Holy shit, Die Kreuzen! These guys were one of the most important American hardcore bands ever. Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth famously declared them to be "the best band in the USA". Formed in Milwaukee in 1981, the members of Die Kreuzen (singer Dan Kubinski, bassist Keith Brammer, guitarist Brian Egeness and drummer Eric Tunison) took the harder,faster,louder philosophy of Minor Threat, Black Flag and the Germs one step further with a brand of ferociously quirky thrash that broke speed records and ended up influencing everyone from Slint to Voivod, Steve Albini to Napalm Death, as well as helping to birth the midwestern hardcore scene along with Articles Of Faith and Husker Du. In spite of their influence, Die Kreuzen has never garnered the same level of acclaim as bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag, and you can spend hours trolling blogs online to hear a variety of theories as to why they never became one of the more famous 80's hardcore bands. For those that know, though, their music was intense and blinding, from their early thrashpunk days and the seminal self-titled album that was essentially the first real avant-thrash record, all the way up through the more experimental art-rock of their late-80's albums (which, admittedly, were pretty much universally despised by hardcore purists).

Long out of print, Die Kreuzen's first 7" Cows And Beer was recently reissued by Milwaukee's Barbarian Records. The original 7" has been out of print for twenty-five years so this is a crucial reissue for fans of 80's hardcore. Six miniatures of suburban angst delivered at blazing speed with a singer who sounded completely fucking psychotic at the time that this came out...hearing his shrill screams and speedy ranting still gets my blood running to this day. The guitar playing also stands out, Brian Egeness' three-chord riffs laced with crazy leads and chromatic playing that is ripped at top speed but always super-tight. Intense. The 7" was titled Cows And Beer as a jab at the popular view on what Midwestern life was like, and was released on 1982 (!) on the Version Sound label. While the music on this EP only hints at the insanity that would follow on their debut LP on Touch And Go, this is still a crucial peice of the blueprint. Comes in a black and white jacket with a xeroxed lyric sheet.