Photo CRAIG MULCAHY
When we first heard about May Our Chambers Be Full and The Helm of Sorrow — the two intense, multi-faceted records Thou cut with Emma Ruth Rundle for Sacred Bones — we thought an explanation was in order. Not of how this happened. The pairing makes perfect sense, to be honest. Enough to warrant not only an album and companion EP, but also a special Roadburn appearance and several collaborative sets throughout the States.
“The way that we were meeting and writing was very intense,” Rundle said in a recent Kerrang! interview. “Other bands I’ve been in it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s practice,’ and it’s four hours max, but this project it was all day.”
Which brings us to our original question: How does Thou do it? It being the staggering amount of music the Baton Rouge band has recorded and released over the past 13-plus years. While Treble Zine distilled Thou’s discography down to five key records a couple years ago, we were hoping to hear from the source itself.
Unfortunately, Treble Zine had already asked them to do something similar, but singer Bryan Funck had a better idea: How about a mixtape of crucial hardcore music instead, complete with liner notes and a two-side ‘tape’ entitled If You Don’t Like This Music, We Can’t Be Friends? We got our start in Buffalo’s sXe scene during the ’90s, so the answer was simple: Well, yeah. Take it away, Bryan….
SIDE A
REVERSAL OF MAN – THESE HILLS HAVE EYES
I caught the last three Reversal of Man shows, and they remain at the top of the heap of live music experiences for me. I’ve never seen such a wild and frenetic band playing breakneck music and remaining so tight — and so earnestly hardcore between songs.
“Emo violence” — mixing emotionally open lyrics and content with heavy music — has had a clear and deep impact on every band I’ve ever been involved in. Likewise, the DIY Ebullition aesthetic, specifically the content from Mike Delach and his zine In Abandon, has stuck with me even to this day, and its influence can clearly be seen in my output. Their 10″ was probably my first exposure to DC’s Revolution Summer, which led me down so many interesting paths.
COALESCE – HARVEST OF MATURITY
The greatest straight-edge song ever written, even if it’s an indictment on the ideology.
ZAO – TO THINK OF YOU IS TO TREASURE AN ABSENT MEMORY
The first two Zao LPs, while themselves quite different, are two of the greatest hardcore records ever written. Really, those first four full-lengths are all incredible. The juxtaposition of supremely heavy metal with more melancholic, despairing acoustic — and sometimes even industrial — pieces is genius. This is some of the most emotionally intense music out there. If you don’t love this band, we can’t be friends.
REFUSED – SUMMERHOLIDAYS VS PUNKROUTINE
I feel like Refused gets shit on these days for their crosover acceptance into mainstream, but I love this record. Unapologetically anarchist politics meets Rage Against the Machine kinetics meets genre detournement. The opening of this song always reminded me of Fugazi’s “Merchandise.”
ZEGOTA – $59.95
Another Fugazi nod from the Crimethinc. crowd. Another unabashadely DIY emo hardcore band. They were probably my first real exposure to anarchist politics with their Why I Love Dumpster Diving and Fire in the Sky zines. Crimethinc. is a gateway drug.
GATHERED HERE – THEY SAY WE’RE NOT ALRIGHT
Tragically obscure hardcore from New Orleans, weaned from the school of ’90s French emo but sounding more like a cross between Refused, Kid Dynamite, and Fugazi. Some great people in this band who all had a HUGE impact on my relationship with the New Orleans punk scene. They remain a shining light in what I look back on as my own personal salad days, gold standard epoch of NOLA of punk.
ANOMIE – ALIENATION
Speaking of French emo…. This is one of those bands that very organically found its way amongst the New Orleans punk scene and my circle of friends. One of us, not even into hardcore really, grabbed that Food Not Bombs comp (you know the one) with the Anomie track. Then he got the LP. Then the discography CD eventually got passed around town. Just one of those random picks that clicked with a few people and then become a big deal with a lot of people.
HIS HERO IS GONE – VOLUNTARY AMPUTATION
HIS HERO IS GONE – ANTHEM OF THE UNDESIRABLES
One of the heaviest, ugliest bands in existence. Even Matthew likes this band. I don’t know why we haven’t covered them yet. These two would be my picks if we ever did. Their last New Orleans show with Andon at the Temple of the Becoming still stands out in my mind as one of the most insane shows I’ve ever seen. TRUE HARDCORE.
CATHARSIS – EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, AND GOD AGAINST THEM ALL
I first heard this song and “Bow Down” on a couple of compilations, and Catharsis just sounded so ridiculously EVIL. After grabbing the LP and digging into the lyrics, I found a lot more there. A band whose politics and desparation I can get behind 1,000 percent. Following them would lead me to Inside Front — the greatest hardcore zine ever created — and invest me even more deeply in anarchist politics. I know a lot of people think of Passion as their opus, but I think Samsara remains a perfect record from start to finish.
WALLS OF JERICHO – PLAYING SOLDIER AGAIN
I must’ve seen Walls of Jericho a million times when this record came out. Amazing band at the time and an exciting moment in hardcore for me, even if it was a sort of death knell for the mid ’90s metalcore sound. I always remember those late teen years of roadtrips to Birmingham, Pensacola, Athens and Atlanta, Mobile, Louisville, etc. to see all these wild hardcore bands who were constantly skipping over New Orleans.
ENDEAVOR – KILL TRAITORS
Political hardcore. Is there another kind?
THE SWARM – MORNING HEADCOUNT
I loved that Swarm LP when it first came out. They also seemed to be doing the most amazing splits with Morser and Force Fed Glass. But this final 7″ hit all the marks for me — straightedge moshcore, visceral punk a la Left for Dead, amazingly artful packaging. This was the heyday of No Idea Records; between the handful of hardcore and emo records they had a hand in and the amazing stuff they were distributing, No Idea somehow wrestled me away from Very and immersed me in more politically charged, emotional-centric punk stripped of the goofball costuming and steeped in Gulf Coast practicalities.
BLOODPACT – SECOND HAND MURDER
Chokehold cover. That breakdown at the end is out of this world.
GATHER – I HATE AYN RAND
I had a pretty blaise attitude about Gather when I first heard them. Sure, they sounded fine, but I had already been listening to Culture and Earth Crisis for years. At this point, I was more interested in The Smiths then a ’90s metalcore rehash. But with Katrina, I moved out to Oakland, found out my pal Randy was in the band, and went to see them play in San Francisco. That night completely changed my opinion. The show happened in a small loft space; there was Revolution Summer style vegan prosletyzing between songs complete with weeping; they even covered “Memento Mori” seemingly out of no where. It was insane. Since that show, they became one of my favorite hardcore bands, and I happily know them as very sweet people.
EARTH CRISIS – THE ORDER THAT SHALL BE
I know everyone wants to say that “Firestorm” is the best ExC song; I do as well, most days. But this is without a doubt my favorite. If only this band hadn’t strayed from the blueprint of that demo….
CULTURE – THE OATH
I stand by Culture being the archetype for vegan straight-edge metalcore, even more so than Earth Crisis. Catchy lyrics, obligatory E-chord crunch, never deviating into full on heavy metal. This is the best of the bunch. There’s probably also something to be said that they’re a southeast band, grounding them in a social sphere and practicality that I’m all too familiar with.
INDIGNATION – HISASTU
Legendary New Orleans band from my high school days. Skipping that show at Monaco Bob’s where they opened for Earth Crisis remains one of my biggest show regrets. I ended up seeing them for the first time at a Sunday hardcore matinee at the Faubourg Center as I was just starting to chip away at the genre. I probably had only heard Inside Out, Minor Threat, and Victory Style I at that point; and they closed their set with “No Spiritual Surrender.” INCREDIBLE. I basically wore their “I Am Yours” 7″ into nothingness.
If anyone out there knows how to track down Mat Beckerman, please put me in touch. There is a fully recorded Indignation LP that was never released. This thing needs to see the light of day!
SNAPCASE – STEPS
The Weezer of hardcore.
SONS OF ABRAHAM – WHAT BRINGS MAY FLOWERS?
Jewish straight-edge hardcore. The LP by these guys is excellent. This is the demo version from the criminally underrated Definitely Not the Majors comp that also exposed me to Catharsis and Ascension.
SIDE B
BORN AGAINST – MARY AND CHILD
When I wa s first getting into punk in high school, I had a few buddies make me mixtapes. Pretty much every one of them put this song on theirs. Still one of my favorite hardcore bands of all time. I was trying for a minute to get Thou/Emma to do a 7″ of this and Fugazi’s “Reclamation.”
KILL THE MAN WHO QUESTIONS – COATRACK
Basically the hardcore punk crust version of Born Against. Totally amazing. I was lucky enough to catch them a few times on the final Reversal of Man tour, but, unfortunately, Niki wasn’t on that one. Still sick.
MORSER – JAKOB’S LEITER
This first Morser LP is probably the apex of Bremen hardcore. Insanely brutal. I would’ve loved to see some of their European shows from this era with Pg99. Must’ve been totally off the wall.
MUKILTEO FAERIES – WE ARE NOT YOUR ENTERTAINERS
Josh Ploeg’s band before Behead the Prophet. Totally out there, gnarly queer hardcore at its finest. This song is the soundtrack in my mind to that old AK book That’s Revolting! Me and Mike Prophet need to stop farting around and put out this discography.
LEFT FOR DEAD – DIRT
The soundtrack for being a punk in and FROM New Orleans and not some chucklehead tourist. “Ride the rails….”
THE FAERIES – YOUR MILK IS MY POISON
My favorite band from New Orleans, one of my favorite hardcore bands ever. If you put mid (PEAK) era Pg99 in a blender with Born Against and Nirvana. Sometimes socially dysfunctional, freakaleek misfits — but always sweet, genuine, and enormously talented. I would have Thou usurp their entire discography if I could. Their recorded output is definitely a little rough around the edges, but I can personally attest to this band being incredible.
ENEMY SOIL – GLASSHEAD
I never got super deep into this band, but this song is amazing. A cold cruster diamond in the rough.
SET APART – OPEN MY EYES
This older hardcore guy Billy from Gretna put out the split CD of Set Apart and Chalice. And while the Chalice side is their Donald Duck vocal phase, the Set Apart side is amazing. This song is clearly the hit. Will definitely be ripping off some lyrics for Thou.
ASCENSION – CLAYDEN
Almost six minutes of evil, constant buildups/breakdowns. If you don’t karate kick everything in your room to pieces when this comes on, and creepy crawl through the wreckage, then you’re clearly dead inside.
DEADGUY – PUNY HUMAN
A testament to early Victory Records being a solid label.
CHAIN OF STRENGTH – IMPACT
I came for the straight-edge anthems, but I stayed for their indictment of The Scene.
DANGERS – (D)ANGER(S)
I heard this first Dangers LP on a trip out to the Bay Area for the last Gather shows. Still makes me think of some weird mix of Endeavor and Born Against. Eventually, we got these guys out here to do some shows in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Fun times in my early days with Thou. Al has a sick photography book out that you should snag.
BURN IT DOWN – SLAVE, IDENTIFY
My best friend put this on a mixtape for me when I was in college, and I walked around campus listening to this song on my Walkman, rewinding and repeating about a thousand time. I managed to catch them live a handful of times, and they were amazing. Definitely a major highlight of the early ’00s.
TRAINING FOR UTOPIA – A GOOD FEELING
I found out about them from their incredible split with Zao (which has the superior version of “Skin Like Winter”). Totally brutal LP from a time when the Christian bands were making some insane music.
PRAYER FOR CLEANSING – THE CLOSET
Easily their best song. Ignore that wack Cranberries cover on this EP. This band was the blueprint for New Orleans locals As They Wept, who I would suggest surpassed Prayer for Cleansing in many ways. Another lost treasure.
ABNEGATION – HOPES OF HARMONY
Another gem off the Stones to Mark a Fire compilation. Literally every other song on that comp is incredible. This track is probably the highlight of Abnegation’s output, though the early 7-inches are absolutely amazing.
RORSCHACH – LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
I found out about Rorschach from their King Crimson cover on the God’s Chosen People comp (which I had grabbed for the Born Against and Avail). Moloch does a cover of this song that’s perfect.
ANTHEM EIGHTY-EIGHT – TAKE ON THE DAY
Straight-edge youth crew hardcore from Assuck. I saw them in a tiny record shop in Richmond when I was on my first tour with Head Pro.
ACME – ATTEMPT
Another Bremen highlight. Funeral Pyre covers this on the Leech split.
GEHENNA – COVET THEY CROWN
“Draw back the hammer and write your name in hell. Straightedge: I win again.”
INTEGRITY – MARCH OF THE DAMNED
Bleach blonde Dwid is the best Dwid.
SUPPRESSION – SUBSERVIENT FUCK, BLOOD OF MILLIONS
This is the heaviest breakdown ever written.
BIKINI KILL – IN ACCORDANCE WITH NATURAL LAW
I was in a shortlived band in Oakland called Path of Daggers Crown of Swords with our engineer James Whitten. This was the song we were going to cover.
HYSTERICS – PLEASE, SIR
Thou was lucky enough to play with these folks in Olympia in 2014. At that point, it had probably been a good five or six years since I was REALLY listening to much hardcore. But this band changed all of that. Somewhere between Agnostic Front and Gorilla Biscuits but with smarter lyrics/people.
I burnt a CD-R of this 7″ and the live radio recording and wore it into oblivion listening to it on repeat for a couple of months. Eventually, it had whet my appetite for more hardcore, and I had a brief resurgence into the genre. This band is sorely missed for me.
FURTHER LISTENING
