
Havoc
DISCHARGE - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing LP
Building on the jagged sonic middle-finger-to-the-world that was the Why? EP, Discharge bang out their magnum opus. Every song a protest song, guitar tone dialed up to chainsaw intensity, newcomer Garry delivering the patented samey-on-purpose percussion, and Cal hollering endlessly like a freshly-woke vagrant in the tube. Itās a record that sends metal-obsessed dirtbags and bristle-haired anarchists to the same apocalyptic nirvana, driven to smash glass and break furniture by Bonesā wailing solos washing over choruses that clobber the senses like a tack hammer.
A seminal link between first and second wave punk, Hear Nothing is political without sounding preachy, heavy without being metal, and stripped-back without sacrificing chops. Thereās a chord economy on display (much like Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols) spot-welded to clever, straightforward lyrics like āHot lead rips through flesh / The blood runs redā and āKept in line with rifle butts and truncheonsā. Makes it a record, a sound trapped in amber. Duplicated a thousand times over, but never eclipsed by anyone including Discharge, itās the essence of pure hardcore punk boiled down to one incredibly bitter pill.