Select Florida Demos 2009-2012: Thin Line, Faith Addiction and Kickturn

It's near the end of April and I'm finally getting around to posting some downloads. This time around, it's even more Florida bands, but from more recently. I'll give a little information on each band and throw the download links with scans of whatever came packaged with the demo at the bottom. Also, keep an eye on the blog for two cool show announcements next week!

 

Thin Line - Demo

This demo was recorded in 2009, right around when I first started coming to shows. Apparently Thin Line was from Orlando. I actually never saw this band and only even heard about them a week ago when my friend Oliver was giving away some of his old things. He told me this band was from FL so I grabbed the tape out of principle. If you can't tell from the cover, this is a straight edge hardcore band that I would very loosely compare to Righteous Jams or Mental. The lyrics get about as cheesy as they come on the track "Get Involved" (not a Brotherhood cover) but the tape includes a rendition of Use Your Head (which is a Uniform Choice cover) that actually rocks pretty hard. Drummer Tommy currently plays in one of Florida's continually rising star bands, Axis. I was surprised to find their Bandcamp link is still active, so I nabbed the songs from there and threw in the cover and insert scan in the download.

Faith Addiction - Demo 

Faith Addiction was a short lived hardcore band from Tampa. Four songs clocking in at under 2:30 on this sucker. On this demo were all three members of grindcore band Cellgraft plus Justin who sang in Feral Babies on bass. Awesome blown out hardcore that I think would be hugely popular if it came out this year, but sort of flopped when they were around. I remember seeing them open a show in a storage unit in Tampa and just about no one caring or watching. Crazy! They put out a lathe cut 7" a few years after this demo. Only 25 copies were made and I'm pretty sure every single copy is sitting in various Tampa record stores. Even crazier! I highly recommend this, though I had to rip the audio from the cassette so it's not the best quality.

Kickturn - The Demo 2012

Chances are you heard or saw this band when they were around, but I rarely hear them get brought up nowadays. Since members also played in Losin' It I think maybe this demo is just seen as the "other" band, but this demo still holds up to me. Four cool tracks that remind me of stripped down, nuts-and-bolts hardcore in love with Underdog or Token Entry blended with that Florida taste that can't be mistaken. Ian now sings in Day By Day, and with that in mind, you can hear the vocal similarities even though the music varies quite a bit.

That about wraps it up, here's the download links. Enjoy!

d/l here: Thin Line - Demo

d/l more here: Faith Addiction - Demo

d/l even more here: Kickturn - The Demo 2012

North Carolina's SUBSTANCE comes to Florida!

Apologies for the lack of updates on the blog. It has been a hectic two months, as Exact Change has hit the road in January on the Sick Of Talk 2016 Winter Tour as well as in February on the Hit List/Crisis Unit East Coast Tour. Thanks for everyone who came and saw any of the bands and picked up an ECR release, more Hit List live tapes will be available in the store very soon.

In April, Substance from NC will be coming down and playing through FL for a weekend. Check out the St. Pete show if you are in the area, or see the bottom flyer for information on the whole weekend. See you at the shows!

Beyond Reason - It's Just Begun 7" & Notes From The South compilation 7"

Check it out - a Florida hardcore Youth Bus Records two-fer! First up is the Beyond Reason 7", "It's Just Begun", with four powerful yet fun tracks. Released in 1990, but reminds me a lot of bands that were around in the mid-to-late-80's like Bustin' Out and Unit Pride.

Up next, a 7" compilation, "Notes From The South" featuring an array of bands from Florida: The Believers, whom I posted about a short while ago, a little heavier act called Hangman, then Beyond Reason and, ending off the compilation with my personal favorite tracks, Ego-Trip. This deserves to be the "We Can't Help It If We're From Florida" of the 90's. Track after track of unique hardcore happening in Florida that has somehow flown under the radar for all but those involved, or so it seems. Oh, did I mention the Beyond Reason record come with a huge fold out insert, and the compilation comes with an excellent lyric booklet, all of which are scanned and included in this download?

Here's the Ego-Trip pages of the booklet... How cool is this?! I need more info!

So there you have it. Youth Bus Records #1 and #2, discovered as I promised I'd try to do in the post about The Believers. Now for #3-5... I seriously have to find the Ego Trip "Together In The Mind" 7" if it is anywhere near as awesome as these compilation tracks.

d/l here:
Beyond Reason - It's Just Begun

d/l here too:
Notes From The South compilation

Exact Change Radio: Photo Retrospect

Here are some photos from over the course of Exact Change Radio that have never been posted on this site before. Enjoy and thanks again to everyone who ever called in, sat in, played on air, spoke with me on air, or took the time to listen in.

Ramses live demo debut and interview. From left to right: myself, Sam Pea, Ty Hammy, Josh H., Steve B., Julio and Steph.

 

 Hit List live in the studio. From left to right: myself, Lennon, Joey C., Dave, Bobby J, Steve B. and Joey V.

 An average week in the studio. From left to right: Andrew of All Waves Radio, myself and Julio of Metalstorm. 

 

Left photo: myself and my good friend (and sometimes co-host!) Andrew. 

Right photo: the incredibly supportive and patient Steph, who was with me in the studio every week, and myself.

Last radio show. From left to right: Sara B., Melon G., Steph, Andrew, myself, Kent and Nate H.

The Believers - Demo 1987 CS

The Believers were a short lived band from South Florida in the late 80's until the early 90's. This demo could also be called the "Half Way Home Demo" but because it was originally uploaded on Soundcloud as "Demo 1987" I decided to keep it as such.

Played around the same time as Powerhouse, but gained way less attention abroad for whatever reason. No big label signing, so less of a modern following I guess? This demo is equal parts cartoon edgeman mosh, as the cover drawing would have you expect, but also a decent dose of melodic guitar work.

As far as I know this is their only recorded material aside from a compilation track on the "Notes From The South" compilation 7" on Youth Bus Records with a few other lesser talked about Florida hardcore bands Hangman, Beyond Reason and Ego-Trip. They also played a reunion a few years back in South Florida and Reel and Restless Fest. I remember this show happening, but during my "driving four hours for a show is lame" phase... also known as my "no job and no money" phase. Doy!

If you have any information about this band, please get in touch with me, I'd love to learn more. Until then, enjoy this demo of a decent length!

d/l here:
The Believers - Demo 1987

Cashing Out

The last Exact Change Radio broadcast on Bulls Radio will be today, 4 - 5 PM EST. Tune in online at bullsradio.org to hear the final tracks aired as well as some very special interviews.

Mistaken Identity - Sheep 7"

Florida has a vast history of fast punk from the 80's and 90's, and this Mistaken Identity 7" fits right in. The fuzzed out guitars and whined vocals perfectly pair the annoyed-at-the-world lyrics. This band definitely fits the feel of the early FL punk bands that loved to sound angry while simultaneously poking fun at everything, including themselves. I was gifted this rare record by my friend Ellie and was fortunate enough to speak with the singer, Doug, for a history on the band, since not much information is found online. Here's what Doug had to contribute...

"There isn't much to tell about Mistaken Identity, but I'll try. It all started back in 1986...

We started out playing covers of The Misfits, Dead Kennedys, Fear, Black Flag, and we were terrible, obviously.

After a couple of years and some reassigned roles (I was moved from drums to vocals) we started writing a few originals and put out a demo in 1988. We played at most local venues, including Club Detroit, Arts Alive, and The Ritz. Opened for D.R.I., Rancid, Blatherskite, did a few hardcore festivals with Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and mostly just did local shows with our friends. We recorded the 7" in 1993. It got a pretty good review in Maximum Rocknroll. We split up soon after that because it was mainly just for fun and we had milked it dry.

The best times were spent playing shows with other local bands like Assück, Manic Dose, Ima, No Fraud, The People's Court, Toilet Birth, Scrog, Pink Lincolns, and dozens more awesome bands.

We split up in '93 and never really looked back. We played a set on WMNFs "Harmful Emissions" show, hosted by Steve Heritage of Assück. It was the last time we played together.

Of course there's more to it than that but that's all I can remember. It was fun."

Thanks to Doug for all the information. As far as I know, this is the first time these recordings have been posted online. This download also includes scans of all the inserts and artwork on the Sheep 7".

d/l here:
Mistaken Identity - Sheep