Hailing from Southend, London, Hexes are a hardcore quartet who describe their sound as being ‘a cyclopean howl, as a burning torch is thrust into a drunken eye’. Indeed.
The Dillinger Escape Plan / Milk Lizard
Ire Works was my album of the year when it was released. To play the way they do and then temper the super technical aural carnage with songs like this and Black Bubblegum. They are a truly inspirational band, and are superbly technical players yet fantastic songwriters too. As far as live bands go, they can pretty much take anyone touring right now as well. Ferocious.
Janes Addiction / Three Days
The greatest epic rock song ever recorded? I dunno. This song makes me so hyped as it builds up. All bases are covered and all boxes are ticked. I love Janes Addiction. This is their undisputed masterpiece, it’s so mind blowing. It just shows you that even though drugs can destroy, they can also help create the most beautiful art. Besides, what other ten minute song is there about death and rebirth that comes close to this one?
Kid Dynamite / Pause
Back in the day, when this record came out, it re-installed my love of fast hardcore. It’s as catchy as fuck, it’s saying something, and it sounds awesome. I was lucky enough to see them play in New York when my old band flew over to play some shows. We arrived jetlagged and knackered after a load of touring and went to a Jade Tree night at some venue. Joan Of Arc made us all fall asleep, which isn’t really a cuss, but Kid Dynamite came on, slapped us out of our stupor and added a swift shoe to the nuts just for good measure. Awesome!
Fugazi / Public Witness Program
You cannot fault Fugazi. They are one of my top three bands ever. On every level they stood as an inspiration. All their albums are awesome and there is a real variation throughout all their work. In On The Kill Taker is their most aggressive sounding record. You know how you can walk through a busy city with your iPod on listening to certain bands and they make you feel indestructible? This is one of those songs.
The Mars Volta / Wax Simulacra
I was such a huge At The Drive-In fan and was totally blown away by The Mars Volta when I first heard them, but like a lot of people that are into those guys, I really wanted the protracted jam side of what they do to stand down for a second and get to the core of it all with a short blast of progressive punk rock. I’m not sure if they would consider that to be a step backwards, but it’s what I wanted to hear from them and they delivered it with this, the first single from the awesome Bedlam In Goliath album. Yeah, I’ll admit I was stoked thinking the whole album was going to be more to the point and succinct than previous albums. Turns out it was yet another sprawling masterpiece. No complaints.
Meshuggah / Rational Gaze
When they first put out the album, Nothing, I was stunned. It was paired down and almost spartan in its riffing, but still super technical as far as the timings went. They re-released the album not that long ago as they weren’t happy with how the guitars sounded on the original. A lot of purists preferred the original to the re-release. I like them both. I find myself listening to the re-recorded version more often than the original. Pure distilled metal.
The Jesus Lizard / Mouth Breather
One of the most fucked up live bands I ever saw. Super rhythmic with an almost brittle sound to them, they are truly amazing. I went through a phase for a while where it was pretty much just them, Mule and Albini’s bands that actually did anything for me. I saw them play quite a few times and had the pleasure of supporting them once. I remember one show I saw them play, David Yow dragged a massive bin onstage and after stripping down to his pants, he started stuffing his underwear with trash as they played songs, then he crowd surfed, spilling all manner of rubbish over the crowd from his pants and yelped like a crazy man. Ha ha! Amazing.
Bad Brains / I Against I
Best hardcore band to ever walk the planet. Yeah, they had a weird period there for a while when HR left, but you can’t take it away from them. PMA.
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