Discharge: Decontrol EP/Never Again EP

I'm just going to knock both of these Discharge EP's out at once...I don't have a ton to say about Discharge, cos their early stuff always sounds exactly the same...Same sound, same doomsday haiku lyrics...I probably said all it all before in my previous Discharge post...But I've picked up a couple of their EP's since then...So without further ado...




Discharge: Decontrol

1980

Havoc Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Decontrol  2. It's No T.V. Sketch  3. Tomorrow Belongs to Us



1980 7-inch EP by guttural nuclear apocalypse punks Discharge...This is the earlier stuff so it's maybe a hair less punishing than their slightly later stuff, but it'll still blast your head off...And is that a tinge of optimism I hear in "Tomorrow Belongs to Us"?

All this old Discharge shit is fantastic if you're into bleak, early UK hardcore...The drums just run roughshod over everything, the guitars and bass are just big slabs of concrete as Cal Morris hoarsely shouts simple, repetitive slogans over the whole mess...The whole thing really only topples over on "Tomorrow Belongs to Us" where everything eventually gets out of sync..The title track is the big draw here, Discharge at their blast-furnace best...

Here's "Decontrol" by Discharge...Enjoy...

Discharge: Never Again EP

1981

Havoc Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Never Again  2. Death Dealers  3. Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles


This is a 3-song 7-inch EP...Just to confuse everybody they released a full-length compilation with the exact same name and cover...Which would be alright if it had these songs on it, but it doesn't so you can't even justify it as an expanded edition...

Alright, here's what I like so much about Discharge...As someone who plays music, I can tell you that playing music is a lot of fun...But you would never know that in a million years listening to Discharge...As far as I've heard, there's not even a split-second of fun (let alone humor) in the band's discography (unless you count a few instances of gallows humor in "Hear Nothing..."'s cover art), but in an odd way I find their one-minded bleakness somewhat amusing...I mean, c'mon! A song called "Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles"? It's so distinctly Discharge-y that you can't help but chuckle...

On the other hand, you have to admire the fact that they're so worried about our well-being...These guys really fucking care if you or I or our children get toasted in a nuclear holocaust...In fact, it's all they can talk about...You'll never find any "woe is me" in a Discharge song...Only "Woe is us" and they always bring plenty of woe to go around...Again, this is all just one big ferocious blast...It's not as tight as "Hear Nothing..." but it's not as loose as "Decontrol" either (although you kinda wonder if "Death Dealers" isn't going to collapse within its first fifteen seconds)...

If you're into hardcore or punk/metal even a little bit, Discharge is a must...I can't think of many bands that were as raw or brutal as Discharge were in the early 80's...

Here's "Never Again" by Discharge...Enjoy...