Bad Brains notwithstanding, were Minor Threat the greatest hardcore band of all-time?  Probably.  We make the case.   Recommended Listening:   Flex Your Head https://www.discogs.com/Various-Flex-Your-Head/release/417190   State of the Union  https://open.spotify.com/album/5GYPDbPDlutcVTFuVeHVkQ?si=c8Dnso90QIaiJjr_iWnxXQ   Video   Live at the 9:30 Club  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1ULKVP9Ps   Another State of Mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx43BTch5Uw       huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

Cheap Trick were great.  They are still around and making legit records and touring with 3/4 of their original lineup and that makes us really happy but from 1977 through '78 when they made the three studio records that make up the bulk of  their commercial breakthrough At Budokan they were truly great.  Their songs were so good that Mike definitively calls out Surender as their greatest of all time and then later says without question that Dream Police is their best ever and then identifies Auf Weidersehen as his unquestionable favorite.  Rod says Clock Strikes Ten and several others are among his favorites in their catalog.  These guys had songs for days and there’s not a bad one to be found on any of their first three long players.  We dive deep.     Recommended Listening:   Big Black He’s A Whore https://open.spotify.com/album/2Sw8KqCTezFCCI2y3dWmf1?si=npQ-xEVfS7WQ03In3Cr3bQ   Sgt. Pepper Live https://open.spotify.com/album/4Czdxtm0RVotrnsfOs7wjG?si=271j484NQ0SKyf2lWEv8IQ   Video   Daryl’s House Cheap Trick Live https://youtu.be/wsa3DUnWPPk   Cheap Trick Live at Red Rocks https://melodicrock.com/videos/cheap-trick-live-red-rocks-tv-trailer       huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

We talked about Love & Rockets way back on episode 2 and this week we return to the Northampton trio to pit their debut album Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven against their alternative radio breakthrough Earth, Sun Moon in the latest installment of our VINYL CAGE MATCH series.  We began listening to these records 30 years ago.  Do they both still hold up today and if so, does one more so than the other?  We debate.     Recommended Listening:   The Bubblemen The Bubblemen Are Coming!  https://www.discogs.com/The-Bubblemen-The-Bubblemen-Are-Coming/master/101256   Movie Night on Earth https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102536/   huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg  

 

Steve Soto died in his sleep on June 27 at the age of 54.  He was a founding member of both Agent Orange and The Adolescents, an Orange County punk rock icon and by all accounts a great guy.  We discuss his legacy and some of the amazing records he made over the course of his life.   Recommended Listening:   Agent Orange Bloodstains 7”” https://www.discogs.com/Agent-Orange-Bloodstains/release/4130034   Adolescents Adolescents https://open.spotify.com/album/4qwDRyH5SwFcjyoOJKbE2d?si=WpydfCAsRBqsk3SXfzcL-g   Adolescents Brats in Battalions  https://open.spotify.com/album/2wxM91bVMGkVlVkyQkPTbc?si=aTjjIt-xTw2qLdqqeCRTbw   Adolescents Balboa Fun Zone https://open.spotify.com/album/1Zg99l2eY2txgIsOLmxc78?si=lciWTNPXR_i-1o3vWd1S0w   Rikk Agnew All By Myself https://open.spotify.com/album/2HwogDA1CXNspqbfOffPjy?si=9g2RSS9vTMSB9k_IEzpCaw     huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

This week we tackle our first ever compilation album as we discuss The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates and their “very best” is incredibly good...seriously.   Recommended Listening:   (500) Days of Summer - Soundtrack  https://open.spotify.com/album/2n5AOB0lGse7qp38HvVROB?si=nZWpBwaRQWOSSPtof8xbgA   The Bird and the Bee Interrupting the Masters Volume 1:  A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates   https://open.spotify.com/album/6Bh8grVrJlDIJ0vJKtakTi?si=FT8ElqX0T5CRHieXqt8HtQ   Video You Make My Dreams Come True - From (500) Days of Summer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2VGpqq2-I8   Live From Daryl’s House  https://www.livefromdarylshouse.com   huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

 

On episode 50 Glenn identified Slayer’s 1986 classic Reign in Blood as his favorite album of that year.  This week he joins Mike and Rod again to discuss how well it’s held up all these years later to become an all-time, genre bending classic.      Recommended Listening:   Haunting the Chapel  https://open.spotify.com/album/0oCOeV4BgKgsuiLk1pbL7B?si=W4aEr1dCRzSfm8bWOESkIg   Zoetrope Amnesty  https://www.discogs.com/Zoetrope-Amnesty/master/273149   Video David Letterman My Next Guest Needs No Introduction  https://www.netflix.com/watch/80209191?trackId=14277281&tctx=0%2C3%2C5a5a2bad-c0e2-49cb-bea9-165db396f2d7-11205944%2C%2C     huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

The Descendents didn’t want to grow up and in the 36 years since their debut album they still haven’t.  In that span they  have however, managed to create a wholly unique sound that has been copied time and again by lesser bands with half their chops.   Their 7 studio albums (though Mike insists it’s 6 throughout the episode) continually refined their “melodic hardcore” approach but they'd already perfected it on 1982’s Milo Goes To College.  We ask the questions:  Do you really need to dig any deeper into their catalog past that classic first LP and, are we guilty of committing adulthood by even attempting to?   Recommended Listening:   “Merican EP https://open.spotify.com/album/60eDnZNML7mTE2UadzotYD?si=_laZ99xsSb2bDxaFLKF3ig   Who We Are Single https://open.spotify.com/album/0X0gPFfYB7BCxej7kAt2bl?si=SnQMcql_R36ZJzclj7Lrwg     Movie Filmage  https://www.filmagemovie.com/pages/trailer   Police Truck w/ Jello Biafra  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB0WiTlPxpg     huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

You don’t hear the saying “Punk’s Not Dead” too much these days because the genre in it’s truest form actually has been deceased for a couple of decades now.  Except for every Memorial Day weekend that is, when a bunch of 40 and 50 year old punks attempt to relive their glory years at Las Vegas’ annual Punk Rock Bowling fest.  As usual our Rodney Hill and regular show contributor Glenn Polanco were on the scene.  We get their full report.     Recommend Listening:   GBH City Baby Attacked by Rats https://open.spotify.com/album/3E9flqSwqJRUuhZ3l4K8S6?si=hYieoIn5RLCA80rwhfeu-g   L7 L7 https://open.spotify.com/album/2qsp2AvGPlKYqPeb22pnkX?si=wOpW-5onSXGc_8jqNUZMWA   Dead Boys Young, Loud and Snotty https://open.spotify.com/album/6SiRxD9eeJELm4TR8C6MDJ?si=FVYeDHA1Q_Ogs6_VDvdQgA   Turbonegro Ass Cobra https://open.spotify.com/album/0imzdlOmhG0lRx4IYxdgpI?si=Mv5aDRr5Rqe4r0ip2Yx3yA   At The Drive-In  https://huntsmanhill.com/2017/05/08/ep24-at-the-drive-in-relationship-of-command/   Movie Agnostic Front The Godfathers of Hardcore  http://thegodfathersofhardcore.com     huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

There are essentially two Cures.  There's the “gothic” Cure of Faith and Pornography and the “pop” Cure that would make them international superstars on albums like 1987’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and their commercial peak, 1989’s Disintegration.  The bridge between those two sounds was their American breakthrough, 1985’s The Head on the Door.  Simmering guitars complimented by melodic bass lines underneath emotionally dark lyrics sung in the first person proved to be the perfect formula for building a massive audience without losing any credibility with the hardcore fans. This is the album where Robert Smith began having his black cake and eating it to.   Recommended Listening   The Head on the Door (Deluxe Ed.)  https://open.spotify.com/album/4Uq47onfCEj5en94jpHovk?si=7aipYzUvRWClESefTn0rXw   Siouxsie & the Banshees Hyena  https://open.spotify.com/album/0PF97T9K2E95PV4AbICNjr?si=30AhhmAAS8mkiKrFkI6Q1Q   Siouxsie & the Banshees Nocturne https://open.spotify.com/album/2QVsC1yBvWEYafkP5cxmoR?si=g29sCpOtQhWYOu-b_0w57g     huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg

This week we take a trip to New York’s Lower East Side to dive deep into the classic 1982 debut from the “Godfather’s of Hardcore” Agnostic Front.  It’s one of our boy Glenn’s all-time faves so he joins us again to gush about switch blades in the pit, $300 7” records and what a sweet guy Vinnie Stigma is.  STIGMA!!!      Recommended Listening   Live At CBGB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZuOkk2hHI   Movie The Godfathers of Hardcore http://thegodfathersofhardcore.com   New York Hardcore Chronicles  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Sxcn5r_jA   Book Roger Miret My Riot https://www.amazon.com/My-Riot-Agnostic-Front-Glory/dp/1944713107     huntsmanhill.com #huntsmanhill Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298220429/playlist/4gy1wWwypkoFS2lUztvZ44?si=waSq07DBQlq3x9G1_nK0pg