My Collection #2 - Abrazos - Nothing Gets Changed By Being Polite

 

Abrazos – Southampton/South Coast punk band (2017–present), feat; Alan Marshall (bass,voc), Tony Whatley (drms,voc), Nath Haywire (gtr,voc).

Originally started as a solo outlet for Tony Suspect (Suspect Device fanzine/records) to vent about modern life, the project evolved into a "no-frills" DIY trio featuring lifers from the South Coast scene. 

The members have a massive collective pedigree, having played in bands like Haywire, Whole In The Head, Armoured Flu Unit, Portiswood, and Pilger. 

Released in April 2022, this album Nothing Gets Changed By Being Polite is a 21-track blast of high-speed, social-realist hardcore that clocks in at under 20 minutes and plays at 45RPM. Reviews praise its "righteous fire" and ability to distill complex issues—from animal rights and the cost of living to the vacuousness of modern TV—into short, sharp shocks of vitriol tempered with a sense of "shared fun" and classic anarcho-punk hooks. They recorded it in eight hours! - 'We arrived at 2pm, started slowly setting up, mic'ing up the gear and by 10pm all the music and vocals had been done.'

Listening back to this howitzer volley of songs, I've just realised that my pronunciation of Abrazos has been wrong on my radio show for all this time (and I've played the band many times!). It's pronounced AB-RAZZ-OSS (which means 'hugs' in Spanish - listen to the album, they'll tell you this).

The post paid price is £13.50 (get in touch for details - suspectdevicehq@hotmail.com).

It's also available from their Bandcamp page - ABRAZOS

ABRAZOS blogspot

My Collection #1 - Abolition - Complacency

Abolition – German hardcore/screamo band (1991–1994), feat; Corey Von Villiez (bass), Jens Wagner (gtr), Andreas Huyhammer (gtr), Bernd Bohrmann (drms), Miguel Andrade (voc).

Their only full-length album, Complacency, was released in 1994 as a joint venture between Equality Records and Homemade Records. Recorded over four weekends in late 1993 in Bad Dürkheim, the record is often described as "mosh metal" infused with melodic guitar work and "screamo" style vocals that avoided the "whiny" tropes of the era (I can't stand the whiny shit and thankfully this record is void of it).*

Although the spine of my sleeve has almost disintegrated, the elaborate packaging inside remains in good condition. Included is a thick booklet, the Contaminated fanzine, and hand-written symbols on the inner sleeve, and a bilingual lyric booklet (the songs are screamed in English, and the lyrics have been translated for the sake of German listeners / readers).

Reviews from the underground scene at the time (and retrospective ratings) generally praised the songwriting and the band's ability to blend aggression with technicality, though some noted the production on the opening tracks felt more like raw demo recordings compared to the rest of the LP. And yeah, I'd agree with that. Like a lot of my records, I got it, played it a couple of times and filed it, so it's good to hear it once again and, admittedly, it may as well be for the first time!

Formed in 1990, the band were a key fixture in the German DIY hardcore scene, releasing the 7” Jesus Was A Fuckin Dick as well as this album. Members were also heavily involved in the "Confrontation" fanzine and the labels Equality and Homemade Records. 

Following Abolition's dissolution, Corey Von Villiez and Bernd Bohrmann formed the band Stack, which continued in a similar musical vein. Von Villiez later left the music scene to pursue her studies. Bernd Bohrmann remained active in the DIY community, eventually founding the label Scorched Earth Policy.

* I would actually rather listen to S Club Juniors than any Emo band.