Review Summary: Urgent, chaotic, destructive, hilarious.
The Cancer Kids. Judging from the name alone, you have a rough idea of what you’re getting into. Something fierce, loud, insensitive, dirty. For fifteen uncompromising minutes,
The Possible Dream is a fastcore apocalypse that wraps you in a chokehold under a smelly armpit and viciously punches you in the face like an unstoppable machine. From what little info there is about this record, The Cancer Kids wrote and performed around 50 songs in their dusty garage before choosing these 19 thunderous tracks, and my, what a tasty selection they’ve made.
Upon first listen,
The Possible Dream sounds like aimless noise with the average song lasting 30 to 40 seconds with no gap in between. Meanwhile, Will Killingsworth’s unique, intensely blown-out production makes the affair feel like you’re sitting inside of a punching bag, unaware of what’s hitting you or where it’s coming from. But once your lacerations heal and you’ve heard the record 3 or 4 times, it’s increasingly apparent that this album is a collection of solid, technical yet simple, serious yet hilarious, blisteringly fast hardcore songs. Nick Solecki’s guitarwork oscillates between catchy sections and breakneck fast riffing, and he’s barely able to keep up with the insanely rapid drumming by Matt Wilga, better known for his work with Bucket Full of Teeth. Couple this with Chris Hydal’s chunky basslines and you have a recipe for chaos.
In my opinion, Colin McMullan’s throat-ripping vocals are the highlight of the record, along with his caustically tongue-in-cheek lyrics. “Q & A” is the best example of this:
“Early eighties hardcore means nothing to me
The only bandana I knew was on Punky Brewster’s knee
F the FU’s,
I just want the f**king Red Sox not to lose!
Because when I was born in ‘78,
I was more concerned with walking than ‘Smash the State’
I’m too f**king young to restart your art
The 80’s are boring
Thrash bands galoring
The fans are imploring,
but Cancer is snoring”
If you’re a fan of eighties hardcore, then you’re already busting up laughing at the absurdity of these lines. It gets better as McMullan continues with “Screw Pushead, I’ll take Crayolas anyday.” It’s for this reason that The Cancer Kids are an anomaly in hardcore, unflinchingly cynical and unafraid to rustle the feathers of genre enthusiasts. In fact, the band’s lyrics and sound can be seen as a direct antithesis to the heyday of hardcore, where the politics seemed to be as important as how heavy or loud the band was, and instead opting to make songs about Bostonian cokeheads (“Boston Blow”), the filthy conditions of DIY venues (“D.I.W.H.Y.”), a punked-up 90210 (“9021Oi!”), and even the recording studio where these songs were tracked and mixed (“Dead F’in Air”). The Cancer Kids could care less about who’s in office or what laws are being passed; all they are concerned with pissing everyone off with their sardonic lyrics and tinnitus-inducing riffage.
Although
The Possible Dream didn’t get released until 2006 through Mark McCoy’s underground label Youth Attack, we should be grateful this piece of hardcore history ever got put to plastic in the first place. These days, the album is name-your-price on Bandcamp, and you can still find it on most streaming services. It's only 15 minutes long, and you’ve already spent enough time reading this f**king review, so take the beating and thank yourself later for enduring the silly misery that is
The Possible Dream.
