Genre: Punk Rock, Reggae Sub-Genres:Hardcore Label: ROIR Tracks: 15 Length: 29 Minutes Style: Angry/Political/Happy My Rating: 6/8
Bad Brains is often considered among one of the several bands that "started" the hardcore punk movement. Originally formed in 1977 as a jazz-fusion group blah blah blah I probably said all of this in my review of "Pay to Cum". So, by 1982, they were ready to release their first full album. And guess what it was called? *Drumroll* -- BAD BRAINS! GET IT?? GAHAHAHAH!! By this point, being devout Rastafarians, the band members also were showing their love for reggae music. Many bands had already and have since followed suit. I don't completely understand the intense correlation between punk rock and Jamaican music (reggae, ska) to be completely honest, but for many the two seem to go together like peanut butter & jelly, so let it be -- the two genres, as this album proves, do sound very good together anyways. For this album, the band was signed to ROIR Records.
1. Sailin' On Fast song with upbeat riffs at all times. Very talented singing, ranging from screaming to crooning (hey, they did use to play jazz). Echoey solo in the middle of the song. Thrashing waves of rage!
2. Don't Need It Another very fast song. Angry beginning riff, and then an even cooler verse riff. The song is about not needing excesses in material possessions, but just living with happiness from one's self. Very intense and there's a good solo around the end of the song.
3. Attitude Backing vocals used in this song. It talks about having a "PMA" (Positive Mental Attitude). Basically talking about how punks used their positivity to rise above scorn from society.
4. The Regulator This song's a bit slower than the three before it. Heavy bass. The guitar sounds sound really cool. The very ending part is really fast.
5. Banned in D.C. Here's a really good song. The riff is great, the beat is fast, and the vocals are really powerful. This song's about how the band doesn't care if they've been "banned in D.C." because there's "a thousand more places to go". The slow section in the second half of the song is fucking awesome with an even better riff. H.R. sings about how someday the clubs won't have enough money to even let anyone in.
6. Jah Calling After all that crazy, fast, loud hardcore, let's listen to some reggae... this song's an instrumental. One standout feature of this song is a big, long, spacey lead-guitar solo that sounds very cool. I wonder if the Beastie Boys were trying to parody this song with "Beastie Revolution" (with the fact that repeated samples are also being used in this song and the very similar bassline). This song was recorded live.
7. Supertouch/Shitfit Back to the fast stuff. Two songs in one, eh? The first song is about how society doesn't take punk rockers seriously and how the "troopers" always infiltrate their shows. Then there's "Shitfit". It's a breakup song. Starts and ends hyper-fast, but there's a very slow mid-section.
8. Leaving Babylon Another reggae song, but this one has lyrics and singing. I really like the sound of the guitar, here. It's slow and bassy. And echoey. Rastafarians believe that "Babylon" is actually modern western civilization, which unfortunately often oppresses the poor. H.R. reckons that his people should leave. Four minute long. End of Side 1.
9. Fearless Vampire Killers This song's about killing the rich and ending the bloodshed of innocent people due to their wars. "I'm a member of the F.V.K.". Fast n' furious.
10. I It's a one-letter song. "I". The character, I, would be probably featured in many other song and album titles. Fast but not super fast. Really bad-ass riff. The song seems to be about seeking revenge on society. Great solo. This song reminds me a lot of a later-era Black Flag song.
11. Big Take Over Begins with a strange, noisy, chaotic intro. Forty seconds in, the main part of the song begins. Similar tempo to the song before it. The lyrics of this song compare the future of America to Nazi Germany, telling the listener to "prepare for your final quest". Really cool guitar solo towards the end of the song.
12. Pay to Cum Yep, here's "Pay to Cum" again. This version's even faster than the first version, but slightly less raw. The song's about how we live in a society in which we have to pay for everything, sometimes even to, well, cum. This is one of the most famous Bad Brains songs.
13. Right Brigade The first half is fast, the second half is slow. The singer is a member of the Right Brigade. 'Cause, like, he's right and stuff. Needly-noodly guitar solo.
14. I Luv I Jah One last reggae piece. This song's about how H.R. feels like everyone around him judges him, but according to himself, he must keep up his "P.M.A." (a phrase for 'Positive Mental Attitude' which is used frequently throughout the album). It's a nice song. Longest song on the record, being over six minutes long.
15. Intro This one's just sort of a mind-fuck. It's a twenty-second song that SOUNDS like it's going to be a full song, but as the song gets faster, everything suddenly just stops and spins off into the nothingness. And that's the end.
Well, definitely a good album that I had not really fully listened to. The punk songs are intense as hell, and the reggae songs are also very good. A year later, Bad Brains released their famous second album called "Rock For Light". I have not heard it yet, so that will be a review to be written another day. But if you haven't already heard this record, then why don't you go give it a spin already? I dunno. dfjsdfkjsgkfhgdfk
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Banned in D.C. 2. Don't Need It 3. Jah Calling
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres:Post-Punk Label: Warner Bros. Records Tracks: 11 Length: 34 Minutes Style: Weird/Funny My Rating: 7/8
Alright, alright... I have not listened to Devo a whole ton. But I've heard some good stuff about them. As one of the earliest and most well-known post-punk/new wave bands, they're actually older than the Ramones! The group was formed by a bunch of nerds from my home state of Ohio -- the name (originally spelled 'DE-EVOLUTION') was supposed to be based upon the concept that the human race in the modern age has actually been devolving! In 1974, the band created a long-form music video called "The Truth About De-Evolution" -- in 1977, it won first prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. After years of existence, they released their first single for their song "Mongoloid" in 1977 -- the year that punk was hitting an all-time high. The music on this debut LP seems to be grittier and more post-punk than new wave. But, I'm going to listen to this record now, and you can follow along if you haven't already heard it or just make fun of my opinions if you already have. Alright? Let's go.
1. Uncontrollable Urge The riff here is really cool. The vocals are very enthusiastic and energetic. The tempo shifts back and forth from a more straightforward beat to a more intense one. The chorus riff is real cool, too, and there's some neat backing vocals in those part. Nice use of tape-manipulation about 3/4 through the song. A few beepy noises towards the end.
2. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction This song's a bit slower. It's a Rolling Stones cover. The music is significantly weirder-sounding, with some atonal guitar sounds that soar around, and a funkier bassline. Some synths are used in the chorus-section towards the end of the song -- they sound real cool.
3. Praying Hands Damn, there's some hilariously strange weird sounds in the beginning of this song. The song is sort of a criticism of religion, proclaiming the lines "assume the position... go into doggie submission", comparing a person dogmaticly praying to a person "receiving" from an imaginary patriarch.
4. Space Junk He said "junk"... huhuhuhuhuhh... but yeah, anyways, there's some more synth keyboards on this song. I like it. The melody is pretty happy-sounding and cool n' stuff. Lots of tiny little subtleties in the background that might not be caught upon the first listen. The song seems to be about junk falling from space to the surface of the Earth and hitting various people, much to the protagonist's dismay. Maybe a statement on how we need to be careful what we're putting up in our atmosphere.
5. Mongoloid An earlier version of this song on the A-side of the band's first single. The synth sounds remind me of the music from the sorts of video games I was obsessed with as a young'n. I guess the song's about a kid with Mongolism (Down's Syndrome), but he has an extra chromosome so nobody knows it and he's able to live a 'normal' life. The riff and melody is pretty cool, and entertaining as the rest of the songs on here all seem to be so far.
6. Jocko Homo For some reason I instantly recognized the very beginning music from this song. I have no idea how. Perhaps a memory from a past life... who knows? "ARE WE NOT MEN? WE ARE DEVO!". Very quirky beat and more oddities interspersed around the main guitar riff. This song was the B-side to the "Mongoloid" single from 1977, but this is a new re-recorded version. This song heavily focuses on the whole "de-evolution" concept, referring to modern humans as "monkey men all in business suits". "God made Man, but he used a Monkey to do it." End of Side 1.
7. Too Much Paranoias Extremely cool and dangerous-sounding riff. The song seems to be about how people these days are afraid of nearly everything. The mid-section of the song is comprised of some bizarre sounds made with guitars. The final part sounds much like the first part. Good song.
8. Gut Feeling/(Slap Your Mammy) These are two songs in one. Gut Feeling has a wonderful-sounding melody done with a relatively clean-sounding electric guitar and a basic punk rock beat. Some synth piano and synth organ begin to accompany the other instruments around the 1-minute mark. The keyboard melody continually ascends higher and higher, until cutting off when the first sung line begins. The lyrics describe what sounds like a break-up. The music gets more aggressive towards the end, with a layer of noizy fucked-up guitar playing over the song, and the beat gets more intense. Gut Feeling ends with a SCREAM! "Slap Your Mammy" is a short, fast song (sort of like hardcore punk but not as angry). The lyrics here are just kinda nonsensical, singing about slappin' your parents and stuff.
9. Come Back Jonee This song's about a boy named Jonee who decides to become a rock-star. He buys a guitar, leaves everyone else behind, including a certain un-named woman (I'm not sure if it's his mother or his girlfriend or something), and "makes her cry" as she asks for him to come back. Sort of something I had and have contemplated a few times before. Sort of a sad song and a happy song at the same time. Later in the song, there are some female backing vocals yelling "JONEE, JONEE!". Either that or dudes who sound like chicks. I dunno. Good song, though.
10. Sloopy (I Saw My Baby Gettin') Probably my least favorite song on here. It's alright. The lyrics are about relationships again. It's fast.
11. Shrivel Up Weird guitar melody here. The song seems to simply be about the fact that we're all just slowly shriveling up and dying day by day. YAEY!!! Kind of dark and funny at the same time. I guess we call that satire/sarcasm. Heh heh. Well, time to go shrivel up...
It's easy to write Devo off at first glance as another 'new wave' band or because you didn't like the song "Whip It" or something like that, but personally, I think this is a really good record! The music is very intelligent, weird, and sometimes REALLY weird at times. Artists like Iggy Pop proclaimed the band "the future of punk" -- well, that wasn't quite the case, but sometimes a good thing is better off untarnished by mass replication. Especially if it's difficult to replicate. Well, perhaps I shall review some more Devo records in the future. Before this, there was an EP entitled "Be Stiff" from 1977 that contains songs from even earlier sessions than this album. That's all I've got to say for right now. Seeya.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Gut Feeling 2. Uncontrollable Urge 3. Too Much Paranoias
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres:Hardcore Label: Stress Domain Records Tracks: 8 Length: 6 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Angry My Rating: 5/8
Ecoli is a Californian hardcore punk band that formed in 2005. They have released two 7" EPs and a couple of tapes since then, and this one is their first release ever. It is sometimes also considered the band's "demo". The music here places much emphasis on speed, but the songs are usually more complicated than standard fare in punk rock. Almost all of the songs here are under a minute long. The band states that this record is based around themes used in a 1978 book called "The Turner Diaries".
1. Big Stupid Ape (Police Test) Starts with a slow intro with guitar lead and then the song gets real fast. Interesting riff changes and breaks in the consistency of the rhythm.
2. Whites Will Ultra fast! The song almost exclusively uses blast-beats.
3. The Order The group-shout of the day here is "WAR IS COMING!". If I knew the lyrics to these songs, I could probably say a lot more about them.
4. Trammel Starts with a high-pitched noize... wow, a song that's actually over a minute long. Believe it or not, this song is actually "slow" compared to the other songs on here. It's actually probably one of the best here for that reason, though. There's even a guitar solo and stuff. End of Side 1.
5. Social Anxiety Shortest song on the EP. The song starts with the lead singer ranting about how his head "IS STUCK UP A RAT'S ASSHOLE" and sweat is pouring down and stuff like that while a bunch of noisy dischordant music plays in the background. THRASH!!
6. Warts On My Dick Perhaps a song about an embarrassing personal issue the songwriter has? It's okay, I won't look down on you for it. GUITAR SOLO TIME.
8. Shoot 'Em All and Let God Sort 'Em Out Starts with a sort of "slow" (meaning less fast than most songs on here) intro, only to get really fast. The group shout is "SHOOT 'EM ALL"... still think the intro iz the best part, though.
Check out the back of the EP's sleeve art for an image of sheer beauty. The music on this EP could almost qualify as noise-rock, except the emphasis is not quite placed enough of the music's noisiness to make it noisy noise. Ecoli is preparing to release their next record which will be titled "Swam On The Swine" for their Summer 2010 tour through Stress Domain Records, so if you want, you can pre-order it now. I do have to say that I like this record better than "Judas Cradle" -- I just think the songs are better. Well, that's all I have to say for now. Stay legit.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Trammel 2. Metropolis 3. Whites Will
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres:Hardcore Label: Posh Boy Records Tracks: 2 Length: 5 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Angry My Rating: 6/8
Black Flag never released a full-length album with their third singer, Dez Cadena, but they did release two 7" singles with him on vocals. The first one was called "Six Pack". This is the second record they released with Dez Cadena, and it features a cover of the early rock song "Louie Louie" on one side, and a new song called "Damaged" at the other side.
1. Louie Louie The original version of "Louie Louie" was written way back in 1955 by Richard Berry. It has since then become one of the most famous and well-known rock songs of all time. The most famous cover version of the song was recorded in 1963 by a band called the Kingsmen... back in 1963, the song was considered extremely controversial (and the FBI actually became involved in this case) because the lyrics were commonly misheard as being perverted by concerned parents (WHO'S the pervert again?). Anyways, fast-forward to 1981. "Louie Louie" is now a family favorite of the Jones', and now BLACK FLAG is the band that will turn your kids to Satan! As you might expect, this punk version of the song is harder, angrier, and besides the main chorus, the lyrics have been changed to something darker and more fitting to Black Flag lyrics. "Who needs love, when you've got a gun... who needs love TO HAVE ANY FUN?", screams Dez. Definitely a great cover if I've ever heard one.
2. Damaged I Here we have a really underrated Black Flag song. It's slow, it's angry. Sort of a precursor to grunge and noise rock all at once. There's three versions of the song: this version, the LP version with Henry Rollins on vocals, and the fast version from "Everything Went Black". This is the first one mentioned of those three. My guess is that the lyrics here have mostly been improvised. It's a sludgy, seething train-wreck of a song. The riff nearly carries no melody at all. The beat is slow, as the guitars sort of plod along like a slug (minus the salt) on a stick. I remember I had left my church and I felt like everyone turned against me, and I felt like the words to this specific version of the song rung very true for myself. Which version of the song you like the best is subjective opinion, I suppose. Some might prefer the TRUE psychotic-ness of Henry's "Damaged I", or the more energetic version on "Everything Went Black". The song portrays inner pain accurately, to say the least.
This was Black Flag's fourth release, I believe. There's not any sort of HUGE story behind it or so to speak. The guys just probably wanted to record another single. This was probably right before Henry Rollins joined the band, and would remain its frontman for the rest of its existence. Both of these songs remained a major part of the band's performances even into their later years, so it's interesting to hear how these earlier versions of the songs sound. I can't think of anything else to say. Here's a music video...
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Hardcore Label: Radar Music Tracks: 4 Length: 15 Minutes (Short) Style: Emotional My Rating: 5/8
Pandora is a band from Eupen, Belgium. The group formed in 2006. Since then, they've come a considerably long way... they nearly made it on to the Rock am Ring festival for this June (only finishing at second place in the contest), and they have an album, two EPs, and a music video out as of now. They are one of the most popular bands in the European "grunge-punk" scene, and their musical style takes elements from bands of the early '90s like Nirvana and Hole, as well as hardcore punk and splicing in their own shade of grimness and twangy guitars into the mix.
"Shoot Me I'll Pay You" was the band's first release ever -- it's a four song CD. I think it might be out of print. But for those who have heard it, it contains four early versions of some songs that eventually got on Melancholic Freedom. The production here is somewhat less polished... sometimes it's a good thing and sometimes it's not as good of a thing. But here we basically have an audible snap-shot of the band in their very early days. I'm not even sure if that's Roman in the back of the cover art! Either that or he just has a different hairstyle. Hard to tell. But yeah, this is their first EP and it's the same one I've been talking about this whole time so now I'm going to talk about the songs.
1. Like a Pissed Flower in Spring The opening guitar bit is a little dirtier, but every bit as cool. Then comes the No-Wavey verse section. Annie's voice isn't all echoey like in the newer version, but more just calmly spoken and stuff. The song has a much more lo-fi feel to it. Annie's voice sounds more ragged when she's yelling in the chorus section. One of the faster songs on the CD. There are things about the other version I like more, and there are things I like about this version more. As soon as I first ever heard this song for the first time, I could tell this was going to be a good band.
2. Bored A slow hardcore punk-type song. "Whoooaaaa, Mr. Bloody Knife". Damn, Annie's gotten away with fucking MURDER! BLOODEH MURDAH!! Know why she says "My enemies should stay, I want my friends to get out" so much? 'Cause she wants them to meet her other friend(?), Mr. Bloody Knife. Like, he's gonna get all stabby n' stuff. There's another weird-o sol-o in this song-o. Pretty nice melody, especially combined with the beat, which is a legit kind of beat. 3. Bottle of Wine The first thing you'll notice is that the guitar here is a lot cleaner than on the two songs before this one. I noticed the PATTERN! With this EP, each song is slower than the one before it. THAT is how it works, kiddies. It's pretty much a song about a person relationship with the wine they drink. I like Annie's vocals here. The melody is good. Reminds me of a sunny day, like the two songs before it also do but I forgot to mention that or something.
4. Born In My Eyes The guitar in the beginning of the song sounds weird, but in a good way. To be honest, this song is kinda depressing. It's very mellow and slow and bleak-feeling. In the first buildup to the chorus, the song is picked up a little bit a light beat. The chorus starts, and suddenly it feels a little more upbeat. It's a very angsty but heartfelt song. In the second chorus, there's some guitar noize that floats around from place to place. Definitely the longest song on here, being six and a half minutes long!
So, there you have it. This was the first Pandora record I ever listened to, and upon hearing it I instantly become a fan. Something just made me keep coming back to it. As I said before, all of the songs here were later featured on "Melancholic Freedom", but these versions are more low-budget sounding. Luckily, before the contents of the EP disappeared off of the MySpace page of the band for good, I had uploaded all of the songs to YouTube, so you can listen there if you didn't get a chance to hear them earlier. It's a pretty good look at the beginnings of a band which is now touching upon greatness. So, stay legit, friends.
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Noise, No-Wave Label: Skin Graft Records Tracks: 8 Length: 25 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Weird/Demented My Rating: 6/8
AIDS Wolf is just one of those bands... y'know... "those" bands. Somewhere between living n' dying. Fucking and killing. They probably do both of those things. All the time. Their music is a freakish musical anarchy of nearly epic proportions. Few rules. It's almost not music at all. It's just a bunch of people playing their instruments together. But I guess that makes it music. So music it iz. The drums pound like a hammer. The guitars just flutter and crash around. Chloe Lum, the singer, just wails unintelligible shit. I guess it's not for everyone, but it's good if you're into this sort of stuff. AIDS Wolf is from Montreal in Quebec and they formed in 2003. The current line-up consists of Yannick Desranleau (drums), Chloe Lum (vocals), and Alexander Moskos (guitar). This album iz their first album and it is good.
1. Spit Tastes Like Metal The song starts out with the bass drums thumping to a shakey shrieky guitar sound. Sometimes there's a little bit of snare, as well. Chloe mumbles and yells a bunch of stuff. I dunno whose spit these guys have been tasting, but it don't taste THAT metallic.
2. Chinese Roulette My favorite song on the album! The beat kind of reminds me of this one Teenage Jesus & the Jerks song I heard this one time. But it's an awesome, hard-hitting beat. The guitar is frantic and austere at the same time. Chloe screams and wails, sometimes actually sounding like singing. I play this one in the car a lot. It's a very good song.
3. We Multiply Weird echoey guitar sounds. The bass guitar sounds really cool in some parts -- almost sounds like a slap-bass or something. Chloe's vocals fucking rule, here. The chorus is pretty heavy. I dunno how, it just is.
4. The Hat Collector The fucking HAT COLLECTOR, MAN!!! Always collecting my hats n' stuff. Gets to be a real bitch sometimes. It's okay, though, 'cause if I lose a hat, he always collects it back and stuff. Mixed blessings, y'know? Anyways, the song just kinda starts with a bunch of possibly improvised lead guitar stuff. Occasionally there's a hyper-speed drumbeat amidst all this, but it only comes so often, until about a minute and a half into the song where it becomes a regular part of the song. Mostly instrumental.
5. Vampire King Starts off with an ultra-fast beat and general mayhem. The beat slows down to about mid-tempo for a part of the song, and then it speeds up to ultra-fast again. The ultra fast parts are pretty crazy. Chloe's probably just shaking her head around and saying stupid stuff or blowing bubbles in some milk or something.
6. Panty Mind This song has the most conventional punk rock beat out of all of the songs. The guitar in the verse sections are complex and gnarled. However, the chorus section sounds like mutant ska from HELL!! Midway through, the song breaks down into nothing but scattered n' shredded noize, like a Sonic Youth song or something. The song's main "riff" is repeated towards the end.
7. Opposing Walls Okay, you've got two walls. And there's a giant wrecking ball smashing back and forth between them. That's pretty much what the beat for this song sounds like. AIDS Wolf may have AIDS, but they've got fuckin' rhythm, I will give them that. Hell, the main appeal for this song is the fact that it sounds like you're being smashed in the head with a hammer with AIDS (wolf) repeatedly, I guess. Anyways, I like it. End of Side 1.
8. Some Sexual Drawings I want to look at some sexual drawings. Right nauw. Oh well. As the song begins, a towering monolith of a bass guitar-generated manatee comes in, looking to see if I have stolen its candy or not. But I have not. But then, suddenly, a steel robot made out of the sounds made by the rhythm guitar comes in to make sure everything's in line. I'm in a room surrounded by giant scary monsters. That's what this song iz sounding like, so far. And bumble bees. Lots of bumble bees. AIDS Wolf are going to fucking KILL YOU. They're gonna FUCK YOU UP THE ASS AND RAPE YOU AND THEY HAVE AIDS SO YOU WILL GET ZE AIDS TOO. "AUAUAUAUAUAUEUEUEUAUAUAUAEUEUAUAUAUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUAUAUAUAUAUAUAEUEU", sings Chloe, to remind us that, well, she's one scary fucker. FUCK-er. FUCK...er. A FUCK-er is one who FUCKS. Like. I am not a fucker. I do not fuck. I have not FUCKed. But if I FUCK, then I am a FUCKer, because I FUCK. Does that make any sense to you? I dunno. This song is really long.
Having not heard the entire "Lovvers LP" before, I have come to realize that I actually like it better than "Cities of Glass". Why? Because while Cities of Glass is more noisy and chaotic, The Lovvers LP sounds more like actual songs. Toneless, bizarre, noisy songs, but still songs. This is an extremely cool album. And Chloe Lum is really really good looking and I have a crush on her because she makes cool music and she's beautiful. He he. Side A of the album is mostly some warped No-Wave punk songs, and Side B is a deathly mess of brain damage. So, it's your pick. Some of the songs kind of remind me of early Sonic Youth. Except I actually like this better. Not better than ALL Sonic Youth, but better than Sonic Youth in the early '80s. So, for all of you happy children of happiness out there: spread the love. Spread the joy. Play this little album everywhere. Play it for your mum. Play it for your dad. Play it for all of your radio-loving joy friends. Play it at church. Spread the happy joy and loving gospel of AIDS Wolf, children. May the sunshine bless you, and please apologize to all of the small insects you accidentally kill. Bye bye!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Chinese Roulette 2. Panty Mind 3. We Multiply
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Alternative Tentacles Records Tracks: 8 Length: 13 Minutes (Short) Style:Political/Funny My Rating: 6/8
The Dead Kennedys was a band from San Francisco, California. As one of the main bands of the hardcore punk movement during the '80s, their music was wildly experimental, and their lyrics were amazingly good at conveying a point and the bad things about America in the modern era. "In God We Trust, Inc." was the second main release from the Dead Kennedys. The music here is pretty conventionally hardcore, especially on the first half of the album, but the second half experiments with some other genres of music. So I'm not sure what else to say right now, so let's listen to the music!
1. Religious Vomit This song's really fast, and it sings about how the band hates religion because they all claim to have the answer "when they don't even know the question", and they just want your money and consciousness. Cool riff n' stuff.
2. Moral Majority Starts with the sounds of a mock-church choir humming praises to their at this point un-named god. The greedy preacher beckons the congregation to give him money and pray... Turns out their idol is none other than... "M-I-C...K-E-Y... M-O-U-S-E..." -- I fucking cracked up the first time I heard this. The song segues into the thrashy main part of the song. It criticizes the people who call themselves the "Moral Majority" who strive for a fascist, idealized right-wing version of how the world should be -- basically a theocracy (with a little war-mongering to top things off). These people just want your damn money and they're greedy bastards who usually end up to be guilty of all of the things that preach against (Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, George Rekers, the Catholic Church, etc.) "God must be dead if they're alive", Jello proclaims. Hell, these people want to burn books! Sound familiar? Jello's message to Ronald Reagan, Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms, Terry Dolan, Phyllis Schafly, and Anita Bryant? BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS!!!
3. Hyperactive Child Great riff in both the verse and chorus. This song's about a child in school who's "tired of kissing ass" and forced to sit down and listen to lies in school all day. However, he just can't take it anymore and can't stop fidgeting in his seat, so they drag him away, "ram a needle in his butt", and now he's sedated to worship the flag and be watched by cameras in brick wall-laden halls for the rest of the day! HA HAH HAH! (evil laugh)
4. Kepone Factory This song's the unfortunate story of a guy who finally finds a job working for a factory moving barrels. Unfortunately, the Kepone in the factory is slowly poisoning and giving some pretty damn bad side effects.
5. Dog Bite The band attempts a first take, and then decides to start over. I can't really figure out what this song's about. But apparently some guy got bit on the leg by a doggy. Probably my least favorite song on here. End of Side 1.
6. Nazi Punks Fuck Off I've heard this song was supposed to be a diss on the English band the Exploited, who got in a conflict with the Dead Kennedys and are notable for their macho attitude and stereotypical lyrics and looks. Supposedly the Exploited wrote a song back, but I don't know what it's called (if someone knows, please inform me). Anyways, Jello sings "PUNK AIN'T NO RELIGIOUS CULT, PUNK MEANS THINKING FOR YOURSELF: YOU AIN'T HARDCORE WHEN YOU SPIKE YOUR HAIR IF A JOCK STILL LIVES INSIDE YOUR HEAD!". The song goes on to criticize the violent "cops" of the punk scene (punks who try to enforce conformity on others in the scene) and tells them that they'll be the first to go when the "Fourth Reich" begins. Love this song.
7. We've Got a Bigger Problem Now This is a new version of "California Uber Alles". However, as the title implies, there's "a bigger problem" in the whole country. The first half of the song is a bassly lounge-style rendition of the song. After a spoken part, Jello sings, "I am Emperor Ronald Reagan, born again with fascist cravings". He talks about taking away rights and forcing everyone to pray Christian prayers in school. Halfway through, the song revs it up and returns to an aggressive hardcore format for a short bit. It relaxes for a bit, and then slowly builds up to an aggressive style again. It's basically the old song with new lyrics. Jello goes on to sing about 1984 and being forced to go to boot camp and stuff. While listening to it now these lyrics might seem a little paranoid/dated, remember that Ronald Reagan had just entered the office the year this record came out and nobody had any idea what he was going to do -- eight years to potentially fuck EVERYTHING up, with the Cold War still going on, y'know? And hey, who says it'll never happen? Ya never know... sadly, a lot of people still worship Ronald Reagan today, including my own parents. That's just the way it was. Someday people will probably look at George W. Bush in the same light. Funny how history mysteriously re-writes itself...
8. Rawhide This is a cover of the theme song for an American western show from the 1960s called "Rawhide". It's a pretty direct cover other than the fact that it's done in a punk-ish style, but the lyrics when used in the Dead Kennedys' context actually makes some pretty damn excellent satire (read the lyrics and you'll figure it out). Ha hah hah!
On the cassette tape version, the band put the whole EP on the A-side of the tape and left the B-side blank. Their reason for doing this? Well, the BPI was starting to feel threatened by the fact that people were using their tape-recorders to record music FOR FREE instead of buying albums to give the record industry its precious money that it just totally doesn't have. So, there was a flyer that showed a "skull and crossbones" with a cassette tape instead of a skull saying "HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC -- AND IT'S ILLEGAL!" (which it isn't). So, being advocates AGAINST the record industry, the Kennedys (the Dead ones, that is) put a parody of that on the B-side of their tape version of "In God We Trust, Inc.", saying: "HOME TAPING IS KILLING RECORD INDUSTRY PROFITS! WE LEFT THIS SIDE BLANK SO YOU CAN HELP." Gahah! So yeah, this is a good Dead Kennedys record like all of their other records and you should get it. And by the way -- I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL FOR THE YEAR! YIPEE!!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Nazi Punks Fuck Off 2. Moral Majority 3. We've Got a Bigger Problem Now
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: R Radical Records Tracks: 7 Length: 11 Minutes (Short) Style: Angry/Political My Rating: 7/8
The Reagan Youth are a hardcore punk band from New York that formed in 1980. While the band still continues on today, their original form lasted from 1980 to 1990. Formed by two kids who went to Forest Hills High School (the same school the Ramones went to!), they were originally called "Pus", and then they changed their name to "Reagan Youth" soon afterwards -- by the end of the year, the band was playing shows. During the early '80s they put a few songs on a few compilations, but it wasn't 'till 1984 (the year everyone thought Ronald Reagan was going to eat us all ALIIIIVE) that the band decided to record their first album. I'm pretty amused by their choices of artwork -- always using Nazi and KKK imagery for their album art. Pretty funny if you think about it... I'll bet some punk kids back in the '80s never touched these guys' stuff because they actually thought that the Reagan Youth were supposed to be a PRO-NAZI, PRO-RACISM, PRO-REAGAN band. Couldn't be further from the truth -- the members of the band were peace-loving anarchists who hated hate itself (just listen to the song if ya don't believe me). But yeah, this iz their first album, and it's really short but the songs are all good so let's listen to it.
1. Reagan Youth The band's theme song. This was on the "P.E.A.C.E." compilation (which had SO MANY songs on it) also. The lyrics are a satire on the far-right who want to "purge the heathen kind", kill pagans, watch television all day, and kill some damn commies! Musically, it's extremely catchy and cool-sounding -- fast. The band chants "WE ARE THE REAGAN YOUTH! HEIL HEIL HEIL!" in the chorus. As soon as I heard this song, I knew this band would be awesome.
2. New Aryans The song starts out with a venomous fake proclamation of pride in being a "white amerikan". The second verse is a reaction to these sentiments, saying "Death to the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan!", going on to incite "Anarchy in the fatherland". NEW ORDER? NO ORDER. DISORDER!! Once again, the music's really cool, goes along with the lyrics for some reason. The music sounds very vengeful and angry. There's a lot of lead guitar going on the foreground, in a sort of Black Flag-ish way.
3. (Are You) Happy? Great riff, great bass. The song makes fun of people who try to convince themselves they're happy, when their life is really empty and "the joke's on them". This could be said for a lot of people we see these days.
4. No Class A song about non-conformity. God, the guitar on this song sounds so sexy. It's really cool. Anyways, the song's about how people and the hardcore scene itself have tried to turn the singer into another clone, but he just wants to be himself and be his own "undescribable undefinable unique self" instead of climb the social ladder. I feel like people try to do this to me a lot. End of Side 1.
5. I Hate Hate Well, look at that... a song about hating hate! The first verse describes a person who hates everything and everyone, only for that verse to end in the statement: "all you hate is all you are!"... we're all guilty of it, but in the end, I guess hate is a pretty lame thing. It makes a good point of not hating the only life you get to live. It's one of the faster songs on the record, like the first song.
6. Degenerated This song's about one of those dumb kids who doesn't care about much except for fucking girls (to prove that he's a man), watching television, and eating junk food all day. Basically what most of the other kids my age are like. However, Johnny grows up to become an even dumber, bigger loser. HE WAS A TEENAGE ZOMBIE! JUST LIKE ALL OF THE OTHER FUCKS! I'm gonna love it when all these fuckers who thought life was so great in high school end up really big losers when they're old. Who needs 'em? I guess I'm "hating" again, though... love the solo in this song, it's awesome. Very cool song.
7. (You're A) Go Nowhere The riff here kinda reminds me of the Ramones, only better. It's the slowest song on the album, but that makes it even more cool! The song expands upon the theme of "Degenerated", except here they're talking about a whole generation of kids! And I'll say, my generation is the biggest generation of go-nowheres you've ever seen, man. Hah hah hawwwwwwww. "Living your life on a conveyer belt". That's all, folks!
Hey, did you know that their PHYSICS TEACHER left the school to become a punk rocker and become a roadie for the band? Pretty cool, huh? Well, believe it or not, the band never put out anything else until after they stopped performing. In 1989, when Ronald Reagan left office and the band stopped playing shows, they were approached by New Red Archives to put out two more albums. The first one was called "Volume 1", and it was THIS album, but with three more songs on it. The second one was called "Volume 2" (whaddayaknow?), and it contained some all-new songs that they recorded in the studio in 1990. But I must say, this is a very awesome album. It's furious, it makes valid and relevant points, and the songs are great! Reagan Youth is definitely a band that I'm glad I've just really got into. So, I strongly recommend checking out this album, and you can find all of its contents in the easier-to-obtain "A Collection of Pop Classics" which has almost all of their songs. Seeya.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. New Aryans 2. (You're A) Go Nowhere 3. (Are You) Happy?
Genre: Punk Rock, Heavy Metal Sub-Genres: Grunge, Hardcore, Sludge Label: C/Z Records Tracks: 6 Length: 12 Minutes (Short) Style: Angry My Rating: 6/8
There was a time when almost EVERYONE hated the Melvins. During the late '80s, the Melvins just too weird for most punkers to stomach. Not quite heavy metal, but not quite hardcore. Challenging, bizarre song structures and ridiculously heavy chords mark this period in the Melvins' history. Prior to this time, just not enough people knew about the Melvins. And by "this" time, I mean when Gluey Porch Treatments came out almost a year after this EP. The Melvins had just completed their first U.S. tour in 1985, and by now their fanbase consisted of slightly more than, say, five people. Having already practically invented grunge, the Melvins' hunger for new musical oddities continued. The sound on this record is somewhere inbetween the music on Deep Six and Gluey Porch Treatments (both records contained alternate recordings of many of the songs on here). I'm not sure if you could call the music here sludge metal, but it gets pretty damn close at some points. With C/Z Records just formed, this was the second release ever on C/Z Records after Deep Six. So, here's to the Melvins... let's listen!
1. Easy As It Was Slow, heavy, and monstrous. Lots of little twists and turns even in the main riff. Dale supplies little drumrolls with a lot of character inbetween the verse and chorus. Excellent drumming. Good song. It would later be featured on Gluey Porch Treatments as "As It Was".
2. Now a Limo This song's a little faster (which is still slow by non-Melvins standards). The intro begins with a guitar solo. The song's actually pretty short (less than a minute long), but it stands well by itself anyways. Buzz kinda sings along with the ending riff of the song, which I thought was a cool touch.
3. Grinding Process This song was originally featured in "Deep Six", but this version is slower. Personally I liked the first version the best -- the tempo worked real well on that one. Still, in other senses, there's not a huge difference. Gotta love how Buzz's voice can go from high-pitched to deep in just an instance like that. Needly little guitar solo here. Another way that this version is different from the Deep Six version is the fact that in the ending section, Buzz sings by himself instead of being accompanied by backing vocals. End of Side 1.
4. At a Crawl Slowest and longest song on the 7"! Perhaps the beginning of sludge metal? This song is heavy as fuck, and while not as slow as what the Melvins would eventually be putting out, it's very slow considering that this was during the era of hardcore punk and speed metal! There is, however, a demo version which predates this song that's significantly faster. The vocals are extremely passionate and awesome. The song would later be on their second LP, Ozma.
5. Disinvite This is one of the more mid-tempo songs, here. The chorus revs things up even a little more, with Buzz growling "DISINVITE... DISINVITE..." -- awesome vocals, as usual. This one became "Steve Instant Neuman" when they re-recorded it for Gluey Porch Treatments.
6. Snake Appeal The fastest song. It's a regular hardcore punk song, and actually one of their oldest songs, too (it can be found on "Mangled Demos from 1983"). This version is even faster, though! Guitar solo, also. Aggressive and energetic. Bye bye.
The Melvins, unsatisfied with the quality of these recordings, actually went out of their way to re-record this entire EP. Those recordings are of much higher quality and can be found on the "Ten Songs" album that got released in 1991 (which also includes four bonus songs). A lot of these songs were also later featured on their other albums after this. This iz a good EP, but it still ain't the Melvins at their full potential. Still, if you wanna hear the Melvins during their transitional phase, definitely check this out. And it's still totally good. It's Melvin-tastic, ya might say. Well, I must be going, now. Stay legit.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Snake Appeal 2. At a Crawl 3. Grinding Process
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Sweet Dreams Records Tracks: 6 Length: 7 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Angry My Rating: 6/8
Crooked Teeth are a new hardcore punk band from Richmond, Virginia, home of some other bands like Government Warning. The band is unique from a lot of other hardcore bands in the fact that the lead singer is a girl -- she sounds a lot like Kathleen Hannah from Bikini Kill! The music here is a lot faster than Bikini Kill's, though. This is their first demo tape ever, which the band was kind enough to give me the link to, and quite frankly, it kicks testes! The songs are great, the music is urgent and furious, the vocals are a nice change of pace from the scream/bark that every other band seems to use nowadays. C'mon guys, I know you're really angry, but couldn't at least SOME of you guys sing with a melody? Ericka yells too, but at least her voice actually sounds different. By the way, the band's lineup is Ericka (vox), Patrick (guitar), Chris (bass), Hash (drums), and Charlie, who plays the SKIN FLUTE. The band is currently signed to Sweet Dreams Records, and a cassette tape of this demo can be purchased by mail for $4.
1. Synapse Starts kinda fast and then gets really fast. There's a weird solo in the middle of the song. The lyrics are pretty dark and seem to describe feeling like an outcast or something. I actually have no idea BECUZ IM JUSH A BIG DUMBY DUM HEAD! HAA HAA HAH!!!
2. Poison Once again, chock-ful of fury! The riff is awesome, the beat is awesome, it's awesome awesome awesome. Another solo after the first chorus. Ericka's voice is fuckin' awesome! Once again, I seriously have no idea what any of these songs are about. At least the music makes up for that part.
3. Crooked Teeth It's like... the... THEME SONG!! Not quite as fast as the two before it, but it's still awesome-o. I like the transition of chords used from the verse to the chorus. It just works, y'know? Yeah, there's another guitar solo.
4. Duke Nukem 64 My favorite song here. However, it doesn't really have anything to do with a video game. I actually used to play the first two Duke Nukem games for computer a fucking lot. Still do every now and then. Well, this song's lyrics seem to be about rape or at least the feeling of being used up or something like that. It's the shortest song on the tape, but it's the best, in my opinion.
5. Yellow Maybe this song's supposed to be about jaundice or being disabled or being a disabled person with jaundice. See, I could even swear she was yelling "JAUNDICE!" in one part of the song!
6. Double Monster Starts with just drums, bass, and guitar noize. Then the first verse begins. The song's about being depressed n' sad n' shit laike that. For some reason, whenever I read the title, I wanna think of Cookie Monster. And hey, Cookie Monster's BLUE also. YEAH!!!!!! This iz the longest song. fgfdgdhggfhfghggf
As you can see here, today, I was having a serious mind-block. Sometimes, kidz, I just dunno what to write. The weather's been makin' me down for the las' cup' a-days, so I gots ta be strawng, kiddeyz. Gots ta fight tha good fight, y'know? Well, I'm guessing that if you liked everything else I've reviewed so far then you should PROOOOBABLY like this. You can download these songs all for free on the band's Last.FM profile. ENJOY DA MUSIC, KIDZ.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Duke Nukem 64 2. Crooked Teeth 3. Poison
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: We Got Power! Records Tracks: 43 Length: 41 Minutes (Long) Style:Fun/Angry/Weird My Rating: 6/8
We Got Power! was a Los Angeles punk rock 'zine that was published from 1981 to 1983. Run by David Markey of Sin 34, and later, a notable punk rock film-maker later on in the decade and onwards. Truly a legend in his own right. And by "right" I mean that he did a pretty damn good job of keeping document of the L.A. punk scene back in his day. Anyways, he eventually did put together a series of compilations called "Party Or Go Home". This iz the first volume in that series, so buckle up and be prepared for a lotta audible punk rock action! YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAYAHHH!!!!
1. The Authorities - "I Hate Cops" Begins with a guitar-produced simulation of a police car siren. Soon afterwards, the song begins. The singer sings about how he hates cops/piggers, n' their little moustaches and how much they suck testes n' stuff. The only time I ever got bugged by a cop was when my friends told me to piss in an alley this one time. And the cop was the biggest dick I've ever met. Luckily I didn't get arrested, though. The singer talks about how they were shooting up heroin and then got busted by the cops. Pretty nice solo in here.
2. Nip Drivers - "Tang" The riff here reminds me of the Germs for some reason. "Richie Dagger's Crime", to be more specific. The singer sings the first few verses, and screams the last. What iz this song about, you might ask? Well, it's about wanting tang. WHAT tang? Poon-TANG? TANG, the drink? A TANGerine, perhaps? An oranguTANG? Like, for a pet? Your call, dude.
3. J.F.A. - "Middle America" Yay! It's JFA! This song is even shorter n' faster than the other songs we've heard so far. It's about the monetary selfishness of the middle-American Reaganites back in the '80s. And today, pretty much. "Fuck the Arabs, fuck the Jews, we only want what we can use." Middle America sucks major ass, sometimes.
4. Dr. Know - "Savior" Once again, ultra fast! I really like this one. The riff is really cool and frantic. Some parts are very fast, some parts are slow. This song's basically about people looking for a new "savior" (probably a religious one) to tell them what to do and push them around.
5. White Flag - "Celibate" Look out, Black Flag... here comes... WHITE FLAG! The universal symbol of surrender. Heh heh heh. Pretty catchy. I swear I'm hearing horses sounds in the background. The lead singer has a cool voice.
6. White Flag - "Hoppity Hooper" More White Flag. This is a really short song with a rolling bass beat, and some backing vocals.
7. White Cross - "Nuke Attack" Nope, this izn't Red Cross. It's WHITE CROSS. MORE WHITE THINGS. LIKE... WHITE NOIZE! OH BOY!!!!! Anyways, this one almost seems like two songs in one. The first one is shorter than the second one. Both are very brash and fast. The singer has a rough voice, and the guitars are loud n' energetic. I'm not very smart, but I'm guessing this one's about a nuke attack. Just guessing.
8. The Fuck-Ups - "Bacon & Eggs" Fast, thrashy, bacony, eggy. The singer says "short and sweet" a fucking lot. Hate to break it to you, buddy, but there's a lot of bands doing shorter songs here than this one. But at least it's a good song. They didn't fuck up. Or maybe they're fuck-ups because they're failing to fuck up.
9. Putrid Girls - "1234" Hey, it's a girl band! They sing about hurting yourself and killing yourself. There's a weird part in the middle where someone's making the noize "WWWEOOOWOEOEOEOWWOWOWOWOEOEOEOEOWWW" a bunch. Counting iz pretty damn dangerous, man.
10. Ill Repute - "Count the Odds" Okay, if you've ever heard "Scared" by the Melvins, you'll notice that inbetween the intro and the first verse, Matt Lukin starts playing a different bassline. It's the bassline to this song, intentional or not. It iz what it iz, man. But yes, it's fast, it sounds cool, so it must be a good song.
11. Stalag 12 - "Selfish" Okay, there's fast, and then there's REALLY fast. This song would be the latter.
12. Rebel Truth - "Monkey's Paw" The voice sounds familiar, but I'm not sure whose voice it reminds me of the most. Maybe D Boon from the Minutemen. Or Jay Briggs from the Sonitus Revolution. But these guys came before the Sonitus Revolution, unless Jay is a lot fucking younger than he looks.
13. Willful Neglect - "EMS&D" Know what EMS&D stands for? "Eat My Shit & Die". That's nice to know, isn't it?? There's a guitar solo on this song. The bass guitar is pretty good, too.
14. Tar Babies - "Confused" The singer for this band sounds like his head was dipped in tar while giving birth to a baby. That'd confuse me, too.
15. Mecht Mench - "Might Makes Right" A song protesting macho arrogance. Lotsa screaming, too.
16. Graven Image - "My World" His world is dead, dude. Know what killed it? A bunch of feedback solos.
17. The Vacant - "Caught by the Mafia" It's fast and it's about getting caught by the Mafia. I can't think of anything interesting to say about this one.
18. Adrenaline O.D. - "WW4" I really like this one. The first half of the song is real fun, energetic like a good song should. The second half is, well... the band's rendition of "Pop Goes the Weasel". Here's one band that never took themselves seriously. 19. The Clones - "Conform to the Norm" A band that sounds like all of its members are a bunch of robots. The voices sound like robots. The instrumentation sounds like some sort of freakish robot factory thing. Occasionally there's a real noisy part. The song ends in some creepy backwards music. Definitely one of the weirder bands on here.
20. Big Boys - "Brick Walls" Sometimes I eat at Frisch's Big Boy. It's a pretty good place to eat at if you're hungry. However, I don't think this band is associated. The singer sounds like a cross between the guy from Agnostic Front and Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks.
21. Sin 34 - "Not" This iz the band that David Markey was in! The guy who put this whole damn thingie together. Apparently the singer is a girl. Her name is Julie Lanfield, apparently. Short and fast song. End of Side 1.
22. El Duce - "Glad" El Duce! The infamous rape-rock singer of the Mentors... probably one of the most funny and shocking rock performers ever. Well, in this track, El Duce lets us know that he's glad we all came here. Thanks, El Duce. I am too.
23. Minutemen - "Party With Me Punker" PARTY WITH ME, PUNKER! IN A CONDO! IN AN AIR-RAID SHELTER! ANYWHERE! JUST PARTY, ALL YA PUNKERS!!!! WITH MARIJUANA! This iz a very bass-driven song. And the guitar solo is fucking awesome. YAEY.
24. Dayglow Abortions - "Scared" This is another awesome song. The singer's voice perfectly compliments the guitar, here. This song is about being scared of people; including me. And you. And wanting to die and stuff.
25. Caustic Cause - "Look to the Left" SDUDUFDSGFjdsgfdkhgdfkjhgdskjfhsdfsd
26. Don't Know - "Millionaire" This song is surprisingly "long" for this album -- almost two minutes long. It starts out kinda mid-tempo, and then it gets fast. And the singer sings about wanting to be a millionaire. The part in the middle is slow with a guitar solo.
27. SVDB - "Flames of Hell" This song's about wanting to see someone die and burn in Hell.
28. Patriots - "Cavity" Occasionally there are little pauses in the music in this sawng.
29. Hated Principals - "Survival At All Costs" The singer here sounds a little bit like Darby Crash from the Germs. Some fucking awesome screams, here. There's a heavy metal-esque guitar solo here also, which sounds pretty good. The song reminds me of the beach for some reason.
30. Crankshaft - "New Wave Homos" A homophobic song about how New Wavers are homos and stuff. And killing fags.
31. Urban Assault (San Francisco) - "Night On the Town" There were two different bands both called "Urban Assault" on this album. This is the Urban Assault from San Francisco. This song is very bassy.
32. Urban Assault (Tahoe) - "Rock & Roll Burnout" This is the other Urban Assault. Personally, I find this song more amusing. It's extremely fast and pretty short. Just a very nice hardcore song. THISONGISGOOD.
33. 7 Seconds - "Wasted Life Ain't No Crime" One of the more notable bands on this album. Supposedly later they started playing pop-punk and stuff (they're still around), but this song is just hardcore punk rock. And you probably know what that implies.
34. Jackshit - "Follow the Leader" The guitar here is kind of abrasive and wild due to the mixing, but that's a good thing! There's also a saxophone solo at the end of the song.
35. Atheists - "Music I Hate" Duurrghhkkdfgfgfdgd.
36. Romulans - "Judgement Day" The mixing here is pretty good. Kinda echo-y. The bassline is awesome. Great song.
37. No Labels - "Ego" The verse of the song is sorta slow, but the chorus is fast as fuck; faster than anything else on the whole album. Wow. 38. Armed Response - "Ted Night" It's a song about beating up a guy named Ted. The song begins with the shouted line "EAT MY SHIT, TED". The intro is kinda fast, but the main part of the song is ultra speedy.
39. Deranged Diction - "Crooning" The chorus riff reminds me of "Pay to Cum" by Bad Brains. If ya listen, you'll hear it.
40. False Confession - "Kill For Fun" Though the title is listed as "Untitled", "Kill For Fun" is the real title to the song. The singer sounds like a young Henry Rollins.
41. Manimals - "Things Under My Bed" I'm assuming these guys named themselves after a certain song by ze Germs. The later part of the song is very lead-driven. It's a pretty upbeat song.
42. Red Cross - "Pseudo Intellectual" Yes, this band would later become known as "Redd Kross" when they made the shift towards pop-punk in the mid '80s. This song was recorded live. The song's rhythm is different from a lot of the other band's on this album.
43. A Barking Dog - "Woof Woof" This is literally just a track of a dog barking. Nothing else, here. That's all.
Most hardcore bands are unable to fill up an entire LP, but here, we see it pretty much done. Over forty minutes of thrash. Some of the bands are good. Some are bad. But mostly good. I gotta give Dave credit for putting this all together. You should listen to it. In fact, the whole thing is now available to be downloaded for free off of his website: www.wegotpowerfilms.com -- check it aut, there. Hope you enjoyed my review. Until next time...
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Scared (Dayglow Abortions) 2. Party With Me Punker (Minutemen) 3. Survival At All Costs (Hated Principals)
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Deranged Records Tracks: 4 Length: 6 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Angry My Rating: 6/8
You've got your Reagan Youth, Sonic Youth, Youth Brigade, Wasted Youth, Social Youth (what?), Musical Youth, etc... You(th) knew that this one was coming. They're not Ronald Reagan's equivalent to the Hitler Youth... they're not a BRIGADE of youth... they're not a bunch of youth whose youth has been wasted (or they spent all of their youth GETTING wasted), and, well, they're not very social either. Neither are they blue hedgehogs. No, these ones are some Grade-A, run-of-the-mill MOLESTERED YOUTH! These kidz are have just been totally MOLESTED and damn, are they pissed. So they started a fucking BAND! Called MOLESTED YOUTH. Like, we've had all of these bands that put the word "youth" after some dignified or at least austere adjective. Y'know, "man, those poor kids really had their youth WASTED by the great depression of 2060" or "the YOUTH BRIGADE will solve all our problems of the future", or something like that. Y'know. All PxOxSxIxTxIxVxE and HxAxRxDxCxOxRxExxPxUxNxX n' stuff like that. Like, with a lot of X's and not doing drugs and having really short hair and WHAT THE FUCK AM I EVEN TALKING ABOUT??!! Yeah man, MOLESTED YOUTH. Now, some of you might get a lil' offended by this, but I was fucking MOLESTED as a YOUTH by MICHAEL JACKSON. YESTERDAY. I'm pretty pissed off myself, now. Know why, kidz? 'Cause yesterday a dead pop-star just choked my balls out my own mouth sideways in a little act of reverse-necrophagy. Now I'm mad 'cause Michael Jackson molested me. I think I'm gonna get my anger out and dance around like an autistic kid having a seizure (a straight-edge seizure at that) and listen to some Goddamn MOE-LEST'D YOUT!
On a slightly more coherent note, Molested Youth is a Canadian hardcore punk band that formed in 2008. From Toronto. This iz their first release (it's really just a demo), and they have another tape after this called "The Fountain of Molested Youth", but apparently that fount's run dry 'cause I can't get a drink so I'll have to just stick with this glass o' H2O by my side for now... nothin' but the blooooood ooooffffff JEEEEEEEEEEEZUSS KA-RIGHST-AH!!!!! YEAHYEAHYEAHEYAHYEAHYEAHEYEAHYEAH!!!!! I WILL NEVAH GO THIRSTY AGAIN, NAUW. Well, now that that's outta the way, I think I'm gonna go molest some youths -- I mean, review a Molested Youth record.
1. Watch Me Rise The song starts out with a single electric guitar being played. In a totally fuzzed-out wayed. Man. Man-O-E-Man-O. Mano e Mano. Mano. After almost a minute of this (the guitar part), the drums fade in, and the pounding beat builds up until a peak where it just crashes to a slow rhythm. Then the first verse begins, where the beat iz fast and the singer, Sean, sings stuff like "WHAT ARE WE ALL FIGHTING FOR?" and stuff like that. Nice variation of tempo in some parts. This is a very good song. Longest one on the demo, being two and a half minutes long.
2. Rat in a Cage This song begins with a short, slow, bassy intro (no rhythm guitar yet). And the like a raging caged rat, the song goes off into ultrathrash500000 mode, with the fast beat and angry vocals and yeah, it's pretty legitty and stuff. The chorus just goes "rat in a cage". I'll bet these guys are pretty awesome-o live.
3. Break It Once again, slow intro. This time, the intro has a rhythm guitar riff. It happens to just be a slower version of the main riff. The verse part of the song is fast, but the chorus is ultra-slow. The later part of the chorus slowly builds up and increases in speed until we're back at the lightspeed fury of the verse.
4. !!Shining Light Fastest one here! The verse is fast (and fucking awesome), and the mid-section is slow. The riff is really awesome, here. This is the shortest song on the album; less than a minute long.
If you want some new, authentic, awesome, ferocious hardcore, look no further than here! The demo can be downloaded for free off of their Last.FM page. The audio cassette version, which costed about $2 is now out of print, so just go fer the gold, young molesters! By the way, the band's line-up iz: Sean (vocals), Seabreeze Malone (guitar), Warren (bass), and Zack (drums). So give this one a listen and have fun with it (maybe even have sex with it). It should not let ya down, buddy. And yes, I made my own cover for it because there is no official cover.
