 |
|
|
|
|
| Can't find Razorcake at your favorite store? Lend us a hand and we'll send you a free issue. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 | Razorcake will send you one free issue if you ask your librarian if they would carry Razorcake in their stacks. (This offer is good for both traditional libraries and independent libraries.) To get the free issue, you must send us the librarian's name and email and the library's postal address. We will then contact them directly and donate a subscription to them. U.S. libraries only, due to postage. | |
|
|
|
|
|
| | 
Record Reviews1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 | 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| < Prev Section | Next Section >  RSS Feed
FASTER HOUSECAT:
Self-titled: 4-song CDEP
Here’s to hoping they forge their own identity on future releases because this sounds like the skinny alley of exactly who they like and little else. This band features former members of Rivethead, OWTH, and Tiltwheel. (Past members of OWTH and Tiltwheel could fill a parking lot at this point. No weight on that, just an observation.) Total conjecture on the band formation: “Hey, I love the Riverdales, Screeching Weasel, and The Copyrights!” “So do I!” “Me, too!” “And some Teenage Bottlerocket!” Unfortunately, they put nothing new on the table and all the other bands’ records are readily and abundantly available.
–Todd Taylor (Self-released, fasterhousecat.bandcamp.com)
| |
|
FASTIDIOS, LOS:
Guardo Avanti: CD
Well, hell’s bells, my ears have done melted and slid right down the sides of my face! Los Fastidios frenetically crank out a skull-hammering wallop of anti-fascist skinhead street punk that’s all-at-once confrontational, politically charged, and energetically raging. The vocals are gruffly spit forth in a slurred and emotional barrage of European dialect (Italian, I think… or maybe French. Damn, I dunno, I only speak Texan!). The brutal in-your-face instrumentation is roaring and wrathful, yet catchy and upbeat as all get-up. The lyrics (printed in three different languages) are a fervent, open call-to-arms for punk unity, spirited beer-fuelled good times with friends (hey, I can certainly relate to that!), animal liberation, and aggressively rousing revolt in the streets. There’s also a couple of robustly outspoken rants against half-wit racist knuckleheads, the US government’s greed-fed capitalistic policy, and the authoritarian abuse of power by corrupt cops everywhere. All in all, this is one heck of an oi-inspired punkrock release, and it should definitely be loudly blasted throughout the vast, cluttered expanses of America’s sprawling suburban wasteland. Fuck authority, hell yeh!
–Roger Moser Jr. (KOB and Mad Butcher)
| |
|
FASTIDIOS, LOS:
Rebels ’n’ Revels: CD
Italian street punk/ska stuff that is better than most, and I like the “radical” slant of the lyrics, but ultimately this really doesn’t do much for me. Funny, I seem to remember them being a wee bit more memorable.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Mad Butcher)
| |
|
FASTIDOS, LOS:
Ora Basta: CDEP
Italian street punk that was so nondescript that I couldn't muster the motivation to pop the disc outta the stereo and into the computer to marvel at the accompanying videos.
–Jimmy Alvarado (KOB)
| |
|
FASTIDOS, LOS:
Ora Basta: CDEP
The only thing that sets this apart from any other non-spectacular street punk band is that they're Italian. Not enough for me.
–Megan Pants (Mad Butcher)
| |
|
FASTIDOS, LOS:
Siempre Contra: CD
Italian skinheads playing punk with an occasional ska tune thrown in for good measure. Subjects addressed include resistance, revolution, animal rights, and such. While I can’t say this knocked my socks off, they were catchy enough and the songs weren’t about drinking and beating people up, and for that alone they get deserve nothing less than tons of respect. If it sounds like your bag, it’s recommended.
–Jimmy Alvarado (KOB)
| |
|
FASTIDOS, LOS:
Ora Basta: CDEP
Italian street punk that was so nondescript that I couldn’t muster the motivation to pop the disc outta the stereo and into the computer to marvel at the accompanying videos.
–Jimmy Alvarado (KOB)
| |
|
FASTIDOS, LOS:
Ten Years Tattooed on my Heart: CD
Italian skinhead music that is pretty good musically, but
would someone please translate “Italians shouting ‘oi!’ sound just as stupid as
Americans shouting ‘oi!’” for them? Thanks a heap.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Mad Butcher)
| |
|
FASTLANE:
New Start: CD
Another UK entry of melodicore for the Warped Tour set. If you put New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, or Simple Plan in your top-ten all-time list, this bubblegum will stick to the bottom of your shoe like no other.
–Donofthedead (Sucka Punch)
| |
|
FASTLANE:
Hold Your Breath: CD
Emo-saturated hardcore. I nearly made it trough the fourth song before the wretchedness of the music caused me to begin vomiting uncontrollably.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Aggravated Music)
| |
|
FAT ASS:
We Have Come For Your Mothers: CD
So I’m sitting here wading through some bottom-of-the-barrel reject discs I’ve been putting off reviewing for this issue and I come upon this buried in the crap I’ve scooped up. Depressed and more than a little punchy, thanks to the long line of affected college boys who have vented their politically correct rage into my ear over the course of the previous fifteen releases I’ve listened to today, I look at the cover, grunt, place the disc in the stereo and hit “play,” bracing myself for the pop punk onslaught that will no doubt come belching forth from my speakers. Much to my surprise, what came from said speakers if some prime-rate punk rock that sent my depression scampering for the hills. “Man, I needed this,” I say to myself as I crank it up to eleven. Fuck comparisons, this is just one of them discs that just rocks and nothing more need be said about it. A glance at the “thank you” notes on the inside reveals a Razorcake mention and I think how symbiotic that is – we Razorcakers only dig the finest in music and, in turn, are thanked by only the finest of bands.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Diaphragm)
| |
|
FAT ASS:
Another Great Day in Shithole: 7”
Hell fuckin’ yeh, this is blistering, balls-out rock’n’roll thunder at its trashiest and most wrathful! It cacophonously sounds like AC/DC, El Diablo, and the Supersuckers savagely runnin’ amok smack-dab into a furiously raging tornado, and then harnessing all of its catastrophic roaring energy and blasting it through a towering stack of Marshall amps. Unbelievably intense!
–Guest Contributor (Diaphragm)
| |
|
FAT BEAVERS:
Still Don’t Know What to Do: LP
French band with a horrible name and an interesting palette. Charming accents and decidedly weird lyrics layered over elements of pop punk, indie twinkling, and the occasional hardcore-like blast. I honestly can’t tell if they’re a funny band that shoots for seriousness every once in a while, or a serious band that’s unintentionally funny. I mean, lines like “uvula is not the horizon” and “advertising world you block my cock, spectacular scenes you suck my dick” are pretty much just nonsense, and there’s a song about how the singer has fallen in love with his dentist. So they’re a joke band, right? And yet songs like “Hate and Apathy” or “Dead Or Something”—apart from the fact that the dude’s vocals are a dead ringer for Draw Muhammad-era Cobra Skulls—could almost pass for hardcore with their structure, speed, and unbridled, galloping nervousness. And then “Snowfall” sounds like Onion Flavored Rings. Jesus. I’ve listened to this one quite a bit and I still can’t get a handle on it at all. Co-released by approximately ten different labels aaaaaand the band has apparently broken up.
–Keith Rosson (Slow Death)
| |
|
FAT HISTORY MONTH :
A Gorilla: 7”
Four songs of raw and rudimentary slowcore, scribbled all over with creepy reverb and feedback and delivered with a warped humor that banishes all preciousness. This is from a 2009 recording session, and I’m interested to hear what this band has done since. Are they still this visceral and dark? Think of this record as the ugly freshwater fish nibbling at Will Oldham’s toes while he floats in that quarry, taking Slint’s picture for the cover of Spiderland.
–CT Terry (sweatersandpearls.com)
| |
|
FAT HISTORY MONTH:
Fucking Despair: LP
I think of slowcore indie rock as drowning in its own self-seriousness, but Boston two-piece Fat History Month make it unique by injecting their songs with pitch black humor. I call them “Smartass Slint.” Their squalls of backwards-sounding guitar go on for ninety seconds or eleven minutes, and have titles like “You Can Pick Your Nose, You Can Pick Your Friends Nose, But You Cant Escape Your Horrible Family.” This band is the friend who you love for their biting jokes, and when they do something horrible to themselves you feel bad for laughing through their cries for help.
–CT Terry (Sophomore Lounge, sophomoreloungerecords.com)
| |
|
FAT PREZIDENT:
Bruto Slavo/VBK: CD
Bruto Slavo/VBK harkens back to the 1990s when the Epifat monster ruled the earth, with Fat Prezident sounding a lot like some oddly successful Strung Out/Pulley/Ten Foot Pole combination. It’s such a played-out genre but these guys are good at it, and it turns out that they’ve actually been a band since 1994. Croatian punks that insert some actual fury into the mix here. It’s convincing and well executed. Interesting also for the fact that they split their songs up, with the ones sung in Croatian closing things out. Surprisingly potent stuff. This will get some listens.
–Keith Rosson ()
| |
|
FAT SHADOW:
Foot of Love: LP
I was somewhat attracted to Fat Shadow’s offering of female-fronted alterna rock with its pop punk undercurrents that surface well when they do. Their sound was a nice surprise, as the picture of the nude woman with flower-laced hair entering a snow-covered cement tunnel on the cover had me anticipating some indie-hippie nonsense. While I do find this LP decent, I don’t think I could sustain many more listens to it. A good effort and entertaining, but it ultimately fell a bit flat and left me uninspired.
–Vincent Battilana (Houseplant)
| |
|
FAT STUPIDS:
Self-titled: 7”
Really great, straight-ahead, driving punk songs. Three dudes who know how to bring it. Dual vocals on a lot of it, which I really like. “Weirdo” reminds me of The Briefs. And I love that band. Very catchy shit you can dance to.
–Nighthawk (Rad Girlfriend / No Breaks)
| |
|
FAT STUPIDS:
Self-titled: 7”
Hear me out, okay? It snows in Canada. A lot, to my current understanding. I assumed, instead of spending time outside, like the rest of the world likes to do, Canadians stay inside and write songs all day. Bands get formed that wouldn’t form in the United States because of all the snow. How close am I? Fat Stupids are from Halifax. Their record was mixed and mastered by members of the Crusades and The Creeps. The record sounds like the midway point between the Creeps and the Copyrights. The vocals come from two singers, both using a melodious, but forceful shout in their songs. The songwriting itself is a fine example of modern pop punk. This wins the “best music I got to review” award for this month.
–Bryan Static (Rad Girlfriend / No Breaks, nobreaksrecords.com)
| |
|
FAT WORM OF ERROR:
Ambivalence and the Beaker: CD
The mental movie my noggin makes up as this is playing: A man falls asleep with a mouthful of Pop Rocks. Some construction going on outside his window wakes him up and he begins raving incoherently, rampaging around in his room in total surprise and fear. Settling down, he turns on the television, but can’t seem to get it to tune to anything in particular. His mother comes into the room, stomping on the cat’s tail and ranting about circadian rhythms, perplexed scientists, and time travelling fecal matter. He goes outside to milk a cow and is accosted by a mosquito. Annoyed, he goes back inside, rubs two busted, notched pieces of wood together, and turns on a cassette player to listen to some music, but the tape is too tight and the singing is warbly. He begins banging on the player, which of course does no good and he ends up flinging the whole thing down some stairs, where it hisses, pops, and rambles on from the basement. The man then decides to play video games and a drum set at the same time. That failing to alleviate his boredom, he puts an LP on the stereo and toggles the record back and forth, impeding its playing, then releasing it, then putting his hand back on it. He finally lets it go—it’s a recording of the mosquito and some of its friends playing atonal, arrhythmic noise music. The man places the whole stereo in a box, puts it in the washer, fills up the machine with water, and leaves. Outside, he again runs into the mosquito that was annoying him earlier in the morning, which is now mistakenly under the impression that the construction workers are musicians and is warbling along to their work noises. The man decides to join in, but he’s just as tone deaf and the mosquito, thanks to all that time listening to warped tapes and fucked-with records. He finds an archaic drum machine in the rubble and begins fiddling with it. Yeah, it ain’t exactly a tale Kafka, or even Buñuel & Dalí would drool over, but I reckon it is proof the tuneless cornucopia of sound this release is comprised of was effective on some level.
–Jimmy Alvarado (resipiscent.com)
| |
|
FATAL FIGURES:
Blue Zed: 7”
This here is a two-song single featuring members of the Blowtops. Fans of that band will find a whole lot to like here; the same noisy garage-influenced stuff is at play. Not my favorite sound, but this band is as good as any of their influences.
–Mike Frame (Big Neck)
| |
|
FATAL FIGURES:
Caterwaul: LP
This album has a big, sloppy sound reminiscent of The Birthday Party. I appreciate what they are doing, but the album never fully takes off for me. “Party Girl” has a jumpy beat that makes it a standout. “Break Me” also got me nodding a bit, highlighting good party floor tom beats and a solid yelling range by the vocalist. He has good instincts when the album is moving, but the songs plod too many times for my taste. The last song on the album, “Get Out,” combines the best strong beats of the band with the energy of the vocalist. There might be a live factor with this band that doesn’t translate on the record. They sound like they might be fun in a basement.
–Billups Allen (Big Neck)
| |
|
FATAL FLYIN:
Split: 7"EP
FFG: Trashy punk, but not in the '60s sense. It has a certain charm. Scared: Hyped up, lo‑fi punk with a smidgen of pop.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Dirtnap)
| |
|
FATAL FLYING GUILLOTEENS:
Get Knifed: CD
I’ve heard a lot of good things about these guys. They’re frenetic, loud, fast and really good. It took a little while for this to grow on me, but the more I listen, the more I like it.
–Megan Pants (Estrus)
| |
|
FATAL FLYING GUILLOTEENS/SCARED OF CHAKA:
Split 7": EP
FFG: Trashy punk, but not in the '60s sense. It has a certain charm. Scared: Hyped up, lo-fi punk with a smidgen of pop.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Dirtnap, PO Box 21249, Seattle, WA 98111)
| |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 | 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| < Prev Section | Next Section > | |
|
|
|
|
| If you live in the Los Angeles area and want to help us out, let us know. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Get monthly notifications of new arrivals and distro and special offers for being part of the Razorcake army. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
