Raw Nerve – Everything I currently have by them (2009-2011)

So Raw Nerve disbanded a few months ago. I’m still kicking myself for not making it out to their final shows in Chicago. I’m just glad I did get to see them a couple of times while they were around. Luckily though, the final set was recorded, and you can watch the whole thing (and mosh the fuck out in the comfort of your own home) here. At the moment I’ve got their music on blast — hopefully it will sufficiently irritate my wannabe-fratboy neighbors.

For those who don’t know, Raw Nerve has been one of the best hardcore bands around Chicago in the past few years. Lots of throat-shredding vocals and screaming feedback and all that. The drums are fine-tuned to generate the maximum amount of crowd movement. But they’re hardly by-the-book hardcore. They’ve laid down some interesting coversongs — including a gut-wrenching version of X-Ray Spex’s “I Am a Cliché“ — and there are a few passages, especially on the self-titled LP, that suggest something “bigger than hardcore” going on, but never for long enough for the hardcore-or-die types to complain about it. What do you want me to say? This is punk rock — it’s fast and it’s loud, and it’s the easiest possible music to judge for yourself.

Raw Nerve has one final release, an EP entitled Every Problem Solved, that should be released right about now. You can hear one of the songs here:

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While you’re downloading all this out of print stuff for free (just click under the pictures), you should take a look at the long list of currently-available releases over at Youth Attack Records (including Raw Nerve’s Midnight EP), Tapes, tshirts, razor blades, and all variety of other good stuff can be found there.