
I'll admit that I'm often late to the party. I discovered The Descendents during my tape trading days through hearing Dag Nasty's "Wig Out At Denko's" album. . The melody, speed and anger wasn't coming as a threesome through a whole lot of the speed metal records that I was buying because they were easier to learn about, more available in my town and less expensive than the always imported American hardcore. Before hearing "Wig Out" I hadn't really heard much Minor Threat either but that's another story. I could blame it on living in a small city or the fact that imported records were only a considered purchase if they turned up in Palmerston North's Cambridge Second Hand Book and Records shop where it was possible to hide that B'last album you really needed to hear simply because the cover appealed.
Even later my knowledge of much of the early to late eighties American hardcore scene was gleaned from the pages of the UK magazines Metal Hammer and Metal Forces. I remember them reviewing a record by a band called Jones Very, who like Bomb Disneyland and Nomeansno looked interesting. After searching several local record shops for these seemingly mythical albums I just filed Jones Very to the back of my mind. Not all that long ago I came across the world of music blogs and found a post containing Jones Very on Music ruined my life As you may have observed from the name of this post, this isn't about them but Articles of Faith who despite being an early 80's hardcore band are a recent discovery for me due to fellow music bloggers. Core collects all their stuff from 1981 to 1983 back when you thought Musical Youth and New Edition were the best bands ever.
The righteous trinity of melody, speed and anger.