These guys deserve some sort of award, as neither the band name or artwork prepared me for what was going to come out of the speakers. Five songs in length, there are two that are roughly a minute in length, one at four minutes, then one at seven and one at eleven so in that respect alone it is quite strange. Recorded by Mike Bossier at Oblivion Studios in the spring of 2000, ‘Document 7’ was originally released on CD via the now-defunct Happy Couples Never Last label, with Magic Bullet Records releasing it on vinyl in 2002. After disbanding in May 2003, there was a brief weekend in 2011 where the band performed at Best Friends Day in Richmond, Virginia on August 26th and at Black Cat in Washington, DC the following day. Outside of that, it was assumed that the band had all moved on, but then the 2016 Presidential election happened. The guys started talking about what they could do, in the spirit of the Virginia/Washington DC punk and hardcore scene, so they decided to go back on the road for one week in August and tour with friends and label mates Majority Rule, and donate the proceeds from each performance to a local charity in the very town where the show occurred. Some of their material is being reissued and made available again to tie in with that, the band and Magic Bullet Records will be donating the digital proceeds from all three albums they’ve done together to charitable causes each quarter.
So, loads of good stuff going on, and a lot of respect for both Pageninetynine and Magic Bullet Records in what they are doing. I guess it’s a real pity that I don’t like the album at all. It’s hardcore punk, but just too rough and raw for me, and not enough in the way of melody, but perhaps that’s the point. Two singers, three guitarists and a rhythm section made loads of noise on this some fifteen years ago, but in many ways that is all this is, and it’s not something to which I will be returning. http://www.magicbulletrecords.com. I can’t fault their ethics though…
