad scientist driven by a hateful government’s oppressive agenda, leading to curious lines like “The presidents authorization give me the power/Much more effective than any gas shower.” Obviously rooted in 80’s counter-culture, the themes still hold strong today. For another unique moment, check out “Billy-Cide,” which given its recording date, could be the first recorded pyschobilly genre parody.
Oddly, after the clear growth evident in their first full length, neither of the follow-ups achieve the same sense of identity. Their sophomore effort, Shinebox, takes a far angrier stance, lacking much of the playful tongue-in-cheek attitude of the first. In fact, even James reverts back to a voice coarser and more like that of the demos – an odd choice that feels more like regression than progress. That being said, a few interesting moments still arise, most notably their modification of an age-old bedtime prayer in “New Jesus,” calling out society through statements like “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my TV to keep/And if it breaks before I wake/I pray the cable my soul to take.” Their third LP, Dead Man Walking, suffers a similar fate, offering little new considering its placement forty-two tracks into the anthology. “Fuse” features some interesting guitar work, and “Four Letter Word” employs some lounging ska beats, but again, they’re the exception rather than the rule.
The final four tracks come from an interesting 1998 demo, with tracks like “Azael” and “Concrete Jungle” suggesting that the band might have had some creativity left in them before disbanding shortly thereafter. But as Anthology: ’88 – ’98 demonstrates, the group was competent through and through, with a few flashes of brilliance justifying their decade long career for those looking back. Furthermore, documenting and remastering the summation of their works into one convenient package with a fat lyric book and plenty of memorabilia covering each page should be enough to catch the eye of old timers and curious newcomers alike. All in all, Yuppicide can be remembered fondly with this assumedly final, and now readily accessible little piece of history.