"1984 was a pivotal moment for hardcore punk. After several years of rapid
progression and intensification, outfits around the world were
beginning to add a new heaviness to the sound, fortifying the speedy
rush of the early eighties with a burlier, even more aggressive
delivery. Taking the basic Discharge model as their template but amping
up every element, groups like Britain’s Chaos UK and Varukers, Sweden’s
Mob 47 and Anti-Cimex, America’s Poison Idea and COC, and Italy’s Raw
Power and Wretched dropped 1984 records that marked the next step in
this music’s evolution—and DIRECT ACTION's first tape was Canada’s
contribution to that evolution. There’s little in the way of subtlety
here, few concessions to nuance or melody: what Direct Action provide is
sheer firepower, an attack of blazing speed and monochromatic aggro
that reflects the group’s name perfectly in its simplicity and
overwhelmingly energy, but nonetheless boasts a certain metallic heft
absent from earlier hardcore outfits. Capturing the band raw and
unrefined, the urgency and rage of this music make it the definitive
Direct Action recording, and some of the most impressive punk rock that
Toronto has ever produced. This new LP is the full session’s first-ever
appearance on vinyl, complete with new title based on the TOHC book of
the same name." -Schizophrenic Records.
