HEART ATTACK were as good as any band on the early '80s New York hardcore punk scene and were-Bad Brains aside-the most exciting. They were like a sped-up Clash, with their jackhammer thrills and blasting, primitive, but oddly tight-wound sound. New York City's first hardcore punk record the killer God is Dead 7" perfectly documents the times. Heart Attack were inspired to speed up after seeing the Bad Brains whose first 7-inch came out in D.C. You can hear the mixture of JESSE MALINs evident zeal and believable snarl that barely hid the excitement these guys had unleashing their pent-up energy, and how frenzied but controlled it all still sounds. You didn't "have to be there," in other words. Faster than punk but slower than the later thrash, put them up against the way-lesser Dischord bands of the era, and you'll like the group even more.