SCHEME REPORT:
You know what it is - the boys are back. Life caught up on us and our brief vacation is over: we’re here once again to punish your inboxes. As you might have noticed, we moved to Substack, we’ll be moving all the old newsletters onto this site to archive over time. You can talk shit and leave comments at the bottom of this, pretty dope.
A lot has happened in the past month of our sabbatical, Scheme flagship artists ALMIGHTY WATCHING have played their first three shows (Poughkeepsie, Wallingford and Glen Lyon) and critics verdict: it’s a hit. The record is in production and we should have news about inbound test presses soon. If the promo tape didn’t quench your need…AW will have a live tape available at their upcoming shows featuring some odds and ends that compromise of the comp songs and 7” songs. Your next chance to peep em will be at a Bob Wilson joint in Philly with SEED OF PAIN, ENVISION, NEVER AGAIN and KILLING ME:
WRECKAGE is also playing out more - just hitting Wallingford for the first LAST STRAW show and Boston for the DEAD HEAT, THE FIGHT and BE ALL END ALL weekender. We still have copies of their second demo in hand, you can grab one via our store or at their next show with the Kingz of the Brass, 100 DEMONS:
Our corporate sales arm of the company can’t neglect to mention that we FINALLY will have some Scheme zines and tees up for order to satiate the rabid, clamoring fans….in two weeks.
The zine will compile our first ten newsletter and the content inside of em with maybe some additional shit. The shirt is a slight nod to SUPERTOUCH. Each shirt order will also come with a copy of the zine. We love to shill tees but also encourage reading. We stand alongside our peers that are for the proliferation of written material in hxc.
All orders will also include some stickaz featuring a funny spelling error. Oopsie.
Finally, we’ll keep making AW / WRECKAGE tapes as long as you keep ordering em…grab one from the store if you still haven't acquired.
SCENE REPORT:
There has been a disgusting amount of hardcore shows this month…we have been lucky enough to attend some and share our thoughts:
I, Albin, was able to tail along with deathcore heart throbz SANCTION for a free show with BURIED ALIVE, TOO PURE TO DIE and ONE ON ONE in Pittsburgh at Preserving Hardcore - a venue / record store / hardcore museum. COMBUST, DOWNFALL and EXHIBITION also hopped on after a show they originally had fell through. After browsing the record store filled with some funny items (a CDC shirt with a very naughty word on it and $60 CDRs for sale [if people are buyin em...can’t knock a hustle]), I was able to find a copy of the STRAIGHT AHEAD / NYC MAYHEM bootleg 12” for $15. Below I’ll include a scan of the insert which has some interviews with Tommy Carrol to peep.
The Edgewood weekender was a nice addition to the show...EXHIBITION covered AF Last Warning and it went over like a fart in church. As for Downfall, I think I saw one of their first shows and it was alright...however, their new songs are fuckin dope. Def recommend trying to catch them if they’re in your area, it’s got maddd china and semi over the top mosh parts, in a good way.
The rest of the show was good. ONE ON ONE is the perfect representation of Pittsburgh hardcore that is hard as shit, played by hard as shit people. Hopefully From Within is putting out something else from them soon. BURIED ALIVE played with their original lineup and sounded tight as hell and played the hits. We left right after and I got home at 9am, slept for a couple hours and then caught SANCTION / QUEENSWAY at the shithole that is Shakers Pub on LI. Nothing of note at that show really, QUEENSWAY rules.
This past weekend was the third attempt at THE FIGHTs record release of their 12” from last year, Endless Noise, and thankfully it was able to happen finally. It was the first hardcore show at the venue (the first straight up hardcore show at a hall / DIY venue on LI in god knows how long}) and after the apparent eight foot receipt that the bar had at the end of the night, likely won’t be the last. The night was filled with many a joke session and funny moments…ate a BBQ chicken wrap at a place that was known for ice cream before the show….where did I go wrong in life. Scheme alumni RESTRAINING ORDER smoked it, DEAD HEAT covered Jesus Saves and THE FIGHT...well, THE FIGHT had some technical difficulties to say the least but it didn’t stop kids from going off and having fun. What more can you ask for from some hardcore punk rock bands? The KILL YOUR IDOLS show there after America’s Hardcore weekend is gonna be fuckin sick.
As for Kyle…..here are the reviews of the first handful of ALMIGHTY WATCHING shows from the frontman himself.
AW Show #1
This one had all the little butterflies in my stomach jumping up and down, front to back, side to side. Luckily getting to play first makes that feeling pretty brief. If you know me, you know I’m at BEST capable of singin in a band but not much. Taking place mere stairwells away from the BULLDOZE St. Valentine's Day Massacre, ALMIGHTY WATCHING show one went off without a hitch. 1 We had our fruity turquoise shirts in hand and the loyal legions from Connecticut, PA and the HV were present. Something crazy happened to the mic during the AF cover so when you hear the upcoming live recording or watch the handful of available YouTube videos that is in fact what happened.
LIFE’S QUESTION really made it feel like a Friday…it got the kids going with their slick riffs now with the one and only crown prince of Lindy Michael Smith on the bass. WORN took the stage and smashed all the other bands' chorus pedals in a display of HM-2 supremacy and then proceeded to pummel the audience with anti music violent noise.
AGE OF APOCALYPSE to much surprise did an impeccable STIGMATA cover, obviously dope but if I could sing like that fella we’d be doing PRINCE or ONLY LIVING WITNESS. This was their first area show since ascending from the shadows to the top of the HC food chain and you could tell. MINDFORCE did what they do better than anyone ever and nonetheless in THEIR city. The city of Poughkeepsie is a character in the MINDFORCE story not unlike NYC in cinema. They’ve lived on the streets surrounding the chance and still spend their lives surviving in its grip so no better place to bring it all.
AW Show #2
THE THRILL / STAND ALONE: younger kids on their first tour who were excited for the other bands and were down to talk core. Of the two I could see STAND ALONE doing something pretty cool if they dial it in, they’ve got the energy and charisma of a band you love to see. LAST STRAW..the only CT straight edge band in the last 10 years…bold and possibly true I know. It was a good albeit short set punctuated by the CTSXE hard dancin classic ‘you booze you lose’ but the real takeaway were the young straight edge kids who came from god knows where to see this set and set it off.
WRECKAGE brings the standard for CT HC back to its former glory. Seriously if your band isn’t at least half as good as WRECKAGE you should break up or go play indie rock. They’ve got energy, sing alongs and good mosh parts and totally lack any kind of gimmick. It’s hardcore for Hardcore’s sake. ALMIGHTY WATCHING...second show…headlining…not bad. But seriously being the oldest person on the show I took the bold step into the future and offered to play last. I don’t think it mattered either which way, very few people seemed to leave and we still had dancers by the hand full. I do imagine I was being stared at by some zoomers thinking “who’s this decrepit bastard in the turquoise shirt and why is he so sweaty” but that’s growing older in a scene made for the kids by the kids. Eternal shout out to Grady for holding it down and setting the pace, and all the old boozehounds of wamlegs of yesteryear for coincidently being there to cheer me on as I did for them so many years prior.
AW Show #3
I really won’t be breaking down a 17 band fest with a play by play so I’ll make bullet points:
⁃ For the most part it ran on time which is a miracle within the core
⁃ STAND STILL is brave for being the soul emo type band in a sea of dancing
⁃ LAST STRAW has the hearts of not only the CT youth but the WB kids as well
⁃ AW set was as good as can be for a third show in a big room
⁃ Mad violence against folding tables
⁃ STRENGTH FOR A REASON is NEPAs DEATH THREAT and it’s good to see them receive the respect they deserve
⁃ Gerrys pizza for the bands...shout out Dark Medicine
⁃ MINDFORCE could crush a show in the Yukon Territory in the middle of winter
⁃ Bob Wilson’s greasy pierogi fingers
⁃ The other pizza from Gerrys that the CT youngins picked up for me. Who says being an old head is pointless ..
⁃ Easton Eric on the bass
⁃ STRUCK NERVE Street fighter kick
⁃ Kind of white trash fight
⁃ CHOICE TO MAKE had a good vibe
⁃ Shout out Nate and TK
KYLE’s PLAYLIST:
ZERO TOLERANCE - Fuel The Fire
RED HOUSE PAINTERES - Old Ramon
STAND STILL - Free My Mind
THE CHISEL
CHUBBY AND THE GANG - The Mutts Nuts
NO FOR AN ANSWER - You Laugh
DAVID ALLEN COE
GEORGE JONES
INTEGRITY - 7” / Those Who Fear Tomorrow
ALBIN’s PLAYLIST:
SHEER TERROR - Ugly and Proud
SAMIAM - Samiam
DISCIPLINARY ACTION - 7”
BJORK - Debut
JAPANESE BREAKFEST - Jubilee
ALL OUT WAR - Truth In The Age of Lies
PAYBACK - It Iz What It Iz
SICK OF IT ALL - LIVE IN JAPAN - JANUARY 23RD, 1993:
After a brief discussion with Keith and Will from RESTRAINING ORDER about how SICK OF IT ALL - Blood, Sweat, No Tears is perfect hardcore record, I ended up going down a YouTube hole of SOIA videos...found this footage of em in Japan from '93 which lead down another hole of trying to find more footage of the first time all the NY bands started hitting Japan.
In my travels, found some dope Japanese promo shit for bands from that time, such as this promo for Just Look Around:
As for the video...you got two songs; The Blood and the Sweat + The Shield, transitioned perfectly with maddd groove. Speaking of mad, there is madddd fog machine going off (or people just ripping cigs???). which is funny. On top of it all, this seems to be pre-Craig Ahead and you got a riff lord AJ Novello fillin in on bass and playing a rickenbacker. Overall a quickie but ill vid.
STRAIGHT AHEAD INTERVIEW SCANS
Finally, as mentioned, here are the scans of the two STRAIGHT AHEAD interviews from that 12” I picked up. Even though Tommy might be a questionable fella in the current political climate...you can’t deny the songs and how perfect they are.
AW set was great. I ate an entire Detroit style pizza with sausage and extra cheese to the face before their set and promptly felt like shit and drove home almost immediately after and farted wayyyy too much in my car. This is where my review ends. 9.2 / 10 Show
Thanks for the credit kidddddd
Yoo