The Thousands

Since starting out with some Circle Jerks and Bad Brains covers, a couple of demos and a seven inch, these Brisbane punks have been slurping on the 1.5 litre Haterade and are now hitting red on the rageometer. The result is Fad Cash – four tracks of blistering and intense hardcore.

A line from the first song ‘Vermin’s Tain’t ‘Why regain consciousness?’ sounds a lot like ‘so why Reagan consciousness?’ It’s just coincidence but their ultra-fast, ultra-pissed-off hardcore is reminiscent of much of the punk blasting from Reagan’s America in the early and mid eighties. Of course these kids weren’t even around during Bush Snr’s administration, but their take on snotty and ‘veins bulging from the neck’ punk is spot on.

In old videos of bands such as Void or Negative Approach you note an agitation in their performance and energy. Not so much an anger, but a neurosis. Insurgents’ ‘Brain Cell Rape’ is about as self explanatory as a song is going to get. "Locked inside my brain. Piss. Drugs. Sleep. No Escape." Like the best hardcore, it’s not "fuck the system" – more "fuck I think I’m freaking out!"