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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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