Eet U Smakelijk: EXTREME NOISE ERROR

January 10, 2007

EXTREME NOISE ERROR

Larm in 1983, still with 2nd singer Dorien.

A lot of early 80's punk was recorded by the bands themselves in their practice room, using the famous Teac 4-track and as many mikes. Often they didn't have a clue what they were doing, unintentionally distorting tracks or getting the balance wrong; of course, most of these recordings sound much better than stuff done in "real" studios at the same time! Studio engineers were still going for the flat, dull, close-miked, separated 70's sound which worked for the Eagles but didn't work for punk. However, when around '82-'83 cassette tapes became as important as vinyl, lo-fi sunk another couple of notches lower. Instead of a 4-track, bands would use a ghetto blaster with one built-in mike, resulting in a big blur of noise (even if they got a decent sound, 3 or 4 generations of dubbing onto cheap tape would still make the finished product sound like a big blur of noise). All-time low point must have been the first Holland Hardcore tape compilation from early '83. I loved it! The terrible sound just added to the mystique of then-already-legendary bands like Zweetkutten, Zmiv and Larm.

Through writing and trading tapes I struck up a friendship with those responsible for the HHC tapes, Larm's Paul and Olav. Already having a reputation for being (straight edge) hardliners, in person Larm were actually very easygoing and fun-loving guys; I recall at one gig they filled up empty beer bottles with water, casually drinking it to the amazement of onlookers. When they went into the studio to record their debut Campaign for Musical Destruction, my bandmate Erik and I invited ourselves to hang around. It was at Studio Oktopus in Amsterdam, a small room full of baffles and foamrubber (don't know if that's an actual English word...). I was amazed to find out that, rather than playing a 2/4 rhythm, Olav actually hit everything at the same time, fluctuating the volume to create the rhythm, which is something I've never heard a (non-jazz) drummer do before or after! Paul tuned his guitar in a chord so he could move one finger up and down; this tuning caused the droning effect he sometimes got. When we got to the other side of the glass it was a huge disappointment to me; through the speakers it sounded nothing like their tapes, just a flat sheet of sound, with everything drowning in cheap bubbly reverb. I asked engineer Patrick to hear what it would sound like without reverb, to which his reply was: "No reverb? Impossible, that hasn't ever been done before!"

Slowly I've gotten used to the sound of Campaign... (anyway, it's become a classic among HC fans) but I still have a fondness for their shitty practice tapes. Here's some recordings I found in one of my tape boxes; it's slightly better-sounding than the Holland HC tracks, and I think it's recorded around the same time ('84) as the studio stuff (because Menno imitates the echo at the end of "The Pogo")... You compare and decide!

Ban The Bomb (studio)

Crucify The Pope

Crucify The Pope (studio)