God’s America
Our Bones Will Bleach The Sun EP
A389 Recordings (2013)
Sounds Like: absolutely raging HC a la Crossed Out, Infest, and Spazz
Score: 7.5/10
In the very late ’90s I met a young fellow by the name of Brett Kasden. I had just moved back to Las Vegas from Southern California, and I was completely immersed in rebuilding a new band and a new scene. At the time, Brett played in a rather harmless pop punk band called No Ride Home, and he would often inquire about playing shows with my band at the then burgeoning record store/venue, Sound Barrier. One day he approached me at a show and said he was going to start a new band that sounded like Charles Bronson, which completely surprised me given his musical pedigree up to that point. I’m sure my reply of, “Why would you want to do that?” probably stunned Brett too.
Sorry if I crushed your dreams on the spot, homeboy, but power violence has never been my favorite style of punk/HC.
Thankfully, Brett ignored my negative response and eventually formed his Charles Bronson-influenced band called Jesus Fuck The Sun. Like many unsung heroes of Vegas punk and hardcore past, JFTS self released an EP, played a bunch of local shows, toured once or twice, and pretty quickly broke up. However, Brett’s musical assault on society was not finished with the demise of JFTS.
Eventually Brett and another local scene shredder named Andres (drummer from JTFS) would form a new power violence band called Seeds of Rape, and with Brett on bass and vocals and Andres on guitar and vocals, these young dudes immediately stirred up quite a bit of controversy with the name of their band alone. Now as a disclaimer, I do agree the word “rape” can be used as a weapon, but I personally did not understand the total uproar that ensued over the name. I feel “Seeds of Rape” could be employed as a metaphor regarding a multitude of topics (life, environmental issues, politics, society, war, etc), and at the same time, isn’t punk and hardcore supposed to be in your face and controversial anyway?
At any rate, the band ended up changing its moniker to God’s America before releasing this raging 10 song EP on Baltimore’s awesome A389 Records. Again, the power violence genre has never been my everyday bread and butter, but I do find myself reaching out for this caveman style of hardcore more and more as I get older and my frustration with the general ignorance of society remains firmly intact. The fact that the members of God’s America have obviously been influenced by the best bands of the genre (Crossed Out, Infest, and Spazz) also helps.
The only real gripe I have with this 7” is the lack of a lyric sheet, and fellas, you really dropped the ball on this one because I can’t understand a word you’re saying! It’s a shame too, as I’m positive you guys have something cool and/or comical to say underneath those cookie monster vocals. Seriously, I want to know what the song “Dale Nixon” is about, and I’m hoping the 7” I bought was missing the lyrics as a fluke (I’ll gladly give you an 8/10 if that’s the case).
But I digress, as this record truly rips, and it’s really no surprise that it was released on such a cool record label. You can check this EP out at the A389 Recordings Bandcamp page or purchase a hard copy of the record from various locations. There’s even a green vinyl version of this 7” if limited wax floats your boat.
Catch these guys at a rad house show near you soon, and be sure to keep an eye and ear out for next batch of jams from God’s America (aka Seeds of Rape).
-Lance Wells
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