All the Edmonton kids will already have this, but I figured it was worth posting regardless. In my opinion High Jinks was one of the best hardcore bands to come out of Edmonton in a long time, and I feel like kids will talk about this band for years to come.To me, this 7" represents a time in Edmonton when the scene was shifting away from the jock mentality towards (dare I say) a more thoughtful and intelligent hardcore scene. High Jinks' lyrics definitely reflected this. Songs like Violins showed disdain for a scene that was more about fighting than it was about unity. However, don't let the idea of 'thoughtfulness' lull you into thinking this record is soft. It's fast, loud and pissed off, taking cues from all facets of hardcore. Listen hard enough and you'll hear elements of 80's hardcore greats like Black Flag and Cro-Mags mixed with contemporary counterparts like Carry On or Ceremony.
Some of my favorite shows I've played or attended have been with High Jinks. The band always played harder than the kids could thrash about, and at the end it always seemed like the audience was more tired than the band, who was always up for playing a couple covers on top of their already exhausting set.
This has been out of print for over a year or so now, and will likely never seen a repress. If you own it, hang onto it. Amazing record with fantastic artwork. Marbled green vinyl and a great poster fold out insert. Rad! Members of High Jinks went on to play in Maus, Tempest and No Problems. Check it!
~AB
High Jinks got me into hardcore. This 7" made me believe in punk rock and, on a larger scale, local music. I listened to this thing on repeat for hours when I was just getting out of high school. Definitely one of the most influential things I've ever heard--it's totally shaped my musical interests and got me into going to local shows.
ReplyDeleteThis 7" was fucking huge for me.
I love Edmonton hardcore.