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Workers United Records
Year unknown
This is a split-effort between Pittsburgh's Deliberate Intent, featuring AJ F. of the Traditionals, and D.U.I.
from the nation's capital. Both bands are pretty good, the recording quality is excellent, and it's hard to take this CD
out of your player once it's in there.
The first band, Deliberate Intent, gets just over half of the disc all to themselves, with 6 tracks of straight-up hardcore.
In fact, when I listen to this CD, sometimes I forget I'm hearing a Pittsburgh band. They definitely sound more like a New
York or Boston band (Agnostic Front and a little bit of Blood For Blood). I know I use these references pretty often when
I talk about hardcore bands, but this is the kinda hardcore I like; It's old school hardcore with new school breakdowns, and
barely any signs of metal in the mix. The only song that stands out, style-wise, is their last track, "Fallen Streets", a
very working-class themed song, that's a little more rock 'n roll sounding. Great shit.
Fast, furious, angry, agressive, and sincere... these are just a few words that can be used to desribe Deliberate Intent.
I have no idea why these guys aren't a household name in hardcore yet. They're THAT good. I mean, it's not exactly anything
new and revolutionary, but I like that. This is just within the confines of my comfort zone.
D.U.I., on the other hand, are a different breed. This band is kinda... weird. That's not to say they're bad,
just... I mean, it's hard to tell what to make of them. Every song sounds different. They walk a thin line between poppy,
West Coast-style "fast punk", and a harder rock-and-roll style that just [i]barely [/i]leans toward hardcore. The vocals
are pretty melodic, even on the harder songs.
D.U.I. gets five of the 11 songs on here. The first track by these D.C.-based punks, "Rise to Power" sounds like some new
breed of streetpunk, with some traces of hardcore thrown in there for good measure. Likewise, their second contribution to
this split, "Chronicles of Nephilim" (whatever that means), sounds like a good song to mosh to, but after that it's a fairly
melodic outing. Think early Husker Du, Face to Face, and Lookout!-era TILT (the songs sung by Pete Rypins), especially "Targeting
Kids". There's even some parts that remind me of Fugazi, and believe it or not, The Humpers. I actually like these guys,
though. They're different, and that's not a bad thing. I just can't believe that a band who's been together under this name
since 2000 is just now being brought to my attention 8 years later. Check 'em out if you get a chance.
And if you got some cash to spare, go to Workers United's MySpace page, or Deliberate Intent's, and see about getting yourself
a copy of this. Like I said, it's a disc that'll most likely stay in the stereo for quite a while.
--Sam Sinister
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