Cassette Review // The Hell Hole Store "Three the Hard Way" (Already Dead Tapes)

$6 //
Edition of 100 //
https://alreadydeadtapes.bandcamp.com/album/ad310-the-hell-hole-store-three-the-hard-way //

I feel like every cassette by The Hell Hole Store is their Greatest Hits.   I know some of these songs came from other places, the first one for example is called "Already Dead" and is from a compilation because many of the artists on this very label are name-dropped within (As well as Nolan Ryan)

"Blare In Your Face" has this funk like Beck and it name-drops D&D, which always makes me sad because I want to get a group together to play D&D but no one will ever play with me.   "Breaking Free" has a nice singing hook while on "Alright, Alright, Alright" I enjoy the line “We’re not cut from common cloth” to sum up some of how I feel about The Hell Hole Store.    This song also happens to have this classic rock type of piano breakdown, which is something I've grown used to from The Hell Hole Store but it's still always nice to hear.

During the "3 Man Stomp" they talk about both pierogis and Uncrustables or as I like to call it: my Saturday night.    "Martian King" takes me back to that idea of being classic rock, as it starts off like a musical but then these really nice beats kick in.   There is some Jefferson Airplane in here, and yeah, I'm just going to start naming the non-hip hop comparisons for The Hell Hole Store now.

"I'll Take What I Can Get" hits hard while "Quicksand" is a bit lighter, more fun and is about, well, quicksand and that whole idea of how when we were younger we thought it would be a much bigger deal now than it actually is. 

"Drop Cold Rhymes" has that Tribe bassline and Darko mentions how he drops ten albums while you're working on a single.   There is also a R. Stevie Moore reference in here and both of these guys say "already dead" a lot (and not always about the label)

"It’s Godzilla! No, that’s the Hellhole, baby!" is my favorite line on this entire cassette and it was really tough to choose from.   "Donnie Don't Do It" has these big synths like Jock Jams or Modest Mouse and then it breaks down all funky into this fun song.    Perhaps that is the best way for this cassette to end because it has that hard-hitting serious side to it but also is just such a good time.