Review: Greber/Hiroshima Vacation - Split 7"

Greber / Hiroshima Vacation

Split 7"

Suburban White Trash Records

It is a well-known fact (around my house) that I’ve had a HUGE musical crush on Fuck the Facts for about a 11 years now, and have had the joy of sharing stages, couches, and pizzas with them over the years.  I put this out on front street because Greber is the brainchild of Marc Bourgon from Fuck the Facts and I don’t want to be accused of having hidden biases (I’m much more comfortable with my biases when they are blatant, apparently).  Now, in all honesty, the sharing of personnel is one of the only things these two bands share.  Greber provides a much grimier, sludgier style of metal than FTF’s dissonant grind, but that doesn’t make it any less appealing.  In fact, this two-man-band (drummer and bassist) are able to outperform most 4/5 person bands on this release, as they don’t mistake minimal for boring or simplistic.  Also, my favourite song of theirs is called “Twenty Nine Years Old”, which as a 29 year old grind fan greatly appeals to me for a number of reasons. The other half of this split is occupied by Ithaca NY’s Hiroshima Vacation.  They play sludgy grind/powerviolence and can keep up with anyone else in the field.  If you haven’t yet, definitely check out this band as they are bound to impress you, even though I’m sure you have impossibly high standards like most people on the interent. 

I’m very glad that I actually sat down and took the time to listen to this release because it reminds me of when I was a teenager and would love grindcore splits because it always seemed like you got more bang for your buck, as 5 minutes of intense grind is always more satisfying than one prolonged acoustic track or some such b-side bullshit.  Also, having to grow up in a pre-internet age, splits like this always gave you a chance to find out about bands that you had never heard of.  I came across this release through a message from Greber, but are now completely turned on (not sexually...while, kinda sexually) to Hiroshima Vacation, who I otherwise never would have heard. 

Check out some songs here or pre-order the vinyl here.

Review: Swallowing Shit - Anthology

Swallowing Shit

Anthology

G7 Welcome Committee

Track Listing:
 1. Lyrics That May Offend the Honkys
2. Burn Winnipeg to the Fucking Ground
3. If Assholes Could Fly, This Place Would Be An Airport 
4. Pro-Abortion, Anti-Christ 
5. A Dying Hope for a Gender Exclusive Scene
6. I May be P.C. (whatever the fuck that means), But You're a Goddamn Poseur
7. More Lyrics That May Offend the Honkys
8. You're Not Old School, You're Just Old
9. Christian Metal = Nazi Reggae
10. Riel
11. I Heard Songs About Animal Rights Aren't Cool Anymore
12. Ruins
13. If They Hated Me, They Will Hate You
14. Scathe
15. Overcome By... plus additional, shittier sounding tracks

Hailing from Winnipeg, Swallowing Shit was a side-project for many of the city’s punk/metal elite.  Featuring past and future members of bands like I Spy, Malefaction, Head Hits Concrete, and Propagandhi, Swallowing Shit became the logical conclusion of a hyper-political, metal-obsessed city whose main concern was the political messages carried in their music.  Whether you call them grindcore or power-violence, this group took everyone to task in their brief and chaotic songs.  From “Burn Winnipeg to the Fucking Ground” to “Pro Abortion, Anti Christ”, Swallowing Shit welcomed controversy and discussion about their lyrics.  What I doubt they expected was the enacting of a century-old ordinance prohibiting challenges to the church that barred them from playing within the Winnipeg city limits, but that’s exactly what they got.

I mentioned living in a musical bubble at the beginning of this review, and what I meant by that was this:  Swallowing Shit meant the world to me. I mean it.  I would listen to their discography for hours on end, deciphering and memorizing lyrics, reading liner notes, and playing them for everyone I knew.  That being said, they honestly didn’t seem to make that big of an impact outside of my inner circle of friends.  I know that they’ve been praised for their releases to a certain degree, but I honestly thought they were within the top 5 most important metal bands of all time.  Now, I was 17 and prone to hyperbole, but that was my honest opinion, and that opinion still holds true to this day.  I may be way off, but when it comes to things like this who is to say.

So if you are an impressionable, politically active teenager I can’t recommend this release highly enough. If you are a fan of grincore, power violence, or aggressive/atheist/intelligent lyrics, then this is also the record for you.

...but if you don’t at least smirk at the lyric “Your god is dead, we ate what we couldn’t fuck!”, then you sir/madam, are probably going to hate this album.

I'm sure you can find the physical CD somewhere, but here is a place to buy the mp3 version.