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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
DARK AGES:
Demo: CD-R
Thrashy, bold hardcore that can bring the breakdowns without coming off like total d-bags. While not as proficient as righteous bands like Government Warning and Career Suicide, comparisons are not unwarranted. The hand-stamped, hand-screened paper CD cases receive high DIY marks as well. Luckily for all us CD-loathing goons, and anyone who didn’t get a copy of the demo, these songs are gonna get pressed by Get Revenge Records.
–Daryl Gussin (Big Brown Shark)
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DAN PADILLA / THE TIM VERSION / HIDDEN SPOTS / TILTWHEEL:
Split: 7”
Short version. Buy this. It’s damn-near perfect. Long version: Dan Padilla: Their song is about J. Wang’s grannie getting shoved in a closet during a home invasion and the weapons stolen from her husband are used to kill a family of four, point blank, several miles away. It’s about Mamie testifying against them by solely their voices. Chilling… and a very cathartic to sing along to when less devastating things are happening in everyday life. Quite possibly my favorite Padilla song so far. The Tim Version: Pound out a living, breathing ballad about looking at the scars of living; not necessarily with regret or pride, just taking stock of it all. The Tim Version, like all the bands on this split, make me wish there was another category besides “punk” to place this in because it doesn’t quite do them justice, and “great music,” seems too vague. Imperfect lexicons: what’re you gonna do? Hidden Spots: Ever drank a beer, swallowed someone else’s cigarette butt, spat it out, shrugged it off, and rationalized that much worse could have happened on that day? Chattanooga’s gentlemen sound like they’ve been handed a lot of beers with butts, but their answer to that is to make party songs about all means of defiance: church, state, and personal. How can dirty sound so catchy? Mike Pack’s been answering question for years since The Jack Palance Band. Tiltwheel: It’s a blast from the vault; Leatherface in full effect, and wonderfully so: snaking guitars, bright tones, gravel throat. It’s a song about alcohol(ism), from the inside out. It’s not party-hooray, yet still uplifting. Funny, how all four bands can give tragedy some sunshine in the form of lasting music.
–Todd Taylor (ADD)
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DAN MELCHOIR UND DAS MENACE:
“Madame Nhu” b/w “So Real”: 7”
Taking out the sextant and plotting the charts by the stars, Dan Melchoir works in the same territories as Billy Childish. Amateur-by-design zeal defined by its simplicity (and very often, its oddity). Prolific-by-nature. Art-as-life first with the strands of painter, musician, and writer all balled up together and inseparable. Here are two stripped-down, subdued tracks that take their time, but are worth following through the trellised garden of a unique mind who gets placed far too often in the “garage” cubby hole, which is a disservice because he’s much more than that. Nice.
–Todd Taylor (Plastic Idol, www.plasticidorlrecords.com)
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DAILY VOID, THE:
Self-titled: CD
While it appears the Functional Blackouts are no more, these former members have taken up the mantle and unleashed eleven tracks of sheer brilliance. Peppered with liberal doses of trash, noisy art punk, and hardcore, this is not for the weak-minded or sonically staid, which translates to if you like it loud and have half a brain, you already own a copy.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Deadbeat)
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DAILY VOID, THE:
Self-titled: 7” EP
What I find most intriguing about these cats is that they manage to appeal to punk rock, art damage, and the noise rock fiend in me all at the same time. They’re stuff is at once weird, abrasive, and strangely rocking, which is no mean feat. Three tunes, none of which are on the CD, all of which are worth the searchin’.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Boom Chick, no address)
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DAILY VOID, THE:
Mass Communication Culture: 7”
Sick, sick, sick. Unfortunately the Functional Blackouts are no more, but, lucky for us, three of them are in the Daily Void now, continuing their sick punk vibe. Great three song single, all non-LP tracks. The Daily Void feel extremely vital for this era, the zero years: undefinable synthetic weirdness that fills the black inside. “Mind controooOoooOoooOool.”
–Speedway Randy (Boom Chick)
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CUNTIFIERS:
Never Coming Out: CD
Greg Pettix, the lead singer of both the dearly departed Weird Lovemakers and Knockout Pills, takes the vocal duties of another band that harnesses much of the anxiety-ridden carburetion of Scared Of Chaka. Hardcore? Garage? Both. Neither. Fans of his previous bands won’t be disappointed. There’s the big record collection feel to the music—from The Animals to The Zombies to carnival rides to salsa—and a great movie monster meets historical figure meets sexual situation slant to the lyrics (everything from C.H.U.D. to Descartes to an apache lighting his farts and killing Custer’s family to refrains of “my dick’s on fire”). Greg even put a hand-written note stating that there’s a “rock opera”—that could easily fit on a 7”—in the middle of it all. (It comes across like a PBS special on the old West, riddled with LSD, with a “golden age” porn director narrating the action.) I love Greg’s voice. It’s intrusive. You can’t put this CD on and have it bubble in the background because even when it’s quiet, it cuts. Greg’s screechy, itchy, adolescent-fascination-in-a-grown-man’s bellow cuts through any idle conversation and the band goes full throttle through all twenty-three tracks. Not one song ever gets much over a minute and a half. Yay to that. Understandably, I have a feeling a lot of people will be turned off by the name… but I’m definitely standing by the music because, frankly, this is awesome.
–Todd Taylor (Self-released)
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CROWD, THE:
Letter Bomb: CD
This brings back memories. This record was my first exposure to The Crowd when it was released by Flipside. Twelve years later, it’s still catchy, still cool. Also includes the rare EP Dig Yourself.
–Jim Ruland (TKO)
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CRIMINAL INTENT:
Self-titled: 7” EP
Wow, this looks and sounds like it just stepped out of a time machine back from 1985/86. The cover art looks a lot like Walsby had a hand in it (but apparently he didn’t), and the music sounds like a thrashy cross between the Stupids and early Beyond Possession. Not bad, although a bit disorienting.
–Jimmy Alvarado (www.myspace.com/cipunks902)
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CRETEENS, THE:
Burn Your School: 7”
The first thing that grabbed me was the crazy sleeve art. A freak out landscape of a burning high school, girls sucking on disembodied cocks, a dude with a crazy mullet skateboarding, puking, nachos, and naked guys running around with paper bags on their heads… all drawn in a classic junior high style that had me not knowing what to expect. Musically, the Creteens rip it up with a style that is very reminiscent of the Regulations. Sloppy, thrashy, yet catchy as hell. I think I’ll be looking for more from these sickos.
–Ty Stranglehold (Boom Chick)
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CRETEENS, THE:
Burn Your School: 7”EP
A blowjob bonanza, high school on fire, puking, skating (weird hand placement), MexiFry Nachos, and hung authority figures, all crudely and funnily drawn on the cover? Yeppers. The same, only the musical version, on the wax? Check. For fans of the Spits and Jay Reatard’s more profane work—both of whom I fly the flag for—so yeah, it’s an easy chaos to like. As I’ve said before: being this consistently dumb is pretty fuckin’ hard.
–Todd Taylor (Boom Chick)
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CREEPY:
The Triple EP: CD
This is a conglomeration of two of the band’s earlier EPs and three new tunes, arranged in reverse chronological order. So, it functions as a timeline of the band from recent work to earliest. I wish they had put the early stuff first, because it was a lot more fun. Overall, the record is a good document of a good pop punk band, but the newer stuff sounds all too radio friendly and has that bitter formulaic taste that top 40 punk tends to have. The early stuff is exciting, though. It’s poppy and aggressive and got me moving out of my chair. In the end, I’ll give it the proverbial thumbs-up because the further the record progressed and the more we moved back in time, the more fun I had with it.
–The Lord Kveldulfr (Teeno, www.teenorecords.com)
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CRAP CORPS:
Self-titled: 7”
This mind-numbingly good debut from the all-female streetpunk band Crap Corps hails from Kansas City. The vocals are furious and memorable and the seven songs included are full of neat rhythmic changes not often heard from bands that play such stripped-down tunes. I’m an easy target for records like this since I’m a sucker for well-done simple streetpunk, but this record definitely stands out on all fronts with its tight songwriting and perfect vocals.
–Art Ettinger (Big Brown Shark)
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CPC GANGBANGS:
The Broken Glass b/w Rich Rich Rich: 7” 45
I have absolutely no idea why this record would be any good whatsoever, which makes the fact that it is unexpectedly kinda good kinda baffling. Armed with cheese-ass hand-drawn lettering that eschews all curves ever concocted, this band has half the Confused Poseur Charisma of the Viletones and at least a third of the Tuned-Into-The-Grand-Cosmic-Something-Field perspicacity of the Dirtbombs ((albeit a Dirtbombs whose object of sonic slobber is not so much a reinforced-to-withstand-IEDs woofer as a one inch Sparkomatic™ tweeter)), and whyfore these ingredients should somehow be coerced to mesh into a respectably convincing sonic dictum of TENSION, DISTORTION, and ELECTRICITY is quite beyond the average Vulcan’s logic, which is why record reviews should only be written by Romulans anyway. BEST SONG: “The Broken Glass,” which name-drops Atlanta, Chicago, and Green Bay for no decipherable reason. BEST SONG TITLE “Rich Rich Rich.” FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: Ugliest picture disc ever. What the hell IS that, the inside of my mother’s eyelid???
–Rev. Norb (Seeing Eye)
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CPC GANGBANGS:
Mutilation Nation: CD
Some arty tinges can be found here and there on this, but the bulk of the tracks dance back and forth over the line between trashy punk and psych-freakout. Good stuff on the whole—especially “One More Girl,” which would make great radio fare if programmers weren’t so fucking myopic—even if “Mechanical Man” isn’t a Manson cover.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Swami)
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COUNTY LINE RD.:
The Birth of Hank Malloy: 7”EP
Years ago, Davey Quinn and I were driving around, and the topic came up that he wanted to write songs that could transcend genre: pop, punk, country, soul, and folk. Write, essentially the same song, but approach it from all different angles. If done correctly, the songwriting would survive the slightly different expectations of the genres. His thrust was going for something honest and purely distilled. Fast forward five or seven years, and Davey and J. Wang (both of Dan Padilla and Tiltwheel) pair up with Mario (Madison Bloodbath), and they chop out and spit polish four straight-up country songs about atheism, bad weather, and the American Dream crumbling at its foundation. There’s nothing slapdash, cheeky, or ironic about the songs. They’re all direct shots, the record’s dedicated to the birth of a good friend’s son, and it’s well worth picking up.
–Todd Taylor (Fast Crowd)
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CORBETA CORBATA:
Investing with Corbeta Corbata: 7” 33
This record looked pretty good at first—after all, one would assume that anyone who would take the time and effort to rip off the Columbia Records graphic style of the early/mid ‘60s would have also taken the time and effort to put out a record that didn’t suck utterly. Just goes to show ya what a bad judge of character i am. I knew i was in trouble once the bass player started playing chords, and if there was no existing law on the books that states “no A-side shall utilize 6/8 time as its primary time signature,” there is now. Sounds like bad Die Kreuzen sea chanty music. And that’s the a-side. NEXT! BEST SONG: “It’s Better Not To Know” BEST SONG TITLE: “It’s Better Not To Know” FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: It’s better not to know.
–Rev. Norb (Collective)
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COMPLETE WASTE:
Self-titled: 7”
Complete Waste play fast, aggro hardcore with kinda-but-not-too-gruff male vocals. There isn’t anything groundbreaking here, but this style is played decently and the lyrics aren’t horrible. The lack of any contact info is kind of a drag. But hey, you’re smart! You don’t need instructions to find a band on the internet.
–Vincent Battilana (Give Praise/Rock Bottom, no address)
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COME ON FEEL:
Red Heart Beat: 7” EP
Hooray for Snuffy Smiles! Japanese punk rock (with one Canadian member!). Japanese punk rock is always faster and more efficient. Take the Replacements’ Stink, throw in some Leatherface, make it tight, and you’ve got Come On Feel. Pretty much everything on Snuffy Smiles rules. If this were a cereal, it’d be Frosted Mini-Wheats. Crunchy goodness with a sugary coating. Yum!
–Maddy (Snuffy Smiles)
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COLOSSUS:
And the Rift of the Pan-Dimensional Undergods: CD
As a dude who spent a lot of grade school days blasting Iron Maiden from a boombox in my driveway while playing basketball, I’m very skeptical about the resurgence of power metal. A lot of the bands I’ve heard have the sound, but they ain’t got the soul. I get the feeling they aren’t entirely serious about what they’re doing. I’m just waiting for them to lose their composure and say, “Just kidding, dude.” Well, fuck that. I don’t want to listen to joke power metal, no matter how good it is. I don’t want to listen to tongue-in-cheek songs about armored badger warriors, no matter how perfectly executed they are.
–MP Johnson (Lucid)
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COCONUT COOLOUTS:
Pizza Regret: 7”
A friend decided to steal a Pizza Hut delivery sign off a car in a small town. No big deal I thought, except I was driving the getaway car. And in a small town they really like their Pizza fucking Hut. We got stopped in about thirty seconds and the cop pulled his gun out at us. I wondered why the night was still funny as we walked backwards towards the cop with our hands clasped behind our necks. Found a soundtrack to this night on this 7”. Caught the Coolouts live and they were amazing, energetic, poppy, a nice mix of fun (a banana plays bass, two standing drummers, three or four guitarists, a couple of Charming Snakes) and actual good music you can jump up and down with a girl to. Their 7” is a little more contained but will still blow up the party with the lighter “Pizza Regret,” raging rocker “Weekend,” and the ridiculously memorable anthems “Spell It out Dummy” (p-i-z-z-a t-a-x-i) and “Head Full of Stones.”
–Speedway Randy (Seeing Eye)
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COCOCOMA:
Self-titled: CD
Goner Records has kickass taste. Rock and roll without caring if a radio station will ever “get” the music. Cococoma pounds away like some of the best bands on the label, catchy and rousing, clean sound, rough times. I was weirded out because Amoeba Records in L.A. had fifteen copies for sale, when it’s usually one-to-two of a cool record when it’s on an indie label. Cococoma must have that crossover between rock, punk, new wave, rockabilly, cavemen, skinny ties, blah blah blah. It kicks ass.
–Speedway Randy (Goner)
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COCOCOMA / HIPSHAKES, THE:
Split: 7” EP
Tour 7” that came out at the end of last year while these bands rocked the Midwest and East Coast. Cococoma start off with a ripping sonic explosion of punk mayhem, “Never Be True.” This song is such a perfect piece of garage rock insanity that I’m not sure I’m gonna get to the Hipshakes side! The shouted gang vocals of the chorus, “Never be true!/Never be true!/Never be true/What about you?” are impossible not to join. Cococoma’s second track, “Brain Numb” is an atmospheric, organ-driven cover of a Hipshakes tune that they’ve mutated to sound like ? and the Mysterians. Fucking christ, I wasn’t expecting the Cococoma side to be this good. The Hipshakes side kicks off with a bouncy punker called “Hurt My Pride” that is snotty and rude sounding. Ace. Their cover of Cococoma’s “All I Give” is pretty uninspired.
–Josh Benke (Tic Tac Totally)
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COCKSPARRER:
Here We Stand: CD
At this point in their career, one that spans four (!) decades, Cocksparrer could probably turn a jingle for roof tarps into an anthem for the ages. Their first studio album in quite a while is no less solid than those that precede it—up to the rafters in solid punk tuneage sick with hooks and delivered like only they know how, managing to sound both informed by years of slogging it out yet totally relevant and fully aware that “it’s much the same/a different generation with a brand new name.” Truly unprecedented it is that a band this long in the tooth has remained so consistently good and continued to write and release batch after batch of bonafide classics. Here’s hoping they carry on with the same quality and chutzpah well into the next decade.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Captain Oi)
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COATHANGERS, THE:
Self-titled: 7”EP
Somewhere in the trapezoid that the Sharp Ease, the Okmoniks, the Mummies, and Bikini Kill make, there’s an area somewhere near the middle that takes makes a show of simple, trashy rock, with a solitary keyboard playfully tinkling on the top and snaking down to your bottom. The Coathangers have nailed that grey spot perfectly and add a nice dollop of their own personality: danceable backbeats, fun/sexy playfulness, catchy choruses, and screamy fun. Makes me think of the unreleased GoGo’s demo; capturing their garagey goodness, without the glazed, cute pop sheen.
–Todd Taylor (Die Slaughterhaus)
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