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Record Reviews1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | 0-9| A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M | | N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z| Below are some recently posted reviews.  RSS Feed
ORGANIZED SPORTS:
I’m So Proud of Him: 12”
Speedsters Organized Sports crank out nine tracks of unrelenting hardcore punk, blending the timelessness of Jerry’s Kids’ Is This My World? and the intensity of current flag bearers Direct Control. It’s nothing new musically, for sure. Aesthetically, there’s a bit more to be desired in the artwork department: a black and white photo of some teen that I imagine is some sort of hero to the band. It doesn’t do much for me, especially when the lyrical matter is so bleak and misanthropic. It just goes to show there’s no accounting for everyone’s taste, but maybe you’re a bit easier to please.
–Juan Espinosa (Bulkhead / HIV Town, bulkheadrecords@gmail.com)
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ONION FLAVORED RINGS:
Unraveling the Past: The First Two Records on One Tape!: cassette
At last! Another way to listen to one of the best bands in the past decade! Two albums on one cassette! My enthusiasm is not muted by the fact that one of these albums has already been released on cassette! No, this band is so amazing that the mere existence of anything Onion Flavored Rings is the cause for great rejoicing! If you haven’t heard this band, allow me to suggest that your present situation is not unlike that of a person who has not heard Dillinger Four or Radon or Screeching Weasel or, dare I say it, Hüsker Dü. You have not heard Steve Funyon sing about quantum physics (“Now we’re in a universe expanding/And it might expand until forever/Or it might collapse back into nothing/But what did the Big Bang bang on?”)! You have not heard the perfection that is Mr. Funyon’s vocals, Erick Lyle’s (formerly Iggy Scam) drumming and Paul Curran’s bass playing and back-up vocals. The general pop-driven nature of this band might lead a casual listener to overlook the dark lyrical content (for example, “I like you to think I hate everyone/But I just hate myself.”), but that’s what makes the Onion Flavored Rings more than just another SF punk band. You can listen to this when you’re happy and want to host an impromptu one-person dance party or you can listen to this when you’re so depressed that you don’t even want to eat Lucky Charms. It’s dark, it’s poppy, it’s introspective. It’s one of my top ten favorite bands of all time. Did I mention that I love this band?
–Maddy (Dead Broke)
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OBSERVERS, THE:
So What’s Left Now?: LP
Recently re-issued by Taken By Surprise, it never really seemed that hard to find in the States (courtesy of Vinyl Warning), but if there’s a record that deserves to stay in print, it’s this one. Top 10 record of the ‘00s without a doubt. Hauntingly flawless melodies mixed with driving, rallying punk rock and intelligent lyrics. And in the end, as much as I love this record and find myself listening to it years later, one of my favorite things is that these guys are still playing in absolutely killer bands. If you don’t have this, I highly suggest putting down this magazine and getting your hands on it. And while you’re at it track down all the Red Dons, Defect Defect, and Artic Flowers releases you possibly can.
–Daryl Gussin (Taken By Surprise)
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OBN IIIs:
Mark on You: 7”
At first glance at the cover, I was expecting just another low-fi garage rock band and was mistaken. Intense and a little off-kilter, OBN IIIs seem like a band that can’t be contained to vinyl and need to be seen live. Mr. OBN III himself is quite the prolific Texan (he plays in The Bad Sports and was on the John Wesley Coleman Bad Lady Goes to Jail album too.) The guitar tone on “Mark on You” is searing. “Heavy Heart” is a driving, punk-y garage number. My only complaint is that there are only two songs on this record.
–Sal Lucci (Tic Tac Totally)
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NOTHINGTON:
Borrowed Time: CD
I saw Nothington so many times around the release of their first album All In. Part of it might have had to do with working as an intern at their label at the time, BYO, but I also really liked the band. Then they released a second full length and got kind of quiet. I honestly thought that they had possibly broken up, so I was pleasantly surprised, though a bit wary, to see that they had some new releases on Red Scare. My concern turned out to be completely unfounded because they sound just as strong, if not stronger, than before. They’re still doing gruff-voiced punk rock with a tinge of Americana flavoring in their sound, but, if anything, they sound more assured than before. The opener, “Captive Audience,” really sets the pace for the rest of the album. “Hopeless,” with its slow build, is quite the jam, and probably my favorite. There is not really a duff track on here, as even the tracks where second vocalist Chris takes lead sound more forceful than before. I’m glad to know they haven’t watered themselves down like former scene-mates, the Gaslight Anthem. Well, hello, Nothington; it seems like you’re back.
–Adrian Salas (Red Scare)
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NOODLE MUFFIN:
Karmic Bitchslap: CD
The synths and the general “rock” feel of this won’t exactly scream “PUNK!” to those whom that word is synonymous only with a certain set of predetermined and preapproved musical templates and value systems, but there is a clear influence in the anarchic way these cats gleefully bounce from one musical subgenre to another in a way that comes off as part reverent, part creative ribbing, often danceable, and completely demented. This is the third release I believe I’ve come across by them in the past twelve years, and it’s nice to see they’re still flying their freak flag with pride, considerably lighter on the politics this time ‘round, but no less unique in their vision.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Fyoog State)
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NOFX:
Self-titled: 10” EP
There’s no information included here whatsoever, but this consists of the band running through nine covers of songs originally by Agnostic Front, Necros, Urban Waste, Social Unrest, Battalion Of Saints, Sin 34, Rebel Truth, Stretch Marks, and a tune called “Race Riot,” the origin of which is somewhere in the recesses of my noggin but I just can’t seem to drag out. Decent performances here, nothing revelatory, but, in all, some nice run-throughs of songs that once seemed ubiquitous when we were all kids running around fucking shit up in backyards and crappy Hollywood dives with sticky floors and roaches running in and out of the PA speakers (::cough:: CATHAY:: cough::), but are now oddly obscure. Getting old sucks, but this doesn’t.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Fat)
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NIGHT BIRDS:
The Other Side of Darkness: LP
Hardcore that really resonates with me has been made by outcasts. And I don’t mean one-dimensional, “They don’t understand my crew,” looking-for-sponsorship outcasts. I’m talking about people who truly don’t look or fit the part making fast, hard, palpitating music. I’m talking about misfits within misfits, even at the band level, yet they’re all on the same page at the same time, if even just for the length of a record, the duration of a set. They’re all in the same chemistry lab, comic book store, record store, and thrift store for that twenty or so minutes. They draw from obscurity and edges and fringes. Look at old Dead Kennedys, Zero Boys, and Void photos. Look at Out Cold. Regular haircuts. Regular T-shirts. Regular-looking. Not funny-looking. Then listen. It’s what’s trapped inside that’s worth listening to for the long haul. They saved all the weirdness and anger and head ventilation for the music. Night Birds run deep—obvious over—and undercurrents are the surf guitar, the breakneck speed, and the smart lyrics. Inside is melody and Woody Allen references, origami-like guitar leads (fancy cuts, intricate patterns), and a drum that jounces and hollers instead of getting locked like a monkey inside the 4/4 cage. They’re looking at hardcore punk laterally—approaching it from the side—and that sounds so much better than a band you can hear flooring it in a straight line through a suburban cul-de-sac with nowhere else to go. Excellent.
–Todd Taylor (Grave Mistake)
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NIGHT BEATS:
Self-titled: CD
The Night Beats clearly have a core stored deep in the garage. Piled on top, though, are healthy heaps of psychedelia and surf, which turns what could’ve been just another exercise in faceless ‘60s nostalgia into a moody and sometimes downright swampy excursion into some of rock’s darker corners. Definitely worth the search.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Trouble In Mind)
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NERVOUS GENDER:
“Gestalt” b/w “Green Tile Floors”: 7”
Both label (Test Tube released 45s by the Zeros and pre-Youth Brigade band The Extremes) and band have deep roots in Los Angeles’s punk scene, and seeing as both haven’t released much in a loooooooong time, this also signifies a return to form for both. Both songs date back to 1979, when Nervous Gender was wreaking havoc on unsuspecting punk audiences, but the versions presented here were recorded in late 2009 with most of the founding members in attendance (Gerardo Velasquez passed away in the early 1990s). If you’re thinkin’ there is no way in hell this could hold a candle to previous classics like the Music From Hell LP and their tracks on the Live at Target compilation, rest assured the tunes here showcase a group that has not softened a whit with age. Time, experience, and three decades of technological advances may have allowed them to organize the parts a wee bit better, but the chaos, flailing synthesizers, and blunt vitriol of their attack remain in full display both on wax and live, as those who have seen their recent performances can attest. They remain one of the best and most criminally overlooked bands Los Angeles has ever produced, and this release is fan-fucking-tastic. Here’s hoping a full-length isn’t too far behind this.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Test Tube, testtuberecords.com)
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NEGATIVE LIFESTYLE:
Panic: EP
This trio from Sweden delivers the goods in short blasts of raw and stripped-down, tuneful hardcore punk. There are a few thrashers on here (“M.B.D.,” “New Solutions,” “No Random Signals,” and the title track), but the rest are a touch moodier—and have a little more going on in the structure—from mid to quick tempos, bass-driven breaks, and guitars that come in and out. The whole record is steeped in urgency, which is really noticeable in the vocals (that remind me of Claude Bessy), that have a dry and desperate sound that switches between shouted and spoken. While there are some fast ragers on here, I find the slightly slower songs like “Trying to Fit In,” “Radio Silence,” and “Reading to Avoid Thinking” stand out more and stay with me later throughout the day. Don’t hesitate in picking this one up.
–Matt Average (Deranged, derangedrecords.com)
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NATO COLES AND THE BLUE DIAMOND BAND / KING FRIDAY:
Split!!: 7”
Nato Coles: I’m familiar with his work, having done brief tours with the Modern Machines and Used Kids. The Blue Diamond Band is the next step in the timeline of the aforementioned bands, in that it’s really starting to channel DIY punk through the Bruce Springsteen/Tom Petty/classic rock’n’roll singer/songwriter filter, as opposed to vice versa. It threw me for a sec, because it was labeled as 33 (which bugs me on 7”s), but thought “this sounds pretty weird for Nate” and, sure enough, it’s 45. But the songs are great, and if there’s any justice, an incarnation of the Blue Diamond Band will end up with a residency somewhere in Vegas (or some other small desert casino town, probably to Nate’s liking). King Friday: Never heard of them before this, even though some research leads me to believe they’ve been around for a long time, but I like Florida. The whole aesthetic of the record looks like an old Lookout release, and this band kind of reminds me of a DIY punk Superchunk, with pretty awesome mid-tempo rock with the slightest little guitar intricacies. Plus, the singing reminds me of a Florida version of Mac from Superchunk, which I don’t know how to describe, but who cares? It means it’s good. Great split all around.
–Joe Evans III (ADD)
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NAKED AGGRESSION / ALL OR NOTHING H.C.:
Split: CD
Despite the fact that they’ve been around more than twenty years and they’re originally from Wisconsin, my home state, I’ve never actually listened to Naked Aggression. Oops. Thoughtful and intense hardcore poking at the same problems hardcore’s been poking at since old times, albeit with a sharper stick than usual. If you haven’t heard them yet either, now’s a good chance to remedy that problem, especially since they’re paired up with the like-minded All Or Nothing H.C. on this split.
–MP Johnson (On The Rag)
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MOTHER’S CHILDREN:
Are You Tough Enough?: 12” EP
A six-song follow-up to their debut record, Ottawa’s finest return with a great release. They actually remind me of the Minneapolis’s Crash Kids a bit (which is a good thing, trust me). I like “Sabre Tooth” and “What’s Your Problem” the best here. There is a reason Paul Collins brought these guys on tour with them. They simply rock, in the best tradition of 20/20 or The Plimsouls. Pick this up and you will be bopping along when you pick up your burger and strawberry milkshake at your local fast food joint. Yum.
–Sean Koepenick (Taken By Surprise)
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MINUTEMEN / SACCHARINE TRUST:
Split: 7”EP
It’s very goddamned hard to speak of the stuff on here, because my first inclination is to just gush like some simp fan boy about how truly fuggin’ fabulous these bands were and how truly fuggin’ mandatory a purchase this is. I mean, seriously, both took the Southern California hardcore template that was barely being forged at the time these tracks were being recorded, roughly 1980-83, and promptly turned the whole endeavor on its head with liberal doses of funk, groove-mongering, and free jazz. You get three songs from each here, all previously released, but all culled from the now-obscure Chunks, Cracks in the Sidewalk, Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself and Life Is Beautiful So Why Not Eat Health Foods classic punk compilations, which means you’d have a fucker of a time finding ‘em separately and your wallet would take a severe beating the minute you attempted to procure them. Pettibon and Baiza art, lyric sheet, and some of the best music to come out of the United States—you really cannot ask for more.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Water Under The Bridge)
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MIKE KROL:
I Hate Jazz: 10”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Holy moly. First record I can think of in recent memory that came from a band that I’ve never heard of that—as soon as I drop the needle on the record—it blows me away immediately. Internet searches for Mike Krol provide little information other than that he played drums in a couple bands in Wisconsin and Connecticut and makes his living doing graphic design. The design element comes through clearly, as the artwork is quite sharp, with the colors and fonts used uniformly throughout the record, front and back, inside and out. It looks like it could be an early Talking Heads record. Musically, it starts off with a little garagey jingle jangle of the guitar, but then warmly played keyboards and naïf-like vocals come in, and those jingle jangle guitars turn in to rich, full, smartly tuned and timed thrashes and all of a sudden shards of post-punk and indie rock start flying everywhere and it all kind of adds up to something like Atom And His Package with a full band. This is a winner, easily the MVP of the new batch of review materials. White vinyl, hand-numbered, and comes with download card.
–Jeff Proctor (Counter Counter Culture)
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MIGHTY MIDGETS / REVENGE OF THE PSYCHOTRONIC MAN / FIST OF THE NORTHSTAR / BROKE:
Four Band Split: CD
Mighty Midgets: Vaguely technical, melodic hardcore that’s kind of like A Wilhelm Scream, but from Sweden. Revenge of the Psychotronic Man: The band that I picked this CD up for. These guys are awesome. Rowdy-sounding British dudes playing really fast with just enough appreciation for melody to hold things together. I loved their Make Pigs Smoke album from a while back, and this delivers more of the same. Think of these guys as the burlier second coming of Snuff. Fist Of The North Star: Dudes from Nashville who turn in four tracks of melodic hardcore/skatepunk. Pretty good, but it goes by in a blur of double picking and harmonics due to being on the back half of the CD. Broken Aris: This Swedish band sounds exactly like early Rise Against, but with a really, really distracting singer. Think if Feargal Sharkey (Undertones) took a hit of helium and then tried to sing songs from Revolutions Per Minute. Yes, it sounds really weird.
–Adrian Salas (Stik Man/ 5 Feet Under /TNS)
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MIDWEST BEAT, THE:
Gone Not Lost: LP
Not sure if this came out before or after their recent Back to Mono 7”. Midwest Beat is tight as hell but manage to sound like a shambolic, sing-a-long basement party band. I still need to see ‘em live. I don’t know what to call their sound—countrified power pop? Something that could only come from the Midwest. There are lots of layers on this album and I hear more each listen—great vocal harmonies and guitar melodies. There’s nary a second to breathe between songs, keeping the energy high. If rock’n’roll was a three-course dinner, I’d pair Midwest Beat with Box Elders and Goodnight Loving.
–Sal Lucci (Dusty Medical)
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MIDWEST BEAT, THE:
Back to Mono: 7” EP
So much emphasis has been put on the “budget rock” end of the ‘60s influence thang that when something like this comes along it’s almost like a breath of fresh air. Four tunes of smart, jangly stuff that owe as much to the Paisley Underground bands of the ‘80s as the psychedelic groove merchants of the ‘60s. Catchy and well executed.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Eradicator)
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MEHKAGO NT:
Massive Fucking Headwounds: LP
Dark, brooding, downtuned hardcore, these dudes pretty much seem to be glowing with hate on this one. They’re certainly convincing, I’ll give em that. As far as I can tell, they pretty much despise everything, but especially fashion punks and religious sects. These are slow, droning, punishing songs, with blazing thrash attacks scattered throughout. The cover art’s got a bunch of dudes at a show surrounding the singer and, yep, every single one of them is bleeding from the noggin. Something tells me I would most assuredly not be able to handle a pit at a Mehkago NT show.
–Keith Rosson (To Live A Lie)
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ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES:
Sing in Japanese: CDEP
That title is no misnomer there, kids; they do indeed warble profusely in that fair country’s native tongue. Funny, but I’ve always wondered what these guys would sound like if they did originals, and I reckon this is about as close as it’s gonna get to that. This is one of those rare moments when I know fuck all about any of the covers they’re coverin’, but the band’s charm and uncanny ability to keep modern pop punk’s curse of “let’s increase our irrelevancy by sounding more and more like each other” completely at bay. No surprise, considering this is the same band that managed to make Barry Manilow sound good.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Fat)
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MAN…OR ASTRO-MAN:
Your Weight on the Moon: CD
A reissue of a 10” EP, plus the tracks from the Mission to Chaos and Return to Chaos 7” EPs. I profess to have little to no real knowledge about this band, which is a huge oversight on my part. I have no real explanation why, seeing as everything I’ve ever heard by ‘em I dug, but, nonetheless, they’re one o’ them bands I always promised I’d pay more attention to but never actually got around to picking up any of their stuff. By the sound of it, these are from relatively early in their career, with virtually no synths in evidence and all but one of the nineteen tracks are surfy instrumentals with a beefy, punky sound and a lot of audio samples from assorted movies and television shows. If that sounds right up your alley but, like this dolt, haven’t taken the time to give ‘em proper adulation, I suggest you get to it, bucko.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Overground)
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MALL’D TO DEATH:
The Process of Reaching Out: 7”
When I signed up for reviews, I suppose I should have seen this one coming: two solid label dudes who I’d consider friends release a record that just isn’t for me. Not that this is bad... far from it, in fact! Lyrically, I can totally get behind topics like rallying against the digital age or wallowing in self-deprecation, and the musicianship and energy on this album is apparent. It’s just that while fifteen years ago I would have been all over this, these days I could take or leave their brand of ‘90s pop punk with ska influences. If you’re a fan of Dun Bin Had or Bomb The Music Industry, this will be right up your alley. It’s just leaving me a bit lukewarm.
–Chris Mason (It’s Alive/GC)
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MACHETAZO / MARROW:
Split: 12”
I like a novelty item like the next person. Record cut like a saw blade? Cool! Even if I hate the record, I would keep it for just that. Yup! I can be a record nerd a lot of the time. Machetazo: Spain-based grindcore band that has kept up the fight since 1994, based on a quick search of the interwebs. They are also a two-piece outfit, which probably keeps things efficient. They’re very much like one of my other favorite two-piece bands, Population Reduction; the difference being the lyrics are in Spanish and this band delves more into the heavier parts of death metal. All in all, raging. Morrow: From the depths of Baltimore, this band belts out the evil-sounding death metal. Pictures of face paint and throwing up devil horns while swinging your hair is the picture that pops up into my deteriorating mind. The music is done with precision and they definitely seem to be proficient in the genre they have chosen. Grind vs. death metal? The grind side is the winner for me.
–Donofthedead (Dysphoria)
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LOUD SQUIRT:
Déjà Vu Revue Blues: 7” EP
Medium-fi trash rock, emphasis on the rock. The tempos are reined in, but the songs are well written and the delivery has the requisite intensity to push this into the “winner” pile.
–Jimmy Alvarado (High School Refuse)
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