"This EP was actually recorded in August 1984 but it hadn't gotten mixed, mastered, and released until at least April 1987. Truly a shame because this album sounded rather ahead of it's time for having been recorded in 1984: most bands hadn't played this fast until the later 80's. This is both the first and last album by Psychotic Maniacs, who were a very short-lived Australian hardcore band who (in my opinion) do not get the attention they deserve. Matter of fact, Australian hardcore as a whole doesn't get the attention it deserves. Do you see Australia in the categories section? The back cover of this record says what I think was the lifespan of the band, 'Psychotic Maniacs, December 1983-October 1984'. Less than a year old!
Some people compare this band to Depression which I don't think is too far off, but it sounds more like the self-titled LP Depression did, not the later metal shit. Also, I like this singer more than Depression's singer. Other than that, someone also compared them to Conflict which I don't think is accurate at all. To me the vocals sound a lot like the singer from Chaos UK.
Liz from the band G.A.S.H. (Girls Against Sexual Hype) also plays bass on this record. The rest of the line-up includes Ronnie - vocals, Obby - guitar, and Scotty - drums. KFTH had this to say about them:
'The story goes, Depression were recording their self titled LP in 1985. They finished recording a lot earlier than expected, so rather than let the recording time go to waste, Smeer of Depression called the Maniacs up at 2am and told them to get down to the studio. The Maniacs, who at the time were living at the infamous "Hardcore House" with Depression and Gash came down to the studio and kicked down six songs from their old live set.'
I don't think this is true, but I don't know. Like I mentioned before, the album cover says they split in 1984, and Depression wasn't recording that album until 1985. So either KFTH is wrong or the cover must be. Regardless, it sucks that this band didn't last longer or record more. Another thing KFTH kinda messed up on was saying how this EP was referred to by some as 'Tribes Of Melbourne' when thats actually just the name of the song, it actually says 'A Tribe Of Melbourne' on the label of the vinyl. A small mistake. Technically, I would label this as a self-titled EP since it only has the bands name on the album cover, but that probably hasn't been done yet because it would just make this band even harder to find.
'I Need The Weed' has got to be THEE best hardcore weed song I've ever heard! From what I understand, it's a song about wanting to smoke weed but not having the funds. Pretty awesome lyrics like 'I want to smoke, I want to smoke, I want to smoke today / Smoke smoke smoke smoke smoke my life away'. Being a pothead, I can't help but relate to it. My favorite part is where he says something like 'I need the weed! It's why Jesus sent me here!'. However, 'Wanna Die' is my favorite song on this album, which is weird beause I didn't think too highly of it when I first heard it, but it grows on you." --7 Inch Punk (R.I.P.)
