𝗦𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 - 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟬-𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟱

I first stumbled across Shutdown on their side of a split 7" with Smog UK, who I'd seen in Southampton at The Joiners on a bill with Chixdiggit, Vanilla Pod, and Chokeword on 20th October 2000 (I looked it up). Their two songs from that 7" (one of which is a Blondie cover) are included in this collection, alongside tracks from their 1990 demo, their self-titled 12", some demos for their classic "Emits a Real Bronx Cheer" LP, plus another cover and a live track that was otherwise unrecorded.

This sort of compilation is pretty representative of Boss Tuneage Records who, alongside putting out records from current bands, have released, re-released, and compiled output from countless older UK punk and hardcore bands, ensuring their music doesn't fall by the wayside. The tracklisting here is in chronological order, and you can certainly hear how the band progressed, both in terms of musicianship and style. The opening demo and self-titled 12" are more rooted in Hardcore, albeit with strong hints as to what was to come, while the latter tracks unsurprisingly tend towards the Emo-Hardcore that would characterise their two full-lengths (the second of which, 1997's "Icarus", is also available on their bandcamp, and recommended). Incidentally, their bandcamp page shows them as playing gigs later this year - this appears to be another Hardcore band with the same name. And they were from Tewkesbury, not Massachusetts! 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: https://shutdown1.bandcamp.com/album/1990-95