For this edition of the 7-Inch Corner gone Fest style, we’ve got Billy Morrisette from the almighty Dillinger Four. “After many drinks,” Billy wrote about Jesus Chrysler’s “Turn Or Burn” 7-inch. D4 just released their long-awaited Civil War full-length today. You can expect a review of that soon but, for now, read Billy’s column below.

Band: Jesus Chrysler
Title: Turn Or Burn
By Billy Morrisette

I gotta go with the Jesus Chrysler “Turn Or Burn” 7-inch. As a young dude getting into the scene in the late 80′s, my introduction was The Ramones, The Descendents, Angry Samoans and the like. While thinking about this list, I had a lot of contenders like The A.G.’s “Bryans Song” 7-inch, The Beltones “My Old Man” 7-inch and newer stuff like The Hidden Spots (Mike Pack has the best voice in punk.)

However, Jesus Chrysler had all the fun,catchy vibe as the A.G.’s plus [a] political slant that wasn’t as heavy handed as the Dead Kennedys. In the time frame of that record release, it wasn’t all that common to hear a jam that stuck in your head yet had some lyrical weight. A quick listen to “I Wanna Be,” however, seems to solidify the worlds of a catchy jam and a band ranting about a better future. Kickass! While their followup LP didn’t really have the power of the 7-inch, the “Turn Or Burn” record still kicks ass.

For this installment of The 7-Inch Corner, These Arms Are Snakes/Russian Circles bassist Brian Cook reminiscences about discovering Steel Pole Bath Tub and their “Bozeman” 7-inch, which was released in 1992 by Boner Records. TAAS just released their new album Tail Swallower & Dove via Suicide Squeeze and you should go buy it now. Read on!

Band: Steel Pole Bath Tub
Title: Bozeman
By Brian Cook

Growing up in the little town of Kailua, Hawaii, I had very little exposure to what was going on in the world of underground music in the early ’90s. I’d caught onto some moderately cool stuff by watching videos on MTV’s 120 Minutes. They Might Be Giants, Pixies, Camper Van Beethoven, and Faith No More were my gateway drugs. But when a classmate hooked me up with a mix tape of various punkbands, my life was changed. The tape turned me on to so much new shit: Fugazi, fIREHOSE, Suicidal Tendencies, and Bad Religion, just to name a few. But the tracks that really blew my mind were by The Dead Kennedys. I became obsessed. I special ordered their records to my local music store. I spent a month’s allowance on a bootleg copy of Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. The Dead Kennedys were my springboard for discovering this whole new world of music.

I found an interview with Jello Biafra in a back issue of Thrasher and began to explore all the music he referenced. This was in the age before the Internet. There were no zines to be found in Kailua. I found new music by reading bands’ thank you lists and scouring mail-order catalogs. Vinyl wasn’t even on my radar. It wasn’t until I visited Jelly’s, a record store in Honolulu, that I realized that bands still even made records. Jelly’s was Oahu’s version of Amoeba. It obviously wasn’t nearly as well stocked, but in my teenage eyes, it had everything I could possibly want. Overwhelmed by options and short on funds, I picked up a 7-inch by a band called Steel Pole Bath Tub. All I knew about them was that they supposedly had another band with Jello Biafra called Tumor Circus. That was enough of a selling point for me.

Read more of Brian’s column after the jump.

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I got this tasty piece of vinyl in the mail a few days ago; a thoroughly solid 7-inch split by two fantastic bands, Benard and Worn In Red. Both bands succeed at being pure unadulterated fury in musical form. It’s spastic, frantic, raw, and for lack of a better term, very “old school.” Revelation and Dischord Records comparisons come to mind, but that comparison doesn’t do this split justice. The two songs by Atlanta, Georgia’s Benard are just fast, hard and hella aggro, while Virginia’s Worn In Red’s one contribution is somewhat epic, but without sacrificing any sort of immediate energy. The split is available through Alaska Records and No Brakes Distro, and you can get it here.

For this installment of The 7-Inch Corner, we’ve got a guest column from Jason Gagovski, drummer for Suicide Note, Sweet Cobra, Stabbed By Words and co-owner of Hawthorne Street Records. Jason’s spotlight is on Unbroken‘s highly revered swansong Circa ’77. The 7-inch was released by New Age Records back in 1996. I think we’ve all experienced that incredible feeling that Jason writes about in his column. Read on and enjoy.

Artist: Unbroken
Title: Circa ’77
By Jason Gagovski

I can remember seeing this 7-inch listed in the Revelation Records distro catalog as “coming soon” and I couldn’t wait. It was 1996, I did a distro, played in bands, published a zine, and had just been accepted into a college for the upcoming fall semester. I had been lucky enough to see the band twice, once on their “Ritual” tour and once on the “Life.Love.Regret.” tour and they blew me away, as well as everyone else in the room. They were changing the face of hardcore by playing honest, emotional music that was redefining the genre. They looked like greasers and were serious about their music and lyrics. Their songs and meaning cut deep and they transcended their peers by leaps and bounds­ in subject matter and the way they approached it.

Read more of Jason’s column after the jump.
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The fine people at Sound Study Recordings have started up a new 7-inch series, called Live At The Atlantic. Volume one features two tracks from Gainesville staples Army of Ponch and Young Livers. I received the aqua blue pressing (one of 269 pressed) in the mail not too long ago. The Atlantic series is a simple, but excellent idea for a compilation. Anybody that’s been to any of The Fests over the last few years is definitely familiar with The Atlantic. It’s great to see a group of people who live, breath and sweat in the club nightly putting their hearts into this release. There should be more releases like this and I’m definitely looking forward to further releases from the series.