Holland Underground Scene Report
By Richard UPS

Herewith I like to introduce most of the Underground Punk bands from Holland. I limit the report to those DIY non-profit bands who deserve the support and which have released at least something. Commercial and bigger bands get enough attention in the bigger mainstream magazines! To mention each and every underground band who are in their first practicing-stage will take too much time and paper, sorry. Furthermore, a lot of bands are excluded, because they are not in the style/scene I am into. For example, there are far more little unknown bands in the Straight Edge New School Hardcore style. For the simple fact that I’m not in contact with them (and I can’t judge whether they deserve support) I won’t mention them.

I will start this report with the two bands that are probably most known all over the world: Seein’ Red and Fleas And Lice.
Seein’ Red exists almost 12 years now and although they appeared on numerous records, zines, gigs, festivals, etc. they are still very strict about the DIY ethics and the importance of political messages. Their line-up always was and always will be Paul, Olav and Jos. Together they were before in Lärm: the ultra-fast mid 80s hardcore band that influenced so many other bands all over the world. On the first releases Seein’ Red played slower hardcore influenced by Fugazi, Fuel and Rondos (Dutch communist band from 1980). With time they speeded up more and more, and by now are as fast as in their Lärm-period. They toured the whole of Europe and the USA several times and have numerous 7″ and splits with Stack, Opstand, Catweazle, MK Ultra, JudasIsCariot. Their contributions to sampler singles, records and tapes can not be counted! Contact Paul & Olav, Van Randwijklaan 115c / 3814 AN Amersfoort / The Netherlands. Homepage: http://home.wxs.nl/~seeinred/
Fleas And Lice consists of some ex-Mushroom Attack members, one of the first Dutch crust bands. Fleas And Lice play heavy hardcore full of crust-influences and acceptable metal-guitar influences. Like Mushroom Attack they have dual, male/female, vocals. They have been active since 1992 and have released a single and a mini-album, plus split records with Bleeding Rectum, Battle of Disarm, Hiatus, Assrash and Boycot and a split live LP with Mushroom Attack. Most of their stuff is released on Skuld / Profane Existence and they toured the whole of Europe and the U$A. During their tour in England in 1997 guitarist Piet was badly injured due to a car-accident. Since then their activities with Fleas And Lice are low. Members were/are involved in Yphobia (grindy crust), Mad Punk Disease (punk) and PCP (hardcore). By now they restarted activities, with a tour through Mexico and recording new songs. Contact Oene, PO Box 41008 / 9701 CA Groningen / The Netherlands. Check out the Fleas And Lice homepage at: http://www.fleasandlice.nl/

Groningen is a city in the far north of the Netherlands, with a lot of country-side surroundings. It has an active squat and crustpunk scene. As mentioned above there are some bands with Fleas And Lice members involved. Basically the Groningen-scene is a kind of incest-scene, since most of the bands share members. Catweazle existed since 1988 and first played technical grindcore. After a line-up change they changed to a more technical hardcore style with plain vocals. Their first MCD, Cash and Pain Remain on Profane Existence Far East, gathered them a lot of good attention in a broad range of hardcore-lovers. They also contributed to some compilation CD’s. They were a bit unpleased by only appearing on CD, so they went to search for a label to release some of the songs on vinyl. New songs were released on a split 10″ with Seein’ Red on Wicked Witch. Some old songs of their beginning time were re-recorded in their new style and released on a French label as the Form of Fear 7″. They recently quit as band. Drummer Michael also drums in PCP. A crusty hardcorepunk band in the Fleas And Lice style, but with two female vocalists. They have released a 7″ on Resucitate and a 7″ on a Spanish label-corporation. Recently released on UPS is the PCP/BSE split 7″. Michael also did a little DIY label, on which he has released the No ID/Aside split 7″. No ID was another Groningen band with that unique Groningen crusty hardcorepunk sound. They had two female singers who use slightly more melody in their singing-style. Aside is a crustband from France. There is a full length 7″ from No ID out too, on Funai Records from Germany. Just after the release No ID quit as band. Singer Eva is singing in a new Dirt-styled band, called Makiladoras. As you might see there are some connections between Groningen-punx and South-Europe. Those friendships arose during the tours from the bands through South-Europe. Michael arranged a tour for Spanish band Sin Dios through North Europe. All bands can be contacted through Michael, PO Box 752 / 9700 AT Groningen / The Netherlands.

Although Oene from Fleas And Lice played in the band, Rat Patrol is a more alone-standing band in the Groningen scene. They started in the late 80s and released 2 full length albums on their own Highly Obscure label. They play straight forward US-influenced hardcore which got a lot of good response but somehow never obtained really full attention. Same goes for the band that arose from them when they were in-active; Chronicore. They recorded 1 full-length album of crusty metal-core on the same Highly Obscure label. Later Rat Patrol regained activities and recorded a new album (Painkiller) and re-released the old stuff on CD. They have also a huge mailorder-list. Contact: Henry, PO Box 2177 / 9704 CD Groningen / The Netherlands. Rat Patrol homepage: http://go.to/ratpatrol

Other bands existed, like Office Killer (emo-scream-core), and De Stipjes (garage punkrock), but they quit already. Now Catweazle stopped as band, Michael is drumming in another band, called Shikari. They play Bremen-style brute-core and have just released a 10″ on Resuscitate.
Above mentioned Michael is a busy bee, since he also drummed for Tuco Ramirez. That is a brutal band, combining the styles of New York crust with German grind and Scandinavian trash-punk. They have released a split 7″ with Boycot. Mike from Tuco Ramirez is also playing in Vastatrix and SAF, but both haven’t released records yet.

Tuco Ramirez is not from Groningen (except Michael), but from an area between Groningen and Alkmaar. Also Alkmaar is a mid-sized town with a lively crust/punk scene. Those bands rehearse in Parkhof, a squatted school, where also gigs and the famous Christmas festivals are organized. Things are going on since 1980-82 and one of the oldest bands is CKN. In 1985 they released a classic demo full of fast punksongs, from which a lot were loaded with Dutch humor. Later they became more (too) serious and released (split) singles in a US technical hardcore style in the vein of Prong and Ludichrist. Nowadays this is a hobby-band that performs occasionally, playing the old songs from their demo. Singer Pim has joined Boycot as second vocalist. This active band started in 1995 and gained a lot of attention with their debut 7″ ‘Only Stupid Bastards help Epitaph’, which was supported with an anti-Epitaph postcard action. They play crusty hardcorepunk in a style that is a kind of mix between mid 80s European hardcore bands and modern-day European crust bands. Their first recordings were released in East-Europe as a split-tape with Jobbykrust. Furthermore they have released split singles with Argue Damnation, Insane Youth, Yuppiecrusher, Distress, Betercore, Tuco Ramirez and Fleas And Lice. After this steady flow of releases in 5 years, they have quitted in early 2001. Distress was a band in the, as the name suggests, dis-punk style. For a long time it had Boycot’s singer Billie on drums, his brother on bass and vocals and Boycot’s guitarist Lenneart on guitars. In this line up they have released a 7″, a split with Karma, a split with Mind and a split 10″ with Boycot. There were plans for a split with Disfear. They were not realized, and will not since they stopped as a band. Betercore is an fast old schooled youthcrew / powerviolence hardcore band with some crust-influences as well. They themselves call it youth-crust. The members are still young and hyper-active. Beside the split 7″ with Boycot, they have released a 4-way split LP with Point of Few, Soberesponse and Office Killer. Both on their own label Wasted Youth Records. Since the end of Boycot, Billie became the second singer of Betercore and raising the average age of the line-up. They have released a split 7″ with Point of Few with new recordings with Billie. Billie also sings in his new international band, called Olho de Gato. Line-up consists of guys from Holland, Brazil, Croatia and Russia. A split 7″ with Betercore is planned. All bands from Alkmaar can be contacted through Billie, Vondelstraat 308 / 1814 MC Alkmaar / The Netherlands. Visit the Betercore homepage at: http://www.cs.vu.nl/~mbogaard/index.html

Just like Betercore, the bands Vitamin X and Soberesponse from Amsterdam are young youth-crew hardcore bands without serious pretentions and therefore accepted in the DIY scene. For them it is good enough to play in squats, so they get support and invitations in that scene. Both bands have released 7″s on Commitment Records. Vitamin X is getting faster and more old US styled and will have a 7″ on Havoc records in the future. In the meantime they have released a full length LP on the Italian SOA label. Although Amsterdam is Holland’s biggest city and a history full of squats and riots, there are hardly active DIY bands known to me. I can mention Uit de Sloot (punk with Dutch lyrics), Yawp! (oldschool hardcorepunk), Brezhnev (fast punk, homepage: http://www.geocities.com/madskull2/ ) and the bigger mainstream bands Human Alert (http://www.humanalert.com ), Funeral Oration, GOH, and NRA. From the surrounding area comes the upcoming band Protest (fast mohawkpunk), who did a couple of gigs with the Ex, who are still active as real musicians.

Second biggest city, Rotterdam, has in contrary a scene with almost a hundred bands. Most of the bands are into the new popular skate-punk and NY hardcore things and to mention them all will go too far, but good point is that they really support eachother resulting in a tight scene with lots of activities, compilations, zines and gigs/festivals.
One of the initiators were/are No-Men, an active band besides playing music, with Tocado label and organization. On their own label the No-Men have released a CD full of chaospunk filled with all kind of influences. Tocado also released stuff from Deuce (skatepunk), Beaver Feaver (melo-core), New Friend (punkrawk), Rectum (ska-punk), Die Nakse Bananen, Buttscratcher 2000, Dutchbad and Totaal Verlept (old Dutch hardcorepunk). Like Totaal Verlept, Debiele Eenheid is also a punkband from the early 80s that is still active. Another band with their own label is Budrot, a psychedelic hardcore outfit with ex-Anarcrust and HardHeadedSoul members. They have released a 7″ and a CD of border-crossing music. Die Nakse Bananen is a mohawk-band playing a Exploited-punkstyle. Brains No More plays fast and raw street punk. They have released a CD together with X-treem zine / label. I guess all bands can be contacted through Tocado / Leen / PO Box 3092 / 3003 AB Rotterdam / The Netherlands. Visit the Tocado homepage at: http://www.tocado.com

The most radical crustband comes from the surrounding area. First it was Bullshit Propaganda, a 3-piece in the Extreme Noise Terror style. After a 7″ and a split LP with Karma they quitted. Drummer/vocalist Bowy joined up with ex-Die Nakse Bananen guitarist Joop and together they are Jesus Cröst. As can be heard on their 2 demo/promo-tapes they sound like a full band anyhow. They also have a DIY CD on Filth Ear out. In summer 2001 Filth Ear and UPS will co-release a split between them and UK’s Active Minds. Contact: Jopie / Van de Boschlaan 13 /3221 BV / Hellevoetsluis / The Netherlands.

Like Groningen and Alkmaar, there’s also an incest-scene in the Venray / Horst area. Same members are involved in more things, like Slamsquad. NY-crust ala Citizens Arrest, released on a MCD on own label Carved In Stone. The band has quitted by now. Same style was Barst, who also quitted, leaving only 1 demo as heritage. Leaving more than a demo was A$O, dual vocal chaotic crust, recorded on a split 7″ with LD’50. Mallorn was another related band. They played screaming new school emo-core and have released a MCD on the Carved in Stone label. Inhume, Bile and Insult all play the ultra-fast raging grindy kind of core. Insult has a full length 7″, a CD and a split 7″ with BSE out. Contact via Carved in Stone / Sander Dercks / P. Bernardstraat 42 / 5961 BV Horst / The Netherlands.
Also from that area is Cockroach, full on fast aggressive hardcorepunk. They have a splits out with Mihoen! and Gride and a 7″ on the Out Cold label Acme (USA). From a bit more south comes Zwaar Klote: a lazy mid-tempo crust-punk band with two split tapes and a split 7″ with Cradle From The Grave.
One of those split-tapes is with Roggel, from the east-side of Holland. Raised for fun during a squat-party, this band has a lot of fun in their chaotic punk songs. Later, things became more serious and their music developed in the direction of a crossover style. Some of the original members now play the old songs live under the name Rochel. From the same area is LD’50: ultra-fast protest-noise recorded on splits with A$O and King Charles’ Head (60s surf). Also old thrashmetal-hardcorebands Disabuse and Winterwijks Chaos Front have reunited.

From little town Hoogeveen hail a couple of bands. The most prolific is Point of Few who have released some records. One 7″ on home-town labels Discontent / Goathead. One 7″ on Coalition. And the split mentioned with Betercore. They play raging fast hardcore with screaming vocals. Some members are involved in setting up gigs in and around Hoogeveen.

From the Utrecht-area, Mihoen! have released a 7″ in own control and split 7″s with Cockroach and fellow-Utrecht band Container Crusties From Hell. Mihoen! play cool super-fast but very tight hardcorepunk with both Dutch-fun lyrics and serious English ones. Urban Blight is a one-man DIY punk-project with releases on tape, DIY CD and vinyl. Other bands from Utrecht are FairFight, Set Aside (youthcrew), Possible Suspect (rocking punkcore), Stoorzender (bandana-trash) and Foreclosure (modern HC). Neighbor city Amersfoort brings us besides Seein’ Red, also Declined and Fast Food Boys (both HC, you can visit the Fast Food Boys homepage at: http://members.tripod.lycos.nl/ffboys/ ). Acoustic Front is a 100% one-man DIY project (by me!) with acoustic punk songs. Until now Acoustic Front has contributed to numerous compilation-tapes and 16 songs are featured on a split-tape with MaSO on UPStapes. And in the near future probably a song on a acoustic punk 7″ compilation on an American DIY label. BSE from media-town Hilversum plays raging hardcore as a mix of old school USHC and modern trash (mix MDC, Infest and Sawn Off). Documented on a split with Insult. And on the split 7″ with PCP on UPS records. In the meantime BSE stopped as a band, and the core of members are now in All Tensed Up with the singer of Declined. They have a demo full of old school early 80’s thrash. Mainstrike from Nijmegen is into the ’88 style of Youth of Today and have several records out on Crucial Response. Member Jeroen also has his own label: Coalition / P.O. Box 5430 / 6802 EK Arnhem / Thhe Netherlands. Also in this style are Reaching Forward and Oil, Product X and some more, all with 7″s on Commitment Records.

Parliament city The Hague only has a few bands, from which I only know Antidote. They have an ex-Eurogliders, ex-Game Over members and make raw cool streetpunk. They have 3 7″s and an album, Go Pogo! out. They also have a homepage at: http://www.antidote.nl

From Leiden comes a new US-styled Crust band, called Krush. The name is not really known yet in the scene, but their split with Spinebender is superb. Alphen aan de Rijn gives us the band Mangel, with their label Alphen Aan De Records. Mangel was a pretty professional band that mixed the sound of Leatherface, DOA and Naked Raygun in a neat result. After releasing some EP’s and CD’s they have recently stopped as a band.
More into the grind thing are Last Days of Humanity, Suppository, Chaotic Grinder and Angry Minded, but that style is not really my cup of tea, so I decide to close this report down.

I am sure that I have forgotten some bands that did deserve to get mentioned, sorry for that. If you readers wanna know more about the scene you can order my zine: UPSzine ($2 ppd). Just look for it in the zines section of the distro. It is in English… I also have released a dozen of tapes and a compilation 7″ with some of the mentioned bands. Also for all other extra info and more band-addresses feel free to write me: Richard UPS / Wanmolen 5 / 3833 ED Leusden / The Netherlands. E-Mail: r.ups@wanadoo.nl

(This scene report is from 2000 but mainly talks about 90s bands)