Die Kreuzen [Vinyl]

Die Kreuzen | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (August 31, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Touch & Go Records
• ASIN: B00008FWRH
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,480 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rumors

2. This Hope

3. In School

4. I'm Tired

5. On the Street

6. Enemies

7. Get 'Em

8. Fighting

9. No Time

10. All White

11. Pain/Sick People

12. Hate Me

13. Live Wire

14. Not Anymore

15. Mannequin

16. Fuckups

17. Think For Me

18. Dirt and Decay

19. Don't Say Please

20. No Name

Editorial Reviews

Now available on vinyl for the first time in 13 years is this cla_s.c debut from Milwaukee, WI's Die Kreuzen, who seamlessl...see site for more info.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Die Kreuzen's best, October 30, 2010

By 

J. Kevorkian "Trust me, I'm a doctor" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Die Kreuzen [Vinyl] (Vinyl)

The best hardcore of the '80s surely wasn't confined to the coasts alone! Hailing from the heart of America's dairyland (that is, Wisconsin), Die Kreuzen were one of the most vibrant, unorthodox, and flagrantly underrated punk bands to emerge from the Midwest. Probably due in part to the unique sociology of their surroundings, they were decidedly a breed apart from the vehemently political, sometimes tediously proselytistic New York and L.A. scenes (you could only rag on about Reagan and nuclear apocalypse for so long before it became a trend!). Not bound to any party or platform, the music on this debut disc speaks for itself: these riffs burst with pure, unbridled, youthful energy rendered with a surprisingly disciplined crispness and a jarring inflection towards dissonance. Dan Kubinski vocalizes through an inimitable nails-on-chalkboard screech, narrating endearingly juvenile tales of angst, insanity, and teenaged hijinks. Brian Egeness is the best punk guitarist you've never heard of, slashing through vaguely psychobilly motifs and bizarre diminished-chordings at Mach 5 speed, and then topping it off with some truly psychotic leadwork. And the rhythm section is similarly brilliant: Keith Brammer -- like the Lemmy of Milwaukee -- with his plectrum-struck Rickenbacker attack, relays closely with the precision force and subtle groove of Eric Tunison's drumming. Just listen to the fury of songs like "Dirt and Decay" and "No Time", and you can almost imagine the guys from Voivod dropping the needle on this record and then promptly going, "SACRÉ BLEU!!!" (not to mention all those future alternative-rockers in Seattle having similar epiphanies)

Die Kreuzen were one of those bands that always felt the need to progress into newer and newer territory, and their subsequent releases would accordingly be slower and artsier, which can be a good or bad thing depending on what kind of music fan you are. This self-titled LP, however, can't be described as anything other than straight-ahead, punching-you-in-the-face Punk-- albeit of an awesomely *weird* strain. Definitely pick this one up; there's a reason why these guys had the honor of being featured in the "American Hardcore" documentary!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars simply an all-time classic, December 20, 2009

By 

Joseph Broze (chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Die Kreuzen [Vinyl] (Vinyl)

Alright, if you've never heard this, it's one of the all-time classic early 80s hardcore LP's - i.e. the hardcore you saw or heard in the "American Hardcore" documentary a few years back and not the Pantera-sounding mosh-metal that bands have (unfortunately) been passing off as "hardcore" since the late 80s / early 90s. This has a totally loose, almost psychotic sound that you can hear in the tight but almost-teetering-off-the-cliff playing of the band.

Touch & Go (RIP? or just stagnating until the economy turns around - I was very pleased with all three decades of the label's output) has does a great service by keeping this LP in print in its original format & packaging. Hopefully they keep their entire back catalog in print!

This Die Kreuzen LP is - hands down - one of the all time great Midwestern hardcore / punk rock LP's. It's easily up there with Zero Boys' "Vicious Circle", the Husker Du classics (which one of the best is, of course, open to debate), the Replacements (same as before), Naked Raygun (again, your call), The Effigies "Remains Nonviewable", Negative Approach's "Tied Down", the first NOTA LP (is that Southern or Midwestern? whatever), and the Necros' "Conquest for Death". (I guess the Meatmen albums fall into this category as well but those are better accounted for in their original 7in format because there's no superfluous material.)

Their later stuff gets much weirder than this and much less "punk" or "hardcore" sonically. This one, however, is the classic (along with their first 7in, "Cows & Beer" on Version Sound). Plenty of short, crazed songs with crazed lyrics.