October Blog

Tight bikes, all the latest news, and a positive mental attitude. Keep your eyes on the prize. Handmade.

Name Checking Mecht Mensch and Void

There seems to be a whole bunch of bands that get described as being like "Void" or "Mecht Mensch" and I think this is total BS. This is some record reviewer shorthand that I guess is supposed to acknowledge how good the record reviewers record collection is and how in the know the reader of the review is for catching the reference. Problem is that it is rarely accurately describes how the band sounds.
The Mecht Mensch thing is just some record nerd bullshit. For the few that have heard the 7", it's not that good, but if you want to appear in the know, you're supposed to nod knowingly. Don't believe me-check the songs here. They didn't even stand out on that Mystic Records Comp. Pretty much the yardstick of generic US Hardcore. The whole Nirvana connection helped revive the bands name and I'm sure today's hipsters read about them in some Spin or Rolling Stone Nirvana article or something when they were 14, but come on. I guess if you were the sucker that paid $50 bucks for it, you don't want to feel like you got a bad deal. There are dozens of lost classics that blow the doors of MM. Try and sound like Neon Christ and get a clue. At least with all the music in the world turning up online, you can tell the pretentious name dropper that you've heard the record and it wasn't too much to write home about.

The Void comparison is another too commonly thrown around description for rote-retro hardcore. Get a fucking grip. Void were a juggernaut. Your shitty band, playing back to the future 80s HC will never be in the same league. Never mind the BS of trying to pass off sub-par boom box recordings as adding to the "rawness".
When older dudes or non-hardcore kids start playing hardcore(with some ironic smirk), they try and drop these obtuse references to Void or Die Kreuzen. I guess since they can't blast it out as devastatingly as Negative Approach or whatever "too obvious" band a normal person would aspire to emulate. As soon as I see Void referenced in a review, I can write the record off. Someone is trying to hard.

**to clarify for the kids in the slow Bus. Void ruled. They are timeless. Mecht Mensch are not. Die Kreuzen remains music for the too much acid contingent. Regardless your band does not sound like any of them and for you record reviewers-try a little harder.

Cross World Champs Prediction.

So Nys wins the Belgian Championship, but the surprise is Niels Albert. Albert a guy who missed a month of racing with a torn spleen? Albert the guy who had a mechanical in the first lap of the race and had to chase for an hour? Nys only beat that guy by a hair?
Albert was my pick for Belgian champ, and based on this performance Boom better keep a close eye on him next weekend.
Belgium cold and fast. Italy muddy.
Interestingly, looking over the photos of most of the Euro national championships, there was a real absence of deep section carbon wheels. I've seem more carbon tubulars in C races here in New England, than seemed to be in use in most of the National Championships.
Curious to see what it looks like at the Worlds.

So there you have it. Albert, Boom, and Nys in that order. Albert's victory makes him the most hated man in Belgium.