I feel a bit guilty for owning this record. I am depriving someone who knows full well who the Hated were of owning it, and I think they only pressed up 500 of the damn things. But I bought it, as the Hated was a band I had once seen written down as being a cool old band. All I know is that two of the guys in the band went on to be in Ida. That they have a cool acoustic 7″ on Troubleman under the name Desmond Outcast & The Transplanted Heroes. And that they rocked. I am definitely looking forward to the official discography CD.
Yes, this 12″ is unofficial, and a bootleg. The sound quality is ropey as anything, it’s probably been dubbed off a tape that a friend of the band found in a cardboard box under their bed. But you can spot the genius through it. Seeing as this stuff was back in the late 80s, and a little ahead of its time. Because it sounds like these guys played a style a little similar to the emo pop / rock that Braid and Promise Ring popularised (and few since have been able to emulate). Sort of. Not totally, but you can see it. Because side A on here has three songs on which the Hated do really catchy and bouncy indie rock songs with lots of repetitive guitar parts and the second song even has that addictive bass sound that the P-Ring put to such good effect on ‘Nothing Feels Good’. The b-side features my two favourite songs on here, ‘Echoes of Whistle Tree Park’ which is is just super catchy, quirky indie rock with very odd vocals (the guy has distinctive enough vocals in the first place) and a great groove to swing to. The trumpet parts are awesome, even if they do sound a little tacked on (which they probably were). And then there is ‘Moss Icon Song’. This and ‘Echoes of…’ justify you buying this record all on their own. ‘Moss Icon Song’ is about as good a take on Moss Icon as you could ever hope to hear, incredible stuff. You have to have the right person doing the talking for this kind of thing to come off, and it practically sounds like the Hated got Jon Vance himself in for it and then they added some swell backing vocals. Vance or Leo, you can’t top either of them.
There are a couple of weak songs following that, particularly the dire ‘Police On My Back’ song which appears to be a cover, and then they change styles completely and do a couple of snotty, fast punky numbers that sound a lot like Radon. And, um, the last song sounds like the kind of pop punk that bands like Gameface have been perpetuating for centuries. Has an awesome emo breakdown at the end.
My biggest gripe on this record is that the person who pressed it has fucked with the run out groove, they’ve melted some lumps in the vinyl at that part, and I am certain that every time the stylus runs over it, it is getting shot to hell. Ah well.
If you’re a Hated fan, or if you are just intrigued and are happy to put up with the sound quality and one or two poorer efforts, then pick this up. Now.