At Ampere's 10 year anniversary show on May 13, no one was surprised when Ampere blew the fucking roof off with their set. For ten years, we have come to expect nothing less from them, and they've consistently delivered. People were surprised, however, when Wasteland took the stage, and tore all of our faces a new asshole, playing what may have been the most crushing and furious hardcore set I've seen in years. They were completely devastating. Since they hadn't been a band in four years or so, this was all the more impressive. I wish i could see them do it again.
Wasteland's hitherto unreleased LP has been circulated in MP3 form for several years, and has always been one of my most cited hardcore tragedies; a fantastic record consigned to obscurity because of the band's untimely breakup. I cannot express my surprise when I arrived at the show to see a stack of Wasteland LP's on their merch table. Will Killingsworth was good enough to release the LP on his label, Clean Plate in time for Wasteland's one-off reunion show, and I couldn't be happier to see it.
For those of you unfamiliar, Wasteland was a Western Mass. band that was most active five or six years ago. They developed a distinct and compelling style that, to my ear, seems to mix a fair amount of screamo, d-beats and more than a little heavy Canadian hc style into one imposing monster of a band. They released one four-song EP and had two tracks on the coveted Ampere / Death to Tyrants / Daniel Striped Tiger / Wasteland split 11''. Members have since been involved in bands such as Aerosols, Soul Control, Relics, Suburbanite, Won't Belong, etc, etc, etc.
If you are interested in owning a copy of your very own, hit up the Endless Disaster webstore .
