Lately, I've been engaging myself in quite a few political debates; something I haven't been doing for the past few years. I'm typically quite the isolationist when it comes to ... well, life in general. With our country's upcoming election, however, I decided to take the time to at least find out a little bit about what the new direction of our country is going to be taking (whether we like it or not). Personally, I'm of the persuasion that the voting process is merely a schmoz designed to keep people dormant and as content as possible and that even if the elections WERE legitimate, the two parties simply take different paths to the same destination anyhow.
That being said, I'm not one for politics. Running the hamster wheel never appealed to me. I've always been moreso interested in being a person of high moral character and respect regardless of party affiliation or minute differences in political or religious beliefs. Subscribing to a set of ideals inherent in one party or another always seemed rather submissive and mindless to me. I've always respected those who held themselves accountable for their own destiny, chose to work hard for what they had and took pride in themselves, their work and their country.
A while back I did a post about a little-known band from New Jersey called Tears Of Frustration. At the time, I posted about them in comparison to One Life Crew; a band with similar politics yet without the work ethic or respect that Tears Of Frustration was known for. That's not to say I'm anti-OLC, but the band obviously stooped considerably low and took part in some questionable activity in order to get a rise out of the hardcore scene at the time. Tears Of Frustration, on the other hand, took their message and music extremely seriously.
Typically taken as a "political" band, frontman Joe Falzone has went on record many times to clarify the fact that their lyrics were moreso based around personal outlook as opposed to playing into a Left v Right game or subscribing to either conservative or liberal values. Being in Path To Misery, I've always related to this sentiment. Allow me to digress to speak on the band for a bit.
Tears Of Frustration played a rather standard style of hardcore, yet managed to perfect the craft of doing so. The songs are simple riffs within simple structures while harnessing every ounce of energy that a hardcore band is capable of doing. The songs are short and to-the-point which contributes to their catchy nature. The choruses and vocal hooks are every bit as memorable as your favorite Hatebreed line while the verses drive every bit as hard as a Terror banger. While the band takes on a more traditional style of hardcore than either of the comparisons I made, their songs' ability to stay in your head rival that of both previously mentioned bands.
While I could put words into their mouths like everyone else chose to do (despite being considerably more educated on the band than the detractors), I decided to take the time to rip their section from the Guerrilla Warfare video zine series that were put out in the early 2000s to document the underground NJHC scene. Here you go:
I made my one and only trip to CBGB's in NYC to see their reunion show at CBGBs in 2006. The soundboard recording was actually utilized for a live 7" that band chose to use the picture on the left as the cover for. Yes, that's me singing along back when my scar was the only hair I was missing on the top of my head.
The band did not disappoint in the slightest at the reunion show and actually played another show when they opened up the Superbowl Of Hardcore in 2008 (which I unfortunately did not attend). They made promises of playing out more frequently on top of recording new material but unfortunately have not followed up with anything since this show (at least to my knowledge).
While I typically can't stomach listening to most bands who play this style of hardcore these days, Tears Of Frustration stays on the top of any hardcore playlist I make from time-to-time. In my original post on the band back in 2009, I only made their self-titled demo compilation available for download. This time around, however, I've chosen to include their Lost Identity full length as well as high resolution scans of the booklets so that you can read along with the lyrics. While I've obviously been considerably praising of their music, the lyrics and attitude of the band is truly what keeps me interested in what they're about well over a decade after their demise.
DOWNLOAD
