Saturday, September 14, 2024

Social Unrest - Now and Forever (1988)


Melodic CA punk/hardcore that often crosses over into post-punk territory. I bought Now and Forever on cassette when I was a baby punk from some junk shop in Fells Point. I also bought this shitty thrash tape and Lita by Lita Ford on LP, which really impressed the middle-aged butt-rocker dude who stopped me on the sidewalk by pointing at the Lisa Ford record and shouting "now THAT's a woman!" Still hilarious.

Social Unrest/Now and Forever: I honestly wasn't that into it at the time. Too melodic, too melancholic. I like it OK, but between them and Minor Threat, who I was also just getting into at the time, it was no contest. My favorite song by far was "Handcuffs Too Tight", the most straightforward hardcore song on here. So I completely forgot about the band and album until a few months back, when I sold a bunch of old cassettes, noticed this one as I packed it up, and tracked it down on the internet. I like it way more this time around.

Track listing:
1. Katarina Witt
2. Now and Forever
3. I Am the Nation
4. Sexboy
5. Club 4
6. Crisis in Black and White
7. Red Army Drug War
8. Handcuffs Too Tight
9. Sins of Paris
10. Ever Fallen in Love?
11. Highroller Desolation Angels


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5 comments:

  1. Social Unrest is great. Before the Fall, the album before this one, is to me one of the best 'Hardcore' albums ever. The lyrics are pure poetry. When I started listening to hardcore in the later part of the eighties, there were a lot of bands branching out with a more melodic or experimental sound (Government Issue, Uniform Choice, Christ on Parade, MDC).

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  2. This album ruled and Evil Dead fr sucks

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  3. Great to see you around. A great record no doubt, and often disregarded.
    Hope you are well Man,

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  4. Lol I must be tripping because I never thought Evil Dead was that bad

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    1. I mean, I've only heard that tape, and I don't think it's the worst thing in the world, just boring.

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