Hounds of Hate – Cassette 2012 (BHF Records, 22 October 2012)
Hey, good afternoon! Hope everything’s going well for you, dear readers. Here, it’s still pretty damn dreary and wet, but it looks a little bit less black outside than it has for the past few days — seems like that bitch Sandy might finally be leaving us alone.
Anyway, that’s all pretty much off-topic from what I wanted to tell you about this afternoon, which is how you can get your hands on some FREE music by a group of guys from my local area (not exactly the same part of town as me, but they’re from a little further downriver along the same valley that this website was named after) — plus how you can get a chance to see them play live (if you live in the midwestern or eastern United States, that is)!
Braddock PA’s Hounds of Hate first came onto my radar screen near the end of June when they played at one of Killer of Sheep‘s 7″ release shows. They describe themselves as straight-edge hardcore punk, and they previously had recorded a demo plus released a 7″ record in 2011 — both of which you can hear at Bandcamp.
Well, near the end of last month they announced that they would have a new LP on the way soon — but in the meantime they were putting out a cassette tape with four new recordings. The first three them are brand-new songs, and the fourth is a re-recording of an old demo track.
All four songs are right around two minutes in duration (except the last one, which is about half a minute shorter), and they’re all pretty mid-tempo — but I’d imagine in a live setting, adrenaline might push the pedal down a bit more.
Lyrically, these songs either refer to proverbs (with “Pride” paraphrasing the biblical text about preceding destruction or a fall, and “Pound of Flesh” drawing its metaphoric title from the Shakesperean line about an unreasonable payment expected in return for something) or express their meaning outright (“Clean Today” is pretty explicit in its condemnation of killing oneself through drug abuse), while managing to avoid ever coming across as overly preachy.
Overall, the sound of this release (which the band recorded themselves, at the Braddock Hit Factory) is of pretty good quality — just the right amount of grit you’d hope for in a punk record, but clean enough for the vocals and all the other parts to come through loud and clear. Especially the bass parts, which really stand out nicely in various points across all four tracks.
Of course, if good sound quality and clarity aren’t really your cup of tea, these songs are making an appearance on cassettes, so make sure to check out the Hounds on tour, so you can grab yourself a copy. Otherwise, see the links at the bottom of this page where you can download the tracks for free.
Here is the list of tourdates as of this moment, but keep an eye on the band’s Facebook page for updates to some of the holes in this schedule…
We have most of the dates solidified and the others will have details soon. Come hang.
05 November – Indianapolis IN @ Adams Pizza, 7:30pm
w/ Side FX and Blind Justice06 November – St. Louis MO
07 November – TBD
08 November – Detroit MI
11 November – Toronto ON @ Hard Luck
w/ Rival Mob, Boston Strangler, Urban Blight, Step Forward, Peacebreakers, and Demolition12 November – Montreal QC @ Death Church, 8:00pm
w/ Hoax, Slobs, Pregnancy Scares, and Vanishing Point13 November – Portland ME @ Prime on Thompson’s Point, 7:00pm
w/ Swaath and 1 more TBA14 November – Boston MA @ Trouble Ahead, 7:00pm
w/ Rampage and Peacebreakers15 November – Jersey City NJ @ WFMU Radio
16 November – NYC NY @ 538 Johnson Ave, 8:00pm
w/ Goosebumps, Brain Slug, Ugly Parts (NJ), and Dipers17 November – Philadelphia PA @ The Barbary, 3:00pm
w/ No Tolerance, Boston Strangler, World War 4, Fire & Ice, and Blind Justice18 November – Richmond VA @ Strange Matter, 5:00pm
Break Away Record Release
w/ Stick Together, Friend or Foe, Scene Report
Listen to the four-track release here, and download it (while it’s still available for free):
If the free downloads have run out at Bandcamp for the month, you can also download it here.
Valley of Steel 