Saturday, December 8, 2012

Faultline

Faultline was a outspoken political straight edge hardcore band from Connecticut. They played metallic new school hardcore, with lyrics dealing with various issues of sociopolitical and environmental nature. For whatever reason this band seemed to never have gotten the recognition they deserved. Maybe they were too political for the crowd that could appreciate their mosh/chugga chugga style, and too 'tough' for the more PC crowd that could appreciate their lyrics and politics? Who knows... What I do know is that they were awesome. The self-titled 7" was released on Alliance Records in 1994/1995 and is a great example of how politics and chugga chugga don't bite. I believe this 7" was first released on Faultline's own Earth House Records tho? It's got some good mid-tempo chugga chugga parts, combined with the heartfelt vocals that were such an important part of Faultline's sound. It's a shame my copy of this 7" doesn't have the insert, which I assume did come with it originally, I would love to read the lyrics more properly.

In 1996 the follow up to the 7" was released as a split release between the awesome Endless Fight Records and Earth House Records. The 'Roots Of The Rape Culture' CD brought a more refined sound. It continued the in the same vein as the 7", and there were still chugga chugga/mosh parts, but the band had incorporated a few more influences, and the vocals had a slightly more hiphop-like delivery. There are also 2 spoken words tracks on here, to reiterate the political nature of the band. It is an awesome album, with some really great and intense lyrics which are definitely worth a read.

There's not that much information about Faultline online, so I don't know what else they released besides this 7" and the 'Roots Of The Rape Culture' CD. I do have a couple of compilations they appeared on, altho with tracks from the 'Roots Of The Rape Culture' CD so no additional tracks/recordings unfortunately. These comps include the 3rd installment of the Over The Edge compilations which I blogged about here as well as the 'Youth For Justice' comp CD on Earth House Records on which they contributed 2 Faultline tracks as well as a few spoken words tracks by the singer. I ripped these spoken words tracks for those who are interested in them. If anybody has any more information about this underrated band, please share! Enjoy!

Here's a vid of them performing 'Separate' from the 7" at a show:

Faultline - s/t 7"
Faultline - Roots Of The Rape Culture CD
John Faultline's spoken words tracks from 'Youth For Justice' comp CD

10 comments:

NRTeric said...

The 7" didn't have any liner when I bought it from them at a house show in Gainesville, FL back in 95. I can't remember exactly who they played with but I think it was 108 and Damnation a.d. They were really nice guys and the singer talked with me and my friends for a long time after they played. I have a question about that Youth for Justice comp. Is there a screamo band on their with a female singer and a dude screaming? I used to have a comp with Faultline on it many years ago where the singer did some spoken word stuff and there was a screamo band with male/female vocals on it that I liked at the time. I don't know what ever happened to the comp, but if that is it can you upload it? I would love to listen to it again.

XhcnoirX said...

NRTeric, thanxxx for your comment, I would have loved to see Faultline together with Damnation ad and 108, quite the line-up! And yeah, sounds like the comp you're wondering about is indeed the Youth For Justice compilation, the band would be Element 33. I just posted it here: http://onexpath.blogspot.nl/2013/01/youth-for-justice-compilation-cd.html

Mike said...

Thanks for posting the Roots CD. I bought their 7 inch when I saw them in the early to mid-90's (nope, not inserts with mine either), and I knew that they released a full length follow up, but I was never able to track it down...and then I forgot all about it until I saw your post today. Great stuff. I also have a demo tape that the band released. Track listing is Intro / Water / Seperate / Nothing / Evil / In Search Of. Damn, I wish I had a way to rip mp3s of this tape.

Anonymous said...

Please reup please

XhcnoirX said...

Re-upped.

Bryan Rollinson said...

Just bought the Collision With Tradition compilation from 1993/1994. It features "In Search Of". Also says the band was from Naugatuck, CT where I lived from '87-'07! never even knew I'd love to hear the demo I've never heard Nothing or Evil

Powerline said...

hi,

a re-up would be great!
thanks in advance

Powerline

XhcnoirX said...

Re-upped!

Matt Dicke said...

I got this demo tape from my friend Colin who was the original signer. He later went on to sing for Diecast for a while. not sure if this is the same as the 7" stuff you posted as the links are dead but figured it might be of interest to you or your followers.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/wk5u5490mn0qqhg/faultline.aiff.zip/file

Landscape Contractors Universal City said...

This is a great post thankks