We Can't Help it if We're From Florida

Released waaaay back in '83 by Destroy Records, the "We Can't Help it if We're From Florida" 7" ep was to Florida what "This Is Boston Not LA" was to Boston, and "This Is Phoenix Not The Circle Jerks" was to Phoenix. Basically a regional comp of amazing punk bands not heard outside their respected areas. You get Hated Youth's D.R.I.-like thrashing fastcore, two brief tracks from the amazing Sector 4, Morbid Opera's female-fronted garage/psych punk freakout, Roach Motel's drunken redneck punk fury, and finally, Rat Cafeteria's so-so Oi flavored punk with keyboards. If you were punk and living in Florida, this record was mandatory, and most likely it lit a fire under your ass to start a band. It's pretty amazing to think of that 13 minutes of music could make such a difference in anyone's life, and even make whatever shit hole you should find yourself growing up in seem not so terrible, but "We Can't Help it if We're From Florida" most certainly did that for me. Without it, I might be writing this blog about my cats and fantasy footbal.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MD742P6C

Sector 4 "Disc-Lexia" (1983)

Sector 4 was one of the earliest and best hardcore bands to emerge from the oft-overlooked Florida scene. They played fast, melodic hardcore with jangly guitars and vocal duties shared equally by the 3 members. On this ep each member sings the song he wrote, and they do a rather useless cover of "Heartbreak Hotel." The band's entire recorded output amounts to a whopping 7 minutes. They also contributed tracks to the "We Can't Help It If We're From Florida" compilation 7" ep, which I may post in its entirety at another time.

Download it here