th' INBRED: A Family Affair

At the risk of pissing off the headbanging status quo of the IllCon team/readership, I'm gonna post a few of my favourite old hardcore LPs here. They're all distinctive (for me) in that, for one reason or another, I feel they haven't received the general recognition that they deserve. Not to say that any of these records are obscure or rare, just that they are amazing albums that changed my life, and haven't gotten the love that so many L.A, S.F, NYC, D.C. etc bands have gotten.

Like I said, these aren't bands from Tamanrasset, Algeria that you've never heard of, but they do RULE - each and every one of them. So, hopefully there's one or two readers out there that haven't heard these yet, and will be turned on to their absolute shreddingness.


First up is West Virginia's th' INBRED with their incredible A Family Affair. These guys always struck me for their similar attitude to the punk/hardcore scene as the UK band Rudimentary Peni. Like RP, they were pretty vocal about the stupidity of a movement that preached non-conformism and revolution, while simultaneously wallowing in it's own set of rigid mores, fashions and idiotic rules.

Musically, A Family Affair is built on a solid foundation of ripping hc thrash, held together by Bill Atwell's fucking incredible drumming. However, it's on the slower "But Not For Me" and the instrumentals "Exercise One" and "Exercise Three" that they really show their chops. Although the two "Exercise" tracks were allegedly inspired by Greg Ginn's instrumental experimentations in Flag and Gone, I hear some later UK Subhumans (Worlds Apart in particular) in both songs.

The only thing wrong with this LP is the production. It's not great, but with a little level fiddling it can sound really good. All their stuff (one 7'', two LPs) has been reissued by Alternative Tentacles. Buy it HERE. An awesome interview with their bassist Duff can be found here, and is well worth the read. Thanks to KFTH for the pics and interview...

DL HERE