DISTRO UPDATE

Just in:

THE ABUSED - Loud And Clear LP 
PRISONER ABUSE LP
ZINGERS - St LP
VOIGHT KAMPFF - St LP
FRAMTID - Under The Ashes LP
MERCHANDISE - Live BBC LP
HIGH AND THE MIGHTY 7"
LAST CHAOS / VAARALLINEN - Split 7"
EDDY CURRENT- Demons Demands 7"
EAST LINK  - Angel Gun 7"
NUN - Solvents / Cronenburg 7"
LOST BOYS - Gueules Perimees 7"
SPLIT TEETH - St 7"
DRIBBLE - Live CS
SCAB EATER - Demo CS
DROPPINGS - No.1 Zine, with cassette (Total Control, Kremlin etc.) 

In next:

LIBYANS - Expired Language LP
RULETA RUSA - Aqui No Es LP 
NEGATIVE TREND - St 7"
RED RED KROVVY - St 7" 
NEGATIVE DEGREE - St 7"
WASTOIDS - St 7"
FUTURE BINDS - St 7"
THE #1S - Sharon 7"
HYGEINE - St 7"

PERTH

Few shows coming up. Last one for HELTA SKELTA for a while. PLASTIC BAGS has a few more coming up in Fremantle in November too

SOMETHIN'

Back from Melbourne and Maggot Fest, had a Bl'ast! Thanks to everyone who helped us out one way or another, especially Tim Scott and Tom Bradford, legends. Will definately be looking forward to next year.

Got the new PLASTIC BAGS cassette up in the store now and got a few more things to add shortly. Get on http://heltaskeltarecords.bigcartel.com/

Anyone chasing the new HELTA SKELTA 7" can now get it from SORRY STATE RECORDS (US), STATIC SHOCK RECORDS (UK), NAT RECORDS (JAPAN) and any good record strore in Melbourne. Record stores in Brisbane and Sydney will have copies soon, and you can still pick it up here. ASBESTOS 7" has now sold out, a few stores and distros still have copies though.

Finally got a few more releases in the works including a cassette from Perth's PEOPLE PROBLEM, an LP from PLASTIC BAGS and some others, but more info soon.

That's it nothin' more

HSR010 PLASTIC BAGS - BLIND THEM ALL CASSETTE

New track off the upcoming cassette which will be available in time for MAGGOT FEST this weekend in Melbourne and then online from next week.

Second cassette only release from these Perth clitz. The melding of boredom, cheap substitutes and cruelty that inevitably comes with study and working menial jobs in a city such as this. Heavily indebted to the LA and Aussie 70s punk sound. 5 tracks. Penetration cover.

MAGGOT FEST IV

Just over one week until MAGGOTFEST IV in Melbourne. PLASITC BAGS will be playing the Friday night at the GASO, HELTA SKELTA the Sunday arvo at the MELBOURNE TOWN HALL. Get on.

Will also be bringing my distro over for the Saturday swap meet at the GASO.

HSR008 HELTA SKELTA - REDS / DEVIL'S TRIANGLE 7" NOW AVAILABLE

http://www.heltaskeltarecords.bigcartel.com/

First fifty orders come with limited covers, seen here. All others come with stamped sleeves.

ASBESTOS T-SHIRT

Have some new HELTA SKELTA t-shirts featruing the Asbestos artwork up in the store. $23pp within Australia. New 7" should be ready next week

VAARALLINEN IN PERTH THIS WEEKEND

Make sure to come down to these. The amount of money and effort that goes into bringing bands over to Perth shouldn't have to be mentioned. Not to mention the gracious pains Lewis at No Patience endured to bring these guys over from Singapore. So don't just sit at home...

Venue change for the Satruday night too, it's now at an art space on William St

TERMINAL BORE

Some great, strictly Australian reviews up at TERMINAL BOREDOM.
THE blog for music reviews
http://terminal-boredom.com/reviews/201309/

Helta Skelta "Asbestos" EP
Aussie outfit from Perth I've never heard before, this is their second or third record, with members of Extortion. Kind of a weird mix of hardcore and garage punk, like Rupture meets The Onyas or something. I like it quite a bit, especially "Smile" which is a weird DIY sounding tune with some surfy guitar parts and dum-dum vox. "Rust" is very muscular mid-tempo punk with burly vox, "Suedehead" is not a Morrissey cover but a ballsy slow-tempo HC stomper. "Face" is great snotty shit with an odd post-punk angle to it. Very cool stuff, almost like a more punk or yobbo Hygiene or something, very hard to describe these guys which is always a plus in my book.(RK)

Got some copies of the AMDI PETERSENS ARME - DISCOG LP on the way too, as well as some other releases from HJERNESPIND RECORDS, should be here anyday. Some of Denmark's best! As well as that the distro is updated pretty regularly so check back for new releases.
http://heltaskeltarecords.bigcartel.com/

HSR008 HELTA SKELTA - REDS 7"

The A side to the upcoming HELTA SKELTA 7"

This will be the single for the upcoming LP and the B side will feature an exclusive track

Available Oct/Nov 2013

WEEK/END

A LITTLE R&R

More HSR releases including the PLASTIC BAGS demo will be available next week from Tym Guitars in Brisbane, Missing Link in Melbourne and Disinfect Records in Sydney. And Sorry State Records in the US also has the PB demo (review below).

HELTA SKELTA and PLASTIC BAGS will also be heading over to Melbourne for MAGGOTFEST IV this year. The line up so far is insane! Sure to be the show(s) of the year.

In light of this HS will have a new 7" single ready by then, one track off the upcoming LP and an exlusive track. We just finished the recording this week. Recording for the new HS LP will be happening pretty soon too and that should be out by the end of the year. And finally PB will also have a new 6 track cassette out in time for MAGGOTFEST.

PLASTIC BAGS - DEMO
Sorry State:
Demo tape from this killer lady-fronted punk band from Ausralia. A lot of bands claim an influence from the early Dangerhouse sound, but man, this band sounds like they really could have been released on that label. Super minimal, energetic front with ridiculously catchy vocals. This kind of reminds me of the early S***ty Limits stuff as well... there's a similarly killer sense of songcraft at work. They also cover one of my favorite Murder Punk tunes, "I Hate School" (which was, incidentally, also covered by the Love Triangle on one of their early tapes). Very highly recommended.

In the mean time listen to this Melbourne filth, for the people of Petth I now have copies of this demo

SOMETHING TO STAVE OFF THE BOREDOM

HSR007 PLASTIC BAGS DEMO TAPE

Now available here: http://heltaskeltarecords.bigcartel.com/product/plastic-bags-demo-cassette
Also have a few more shows coming up, more info soon.

SHOWS

First show Helta Skelta has played for a while, and probably the last we will play for a while as we get our new record together. It's also the demo launch for  my other band Plastic Bags which should be available in the next week or so.

REVIEWS

Couple of reviews from Maximuum Rock n Roll and Sorry State Records of the Asbestos 7". Think Sorry State still has a few copies but other than that I've only got about 20 copies left, so if you want one better get on it.

Sorry State Records:
After a standout 12" in 2011, here's the follow-up EP from Australia's Helta Skelta. This band plays the best kind of hardcore and punk, i.e. the kind that defiantly flouts any kind of boundaries. The first song here is a brutal, mid- to slow-paced stomper that could be a Violent Future outtake, but then the second track, while holding at a similar tempo, weaves in some catchy punk guitar and recalls other great Australian bands from the Chosen Few and Radio Birdman right up to Eddy Current / UV Race. The b-side kind of weaves these sounds together while picking up the tempo, arriving at a more hardcore-inflected take on the Dangerhouse sound.

MRR:

HSR007 PLASTIC BAGS CASSETTE

Track off the upcoming Plastic Bags demo. Out June 2013

SMILE

ASBESTOS 7" NOW AVAILABLE

Ok so the HS 7"s arrived today and were promptly mailed out, so everyone should receive these next week. I'm pretty happy to finally have these done. Sorry State Records are distributing these in the US, and a number of other US distros now have copies. And if you're in Japan check out Nat Records. I'm working on trying to get some of these into Europe but shipping is fucked.

Next up will be
HSR 007 Plastic Bags - Demo cassette
HSR 008 Helta Skelta - II LP

HSR004 HELTA SKELTA - ASBESTOS 7" PRE-ORDERS

Ok so this has finally come together and will be released mid March. As ever there were some delays. Pre-orders will be limited to blue vinyl and shipped as soon as we have hold of them.
$10pp within Australia
$12pp everywhere else
Note that Sorry State Records is distributing this in North America though and will have a limited number of blue vinyl. If you live in the US it will be much cheaper to get them through Sorry State.


 http://heltaskeltarecords.bigcartel.com/

REVIEWS

Here's some reviews of the Agitated and Napalm Heart 7"s from Maximum Rock n Roll.
Think the Napalm Hearts review is a little misconceived though. Oh well, cheers!

Agitated 7"
"After showing off their greatraw guitar tone by firing off a few chords, Agitated kicks into some blazing early early '80s style hardcore. It's obvious that they're a current band going for an "old" sound, but they do it damn well without coming off as retrto, ending up sounding akin to say HONOR ROLE, playing songs with the melodic intricacies of the CIRCLE JERKS and the first SUICIDAL TENDENCIES LP, and of course the occassional modern breakdown. All fronted by a smart and sarcastic little fucker who sounds like he's gonna give posers and socialites the wall-slamming they deserve. Though I will say that, although the music here is excellent, the full-color artwork (minus the insert) is horrible and makes this record look like cartoon skate-thrash dollar bin fodder, which is misleading and does not do the tunes justice. (DG)"

Naplam Hearts 7"
"Catchy, fast almost Oi!- sounding Aussie punk. Id recommend this to my friend and old radio mate Adam 'Howlin' Hot Dog who relocated Down Under this year. At times id compare them to THE EXPLOITED and other times they are more rock n roll. Energetic the whole way through to get a roo's blood flowing. The DEAD BOYS cover is unnecessary. The chorus to 'Expletive Deleted' is my fave. "Killing, shooting, stabbing and murdering". Fuck Yeah Good work mates. (RO)"

And some more from Sorry State Records

Agitated 7"
"Debut 7" from this Australian HC band who play wild, youthful hardcore. This is one of those records that almost sounds more like super sped-up punk than hardcore, really... there's not attempt to be tough, just youthful snot and sarcasm. Recalls classics of this genre like Teen Idles, the Untouchables, early JFA, and maybe even the first Adrenalin OD 7". Killer stuff."

Napalm Hearts 7"
 " Rampaging, hardcore-inflected oi! from Melbourne, Australia. Apparently this was originally released on cassette on Stained Circles, but now it's receiving a wider vinyl release courtesy of Helta Skelta Records. The combination of oi! and HC seems to be increasingly popular these days, but while the mix is usually like 85% core / 15% oi!, Napalm Hearts are more of a 50/50 mix, sounding like a super-tough, stripped down oi! band. Think the Last Resort or maybe Blitz's early, meanest stuff. Bruising."

HSR004 ASBESTOS 7"

Helta Skelta's next release, the 'Asbestos' 7" will be out by the end of the month. Pre-orders up soon.

US & UK DISTRO

Anyone from the US chasing HSR releases can now find them at Grave Mistake or Sorry State Records.
 http://www.gravemistakerecords.com
 http://www.sorrystaterecords.com

Anyone in the UK can find them at Static Shock.
http://www.staticshockrecords.com

HSR005 THE CHOKE - LIVE CASSETTE

Live recording from Perth's The Choke. Female fronted, catchy punk tunes. This band is really hard to pigeon hole as they don't fit easy into any simple category, and that's by no means a bad thing. I've heard them compared to bands like X (the LA one) but I think the only comparison to be made there is that they have a female vocalist. Certain aspects do sound like they've taken unfluence from the Wipers and the 80's post punk scene though, and as a friend pointed out the other night Dinosaur Jr. Artwork and layout came out great on this too. Each copy was personally printed by the band.
The artwork courtesy of Tom Rogers tr-tomrogers.tumblr.com
Limited to 50 copies.
Pick it up here heltaskeltarecords.bigcartel.com