#ape records

[mywifeleftme]

364: Various Artists // Israfel

Israfel Various Artists 1997, Ape

A 1997 vinyl benefit compilation of mostly Middle American grindcore / powerviolence / emo acts, assembled in an edition of about 1000 by Bloomington-based DIY label Ape Records (active 1995 to 2002), in handmade sleeve with a recent release catalogue, a substantial zine, and a few priceless gag inserts (incl. YOUR HARDCORE SELL OUT DECODER RING). I’m not an aficionado of any of the genres Israfel covers by any means, but you’d have to be a real head to know most of these: in terms of notoriety, the Locust (who contribute a 47 second blast of lo-fi outrage) are basically Led Zeppelin compared to the rest of the acts, most of whom topped out with a couple of EPs and compilation appearances.

Of course, hearing music that would otherwise be basically lost to time is the appeal of taking a flyer on a comp like this. One of my favourite tracks is “Untitled” by Roanoke, VA’s the Weak Link Breaks, supposedly the first thing the band ever wrote (and, judging from their discography, nearly the last too). It begins with a very, very quiet spacy-Fugazi-style amble (the vocal harmonies couldn’t be more Ian and Guy) that explodes into a brief screamo-style D-beat section, and then some big heaving riffs that make me want to exaggeratedly lift and stomp my feet like a giant trying to keep his balance. I also dig Murfreesboro, TN’s Serotonin, an emo / post-hardcore act with a steely '80s shred band guitar tone who play like they want people in the pit to twirl around ecstatically instead of slam dancing. A lot of the other nasty yowling cat speedballs on Israfel don’t really catch my ear, but that’s okay—I’m weirdly proud of them 27 years after the fact for being themselves and getting out whatever they needed to get out through this violence.

The package’s tone is all over the place. The zine opens with a haunting description of the compilation’s beneficiaries, the family of a pair of little girls with spinal muscular atrophy (a common birth defect) whose condition worsened until they perished, leaving their parents distraught and financially ruined—and the 21-year-old compiler racked with guilt that he didn’t somehow do more to help. From there, it whips through his heterodox thoughts about the hardcore scene (despicably self-absorbed; unresponsive to requests from label operators); the state of emo (too abstract); the best way to bring about change (working within the capitalist system); rape (it’s bad; consent is black and white; can we stop litigating this in the scene?); calling the cops (fine to do); disrespecting the American flag (played out; tacky); and drinking/drug use (“when did self-destruction become rebellion?”). After he finishes up, each band (that got their artwork in on time anyway) gets a page to talk about themselves. This section is full of old school punk zine/leaflet treasures, with designs that mimic motel newspaper ads, postcards, messy handwritten perzines, and Xeroxed 7” grindcore sleeves.

It's funny reading his scornful words about pseudo-rebellious drunkards stumbling toward “the day when punk rock is shelved for an 8 hour workday, Budweiser, and television” and then finding his LinkedIn, where he describes himself as “driving omnichannel excellence” and as “whimsical (after coffee).” You wouldn’t believe it from the splenetic angst of the Israfel zine, but the guy seems like he turned out happy and normal, with a few kids and a successful career. I wonder how the 21-year-old would see the 48-year-old, if he’d call him a sell-out or feel relieved that things worked out; if the 48-year-old would pity his former self, or feel ashamed about losing his edge. More one-time zinesters and hardcore kids end up looking square from a distance than you’d think (I certainly do if you catch me during the workday), because you usually stop hearing about them when they drop out of the scene. For most, the quiet part of life is the larger portion by far. It’s your choice whether to embrace that, mourn it, or seek your own alternative. But if Israfel reminds us of nothing else, it’s the importance of having a good scream at least once in your life.

364/365

[talesfromthecrypts]

TJ MIKELOGAN’s HALLOWEEN 2024 EVENT

DAY 18: Horror Musicals Favorite song per musical

Evil Dead: The Musical

Phantom of the Paradise

Anna and the Apocalypse

The Phantom of the Opera

Lestat the Musical

The Lure

Little Shop of Horrors

American Psycho: The Musical

Sweeney Todd

Repo! The Genetic Opera

[brianskangs]

Band Aid, which literally is a combination of "band" and "aid" meaning help, shows us where they're aiming for - after the return of the group with their last album. This is a pledge to comfort the band that sings youth, and a declaration to be around the listeners in a more energetic way to match the identity of a band. In the name of the band, they would heal. Be the Band-Aid to stroke the wound.

BAND AID (DAY6) Released September 2, 2024

[maeamian]

It's important that everyone understand that JD Vance did not write about fucking a couch in his career launching semi-fictional pseudobiography: Hillbilly Elegy. It is simply not true that JD Vance has written about fucking a latex glove that he inserted between couch cushion. There is, at this point, no evidence that JD Vance did actually fuck a couch although importantly, he is also not on record denying it so we can't know for sure until he answers questions on the record about if he fucked a couch or not, but we do know that the tweet that claimed he did it and wrote about it was just a joke and the specific book pages cited in it contain no stories about JD Vance fucking a couch.

[snackugaki]

and the template here: https://twitter.com/KarlaDoodlesPen/status/1495943787138408457

That's my girl since i was 12 in 1997 and that's my girl at 38 in 2023

[fancypantsrecords]

Soichi Terada - Apes In The Net: Music From Ape Escape | Far East Recording | 2024 | Black

[science70]

Battle for the Planet of the Apes book & record set (Power Records, 1974).

[stpansy]

can i hear it for fall out boy’s sixth studio album american beauty/american psycho everybody please give it up for fall out boy’s sixth studio album american beauty/american psycho

[thekidsare-not-alright]

thinking about how tttyg was kinda the calm before the storm, if you will. and how futct was them entering the storm, ioh and folie in the thick of it, and then at long last, the hiatus in the eye of the storm. and then they entered it again, this time having already braved it once before, from srar to the harsher end of mania. and smfs is them finally being free of the storm altogether. they still went through it, the storm is still around, but they're in calmer seas now, following the wind currents wherever they want

[liquidstar]

Need you guys to not judge my search history real quick bc I wanna share the fact that my phone brightness is on really low, and I kept trying to wipe away what I thought was a stain only to look closer and see it was in fact Xenacanthus.

[losttareellka]

I'm not even a halsey fan, but the way people on twitter joking around about her new album is genuinely making me sick

[m00nb04rd5]

Can you do Monkey Blue from Ape Escape Moodboard please and make sure that you will take your time okay cool beans!!!

Monkey Blue (Ape Escape)

[yourfaveislawfulchaotic]

Phoenix Wright is Lawful Chaotic!

[theragamuffininitiative]

a new andrew peterson album would fix me.

[pizzadramon]

I cannot believe that the Peekaboo truthers were right all along!! That's like the 5th wacky theory that I completely dismissed out of hand that turned out to be true lmao. Never would've guessed that the PTA's big evil plan hinged entirely on manipulating a toddler.

That said, there's still a lot of room to speculate about the situation. Does the Peekaboo inside Dimitri have the same exact powers as the one inside the Dreamhub? What about the fragment of it that seems to be inside of Davy? Are they all fragments of one larger wight that was carved up 13 years ago, or somehow different instances of the same spirit? How many fragments are there in total? Is Davy responsible for it being in pieces to begin with? Does Spender's shadow spirit factor in here at all, or is it a piece of an unrelated puzzle? Why is Peekaboo's dream-room an old ship? Could his actual body be in a sunken ship at the bottom of the lake, like Davy Jones' Locker in his spirit trance?

The stickers on the locker in Davy's spirit world could be a hint about the different Peekaboo's locations.

a vampire (the piece Davy uses to distort space)

a ghost (possibly just a reference to Peekaboo himself? or something we don't know yet)

a ZZZ (Peekaboo in the Dreamhub)

a star (Starchman??)

a burger (possibly another piece trapped in/with the Burgers? or a reference to the fact that they trapped the main piece in sleep)

a werewolf (Shrike? Jean? Cody??)

Notably absent is any reference on the locker to the piece that Dimitri has, unless he's somehow represented by the star, ghost, or wolf. (The lack of an obvious link from the locker to Dimitri was my main point against the Peekaboo theory before. oops)

...Has Peekaboo been psychically calling other spirits to Mayview this whole time just because it wanted to play???

[weezerlvr228]

Blast Off! Performed live in San Diego last fall! 🫶