Thursday, June 5, 2008

Treason - Demo


In the early 2000's few bands were as influential in hardcore as American Nightmare. As such, they had their fair share of imitators, but for the most part most bands simply took cues from them lyrically, musically or from their imagery. One of those bands was Treason from the Bay Area. To me, Treason was always a pretty elusive band. For a minute, they were getting hyped all over the internet based on a a mid-tempo 30 second song called "Halfway in the Red" complete with a sound clip from a particularly questionable moment in the movie Kids. Then, they vanished before I had a chance to even get the demo and little more was mentioned of them for years to come. Fast forward five years to when I traded a Chamberlain/Old Pike 2x7" just so I could hear the demo of this band I heard 30 seconds of a few times. Shortly after I acquired it and found it still held up fairly well, I asked my buddy Matt Wilson about them. As a Bay Area core dude, I figured he would be the man to ask and as it turns out, he was able to tell me that two of the guys went on to be in Lights Out.

Musically, Treason often remind me of a San Diego, Gravity Records style band mixed with parts of the frequently overlooked and equally short lived Sworn In. I think this demo may have even been released before the Sworn In record, but I still get a similar vibe from both bands. All 10 songs are short, intense bursts of fast, messy, distorted hardcore laid against decent, often melodramatic lyrics about loneliness, desperation, sex, love and hopelessness. The lyrics are the only thing that tends to remind me of AN because around that time, every band seemed to try and step up their lyrical palate beyond typical hardcore fare. Anyone into dark, early 2000's hardcore should check this demo out. The more I listen to it, the more I'm bummed they didn't get to release a proper record before they called it a day.



Treason - Demo

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The singer of Treason was the singer of Breaker Breaker. I'm pretty sure he did this project while in art school in the ashes of Breaker Breaker's fifteen of B9 fame.

-Tim

Team Smart said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

PS. I like this demo too

PSS. The singer was friends with Wes, both grew up in close proximity on the East Coast.

dominic said...

where can i get the lyrics, man?

Stephen said...

I'll have to type out the lyrics. I'll try and do it this weekend.

Stephen said...

Dominic -

Here are the lyrics for the demo.


Halfway Into the Red

Dialing your number just to hear the pain ringing
black on blue I saved the best for you
slipping through these days like a coin in the arcade
it's just this heart that wants to get laid
so tie that noose to my ankles and now I'm head over heels.

Tooth in Neck (No One Won)

Dear Romantic Fucks, it's lame
push to pull, it's all the same
heavy breaths, quicker steps
lust is nothing, I just can't be alone
bring on the lack, bring on the lonely
bring on the music, bring on the lights
cold sweat sunken eyed, what the fuck did you expect?

Our Lady of the Parking Lot

And, pretty angels without virgin wings
I hate it where this light has taken me
cold blue fingers from an orange night
I'm a one sided knife. It's not much but this loneliness will cut us clean
you don't know what I mean?

Lipstick and Suicide

We are coming through like a landslide
There are emotions know as motionless
my spit is the rain coming through your city streets
stealing signals because mine all quit
you fuck my heart like an SF quake
former friends and future foes
you gotta know
we want the airwaves!

Altamont

Here's a song that will cure some ills
mixtapes, "this summer kills"
slow dancing through a world war (don't ask what for)
it's not emotion I just read some lines
to nights, tomorrows, two fuckin times
nothing to do but slur these words to you
love is just a tool is that on que
a thousand fucks from me to you
"the heart is an organ pumping blood
happy valentine in the mud"

The Black Territory (Instrumental)

The British Are Coming

Yes the ups of course, but the downs as well
so baby in between is where I began
put your life on ice and lend some attention
(I only sang it once)
window gazing for the next great wound
i forgot what we were fighting for
just a steady fuck to forget the pain
someday you will read this name in the golden lights
and if i wasn't so helpless i swear i would get this right
for once, for once, for once
this is a sad note that stuck to a heart
like this thorn in my side
when our blood dries up and fuck stained eyes go dry
we sit and stare humming no one cares
we sit and stare singing no one sees
we sit and stare screaming no one knows
i am breathing in nothing just to spit out something
i really hope no one can relate

Stay Handsome

lights out we were more than friends some nights
never end/midnight sweat music from a bed
i don't think you're right in the head
you want it
i need it
we got it

Sex is a Four Letter Word

Kissing queens and novocain lips
pretty songs and pretty hips
switchblade stomach
on my other side all the grass is dead
locking eyes and missing keys
lovely girls and dirty knees
they found my songs when they drag this lake
music gave me the news "our first mistake was you"
suburban lights here is #2
this is fuck turned up to 10
this is quitting i just don't know when

Unloaded Guns

I was broken from the inside out
do you believe freedom was wasted on me
honestly, i could give a fuck
if you break down these walls, find nothing at all
blood pumping through a careless song.

dominic said...

thanks so much.