Hey its 2013, alright! First off, the 2nd and final pressing of the US version of the DESPERAT - DEMOKRATI ELLER DIKTATUR? EP has finally arrived!
300 copies on translucent yellow vinyl with a fancy red dust sleeve to boot. Feel free to drop a line if interested in obtaining wholesale copies. Individual copies are available in the webstore. There are also a few recently rediscovered copies of the 1st press limited version up in the store as well for those interested.
Here are some reviews that have popped up thus far:
"Clear, precise, confident, blistering d-beat. Two of these guys played in Mob 47 and Protes Bengt, and it doesn’t seem like they’ve ever slowed down. Jesus, this thing hits hard, about as straightforward as you want, but with enough crag in the guitar to break a tooth on. They come off as a totally earnest, HC-for-the-HC group, and nowhere is that more evident than in opening track “Bandlogga,” which the liner notes describe as a plea for reason with naming your band something crazy and making a logo complex enough to require a Magic Eye Painting level of attention. They slow down once on “Sveriges Största Ljugarbänk,” which dresses down the whole of Swedish Parliament, and they do it on the next to last of these six songs, which is exactly where you’d wanna put it. Totally raging! RECOMMENDED." -Still Single / Doug Mosurock
"Once you read that this band has members of MOB 47 and WARVICTIMS, you know what you’re about to get before you even drop the needle. I was expecting raw, but this is really fucking raw. It’s everything you could possibly want in raw Swedish punk, including guitar tone that sounds more like a chainsaw than a guitar at times. Did they cut all the bass and mids while cranking up the treble and distortion? Whatever. Either way, all six songs are pure ripping punk that only veterans of the genre could possible pull off without sounding strained or shitty. This 7″ is brutally honest and heartfelt and isn’t looking to gain scene points or make friends. And as much as the music kicked my ass, it’s the lyrics that make this an instant favorite. The first song questions the reasoning behind over te top band names and logos, which gave me a chuckle because it’s become such a shitstorm. Track two is about the documentary
Deliver Us From Evil about the catholic priest that molested kids and instead of being held accountable, was just moved from perish to perish. Fucker. Then on to a song about giving in to technology, cell phones in particular, instead on continuing to fight against mainstream culture. Being guilty of this myself, it really made me stop and think. The B side is just as ferocious. I realize I could go on and on, but I’ll just sum it up. Te topics brought up on this side are the fact that we don’t seem to understand that this is the only planet w have and we are totally fucking it up, the Swedish parlament wasting a shit ton of money and space while some people have no place to sleep and nothing to eat and the last track is about how democracy is lost and is just a term thrown around without substance. The lyrics are all in Swedish and have an English summery afterward on a simple photocopied foldout that has a few pictures, band info, contacts and thank yous. This record is short, sweet and to the point. Fucking brilliant." - Profane Existence
"
I meant to check out Desperat’s debut LP, but I think it was like $45 new or some ridiculous price like that. Come on guys, we’re supposed to pay big bucks for old hardcore records, not new ones! This new EP comes at a reasonable domestic price, and it’s a wonderful blast of raging political hardcore that ignores the modern trends of noisy, trebly recordings, instead going straight to the gut with a thick studio production. It flies by pretty fast, with killer drumming and a thick wall of bass and guitar, to the point where I no longer have to imagine what it’d sound like if NOFX covered Framtid. Pretty sure these guys are hardcore lifers (either that or they got into it in their late 30s, which has to be impossible) – I appreciate that they still rage with anger and precision, avoiding the many pitfalls of being old dudes in hardcore. Hell, the one guy on the back cover even has a Bart Simpson haircut, which is proof positive that Europeans are second only to the Japanese when it comes to aging gracefully in hardcore." - Yellow Green Red
"The original pressing of this EP by Sweden's Desperat was first released in a criminally limited edition by Sweden's De:Nihil Records, but that version sold out in mere hours, so Virginia's impeccable Beach Impediment Records are here to rectify that problem. Desperat feature members of Mob 47 and Warvictims, and play exactly the kind of vicious Swedish HC you'd expect with a pedigree like that. Forget poser d-beat, this is just straight up raging Swedish HC... essential." - Sorry State
"This Swedish band, with members of the legendary Mob 47 and Warvictims, have several releases already and this is a US pressing of their first 7", from 2011. On the lyric sheet, it says "Once hardcore, always fucking raw hardcore!" And they live up to it--blazing fodder in a classic Swedish vein. No low tunings, just a razor-sharp sound. In addition to the lyrical themes about governmental and religious abuses and environmental destruction, there's also a lament about people being tied to cellphones, with the clever title "Mobilterror," while "Bandlogga" simply states that band names and logos don't need to be so complicated. Yeah, I think these guys know what they're doing." - Suburban Voice
"I liken d-beat to the relationship with your favorite beer: it’s still fucking refreshing no matter how many times you’ve partaken. Desperat are all lifers when it comes to the genre (Mob 47 members!) and from the mayhem exhibited here, they show no signs of tiring, with a sound that so many punks hold dear. Typically, I’d be a little less than enthused with such high production values but I’d be a lying asshole if I said it doesn’t work perfectly here. The cymbal sound is like they’re playing right in front of you; and for that alone, they definitely got their money’s worth. Personal taste disclosure: nobody (besides the mighty Discharge, of course) does it better than the Swedes. So if you’re into Krigshot, Totalitär, and Kvoteringen, then you absolutely need this." - Razorcake
"As a late-1970s porn actress might have casually said, Oh fuck yeah: Desperat, on Demokrati Eller Diktatur?, play hardcore, bare-bones style, and manage to make that work in the here-and-nizzle. That’s rare as hell, and the Tom Araya vocals (in fact one might liken the Desperat sound to that of Slayer’s hardcore-saluting Undisputed Attitude) smear sonic blood all over the trebly guitars and light helpings of bass. As far as current acts go it reminds me of that one-sided White Shit record from a few years yore but without the surreal touch, along with Kyklooppien Sukupuutto 7”, a previous Cerberus treasure. It’s possible I’m merely isolated, but I don’t hear many records like this anymore, totally transcending the good-enough-to-be-a-local-staple-but-not-noteworthy-overall curse that so many hardcore/punk/etc. bands are under (for evidence search old used 7-inch bins dry-er than your grandma’s cooch; you’ll doubtlessly find several also-ran-ish, technically ‘heavy’ records with black jackets) despite the advanced age (we’re talking rock ‘n’ roll years here) of Desperat’s members. Glad this exists." - Tiny Mix Tapes
"Excellent second EP from this group of old Swedes. The dense recording reminds me of the later Avskum stuff without all the stray open notes, but Desperat are straying a little bit further from what they were doing a decade or two ago than those guys. Dee beat indeed, but this doesn’t really need to be considered amongst the drain-clogging deluge of that wave. This is the Hudiksvall sound made a little bit more gruff. A healthy amount of Swedish introspection leads to the lift of a Headcleaners riff on “10.000 Offer” (a song about Catholic pedophiles) to great effect. “Sveriges Största Ljugarbänk” is the tastiest kött on the platter - sounds like Anti-Cimex attempting to write a song for Runnin Riot in 84. Beautiful layout from Umeå’s busiest punk Marcus, who has completely defined what good Swedish punk records look like in the 21st century. A great release, and heartening as usual to see guys from the old guard refuse to Ginn… they’ve done well at making something new and interesting." - Terminal Boredom
The following labels / distros either have copies already or will have them soon enough: EBULLITION, REFUSE RECORDS, RAWMANTIC DISASTERS RECORDS, STATIC SHOCK MUSIK, GUMMOPUNX RECORDS, INTERPUNK, SPHC, PIFIA RECORDS, RAWBY RECORDS, VELTED REGNUB, UNLEASHED NOISE RECORDS, PUNKDISTRO, HARDWARE RECORDS, PAINKILLER, WORLD FUNERAL, and a few more that are in the works.
Onto the future! Up next will be the 2nd EP by Toronto, Ontario's HASSLER. We've hit a few roadblocks due to recutting, rejected test pressings, and other fun things in that vein, but the art is almost complete and we are hoping to have this out later on in the winter. In the meantime, feel free to check out the track "RETALIATION" from the upcoming 7" by clicking
here- it's an absolute stomper! You can even get a slight glimpse at the cover art that my favorite
Belgian turned French Canadian / Joy Boy did for it.
The KREMLIN 12" is still in production as well and we are hoping to have it out come spring, hopefully in time for the fucking STACKED
New York's Alright Fest in April. In case you missed it in a previous post, tracks from said 12" can be heard
over here and as we get closer to the release I might try to throw another track on my Soundcloud as well. Sound good? By the way, thanks to everyone who caught them on their brief US excursion back in December! Hopefully you were able to pick up a cassette advance copy of the LP.
On the distro front, be on the lookout for some new stuff and some restocks from the likes of ILEGAL, HEAVY NUKES, RAW MEAT, DESPERAT, INSERVIBLES, MALDITO PAIS, BRUDTE LOFTER, PANICO, PISSHEADS, DEATH CAMP, KREMLIN, CAGED ANIMAL, MFP, and more!
Also, a note to all foreign customers while we are on the distro topic- US postage rates are about to go up real fucking high! So feel free to make some orders between now and the end of January. I will probably take the webstore down for a little while at the end of the month so my caveman ass can figure out the new rates, but from the looks of it all foreign orders will have drastically increased postage. WOMP WOMP WOMMMP!
1/26/13 UPDATE: The webstore has been closed and all orders, both foreign and domestic, have been mailed off. I'll be sure to reopen the webstore once the shipping amounts are updated and I get around to stocking some new distro items.
2/4/13 UPDATE: Webstore is back up along with some new distro items! Again, sorry to all my international folks about the postage price increase. Trust me, I hate it too! Please don't email me complaining about said shipping rates, I didn't set them the USPS did,
go bother them about it.
Expect more in the future. Cheers!
-B.I.R.
- MRR
