TOTIMOSHI
Ladron
(Crucial Blast)

SUNNO)))/BORIS
Altar
(Southern Lord)

OM
Conference of the Birds
(Holy Mountain)

DOOMRIDERS
Black Thunder
(Deathwish)

GIANT SQUID
Metridium Fields
(The End)

THE COFFIN LIDS
Round Midnight 

(Bomp)

NACHTMYSTIUM
Instinct Decay

(Battle Kommand)

MORE REVIEWS

Originally released by Waterfront Records back in 1986, Nobody Likes a Thinker is the powerful hardcore debut from Australian quartet Massappeal.  And if you have any idea of how skate hardcore sounded like back in the 80’s then you might have a pretty accurate idea of how Massappeal sounded as a whole. But they just don’t put out stuff because it belongs to a bygone era, there must be some merit, and the folks at Relapse are no fools. Massappeal had the songs. True, most of it is conviction and about 75% is your standard hardcore fare, but overall this band had the chops.  Especially when you compare this material to that of their inspiration (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, MDC, etc) and contemporaries. “Rat in a Hole”, “Can’t Forget”, “Deadheads” amongst the bunch all reveal not much originality but veritable great ideas. Speed is obviously the common denominator, here while the angry throat of Randy Reimann bites (“Are You Alright”) its way through the record.

Much of the playing is quite pedestrian, a fact noticeable especially during the demo cuts where the guitar playing between songs mirrors itself only using different scales. But we all know that hardcore isn’t about virtuosity, the spirit is alive here. Also, the difference in their chops is clearly noticeable, by the time we get to the live cuts, Massappeal is not the inexperienced band from the demo, literally sounding as tight as the genre allows.  Once again Relapse has done a superb job providing us with beautiful layout, thorough liner notes, and abundant song quantity.  The first seven cuts were released in December 1986 as the Nobody Likes a Thinker 12” release. Also included are the Bar of Life 7”, one song from a compilation record, the Young, Dumb and Naïve demo from March 1986, and five songs from a live set recorded during a 1987 tour with D.R.I.  Remastered and expanded with seventeen bonus tracks including rare recordings and live sets, this re-release is an absolute must for any self-professed hardcore follower.  Perfect for the completist in all of us.

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