WARWOUND, BAPTISTS, FM EINHEIT

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: An immediate response to a handful of records.

We regularly kill a weekend afternoon by visiting a few of London’s finest Liquorice Pizza vendors. There’s a sort-of circuit we do over the course of a month or two and at least one Flashback shop is normally in rotation.

This time it was the turn of the Essex Rd location, in Angel, Islington, swiftly followed by a with a longer-than-anticipated walk to Berwick Street in Soho for Reckless Records and Sister Ray.

As is usually the case, Flashback delivered more fruit than its rivals, although the most exciting find was FM Einheit at Reckless.

Unsurprisingly, we left Sister Ray empty-handed. Their used stock just doesn’t compare to Reckless or Flashback. Great for new and reissued platters, though.

Flashback yielded a couple more LPs than are mentioned here (Bolt Thrower’s In Battle There Is No Law and Cult Leader’s fereocious Lightless Walk - just 13 and 14 quid respectively!) but as I’m already familiar with them, I’m not going to cover them here.

This is all about first impressions. I’m interested in what my first response is, what the hook was that drew me to the record in the first place, and, if I return to it, how my feelings change, which will be covered by an edit to this article in the future.

First up is Warwound: World War III - from 2020 on Vile Records. (NM).

I was interested because since reviewing the new Wolfbrigade LP, Life Knife Death, I’ve been on a bit of a D-Beat kick - I dug out my Tragedy, Anti-Cimex and Disfear records and I can’t get enough of them at the moment.

As Warwound are often mentioned in the same breath as Discharge, The Varukers and the rest of the UK 82 lot, I picked it up hoping for something from these shores to rival my current Scandinavian fascination. Bonus points because the reformed band now have Ian Glasper on bass, whose work I loved in Stamping Ground and whose writing across numerous books - especially Burning Britain and The Day The Country Died - as well as his work in Terrorizer magazine back in the day, was always engaging and well scribed.

And it was only £7.99, so why the fuck not?

Unfortunately, my initial reaction is “meh”.

Despite their stellar history and obvious credentials, the songs sound a little by-the-numbers and lack the punch and velocity I was hoping for, falling back on old school punk vocal tropes and rhythms that sound a bit too tired and familiar to entrance me in the same way the Swedes do.

A bit of a shame.

Oh well. Nothing ventured… it might be a grower.

I’m not in a rush to go back to it though. 4/10.

Next up is Baptists: Beacons of Faith. Southern Lord, 2018. (NM)

£14.99 seemed like a bargain. If it’s not new, it’s never been played, and I generally pick most things up that I spot on Southern Lord. I really enjoyed Bushcraft, their debut, so hopes were high for this, the third (and final) outing.

Sad to read upon researching the band for this short piece that they disbanded following allegations of abuse concerning Andrew Drury - the vocalist (and seemingly a decent human being). He was swiftly expelled from both Baptists and Erosion.

Rightly so, but FFS… I’m a firm believer in separating the art from the artist - and the rest of the band responded brilliantly to the news - but that sort of shit is inexcusable. What a twat. Tarred the experience somewhat.

Everyone’s a pervert nowadays.

The album’s OK. It pretty much delivers what you expect - sludgy Canadian hardcore with some awkward riffs thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed it. It didn’t blow me away. It might do. I’ll definitely come back to it. 6/10.

4/10 because the singer’s a dickhead that spoiled it.

The pick of the bunch though, is FM Einheit: Stein. Some Bizarre, 1990. (VG+).

The first of three Stein albums, released as a trio with members of 80s indie hipsters Rainbirds. I snapped it from the racks for its connection to Einstürzende Neubauten. Einheit was a founding member of the clanging and bashing noise troupe in the early 80s and is in no small way responsible for their industrial percussive clatter and wayward reputation. He’s a visionary, so I was excited to find Stein for EIGHT QUID in the Industrial racks of Reckless Records.

It’s a lovingly tattered copy. The vinyl plays fine, but the cover has been bashed about, worn in and ‘suffers’ from ringwear, shelfwear and scuffing. Making it all the more attractive.

Immediately it’s an exciting listen, with all manner of samples and found sounds chirruping, slamming and crashing behind disassociated German female vocals and evermore dinful surprises. Including a weirdly unsettling drone then accordion-led ditty in Hafen.

It’s a compelling listen that i immediately had to re-play and I’ll be seeking the other two albums out ASAP. I already found a copy of the second LP online in Beatniks, which is far and away the best record shop in Norwich and my local used vinyl emporium. It’s FIVE QUID - so, as long as it’s not scratched to buggery, I’ll be chasing that down this week…

As for this one; marvelous. I’m excited to have found it and it makes up for the somewhat lackluster Warwound and Baptists LPs.

Highly recommended if you can find a copy. 8/10.

Until next time, ‘Diggers!

Excelsior!

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