Moments of YouthMoments Of Youth Sometimes... Firestarter Records by: Jeff Karbow This is the first 7" in a series of records by Firestarter Records being dubbed as the "Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes." I find that fucking hilarious and sadly, mostly true in most instances. So this band is from the suburbs of the Washington DC area and they play hardcore punk inspired by the Dischord label, circa early 80's with a dark underbelly, with tons of animosity for their mundane and fake surroundings. Now if you’re a city kid like me, you’re probably asking yourself, "What the fuck do they have to complain about?!" Because us city kids are quick to predispose cats from out of city limits, it could be because we wish we were in their position or because the dudes are materialistic noodles. And when you break it down, the title of the this new record collection sums up most of the vain suburbanites. Well these guys are wise enough to know bullshit when its living all around them. White picket fences and driving around in a benzo doesn’t mean you’re a good person. Throughout the 7 tracks on this very short lived 7", they convey their pure hated for these mindless fucks in ravaging fashion, and I love it. To me, there is nothing better than when a suburban cat realizes these things. All of the songs are rich in darkness but when it comes time to flip over the vinyl, the band takes it to another level, side b comes off sounding sinister as fuck, each song gets successively darker in nature, getting more bleak as they near the end. Songs like, In Truth, A Reject and Dimidiate really projects the bands hatred for all things stupid. In terms of production, the guys gets a thumbs up from me, it’s cold and distant, but in a very good way. The echo on the drums would usually annoy the fuck out of me but the way they do it and the way it meshes with their sound, it adds to the dark atmosphere. The layout is solid, with loads of photos inside the foldout, with an oil painting done by the vocalist of the band covering the front with a wax paper sleeve on the side with the bands name and album title is a nice touch. All in all, one hell of a record. After listening to this record, over and over, it’s a shame this will be their last recording. Ironically this record was released on the day they played their first show, four years to the day.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay-Kill Bill O’Reilly and the entire b side
Thesis: Dark as sin hardcore punk that gets darker in nature with each successive track. Not for the faint. Be one of the lucky 300 people to get this gem of a record, because when they are gone, THEY ARE GONE. No represses here.