I'm following up my Midwife post with one on Society Nurse. Isn't that cute? Released on Iron Lung in 2010, Society Nurse's Junk Existence 7'' is absolute, uncompromising hardcore perfection. Five years on, and this three song scorcher has stood the test of time to emerge as one of the gnarliest releases of the new century.
Three tracks of unmitigated fury: urgent, snarling hardcore that would have fit nicely on the early Touch and Go roster alongside The Necros, The Fix and Die Kreuzen. The midwestern influence is glaringly obvious on the EP's opener "Junk Existence", which owes a blatant debt to Mecht Mensch's "Acceptance", from the guitar intro to the discordant Greg Ginn stylings. Side two shifts gears into total blast mode, and when those agonised, howling chords hit at the 00:47 mark of "Intimate" your fist will most likely be airborne. Then the intro to "Empty Bodies" knocks you on your ass, and it's almost time to start over again. Repeat until satisfied:
(The self-titled album that eventually followed three years later wound up as a completely different beast. Different singer; more generic guitar tone; the same '80s midwest influence but sounding like it was filtered through BL'AST's The Power of Expression. It had its moments to be sure, but it just couldn't live up to the promise of this barnburner of a 7''.)
