Rebirth

The long awaited (by me anyway) Hardware Fanzine Anthology will finally be a reality thanks to the good folks at Shining Life Press https://shininglife.bigcartel.com/. I've been going back through all the old issues, reading everything I wrote (some not so good). A lot of the records I reviewed through the Hardware timeline I haven't listened to since. Some a few times, but a lot are forgotten.

I thought it might be interesting to go back and listen to them again through a 25+ year old prism and see if my opinion has changed. Maybe you'll be interested to go back and check them out too and see what you think. I'm going to pull reviews at random, not just mine alone, and give these records a new review... let's go.

Starting with the Deadguy "Whitemeat" 7". I was reminded of Deadguy recently when I saw a early picture of them on Instagram from Pat West (Change Zine) and commented how great they were then, when we interviewed them for the spring 1994 issue.

"Whitemeat" is a three song 7" on their own DaDa Records. Recorded and released in 1994 (not long after their demo) as a four-piece. Keith Huckins, formerly of Rorschach, was soon to join the band on guitar, which really put them over the top. Anyone who knew Rorschach knew that Keith was a perfect fit for Deadguy. They went from a really good live band to an absolute force overnight. 

The three songs on "Whitemeat" were instantly memorable, and I'm sure I haven't listened to this record in 20+ years. That's a testament to how powerful they were live at time. I still agree with my 1994 assessment that the recording is lacking in the power these songs brought live. Yep, I'm still hearing later B'last! with some of the chaotic noise type stuff that was happening at the time. Not as straightforward hardcore as No Escape (Tim's previous band), the grooves and chaotic sound continue from the early Ressurection stuff that Crispy played on, which also had a strong Bl'ast! influence.

Tim's distinctive vocals are a little lost in the mix; surprising since it was pretty unique and a definite focal point of the band. I still don't get the layout one bit. Now if I can get a working tape player I can dig the demo out of the archives. I probably should have stuck with them through "Fixation On a Coworker", but it passed me by for some reason. 

I'll give Deadguy "Whitemeat" a solid 3 out of 5 X's. It could have been better, but the band was moving fast, barreling towards the "Work Ethic" 7" and the more polished LP "Fixation on a Coworker".