THE YEAR OF FLUBBED INTROS

A while ago I heard the Squits' 1982 Noise Against Silence EP again; I vaguely remember I wasn't too crazy about it back in the day, but I really like it now! The Squits (not to be confused with the Squats from Nijmegen) were from Haarlem, a town that produced some pretty noisy and primitive punk EP's (Neo-Punkz, Suspense). While this record sounds primitive enough, the sleeve and labels are beautifully designed by fellow Haarlem artist Joost Swarte (he also did the No Fun labels as well as the cover for the Rousers' powerpop classic A Treat Of New Beat), making this record stand out among its coffee-stained KBD-style punk peers. Having 12 tracks on a 7 inch was also pretty unique (back then). Because of the short songs and fast tempos the Squits got lumped in with hardcore; I think it sounds more like good ol' 1980-vintage DIY-punk sped up a bit. Anyhow, they sound like they're having a lot of fun, especially on the great Karate Aapje, or in the flubbed intro to Porno Pirate.
The Squits' girl singer reminds me of local heroes Indirekt's first singer Marjolein a lot; husky with a bit of a rough edge. Marjolein (sister of drummer Jeroen) was on Indirekt's first tape and EP; while the EP (Nieuws Voor Doven En Slechthorenden) shows up on mp3-blogs or eBay every now and then, there were only 50 copies in existence of their early 1983 Groeten Uit Hoorn tape, so I guess even their staunchest fans never heard this one. As Indirekt literally started to play their instruments the week they formed, they still sound pretty primitive here. I like it!
It sounds like guitar and bass are both using distortion pedals with 2 settings: Noise and More Noise. The drummer pounds out a relentless 2/2 thumpa thumpa beat throughout the tape. The songs - named after their topics: Neo nazis, Hiroshima, etc. - are delightfully simple, both musically and lyrically, and you gotta love the Gumby-style backing vocals (courtesy of their bassist, the normally very soft-spoken Rick Blom). The obligatory song-with-flubbed intro (every band had to have one after the Exploited did one on their first LP), Klitten, sounds staged instead of spontaneous while there's also some tape pitch manipulation; but still a great version of an Indirekt classic.
Indirekt would progress beyond recognition in the following years, in my opinion sometimes trying to make things a little too "good" and losing some of their early spontaneity. I've heard that their 2CD retrospective that's in the making won't include any tracks from this tape. So bootleggers will be disappointed to learn I digitized these songs using a faulty wire (not on purpose tho'), resulting in an appalling hum throughout the mp3s!

Squits - Punx/Skins
Squits - Porno Pirate
Squits - Karate Aapje
Squits - Squits
Indirekt - Hiroshima
Indirekt - Tros Aktua TV
Indirekt - Neo-Nazi's
Indirekt - Klitten