RECESSIONS DARKEN SKIES OVER TOTAL FEST

In punk rock it's so goddamned often about pedigree that you wonder what the first bands talked about.

Recessions

And for a type of music that's supposed to be about subversion, nonconformity, reinvention and creating new shit, it's sometimes so rooted in the past that it seems totally conservative by a lot of measures. So we'll try to honor the fact that great bands exist, have existed and will exist, that bands come and go with pretty solid regularity and change is the only constant, man. Not trying to get to heavy here, but I don't want this piece about Portland's Recessions to be all about Disgruntled Nation, Ass-End Offend, or Squalora, all of which should offer plenty of reasons for punk  and hardcore fans around here to go nuts.

Recessions are a new band with Dan Lawlor, Brent Shultz and Tom Elston, all former Flatheaders, former Missoulians, former, former former... there it is again! They just self-released a great cassette tape recorded at Buzz or Howl by Stan from Arctic Flowers, and it reminds me of all the stuff I knew I liked about these dudes' past projects. Good lyrics, great band dynamic and it's crusty, hard, fast and nothing tops 1:44 in length, which is pretty much how I take my hardcore. Here are some lryics:

So now here we are… / And we don’t have a problem / Forgetting who we have stepped on / To get where we are / The ability to smile when others starve / Never ceases to amaze / Keep fucking us little folks over / So you can have and infect more.... Infect more / Sell your dreams to someone else / I know the score and am comfortable being poor / The ability to smile / When others starve / Never ceases to amaze.