Don't You Know, That We Love Reunion Shows?

or do we? Reunion shows are definitely a hit or miss for me. It doesn't matter whether it's an artist/band decided to play only a few shows, do a few tours here and there, or even permanently get back together and write new music. The phenomenon of reunion shows is definitely an interesting one. Most bands that have done reunions in the past attracted bigger size of crowd compared to when they were still around.

There are so many great bands that have done reunion shows in the past few years alone. Bands that I didn’t think I’d get a chance to see. I’ll be the first to admit that a little part of me died every time I heard some bands I like doing reunion shows. Why? two reasons. First, because unfortunately as a south east asianer I will just have to settle for youtube videos instead of experiencing the real thing.

The second reason is that in my opinion most reunions suck. Sure, there are always exceptions. But most of the time it’s just a bunch of old dudes and gals trying to relive their “glory days” or make a quick bucks. I believe that most good bands (yes I realize how subjective this is) that have come out in the past were products of their environment. Their music, their messages, and their attitudes are reaction to what was happening at the time and therefore making them most relevant to those time periods. I mean, didn’t you feel awkward for the Sex Pistols when they decided to show up on tv in 2008? or when a straight edge band sing about things they don't mean anymore? Come the fuck on.

Let’s get to the very few cases where I think reunions are justifiable. On top off my head , the showcase of Burning Fight, a book dedicated to 90’s hardcore scene is one of them. It’s only fitting that bands who were involved in the 90's scene such as Unbroken, Undertow, Swing Kids, and many more made appearances at those shows. Those shows were a huge success from what i've heard.

Now, i've been to a few reunion shows myself. so i'm not just talking out of my ass. The problem i have with those shows is that they didn’t really leave an impression on me. I went to those shows expecting to see something great, but I really didn’t get anything out of them (The Saints, Jesus and The Mary Chain, don’t even get me started on Flipper). However, i feel the need to exclude Dinosaur Jr from this category. Dinosaur Jr kicked so much ass when I saw them. It was one of the loudest shows I’ve ever been to. It's almost as if they never broke up in the first place

All jealousy and suspicions aside, there are a few reunion shows from the last few years that I wouldn’t mind seeing. Rorschach, From Ashes Rise, Sunny Day Real Estate, Amebix, The Get Up Kids, etc etc. Did you hear about those Cap’n’Jazz shows? Insanity!!!

Youth Korps

Youth Korps were a blazingly fast 80’s hardcore punk outfit from Conneticut. This ep was recorded in 1982 but wasn't officially released on vinyl until 1991.

Their delivery is pretty monotone and straight forward, much in the veins of S.O.A. They also do the start-stop start-stop riffing thing (this was before Siege did it!) that later would be used by a lot of power violence bands. Most of their songs clock under a minute, except for last song, a four minute track that eerily sounds like it was taken straight from Black Flag’s ‘Damaged’.

This ep is fantastic, and definitely one of many many hidden gems that the 80's has produced. Fans of Koro,S.O.A, Negative Approach and Deep Wound should be into this.

Enjoy!

Youth Korps - '82 7" EP

Descendents - All (1987)

Descendents official site

Descendents myspace

I managed to get a copy of I Don’t Want To Gwo Up a few years ago. After a few listens, I was disappointed. I thought it didn’t have the pop brilliance that Milo Goes To College does. NeedIess to say, I refused to listen to Descendents post-Milo Goes To College material thinking they would suck.

Right before I left Australia for good, my buddy Rob gave me a copy of Descendents All which I didn’t listen to until about 2 weeks ago. And let’s just say I will be the first one to admit that Descendents made at least two good albums in the 80’s, All being one of them.

The first noticeable difference between All and their previous releases is the obvious hard rock/early metal influence. Songs like “Schizophrenia” and “Uranus” even shows a leaning towards prog-rock with its atypical song structure, tricky rhythms, and impressive musical chops. Fear not, elements of good ol’ Descendents still present on this album. With songs like “Clean Sheets” and “ALL-o-gistics”, you know these guys haven’t lost their sense of humor. “Coolidge” and “Pep Talk” in my opinion ranks up there among their best and is about as catchy as any songs off Milo Goes To College.

All shows a musical adventure of the band and experimentation to some degree. Some would even say it was a rather natural progression of the band, having a new guitarist and bassist on the board. Well whatever it was, I personally think it was a successful one. If you thought that pop-punk and hard rock/metal don’t mix, listen to this.

Fun fact : this was Descendents last album with Milo before he left to study biochemistry.