COLUMBUS DIY

<img src="https://www.hardcore.gl/modules/product_rare/122701889187762441__themob.jpg">
couldn't dig up a quick pic of the LP, so this will do.

so i stumbled across this record in the "80s" bin at lost weekend. either one of you dolts hid it there, or it was just (easily) misfiled. i'd argue for the latter since it took me a few minutes to make heads or tails of it, myself. whenever i hear the name "the mob," my brain first flashes images of "no doves fly here," the artwork for the UK/crass band which i've seen emblazoned on so many a punk tee/buttflap over the years, and rightfully so. they were probably the best band on the crass roster, in my humble opinion, or was it zounds?? maybe save that argument for a future thread. needless to say, the mob record in question here is not the UK band.

hardcore stalwarts will be quick to mention that there was also the "classic" NYHC band, the mob. flipping across this piece of vinyl threw me off at first. the cover shows, some graffiti-style lettering, a brick wall, and some lions, perhaps maybe lions of judah since the colour scheme is yellow, black, and red. i examined the back cover closely, didn't want to be duped into another case of mistaken-identity record purchase. the back cover shows the four members in a jail stance against a graffitied wall: two standing, arms crossed, and two semi-kneeling, you know that sorta squat-kneely thing, sorta b-boy stylee. anyhow, i'm looking for hardcore signifiers here on the back sleeve and all i got are these four nerdy lookin fellas (one token rasta), some graf, and well, i don't know. it surely wasn't convincing me that this was a HARDCORE record. on the track credits, two of them credit "acoustic guitar." strike against. at this point, disappointment started to sink in. what i was holding was probably not the NY mob, definitely not the UK mob, and probably a shitty 80s rock relic that may never see life beyond the dusty bins of lost weekend records.

i hate to be defeated, dammit, so the examiniation continues. there still might be a chance, right? i slip the dust sleeve out from the cover to reveal some lyrics and the crucial addresses i was looking for. NEW YORK!! one for merch/info, and one for the record label. douglaston, ny and bronx, ny respectively. things were looking up, the lyrics were pointing me in the right direction, too:

from crucial point:
crucial point - it's the joint
crucial point - it's the joint

you can't bring me down no way
because the power's here to stay
and i'm at the crucial point

that's the whole song. hardcore, no? well, a little flip of the lyric sheet over, and it was all laid out. aside from a couple more cheesy pics of the band looking more like some minnesota alternative funk band than a hardcore outfit, and the deal-maker/deal-breaker to end all unknown record purchases: THE THANX LIST!! my vision is especially trained to pick out the crucialest items in a long list, been scanning these things for years. bad brains! scream! run/dmc!? murphy's law! war zone! AF! cro-mags!
purchase.

cool brother kyle at lost weekend gave me $2 off, because of some coupon he has out in the comfest program guide or some shit, bringing the tag down to $6. already happy with my purchase, i had still yet to hear this beast. before entering the store, i didn't even know they had anything other than one EP. apparently, they also have a second EP too, most of which is compiled on a semi-discography CD, sometime somewhere.

every time i find a new piece of old NYHC, i amalways sort of expecting (excitedly) to hear something along the lines of the "where the wild things are" compilation. i don't know why. i really like that stuff, and it seems to have been the lesser-worshipped NY hardcore stuff: life's blood, outburst, sheer terror, raw deal, breakdown to name but a few. this hope was no exception before dropping the needle on this one.

"we come to crush," i thought, "perfect, i come to get crushed," as i wiped the dust from the surface and put the needle down. my expectations were now sky high, and i waited. the songs are pretty solid hardcore punk, nothing you should rush off to ebay for after reading this review, but maybe there's a good reason i didn't know about this NYHC record. it has it's moments, some of the songs have the drive of bad brains or cro-mags, but others have cheeseball lyrics of what made the 80s so bad:

from girl i need ya:

girl i need ya
got to have ya
girl i need ya
you know i want ya
girl i need ya
you know i'm gona (sic) get ya
etc.

but then there's Z.D.F. more than we love 80s hardcore bands that are acronyms, are song titles that are acronyms! so much fun to sing along to, this is what we learned from the village people in the 70s!!

zombola dust fiend is back again
his clothes are worn
his money's been spent
he's a space bum that's got no home
in another galaxy he will roam

ZDF
ZDF
ZDF
ZDF

we don't want you hangin' around
zombola dust fiend you look like a clown
we don't want none of you zombie dust
dust to dust ain't no must

ZDF
ZDF
ZDF
ZDF

you brought this doom upon yourself
i wished you the world and all it's wealth
i guess you were damned till the end
we don't wanna see you face again

amazing! haha. i'm glad i found this record. the production on it is very similar to token entry's "jaybird" LP, and not far from it in sound. murphy's law is a pretty good comparison, too. you can also hear parts of cro-mags, bad brains, and DRI creeping into the sound of this record, too. beware of the fucking guitar solos, though!

all in all, a decent record if you can hang with the murphy's laws and token entries of NYHC.


now, brandon, it's your turn to spit something on that spike in vain LP. i scraped up some mp3s, and it sounds like a pretty amazing record. original copies still available for $25 from some label. fuck me, i'm not about to spend that much on it, but i'd drive to cleveland just to look for a copy.

Jimmy, excellent review. I'll review the Spike In Vain lp soonish. I'll keep my eyes peeled for another copy but Angry asked me to check first.

yo, i was in cleveland wednesday and asked charles of my minds eye about the spike in vain record. a wish of good luck finding it cheap is basically what i got. he said that dude who drums for the darvocets has been claiming he is going to release a collection cd and that there is way better material that was never released. so we can only cross our fingers and hope this comes to fruition.

you should post more of this shit dude.

From xXx #18 (1986):



I have this on cassette. Jimmy's right on about the production. Their other records sound better. I suppose I'm in the minority in that I've heard The MOB (NY) but not The MOB (UK).

In other bands-with-the-same-names-from-New-York news, the new URBAN BLIGHT 12" (Toronto HC) on Slasher is way better than the old ska band URBAN BLIGHT from NY that featured Mackie from CRO-MAGS on drums.