From The Catalog: #OV072 – Indypendant ‘Time Capsule’

In 1997, Richmond Hardcore band Indypendant had been working on some new material, and decided to go into the studio, and make a new record.

The studio, Glass Hand, located in Shockoe Bottom, which in hindsight, was an institution to local punk music, offering recordings to even high schoolers, at an affordable rate, and engineered by the studio owner, Mark Miley.

Since the band’s first release, their 1995 demo, a lot of growth had happened. Seeing fans pay attention to lyrics, and the music, seemed to make the band take the work more seriously, with each member pushing to develop their own style. And they did this, in spades.

It was this movement within the band, that made them stand out from other Richmond hardcore bands. Whereas ‘positive hardcore’ was literally a genre, as well as ‘political hardcore’, though more rare, and usually both with their own sound, the band wrote songs that critiqued the world politically, but focused on the personal realm of the politics, but with a positivity that was both inspiring, and refreshing. Instead of songs about friends breaking edge, or friends at all, Indy’s singer Joe was writing about elevating one’s inner self, informing ones mind, and breaking free of the inactivity, both mental and physical that seemed to pervade society.

And these new lyrics, were provided a soundtrack by some of what, I think, may be the best metallic hardcore to ever come out of this city. With guitarist Dan Tulloh’s complicated riffs, played so effortless, and multiples of changes throughout the songs, each song was like a operatic movement, carrying one on a journey from start to finish, held down by a hell of a rhythm section, with bassist Ryan Shade and drummer Chris Ferguson locked tight.

The result, was Time Capsule. And though it only had five songs, it was a movement that carried the listener, start to finish, through some of the best hardcore to come out of this city. Again, I think of references to Opera, or to Jazz. This wasn’t a formula they were borrowing, this was a formula they were making themselves.

And it was because of this adherence to their own formula, that perhaps the band didn’t catch on as much as it should have. They were pushing for something greater, something more transcendent, and calling THAT hardcore, than what was in fashion, or accepted at that time.

So when we got the opportunity to release this record on the Label, I was like, FUCK. Yes.

Records like this, are why I do this.

– Gary Llama