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Record Reviews1 2 | 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
Q & NOT U:
Different Damage: CD
I thought their last record, No Kill No Beep Beep, was pretty good. This one isn’t as good. And they have also dumped a member of the band since that album. Hmmm… I always did like their groovy drum beats and slightly danceable tunes, and a lot of it sounds like the latest Fugazi record. This is the record that is gonna make all the emo kids cream in their jeans. I don’t really know what else to say. This review is really as bad as the effect this record is having on me.
–Sarah Shay (Dischord)
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Q AND NOT U:
No Kill No Beep Beep: CD
Kinda heavy on the college rock at times, this disc nevertheless has an edginess that manages to transcend any wimpy pretentiousness that the dreaded "C" word might evoke. Pretty good.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Dischord, 3819 Beecher Street, NW Washington, DC 20007)
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Q AND NOT U:
Book of Flags b/w X-Polynation: 7"
Spaz post-punk dancecore from this trio from DC. Musically off-kilter and angular with almost chant-like vocals. The “Dischord Sound” is slightly evident but not overbearing. This was released in September of ‘03 and recorded at Inner Ear with Ian himself. Very dynamic and quirky. You think you can’t dance to punk? Well, ya fucking can. Definitely worth picking up.
–Buttertooth (Dischord)
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Q AND NOT U:
X-Polynation: CD EP
These funky songs don’t fall that far from the tree of The Rapture, Hot Hot Heat, Radio 4, etc. – or the rest of Q And Not U’s work for that matter – but damn if they aren’t some of the most enjoyable post-punk I’ve heard in a while.
–Puckett (Dischord)
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Q AND NOT U:
No Kill No Beep Beep: CD
Kinda heavy on the college rock at times, this disc nevertheless has an edginess that manages to transcend any wimpy pretentiousness that the dreaded "C" word might evoke. Pretty good.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Dischord)
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QUADRAJETS, THE:
WFO: CD
In the mid-to-late ‘90s,
there was a resurgence of dirty, hyper-driven blues-based rock’n’roll. And with
any unexpected tsunami where money is to be made, the suddenness of its
appearance made it somewhat difficult to initially separate the gold diggers
from the true shakers. I put the Quadrajets in league with the BellRays and Zen
Guerilla. Their sets weren’t based on theatrics as much as catharsis, wasn’t so
much lip-puckery strut as maniacal involvement with their instruments. They
didn’t have pleads of “testify” for the audience to be believers in what was
being lightning-bolted from the stage. This CD is a collection of many of their
early Sympathy, Estrus, and Arkam singles. These fine fellows from the South
channeled the molten rocks of punk through the forlorn loss of blues, and their
music’s well worth keeping in print and remembering. A high water mark of the
genre, for sure.
–Todd Taylor (Arkam)
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QUALIA, THE:
Secret Weapon: CD
Yuppie music.
–Corinne (WTII)
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QUALM:
Long Story Short: CD
The fifth song on this waste of plastic is “Try Not to Feel So Bad When You Find Out You Really Suck.” Don’t think I could’ve put it any more succinctly. I’m surprised your parents haven’t grounded you for being in a band this bad.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Not Bad)
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QUALM:
Preventing Explosion: CD
Singalong punk about feelings’n stuff. Try to guess how I feel about it.
–Cuss Baxter (Not Bad)
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QUAN AND THE CHINESE TAKE-OUTS:
“Crazy Pills” b/w “Poorman St”: 7”
First they sent a demo in, it was good, and we would listen to it often. Then they took two of the songs off it and made this 45 on blue vinyl and limited to 100. Motherfuckers, they officially won me over. Quan And The Chinese Takeouts are a band that mixes early New York punk with ‘90s alternative radio; plus they have a synthesizer. I hate two of those three things, but they pull it off.
–Daryl Gussin (Self-released, benpablo@yahoo.com)
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QUAN AND THE CHINESE TAKEOUTS :
: CD-R
Loud, catchy rock/punk stuff. It’s clear they’re batting for the fences and in this case it works swimmingly for ’em.
–Jimmy Alvarado (thechinesetakeouts@gmail.com)
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QUAN AND THE CHINESE TAKEOUTS:
Self-titled: CD-R
Loud, catchy rock/punk stuff. It’s clear they’re batting for the fences and in this case it works swimmingly for ‘em.
–Jimmy Alvarado (thechinesetakeouts@gmail.com)
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QUANTIS/ COMA REGALIA:
Split: 7"
With the maple leaf-ish die-cut and spray painted cover of a naked lady holding a skull, I was preparing myself to be inundated with, I don’t know, some weird-ass patriotic Canadian rockabilly or something. I was so far off the mark—Quantis is from Malaysia and they clearly, clearly adore the screamo. They give us three songs so utterly convincing that Level Plane would’ve shit their drawers over were we still in 2002. While the lyrics may suffer a bit from translation, the genre was never particularly known for its linear lyrics anyway. This shit rules. Indiana’s Coma Regalia swings the Orchid hammer hard and dresses it up in some fancy dual-vocal tomfoolery and thunderous musicianship ala This Machine Kills. It’s not gonna be everyone’s thing, but for those who dig this stuff, this record’s gonna get some spins. Totally top-notch work here by both bands. Numbered to 500 and definitely worth seeking out.
–Keith Rosson (Middle Man, middlemanrecordshop.blogspot.com)
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QUASI:
The Sword of God: CD
Someone from Sleater-Kinney was in this band. Big deal. Yawn.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Touch and Go)
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QUASI:
The Sword of God: CD
Someone from Sleater-Kinney was in this band. Big deal. Yawn.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Touch and Go)
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QUATRE TETE:
Art of the State: CD
Arty, dissonant rock with lotsa odd stops to keep you on yer toes. Found the instrumental tracks the most effective, but, on the whole, this seemed to be lacking any sort of heft to go along with the precision and proficiency in evidence, resulting in a disc that was occasionally interesting but ultimately a bit of a letdown.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Sick Room)
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QUEER WÜLF:
Self- titled: 7"
Fuck yeah, what a good record. If you’re looking for a new favorite band that doesn’t fit into any pre-existing punk rock niche, and you often find yourself soaking your undies to the sound of bands like the Grabass Charlestons and the Dead Things, look no further. You can almost smell the stale beer and sweat while this record is playing.
–Josh (This Here)
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QUEERS:
Don't Back Down: CD
Although once a huge fan of the Queers—their Kicked out of the Webelos EP remains, in my estimation, one of the unsung greats of ‘80s punk rock, and their Grow Up and Love Songs for the Retarded albums of the early ‘90s are must haves for any fans of Ramones-derived pop punk—this was the last album I heard by them that I had any real interest in. Part of it was the fact that the subsequent releases I heard were not particularly interesting or good, but a good chunk of it was also because of the inundation of clone bands that were an unfortunate byproduct of their popularity and the chronic herd mentality of so many so-called “free thinking” punks. I freely admit they had no control over the latter, but I do feel that they would’ve more than easily secured a lofty place in punk’s hall of fame if they had packed up the tent and went home after this release. Going one step beyond their heroes the Ramones and actually incorporating into their sound the Beach Boys influence Joey and the boys only hinted at, The Queers managed a rock solid release of smart-assed attitude, catchy hooks, and solid delivery. The Beach Boys influence goes so far in places—check out the title track and their cover of “Little Honda”—that the mind reels with wonder why Brian Wilson never dropped Joe a call to collaborate on something. If anyone ever asks why these guys were such a big deal, steering them in the direction of this CD wouldn’t be a bad idea.
–Jimmy Alvarado (Asian Man)
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QUEERS / ATOM AGE:
Split: 7"
A couple of new Queers’ songs? After their last record, Munki Brain,I am all ears… And I’m not disappointed. I don’t really need to describe the Queers, do I? Both of these tracks fall into their Beach Boys/End Of The Century category. Good stuff. The Atom Age is along the same lines but they play it a little harder edged. They’ve got a sax in there too which really seems to work well for them. Perhaps a little more “Too Tough To Die” than “End Of The Century”. I like that.
–Ty Stranglehold (Asian Man)
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QUEERS, THE:
Love Songs for the Retarded: CD
This is kind of strange for me. I lived fifteen minutes from Portsmouth for years and never saw the Queers. I don’t think I can remember ever listening to them until some point in the past five years. So, now that Asian Man has re-released this, I was curious enough to pick it up. With pop punk, there are a lot of bands that I just somehow missed during the time when I was in the awkwardly pining stage that were eased by these song, thereby forever cementing those bands in many other people’s lives. As a first-time listener, I like it, but I can’t see it ever being an essential album for me. I just think that time passed for me. There are undeniably great songs on here (the ridiculously adorable “Debra Jean” and “Daydreaming” are probably the standouts for me).
–Megan Pants (Asian Man)
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QUEERS, THE:
Munki Brain: CD
Wow. This really kind of stinks. And I say that as someone who will defend the Queers to my dying days, primarily because the idea of getting into a fight with my roommate in a nursing home about the Queers vs. Neurosis makes me almost okay with the prospect of shitting my pants. There’s still a ton of Beach Boys-esque harmonies, plus two songs co-written by Ben Weasel (including the amazing “Tangerine,” the best song on the album), three songs co-written by Lisa Marr, and a song about Brian Wilson. There’s also a definite Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds influence. How does this formula not create success? I could blame the song “Monkey in a Suit,” a political song comparing Bush to Hitler. (Note: The Queers should stick to writing about girls.) But if every song on this album was as good as “Tangerine,” this would be so cool. Alas, if this were a cereal, it’d be Cap ‘n Crunch. I can’t explain why I don’t like it, other than the fact that it once scraped my mouth and I started to bleed.
–Maddy (Asian Man)
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QUEERS, THE:
Beat Off: CD
My third favorite Queers record has been remixed and re-released on Asian Man! (Love Songs for the Retarded and Don’t Look Back are just a bit better.) If you already have this record, here’s an excuse to get a fresh copy, and if you don’t own it, you should, so pony up the cash. Essentially the same as the original Lookout! release, but it also includes a good Angry Samoans cover as the closer. Ben Weasel has also contributed some significant and insightful liner notes regarding the spirit and the persona of the Queers, a welcome addition to the package. A great record made even better.
–The Lord Kveldulfr (Asian Man)
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QUEERS, THE:
Grow Up: CD
I know the Queers are a punk rock institution, and I know that this being a reissue of their first full length should probably make it a classic, but no matter how much I listen to it, nothing sticks out other than “Goodbye California,” and “Burger King Queen.” Those two songs are great chunks of pop punk goodness. The rest just feels like non-descript Ramones-core, and that’s that I love the Ramones. As a bonus on the reissue, there are also five demo songs on here that were partially engineered by Jimmy Miller, who apparently worked with the Rolling Stones at some point. The highly entertaining liner notes actually talk about that a lot, among other stuff. The only song on here that I would actually say is bad is “Gay Boy,” which is plodding and listless (and on here in two versions). If “Goodbye California” and “Burger King Queen” were a single, I would call it a classic, but as a whole this album is pretty much take it or leave it for me.
–Adrian (Asian Man)
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QUEERS, THE:
Alive in Hollyweird: CD/DVD
I can’t help but feel like this is the same as reviewing an issue of MRR. Do I really need to explain this? Does anyone not know what to expect? Because there isn’t really anything unexpected from this live album, unless you count that it comes with an okay DVD as well.
–Joe Evans III (Punk Rock Social, www.punkrocksocial.com)
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QUEERS, THE:
Live in West Hollywood: CD
It’s the infamously insolent
Queers, so this decadent lil’ disc is, of course, crampacked with the ultimate
in sonic snottiness and balls-out brattiness. It’s lewd, loud, live, and as
sick, twisted, fucked-up, and belligerent as it gets! This is exactly the kind of
brain-damaged audial wickedness that the Ramones brashly blasted outta their
first couple of albums, except The Queers are definitely more demented,
dirty-minded, and deviantly uncivilized. Their frenzied spine-snappin’ songs
taunt my senses silly, terrify my ears somethin’ fierce, and agitate my soused
old soul as if there ain’t gonna be no tomorrow! All of their crazed,
hyperactive should-be hits are frenetically tossed throughout this monstrously
powerful release, including “We’d Have Arrived Doing Heroin,” “This Place
Sucks,” “I Want Cunt,” “No Tit,” “Blabbermouth,” “Noodlebrain,” “Granola Head,”
“Fuck You,” “I’m Not a Mongo Anymore” (my personal perverse fave!), “I Hate
Everything,” “Teenage Bonehead,” “I Only Drink Bud,” “Ursula Finally Has Tits,”
“I Like Young Girls,” “Fuck the World,” and a heapin’ handful of covers, too
(Tommy James & The Shondells, Angry Samoans, Mr. T Experience, Ramones,
etc.). Hell yeh, this is true authentic punkrock rambunctiousness just like the
Ramones meant it to be! I ain’t no gawddamn homo, but, man, I do love them
Queers... -Roger Moser, Jr.
–Guest Contributor (Hopeless)
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