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...

Discharge: Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing

Discharge: Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing

1982

Clay Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing  2. The Nightmare Continues  3. The Final Blood Bath  4. Protest and Survive  5. I Won't Subscribe  6. Drunk With Power  7. Meanwhile  8. Cries of Help  9. A Hell on Earth  10. The Possibility of Life's Destruction  11. Q: And Children? A: And Children  12. The Blood Runs Red  13. Free Speech for the Dumb  14. The End Bonus Tracks: 15. Never Again"  16. Death Dealers  17. Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles  18. State Violence State Control  19. Doomsday  20. Warning  21. Where There Is a Will There Is a Way  22. In Defence of Our Future  23. Anger Burning



Blimey! It's a Cabbage 'ead!

 Have you guys ever heard this Discharge record? Man, this is some serious cloth patch music!

Just listening to it makes me want to tattoo the inside of my lip or beg for some change!

Ma'am...Don't look down...Just keep walking...No, you don't have any change. Who has change these days? Everything is plastic, man!  These kids better get with the times...Maybe ask if she has any bitcoins...And don't those gutterpunks  know that sitting on concrete like that gives you the piles?!?!?! Is that what the kids are into these days? Piles?!?!!

Anyway, if you're into the hard and fast stuff, then you've got to check out Discharge's "Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing," which is either the band's first full length or second album depending on how you look at the "Why?" 10-inch that preceded it...I guess the best way I can explain the album is imagine if Motorhead were the last survivors of a nuclear holocaust...So single-minded in its fast, chugging, pissed-offed-ness that it ends up being one of the most brutal albums ever laid to tape...

In reality, if you hear the first minute of the album, you've essentially heard the whole thing...Every song utilizes the exact same formula of aggressive cement-mixer guitars,  terse one-note shouting, and Boom-boom-bap-ba-bap drum beats, so don't expect much in the way of dynamics, but if you're into being pummeled over the head with a sledgehammer for a half-hour, look no further...The songs are catchy in a "protest chant" kind of way...Whenever I put this on I'm usually walking around the house the next couple days shouting, "DRUNK WITH POWER!  OBSESSED WITH DEATH! DEATH AND DESTRUCTION! DRUNK WITH POWER!"  

Oh yea, probably the single most entertaining aspect of the album is the fact that it contains a lyric sheet...The words to each song contain only a couple of sparse sentences repeated multiple times...Here are  a few examples of complete lyrics:

Cries of Help:

Napalm tumbles from the sky, 
Cries of help, cries of pain, 
Skin looking like bloody hardened meat.

 ..........................................................................................................

 Two Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles:

Should East and West be ever divided,
Resigned to living, living in fear.

 ........................................................................................................

Free Speech for the Dumb:

Free speech free speech for the dumb.

 .........................................................................................................


Most of the lyrics don't even have a line count high enough to qualify as a haiku, resulting in a lyric sheet that basically looks like a page of random sentences...It's pretty brilliant, really...I mean, what else is there to say? There's not a lot of time to pontificate when a freakin' atom bomb is turning your flesh into bloody, hardened meat...

The CD copy I have also contains a couple of EP's and the "State Violence State Control" single...Unless you're a real glutton for punishment, it's best to break these up, as an hour of Discharge is a lot to swallow...But it's all amazing...On these later tracks you can hear the band's sound thin out a little as they get a bit more melodic ("Dooms Day" could almost pass as GBH), but it's only relative...I'm sure most folks would regard these tracks as nothin' but a bunch of bloody noise, but I love it...If you're a fan of hardcore, metal, or any combination of the two then this is an absolute must have...A vital precursor to the Crossover genre which showed that punk and metal weren't as diametrically opposed as some narrow-minded fans would have you believe...By the time you get to the "Warning" Ep, the lines between punk and metal are completely blurred. It's such an ideal blend of the two genres that it's hard to believe the band would go glam metal on their very next album...But let's forget about that...

(Margaret Thatcher was to British Hardcore what Ronald Reagan was to American Hardcore)

Right now feels like a good time to blast some good ol' British Hardcore...The real, heavy shit...Let's crack open a few lagers and listen to some Discharge, mate...Here's "Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing"...Happy Friday!