[kj] Afro-Punk & Swiz Re: 1000 SUNS Outside Gate and PHANTASMAGORIA

[Alexander Smith]

You said you didn't SEE Decline II, Oliver.

Alex in NYC


On Feb 26, 2007, at 8:40 PM, B. Oliver Sheppard wrote:


> Chris,

>

> Decline 3 was better than Decline 2 but how can you top the classic  

> that

> is Decline 1? It's clear Decline 3 is taking place in a diff. era  

> and a

> study of a particular subculture of spare-changing, street punk kids,

> and the bands they like, it's good. But it doesn't have the urgent,

> 'Wow, this is insane' feeling I remember getting from Decline 1.

>

> Have not seen any doc on Afro-Punk but it sounds interesting as hell.

> _American hardcore_ does get major props for emphasizing Bad Brains'

> contributions to hardcore and punk, possibly rock 'n roll in general.

> Another one of my favorite hardcore bands, Swiz, who were were around

> from about 1987 to 1992, and from the Washington DC area, was  

> headed up

> by Shawn Brown -- he happens to be African Amrican and has a killer

> voice often compared to Henry Rollins. Before Swiz he was briefly in

> DC's Dag Nasty, the band that had some ex-Minor Threat members in it.

> But they kicked Shawn out because his vocals were too "hard" and they

> wanted a more melodic approach. There is a rare-ish Dag Nasty  

> 1985-1986

> CD that haas all of Dag Nasty's material with Shawn on vocals and it's

> way heavier than anything else Dag nasty ever did; they evolved  

> into an

> uptempo popcore band after he left. Ironically, the CD with him on it

> was the first CD I ever purchased, back in the early 90s, and I was

> blown away.

>

> So, Shawn Brown went to Swiz, which had a little bit of NYHC in the  

> mix

> (Gorilla Biscuits style), a little bit of post-hardcore, and really

> their own very cool thing going that's all their own. After Swiz,  

> Shawn

> sang in Sweetbelly Freakdown (horrible band name), essentially a Swiz

> reunion band who put out one LP in 1997 that is actually pretty damned

> good. Then Brown  went on to Jesus Eater for a few years, which were

> like a Rollins Band-meets-Helmet, heavier groove-type band with a hint

> of Black Sabbath (get Jesus Eater's LP, not their EP), but Jesus Eater

> also broke up. Now I think Shawn Brown is a tattoo artist in  

> Maryland or

> something.

>

> But as far as African-American punk front men go, if the Afro-Punk

> documentary you mention doesn't feature a big chunk of it on Shawn

> Brown, I'd be mightily disappointed! The guy was/is an incredible

> hardcore singer, as good as Henry Rollins ever has been.

>

>

> AND HERE'S SOME COOL NEWS: Jade Tree offers a FREE downloadable Swiz

> CD-EP in mp3 format, complete with CD insert artwork you can print out

> with directions on how to fold it together and make it into your  

> own DIY

> CD, compliments of the band's ex-members. Keep in mind the tracks on

> this free mp3 are essentially demos and are not as hard as Swiz's  

> final

> stuff -- but it's pretty damned good in any event, for 1987 or 88.

>

> http://www.jadetree.com/mp3/Swiz-With_Ramsey.zip

>

> That's the free EP!

>

> -Oliver

>

>

>

>

>

> Christof hamille wrote:

>> I've been trying to track down a copy of Decline III for years.

>> Allegedly it is coming out with the boxset of all the movies.  But

>> that has been in talk for years.

>>

>> Picked up American Hardcore today.  Not sure yet on that.

>>

>> Afro-Punk was pretty good but, obviously, different point of view.

>>

>> I am in the negotiations stages of doing a documentary and live show

>> on Negative Approach.  Not sure if I can make the legal matters  

>> happen

>> but I am hoping so.  And then after that I hope someone cares enough

>> to want to watch it.

>>

>> Fingers crossed

>>

>> Chris

>

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