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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
RATCLIFFS, THE :
Captain Supermarket: 7”EP
European pop punk that’s mostly Ramones core with a little bit of old rock’n’roll, like a lot of their contemporaries. Given the choice, I might choose to listen to one of said contemporaries, but I’m also jaded as hell. If I found myself in whatever part of Europe they’re from on a night they were playing, I’d check them out.
–Joe Evans III (Monster Zero)
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RAMMING SPEED / A.N.S.:
Split: LP
I feel like I’m reliving my teen years again with all the new thrash metal that is making the rounds, making me believe it’s the crossover period again. Ramming Speed start things off with a bombastic blast of thrash metal that gets close to death metal and grind territory at times. A vocal delivery that is throaty and shouted then guttural. Bright guitar tones with a heavy dose of rapid chords and hyperfast solos are combined with thundering bass and drums to bring a force of sound to their music. A.N.S. are equal contenders with their contribution to this release. Crossover in the vein of Excel meets Nuclear Assault. The soundtrack to a good skate sesh on the backyard halfpipe. A raw feel to the production gives them more of a punk edge. But the metal is brought with the heavy chugging of the guitar. I really appreciated hearing the mosh part in one of their songs. I saw the band a couple of years ago and came away with a good appreciation of their live show. It’s a great pairing of two current bands that gives me the itch to experience Ramming Speed live when they come to town.
–Donofthedead (Tankcrimes)
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HEROES OF HISTORY:
Lightning and Thunder: CD
Cleveland! That’s the first thing that I thought when I put on Lightning and Thunder. I was wrong but close. They’re from Columbus, Ohio. So it’s an Ohio thing, apparently. If you were to ask me what this thing is, I really wouldn’t know what to tell you. It’s hard to put my finger on, but there’s this weird sound currently going on in Ohio and I can tell immediately where it’s from. I know that Ohio isn’t the only place that is putting out carefree, fun, shitty punk rock these days, yet, when I hear something like HOH, it immediately makes me think of bands like The Fucking Cops who are also from there. It’s not classic, timeless music or anything, but I don’t think that’s what they’re going for. However, if you want to bounce around at red light to some lo-fi, funny songs about werewolves and zombies and witches, then give this one a shot.
–Craven (Self-released)
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RAINBOW PERSON:
Trade Labor Vocation: 7”EP
Cold, raw strangulation. Scraping the flesh from the inside of a pelt with a stone. Without a melody in sight, Rainbow Person is a desolate affair—sounding bleach white and coal black—like the disintegrating silhouette of a Solzhenitsyn buzzard circling over a Siberian gulag. Dire shit. Makes Born Against almost sound like a hummable jingle for a retirement village advertising an attached golf course. I tip my cap to the disintegrating, teeth grinding atmosphere they pull off. Kudos, also, to the hand-letter pressed, thick cardboard cover and obvious close attention to the packaging. Bleak. Convincing.
–Todd Taylor (Television / Margin Mouth)
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RAD PAYOFF:
Self-titled: Cassette
I’m digging these Let’s Pretend cassettes. They’re completely different and entertaining in weird and surprising ways. “Top Kill” starts off with a very obtuse verse that would serve as a springboard for the first of many nitrous-fueled choruses, if it weren’t stopped by a couple of long, awkward pauses that you can’t help but fill by asking, “What?” And then on “We All Go to Hell,” there’s a guitar solo that seems to have fought its way free from a junk heap somewhere, but only for a moment before the drums suck it back in and the song ends. And then on the last song, suddenly they’re a hardcore band or something? My only complaint: You can fit more than five songs on a tape.
–MP Johnson (Let’s Pretend / Dead Broke)
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PUNCTURE:
“Mucky Pup” b/w “You Can’t Rock and Roll”: 7”
If you’ve gotta make one important contribution to punk rock’s legacy, a band can do far worse than “Mucky Pup.” The tune, likely best known for the Exploited’s cover of it on their Punk’s Not Dead album, is a primitive, atonal squawk featuring obnoxious lyrical brilliance like, “I pick my nose/and I eat it up/I’m a real humdinger/I’m a mucky pup.” Unlike bands like Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoia, who were little more than rock bands trying to take the piss outta punk, Puncture seemed more of a punk band just trying to take the piss; a minor distinction, maybe, but one worth noting. The flip, “You Can’t Rock and Roll (in a Council Flat),” is a bit more melodic, relying on a more, uh, traditional rock feel (punctuated by some minimalist synth) to relate its tale of woe. Though at least “Mucky Pup” is available on a comp here and there, it’s definitely nice to see the whole package on vinyl again, even if the cat who put it out got a bit overzealous with his “promo” stamp—I know you wanna make it clear, but twenty goddamned stampings plus “Razorcake Promo” Sharpied across the top back of the cover? Not one for subtlety, apparently.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Last Laugh)
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PULLING TEETH:
Funerary: LP
Admittedly, I wasn’t super into Pulling Teeth when they first released Vicious Skin (or even Martyr Immortal, for that matter). Not because I didn’t think their shit ripped, but because I have an unhealthy, endless love for both Left For Dead and The Swarm, and I was very skeptical of this new band that was getting compared to my two sweethearts constantly. Somewhere along the way, however, as PT’s song structures broadened and they became more of their own entity, I was drawn in. And quite thankfully, I might add. Funerary picks up pretty much right where Paradise Illusions left off, continuing their Holy Terror-meets-Colohan-bands approach, while upping the sludge elements somewhat and even toying with quite memorable melodies on the back end of the record. Fans of the band will still be pumped and perhaps those who weren’t initially floored by Pulling Teeth will be feeling this one. Great work.
–Dave Williams (A389)
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HENRY DUNKLE:
Tom Karman: 7”
Jesus, this is great. I used to see Henry play when he was in high school with just an acoustic guitar, and this record expands on his style without the full band taking away from his voice. The songs are country-inspired with wonderfully simple modern indie style arrangements. His voice nestles nicely into the arrangements, coming together to create a haunting and catchy record. This is rough and unique enough to appeal to a punk crowd but crafted enough to get played on the radio. Get this and put it on a bunch of mix tapes. Girls will love you.
–Ian Wise (Big Legal Mess)
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PRETTY BOY THORSON & THE FALLING ANGELS / WORTHWHILE WAY:
Split: 7”
Finally, a way to trick my friends into liking the Mountain Goats! This fine record includes a cover of the Mountain Goats song “Fault Lines” by Minneapolis’ own Pretty Boy Thorson & the Falling Angels, with no apparent credit given to the Mountain Goats, which is all the better for my deceptive plan! Me: “You know that awesome Pretty Boy song?” You: “That song about the couple that wish they were dead? The one that goes, ‘And the fights, and the lies that we both love to tell fail to send our love to its reward down in hell?’” Me: “Yes, that one.” You: “What about it? That song rules.” Me: “You are correct, and you are a Mountain Goats fan.” Success! Plus, two songs by Worthwhile Way, a super poppy band with girl singers from Japan. Sample lyric, “I wish my family to be happy every day.” Punk rock!
–Maddy (Eager Beaver)
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DO IT WITH MALICE:
The Burned Over District: CD
There’s third wave ska horns which, aside from the very few bands that tastefully use them (i.e. Citizen Fish), I’m not big on already. The big sin which I cannot abide by here though is the autotune overkill going on all over the place with the vocals. Unless you’re making catchy dance tracks and are dressed like a robot, I’m just not down.
–Adrian Salas (diwmny.com, doitwithmalice1@yahoo.com)
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HAZARDOUS WASTE:
Destroy: 7”
Two things pop off the top of my head when I read the band’s name. Crossover maybe ala Municipal Waste or the lead track off my old Hated Principles’ LP. I know the latter is isolated to me and maybe one other person in the world. Dropping the needle changes any preconceived thoughts of this Canadian outfit. Early ‘80s hardcore that easily could have been on a Mystic comp during that period. A similarity to countrymen Career Suicide come to mind and also I have thoughts that they sound a bit like SOA. Overall, straight forward, no gimmick punk always is a pleasure to these ears.
–Donofthedead (Schizophrenic)
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DISTRICT SIX YOUTH ENSEMBLE:
Certified Professionals: CD-R
It’s well documented that high levels of instant success irrevocably damage artists. Look no further than a boatload of child actors and author Joseph Heller. (Catch 22 cast a long shadow; one that he never escaped.) Bryan May, who I’ve chastised in the past never to send out band practice tapes as “demos,” heeded my advice. DSYE are good with flashes of being really good. The signposts and direction are clear: Denton, TX punk (wisps of Marked Men, High Tension Wires, Bad Sports). The good news is that the bands Bryan is playing in are getting progressively better by degree. That if these musicians keep chuggin’ away, they turn bright-hot instant success on its ear and fit the much better template of continually releasing stronger and stronger songs the longer they play. Keep plugging in and pluggin’ away.
–Todd Taylor (Self-released, no address listed)
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POOR LILY:
Self-titled: CD
Poor Lily is doing a throwback Minutemen meets Fugazi says hello to the Dead Kennedys thing. It’s pretty good, as far as those things go. But my Ramones-addled brain wants a chorus, and a chorus you shall not find (for the most part) on this album! Poor Lily offers angular tunes, shouted vocals, short songs (two minutes or less) and lyrics like, “Why don’t you stick a needle in my head and extract my point of view?” Bonus fact: This three-piece includes the former drummer for Sick Of It All, Murphy’s Law, and H20 and the former drummer for the 1980s New York hardcore band Beyond. Two drummers, one band! (One of them now plays guitar.) If you like the Minutemen, then this is worth checking out. And the whole album is on the band’s website for free. Easy decisions!
–Maddy (self-released)
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DISASTERATTI:
Transmissionary: LP
Big, blustery, and heavy stuff—with its AmRep stomp and grunge-sludge tempos in all the right places—that still has the sense to throw in enough hooks to keep you coming back for another ass-whooping.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Learning Curve)
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POLICE TEETH:
Awesomer than the Devil: LP
One of the most interesting things about a piece of vinyl is how it forces you to consider the cover. A picture of a bobble Jesus, next to a bobble luchador, shot with the color palette of a Small Brown Bike record. It definitely gave me an impression right from the start (i.e.: this band is going to have some Fugazi influence). Though it turns out I was correct, these guys deliver more than enough interesting riffs to show that they can stand on their own two feet. While the songs can get a bit long at times (forgive me, I have a short attention span), this disc is pretty solid. B+.
–Bryan Static (Latest Flame)
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HARCO:
Incredible Jazz: Cassette
I really like how this band seems to experiment with different sounds to meld together their own approach. Very spazzy, energy-driven punk that rarely gets out of the higher gears. You can clearly see the influences of such groups as Nation Of Ulysses and Blood Brothers, but there’s also a bounciness reminiscent of early Wire and Magazine. I really dug the handmade tape case and info sheet. Very cool.
–Rene Navarro (Self-released)
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DISAPPEARED, THE:
Bridges: CD
Bits of youth crew, pop punk, and corporate rock/metal add up to very little worth paying any mind.
–Jimmy Alvarado (I Hate Punk Rock, ihatepunkrock.net)
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PLATES:
Taking Pictures of Poor People: 7” EP
A-Side: L7-style hypnotic sludge riffin’ with a dude who sounds like he listened to a lot of Second Wind. B-side has two more tracks that are nary a whit faster, but definitely heavier.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Feral Kid)
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DENNIS MOST:
Instigate Me!!: CD
I wasn’t expecting much from this CD-R with no real artwork and very little information. What I was able to dig up on the interwebs is that Dennis Most is an old school punk rocker whose history playing music goes back to the 1970s, including with his band The Instigators. There are seven songs on here that come in at eighteen minutes, so nothing is wasted. All the tracks are direct and fun, mixing a combination of ‘70s punk with new wave. Keyboards are prevalent on many songs, leading me to think of a non-hectic, slowed down version of Le Shok, but the stripped down nature reminded me a little of GG Allin. None of the songs are overwhelmingly amazing but they’re still competent and inspiring, which is more than I can say for most of the stuff I get to review.
–Kurt Morris (Self-released, dennismostinstigator.com)
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PEZZ:
The Wicked Leading the Blind: 7”
Woah, this was a surprise! I had no clue this band was still playing music but was a big fan in the late ‘90s. But while I’m happy to see this band is still releasing records, this three-song 7” is all over the place. Side A features the title track, a mid-tempo song with dueling vocals and thick guitars that would be right at home on a Fat Wreck Chords comp in the mid-’90s. Not bad. Then the first song on side B threw me for a loop. Bordering on hardcore, but totally misses the mark. It kind of reminds me of Sing the Sorrow era AFI... not a good thing. Surprising for a band in which most the members went on to form Bury The Living! The second song on side B is a total jammer that sounds like how I remember this band sounding! Leatherface worship is never a bad thing when done right. If this were a one-sided 7” that just included the third song, I’d be totally satisfied.
–Chris Mason (Fat Sandwich, fatsandwichrecords.com)
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PETER STUBB:
Piranha Death Groove: Cassette
The sheer weirdness of the music on this cassette overcomes all the superficial strikes against it (cheesy porn samples between songs, logo blatantly ripped off from the band Death, etc). Simple, catchy guitar parts collide with growled vocals and dance beats. Songs start and end in the wrong places. I’m pretty sure I heard synthesized handclaps. Or is Peter Stubb a robot? Maybe he’s a robot werewolf. No, he is probably an alien with no concept of what music is supposed to sound like, because music is definitely not supposed to sound like this, and that’s what makes it rad.
–MP Johnson (Let’s Pretend)
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DECLARATION:
Searching for the Answers: 7”
Well-made youth crew hardcore with zero originality. I could be a dick and say something like, “They should just call themselves Declared because all of this shit has been said and done a thousand times before.” Wait... yeah, actually I think that I’ll go with that. The best part about this record is the stencil artwork by everyone’s favorite graffiti artist, Banksy. Oh, wait, turns out it’s not Banksy. They’re just biting him, too.
–Craven (Pee, peerecords.com)
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HAPPY THOUGHTS, THE:
Self-titled: LP
Live, The Happy Thoughts (formerly “Eric And…”) are fantastic, a fresh breath into the power pop scene. Your mind’s ear will hear The Ramones and The Beat. It will hear the rapid-fire down stroke guitar and the vocal harmonies. It will hear Eric LaGrange’s resonant but not too syrupy sweet voice. It just looks like they’re having so much fun on stage. Their debut LP, however, is a little too thin and light on the low end. LaGrange’s vocals don’t have the power they do live. I’m thinking too much compression was used. Recorded at The Perennials’ house in Indianapolis and featuring Perennials bassist Jordan Allen. Now if only The Perennials release that goddamn album they’ve been sitting on!
–Sal Lucci (Hozac)
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PEOPLE AT PARTIES:
“Say” / “Control”: Flexi 7”
Kat Jetson, who runs Project Infinity Records, is awesome. She puts out music that she loves. She treats her bands extremely honestly and really takes the extra steps to make her packaging special. This time out is the re-emergence of the flexi-single. (Flexis are one-sided, thin records that often came as tear-outs in magazines.) People At Parties play multi-layered dance music with synthesizers. I also imagine designer jeans and fashionable… uh, fashion. My frame of reference is limited, so pardon comparisons to the ‘80s that may be way off the contemporary mark: Depeche Mode, Yaz, Aimee Mann, and Ultravox.
–Todd Taylor (Project Infinity)
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DEAD UNCLES / THE CREDENTIALS:
Split: 7”
You only get one song from each band, but the packaging is pretty spectacular. Glued jackets with a hot pink paper strip around it. Hot pink, I tell you! Both bands play a similar style of downer pop punk. Gloomy moodiness at 45 RPMs, but both bands use their sides of the split to checker the choruses and verses with scene-building, guitar-led instrumental parts. Plus they put their phone numbers on the back, so pick this up and let them know what you think.
–Daryl Gussin (86’d)
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