Long Time No Post

Yeah things are moving along here, but the internet and a blog have been less of a priority. Sorry if I haven't replied to emails regarding trades or whatever, I just didn't have any copies to do so.


Issue I sold out relatively fast, and has been gone for a few months now. Not surprising considering the quality of the 7" alone. For those interested, I'm looking into pressing another 100 copies or so.


Issue II will begin to be made once I finish school on Friday. Anyone's band interested in participating with a 7" release?


I started a lame tumblr which is much easier to update. It's just pictures of records I get and shows I go to, no lame reblogs.


My band, Young Stalin, is basically done. We only had four original songs and played only 7 shows; Ottawa (4), Montreal (2), Toronto (1). We might record our songs later this year, for historical purposes of course. I'll post some live pix at the bottom.


My quality records of 2010 list (with a more detailed analysis in Issue II, I'm sure):
GERM ATTAK - Death to Cops (duh!)
OMEGAS - Sonic Order EP 
MAMMOTH GRINDER - Extinction of Humanity 
URBAN BLIGHT - Total War 
SURROUNDINGS - S/T 
NOMOS // THE MEN - Split CS 
THE MEN - Immaculada 
ANS // ANB - Tribute to Gang Green 
CULO - Military Trend 
VILE GASH - EP 
NAZI DUST - EP 
FUCKED UP - Year of the Ox (but more so the B-Side). The split with Serena Maneesh was pretty good too. 
VACCINE - Human Hatred 
INEPSY - Madness and Overkill 
INEPSY // TOXIC HOLOCAUST - split 


Young Stalin:

Hanging out:

Thanks to Andrew Carver, Julie and Lemire for photos. Special thanks to Lemire for always coming out, hanging out, photoing out, and being a good dude.

Wasted (by the heat, by the police)

After being assaulted by the police a few short weekends ago, Ontario is now being assaulted with an intense heat wave, so I'm sticking inside to avoid provocation with either. I was spending that last week outside biking, hence no updates.

Any discussion of the police should provoke a discussion of Black Flag. Each action has an equal opposite reaction right? Well, actually I guess even they did not believe it was equal; "Understand we're fighting a war we can't win..." Anyways, a recent thread on VLV (which is currently down so I cannot link you) prompted the following question:

Which is better; the Black Flag or Circle Jerks rendition of the Ginn masterpiece, "Wasted" ?






I think it is pretty crazy that we even have these two versions, both with Morris on vocals. Of course Circle Jerks stole the song, along with other Black Flag tunes such as "I Don't Care" which appears as a demo on Everything Went Black, and "Red Tape," which was never properly released, as well as some Redd Kross songs. Black Flag's response was to re-record "I Don't Care" with new lyrics. This is the song "You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!", the last track on the Jealous Again EP.

So which is better? If you know me at all, then you know my vote is being given to Black Flag. Don't get me wrong though, even with the stolen song stigma, Group Sex rips. More interestingly however, is how each respective take on the song represents the group. For example, The Circle Jerks, and Group Sex, are enjoyed by most as a quirky and fast punk band - a great representation of early Cali hardcore. Their version matches this description, with it's sped up tempo, fairly clear guitar sound, and shouted vocals. Black Flag on the other hand are a whole other entity, even if this may not have been established at the time of the Nervous Breakdown release. Even just the way their  name is brought up sounds serious and heavy, music verging on psychotic. Their original version of Wasted matches such an identity as it is being formed. For a seminal classic punk 7" (and years before side two of My War was even conceived), the whole sound is heavy as fuck, and not to be messed with. The instrumental opening is simply brooding, whereas the Circle Jerks version jumps in with vocals immediately. The Black Flag version is simply more

In conclusion, the Black Flag version is better because the Circle Jerks version sounds like an angry punk kid, whereas the Black Flag version sounds like a crazy guy who might attack you with a knife. It's simply much more memorable. This will get examined in greater depth later.

Anyway, while we're on a tangent about police or something, remember that you should buy the zine because it comes with the new Germ Attak 7", Death to Cops, with crazy artwork to boot (view side panel). Toronto: my band is playing there on Saturday, I'll bring copies with me.

NXNE Mode

Sorry for those who ordered zines and have not gotten them yet, I was away in Toronto for NXNE, but I'm back now and they have been shipped. I wished some more Toronto hardcore was playing the fest.

For those who are in Toronto, you can now get copies of the zine at Hits & Misses on Bloor and Rotate This! on Queen West. For those in Ottawa, you can of course meet up with me in person, or Vertigo on Rideau St may still have copies left.

Toronto and NXNE was sweet, long story short saw (in this order) Mudhoney, X, Demon's Claws, Exene and John from X, Man or Astro-Man, Mudhoney, The Stooges, Man or Astro-Man, Cold Cave and a bit of Porcelain Forehead. I took some pictures which I'll upload later if they turn out. Here's a blurry cell phone photo from my Stooges vantage point, standing in front of 20,000 people. Shout out to the guy standing next to me whose shirt comprised of 100 safety pins which slowly would come undone throughout the set.

Also went to 8 record shops in one day; here's the loot from the trip, including a couple things I picked up for friends. Most excited about the Fucked Up 7"s. and the Kill City LP since The Stooges actually played the title track. Gay-Porno resembling VHS tapes are for Finner:

In other Toronto news, my band, Young Stalin is playing the city on July 10th with Point Break from Calgary at Siesta Nouveaux. No flyer yet. But we're playing this show for Ottawa folk.

Zine Out ASAP

Alright, everything is compiled and editted, I have new photos thanks to Julie, and I have written some new reviews... so why isn't the zine out?

I keep coming up with new ideas, and thus I keep writing more. So once I finish working on the following pieces, photocopying will begin. This will hopefully by within a week. I wanted to write some things that examined records more closely, as I feel I had been treating them too superficially, as such I'm working on the following:

• Humour and Sexuality in Later Years Black Flag
• The Cure and The Smiths: Uncomparable Groups Based on Ideas of Identity
• Deciphiring Formats: Why Tapes, 7"s or 12"s

I am also about to leave for Toronto in a few hours for the following show, so hopefully I'll have lots of new records to talk about.

Also, Young Stalin are playing a second show; June 27th with Libyans, from Boston, who sound pretty cool. This is again at 443 Kent St. More details coming.

Young Stalin

So my band played it's first show the other day. We've only had maybe four or five jams, and about the same amount of songs, making our set 7 minutes long. Its like punk or hardcore or something. Cal from Raised By Wolves taped our set, and you can watch it below. Far from flawless but still a lot of fun.


Young Stalin's First Show from Calum Green on Vimeo.

We also have a four track now, so we'll probably attempt to record something soon.

Also I just moved and the record gods have been good to me. I was stressing out because I had a few parcels coming in, and thought that they would arrive after I moved. Instead fortune was on my side and I got my last parcel card the day I moved. I also received a reward for my efforts on a long essay; as I left to go hand it in, a box had been placed at my apartment door, rather than left downstairs. How nice. Lots of new music to play once I get my stereo set up.