28 October 2017

CHINO HORDE


I've extolled the virtues of this era of US DIY punk and hardcore countless times in these pages. Hardcore was "done," and nothing had really fallen in to take its place. The midwest emo scene hadn't yet fully taken hold, grunge was right around the corner (but the punks still listened to MUDHONEY) and FUGAZI was still mostly an underground thing unless you were a cool kid. And there were no rules. This CHINO HORDE tape from 1990 features versions of several songs that would make it onto records in the ensuing years, and it's hard to explain why and/or how these sounds are so refreshing. It's real, I guess, just some kids from Arkansas doing their thing. Two of the dudes formed THUMBNAIL, and one of the dudes (the one who ran File 13 Records, which is crucial to the documentation of '90s Arkansas DIY punk - a weird niche, but an important one) moved to California and would later play in PINHEAD GUNPOWDER, GREEN DAY and...CALIFORNIA. 



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