As Mercenárias – The Beginning of the End of the World (Soul Jazz) 2005. One of my favourite releases from the Soul Jazz label is this work of genius by As Mercenárias, a post-punk all-girl outfit from Sao Paolo, Brazil. A band I first heard about on The Sexual Life of Savages. Musically, they are completely consistent with what you would expect from their description. Essentially like a Brazilian version of Lilliput. But unlike Lilliput’s fun silliness, there is a real sinister vibe to what As Mercenárias do that is compounded probably for me by my lack of understanding Portuguese. Take the song Labirintos for instance. It starts off with this eerie fuckin’ squall before the central riff, flanged and phased, starts repeating itself. The vocals are almost whispered. Does the title translate into The Labyrinth? I don’t know. It should. What a paranoid, claustrophobic song. The rest of the album is equally great and is a real lost gem from the golden era of post-punk.
Hardcore Podcasts
September of 2010 I put together eight Hardcore Podcasts. You can check them out here if you are interested. For more insight into how I came up with the years 78-90 for the First Wave you can read about The Hardcore Superiorty Myth.
great record. they should simply put their two lps together, the time would be fit. a friend of mine (a boy) sung with them on some shows last year, when the original singer had to stop playing with the band on some revival dates to celebrate the release of this compilation…great stuff, anyway, tottally a influence on my singing and lyrics.
I’m not mad on post-punk, but listening to these tracks & that ultra-cool video, I think I’m gonna take the plunge & order the CD. What I’ve heard reminds me a wee bit of some Eastern European punk of the early 80′s with that kinda darker vibe.
Thanks for posting this! I agree with the comparison to Liliput. I like them both but As Mercenarias did it better. I also thought the video was cool.