Review #160: Rejectors/The Accüsed - Through My Mind's Eye/Please Pardon Our Noise... (1983)

THROUGH MY MIND'S EYE/PLEASE PARDON OUR NOISE...

Year: 1983

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Rejectors Records/Fatal Erection Records/Public Safety Records
Tracks: 27
Length: 38 Minutes
Style: Political/Angry
My Rating: 5/8

In 1983, two bands from the infancy of the Seattle punk scene, which was during then home to bands like these two and the Fartz, released a split LP with two titles, so it's pretty much two albums for the price of one. The Rejectors had released a 7" EP a year prior, and as far as I know this is the first record released by the Accüsed. But it's pretty good. The years of the Seattle scene before "grunge"... Buzz Osborne said before bands like this there were just a lot of shitty cover bands... and before THAT, there were artists like Heart and Jimi Hendrix, but that's a whole 'nother topic, so I'm here to review this two-band effort. Let us cunt-inue...

1. Rejectors - "Struggle"
A fast song about using your mind to overcome the restrictions on freedom from the government and mainstream society.

2. Rejectors - "Anti-Patriot"
This song condemns blind patriotism to capitalist and communist governments, and the singer maintains that we must "protest to prevent our extinction" by war.

3. Rejectors - "Gang Bang"
This song tells us to "fuck" the Nazis, the KKK, the Army, and of course, Ronald Reagan. I guess he really does want us to fuck these people. Hence the title, "gang bang". Well, time to go defile Ronald Reagan's dead corpse in some homo-necro-sexual FUN FESTIVITY!

4. Rejectors - "Through My Mind's Eye"
Whaddaya know, another fast song. The song talks about how through our seeing-eyes we only get to see what the system wants us to know and think, but through your "mind's eye" you can use the power of knowledge to see the truth.

5. Rejectors - "No Justice"
An anti-authority song that exposes the government as pulling a false sheet of "justice" over the American people when in reality they can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it.

6. Rejectors - "My World"
The riff reminds me of the Ramones on speed. The song's about an imagined world with no laws, no borders, no war, just freedom and peace.

7. Rejectors - "Conservative Minority"
This one has a lot of meaning today still, with the huge amount of conservative moral-majority types having sort of a resurgence in the U.S.A. today during the bleak Obama era. And for once it's actually a different speed! Basically a "fuck you" to anti-abortion anti-feminsm anti-rights bigots. If there is a Hell, I'm sure Falwell is roasting there, that dickhole...

8. Rejectors - "Masque of A"
The sheet inside the album has the "A" written as an anarchy symbol, but I couldn't find it with Character Map so it's just a regular 'A'. The riff here is pretty cool to listen to. Apparently the song is based on a poem by P. B. Shelley as well. It talks about an anarchist revolution against the government.

9. Rejectors - "Work Machine"
This song exposes the capitalist system which fucks over the working class and everyone except for "those who instigate" and incites a new age of rebellion "now that the Phoenix has come". Pretty cool.

10. Rejectors - "Proud Few"
Starts out with a cool intro that gets progressively faster. This song iz an anti-war song about killing in wars and asking people why they go to war to kill innocent people. Probably so they can get some goddamn money and pay for an education -- that's why most kids I know are joining the army. And it sucks this is the only way for some people. I'd rather be a bum than join the army.

11. Rejectors - "False Prosperity"
I like this one. The melody is great and it's slow and the vocals sound good here. The song sings about a longing for peaceful anarchy and an overthrow of the system which is pretty one-sided.

12. Rejectors - "Change"
"Change"... that word that Obama molested into having absolutely no meaning... except for those quarters and pennies you get back when you pay a few cents more than how much the item you purchased costs. Nice riff. Starts out slow, then it gets fast.

13. Rejectors - "The End"
An apocalyptic doomsday sort of anthem predicting a nuclear blast ending all mankind under the reign of Ronnie Reagan. I like the riff. One of the few songs on the Rejectors side of the album that makes it past two minutes. And that's the end of THIS side of the album. Nowwwww, it iz TIME... for THAT side.

14. The Accüsed - "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"
Personally I prefer this half of the record... the Accüsed's tracks have a little more variety and attitude to them. Sorry, Rejectors. This song is really fast n' short. Cool little bass-line in the beginning of the song.

15. The Accüsed - "Child These Days"
This songproclaims that "time is short for a child these days", portendig that the children of the Reagan era would have little to no future after the expected effects of the Cold War were to take place. Nice singing.

16. The Accüsed - "Bring the Riots to the U.S.A."
The song alludes to a 14-day riot held in the U.K. by punks and skinheads that made the Queen pretty upset, and asks that the punks in the U.S.A. could do the same for the sake of freedom.

17. The Accüsed - "No Reason"
Fast with a slow mid-section. This song condemns the religious wars fueled by people overzealous religious bigots who want to be the only religion that exists on the planet.

18. The Accüsed - "Political Nightmare"
"Political Nightmare" repeated over and over again.

19. The Accüsed - "Gain Green"
This one's real fast and it's got a cool riff. This song's about boring people who chase wealth and money 'cause they have nothing better to do. Than watch T.V. and have a couple of brews... oh, wait.

20. The Accüsed - "I'm a Mistake"
This song describes feeling like a "failed abortion" that society wants to kill/wipe out for not fitting in with the status quo.

21. The Accüsed - "Wake the Fuck Up!"
This song is sung from the viewpoint of the government who tells people who want peace to "stop whining", as they do away with Vietnam and small bombs and the easy life and launch a nuclear WAR.

22. The Accüsed - "What About Later?"
This song's about a kid with a "rich ol' Mom" who pays his way for having a car and a "nice looking girlfriend" and to buy some hash, and nw feels helpless without a job on hs own since his Mom iz dead. Fast sandwich with a slow middle part.

23. The Accüsed - "Live Our Own Lives"
Easly the best song on the album. All the chord progressions are fucking awesome, and it's slow arts interspliced with really fast arts. This song's about how the government shouldn't hold drafts send kids off to war so that they can get a chance to live their own lives in peace.

24. The Accüsed - "Life's a Waste"
LIFE'S A WASTE WHEN EVERYONE CONSTANTLY TELLS YOU YOU'RE WRONG. THAT IZ WHAT THIS SONG'S ABOUT.

25. The Accüsed - "Like You"
Third song in a row to start with the letters "L" and "i". HA HA HA. HAAAAA. Neat heavy metal-sounding intro. "I pick my nose (like you), I scratch my butt (like you), I eat some food (like you), I'll pop a lude (like you); I'm no different, I'm the same -- the only difference is you're so lame!"

26. The Accüsed - "Reagan's War Puppets"
Another really great song! I first heard it when the Melvins covered it on an old live bootleg of them playing in 1986, but this version is slower and longer than the Melvins' version (usually they do that the other way around). It pokes a little fun at the army, calling them just "war puppets" for Ronald Reagan, predicting a war in El Salvador. Awesome vocals here. Such a catchy riff...

27. The Accüsed - "The Right"
Th song shws the mpete and total rony f the "rght to reman silent" and it's real fast and sht lke you prbably exected. Bt my keybrd sck.

Yeah, T'S taken longer than normal to write ths revew cause my keybard has taken the anarchst ilphis f the tw bands to heart and s revolting against the opressve reign f my fingers and 've been trying t cver t p but 'M GIN p becase tying lke this scks, bt eh, this ewas a pretty god record bt it cold be better. The Rejecs side okay but I like the Accsed side pretty good. The Rejectors were pretty much done after this, but the Accüsed went on and became more of a thrash-metal band, so they have a lot of albums after this to listen to. But that's all I have to say, looks like my keyboard is working alright again. Stay legit and stuff. Bye bye.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Live Our Lives (The Accüsed)
2. Reagan's War Puppets (The Accüsed)
3. Gain Green (The Accüsed)

Review #159: Pigeon Religion - Scorpion Milk (Single) (2009)

SCORPION MILK (Single)

Year: 2009

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Noise
Label: Parts Unknown Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 6 Minutes
Style: Weird
My Rating: 6/8

Well damn, know one thing I really hate? When you find out about a really good new band, and then subsequently find out that they JUST BROKE UP! It really sucks. Happened before with Mika Miko, and now Pigeon Religion. Well, maybe they really didn't break up, but Wikipedia states otherwise. I hope Wikipedia is wrong. Well, Pigeon Religion is a pretty cool, weird post-punk band from the deserts of Arizona. Pretty original sounding, but it's got a cool vibe to it. The songs are all pretty neat... sort of reminds me of early Sonic Youth but a little less depressed-sounding. The band released a ton of 7" singles during 2008 - 2010, and this is one of them, so I'll talk about it for you, now.

1. Scorpion Milk
Nice beat and drum sound. The song starts off with just that and some jingly guitar-feedback sounds. Then there's a real cool bassline that sounds like something that Flipper would write and a relatively clean-sounding rhythm guitar. The singer's voice sounds really cool... the style of chanting works real well with this music. The song ends with the thumping bass pedal and accumulation of spaghetti-like noise. If spaghetti could make sounds, that iz. End of Side A.

2. White Fluff
This one's slower. There's a real ominous, spacey guitar riff. The singing is more screamy this time, but it's a sloppy drunken type of scream, not a concentrated one. This conjures up a delightfully disoriented fuckhead flailing about at wit's end on stage. Some of those noises the guitars make are pretty gawdamm funnie.

3. Shootist
The shootist: one who shoots. This is the fastest song on the record. It's more hardcore-like as far as speed and energy goes, more concentrated in a linear streak with minor wriggling to either side by means of the erratic mannerisms of the vocalist. There's even an electric organ solo in this one! The song slows down to a complete mess of sonic sludge towards the end. The vocalist moans and laughs on like a true mad-man.

Very good and interesting! It's non-forumlaic, the songs aren't too long and there's enough variety to keep it interesting, it's got that wild freak energy to it that we love, and yes, it iz good. Apparently these guys' live shows were real crazy and often busted by policemen and angry club owners (assholes). But I'm sure this record provides hints towards that in itself. I just wish I could see them! They broke-up just a few months ago after a summer tour that lasted until about late July or early August, but that sucks ass and you should all send a jillion angry letters telling them we're going to commit a mass-suicide if they don't get back together. Or maybe just keep listening... I dunno. Had some canned sardines today... they were alright... I guess...

Review #158: The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)

RAW POWER

Year: 1973

Genre: Hard Rock, Punk Rock
Label: Columbia Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 34 Minutes
Style: Rough/Fun
My Rating: 6/8

Last time I reviewed a Stooges record I actually reviewed their first album, but now I've skipped over to their third album (I own all three) to review for now. I was in the local FYE and asked the person who works there whether I should get this album or special-order "26 Songs" by the Melvins and she recommended this one. Well, it was pretty pricey, but a good record is always worth it, so I spent all the money I had on it. And it WAS good. You got a great picture of Iggy on the front, looking even wilder than he did on the cover of their first record, and some fuck-tastic performance photos in the back. And we all know Iggy Pop does some crazy shit on stage, setting the standard for shock-rock performers who would emulate his erratic stage-antics (like Darby Crash) or take them to a whole new level (like GG Allin). I think he even invented the stage-dive, but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

Anyways, this iz a wild n' sleazy punker party sort of album, and the title fits it well, possibly because it's one of the loudest records I've ever heard, but it just has that chaotic ultra-positive vibe to it -- it's harder than both the albums before it and even more than a lot of "punk rock" that came out in the years following this album. So, let's buckle up for the ride n' SEE WHAT'S IN STORE WHEN I UNLEASH SOME RAW POWER INTO MY HEAD-PHONES!

1. Search and Destroy
You can feel the speakers rattle when you put this on and feel those gritty guitar vibes. And Iggy Pop is not only a forgotten boy, but he iz the WORLD'S forgotten boy. And NOT just that either. He's also the ONE who searches n' destroys. A lot of "garage punk" bands of today seem to emulate this sound with the whole loud-as-possible approach. The song has a pretty confident feel and there's a lot of lead guitar n' shit.

2. Gimme Danger
Man, that acoustic guitar melody at the beginning. Those strings just pierce right into your ear and right into your soul. It's hard to get that sound from modern production techniques. This is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album, with the combination of electric and acoustic guitar that I really like. The guitar solo that begins around 1:20 of the song is just golden. Nice beat, also.

3. Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
Man, I can't think of anything that sounds more delightfully scumballish! I'm not sure if it's Iggy singing on this one or Ron Asheton (bassist) singing, since he is also credited as a vocalist and the voice sounds pretty different. It's just a rabidly sexual-type song with a violent energy to it and some of the meanest vocals you've ever heard!

4. Penetration
The guitar riff here is more on the heavy-metal side, and Iggy sort of does this half-whisper-half-yell singing voice here. One and a half minute in: really weird singing of gibberish! Side A ends here.

5. Raw Power
A hard rock-n-roller with a real cool bass melody and a little piano mixed in, also. "Raw power's got a healing hand/raw power can destroy a man"; yeah, that Raw Power shit izn't to be toyed around with, children!! Guitar solo at ze ende. Uf ze saing.

6. I Need Somebody
A slower, more blues-y song. The chorus is mildly catchy. Probably the calmest moment on the album. Gives me a desert/cactus sort of vibe for some reason (I drew a cactus on my arm today). A cactus is a neat thing to look at. Its needles are actually the leaves of the plant and it's got a big, fleshy stem... you can eat them also! I see cactus parts for sale at the grocery store (and I swear to God I'll try one before I die!).

7. Shake Appeal
I believe the Melvins's song "Snake Appeal" was titled as sort of a tribute to this one. Lots of hand-clapping for this song. Really cool guitar melody. Great chorus melody also. Kind of unexpected and jittering like that. The guitar solo in the bridge section is excellent ass well. "Ass". Ha. Ha. HAAAAAAaaa. Iggy makes funny noises for the rest of the song.

8. Death Trip
My other favorite song from the album. Pure power! RAW POWER! RAW POWAH! And the "raw power" in this one completely lies in the riff, man. Or wo-man. Whichever one you are. Also the longest song, clocking in (I know, it's an over-used cliche) at six minutes! The bridge section is the high-point of this song, with just that riff that never gets old, Iggy screamin', and the endless sonic chatter of those wild rock-n'-roll GUITARS!!!

So that's eight songs of RAW POWER, kidz. Not a "weak" record by any means and serves as a good bridge between hard rock and punk rock. Apparently it was also Kurt Cobain's favorite album. Personally I like the debut album better, but I'd say this one's just a tad better if not equal to "Fun House". But yes, check it aut. And I'm aut. Aut.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Gimme Danger
2. Death Trip
3. Shake Appeal

Review #157: Misfits - Cough/Cool (Single) (1977)

COUGH/COOL (Single)

Year: 1977

Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Blank Records
Tracks: 2
Length: 3 Minutes
Style: Emotional
My Rating: 6/8

Okay, okay, so this is a band called "the Misfits". You've probably never heard of them. Ever. And you've probably not even thought that it was physically possible to have seen their 'Misfits Fiend' logo on some kid's t-shirt or tattoo, 'cuz you didn't know that THOSE things existed either!!!! Well, here I'd just be bullshitting ya if I kept going on about THAT, so you probably know that the Misfits are one of the most famous punk rock bands of all time and a lot of people like them and yadda yadda yadda... well, I have not listened to much Misfits music personally. So when deciding to give 'em a try, I have started out with their first release, released very soon after the band first formed, earlier than most other bands in the "hardcore" circle. They weren't really that hardcore at this point, though. Mostly just regular punk in the vein of the Damned and such.

1. Cough/Cool
This one has a neat synth melody which starts out consisting of one note, but later other tones harmonize with it. It also has a really cool beat and Glenn Danzig's melodic vocals fill out the rest of the void. The melody at the end iz the best!

2. She
This one's uses guitars instead. It's a tad faster and heavier, and the singing here is really good, mostly in the first verse! This song's about Patty Hearst, that girl you've probably heard about in a few other songs, like Patti Smith's version of "Hey Joe" -- well, she was a rich grand-daughter of a publisher who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army to help them do their bidding and she robbed a bank at gunpoint and crazy shit like that. This is the song I like better.

Pretty decent start for the band or any band, really. With the Misfits being so famous, many of their fans probably haven't even heard these songs, so if you belong in that category, then I recommend this record to you. I like it. But, that's all I've got to say for now, so, see you l'ater.

Review #156: Government Warning - Arrested (EP) (2007)

ARRESTED (EP)

Year: 2007

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: No Way Records
Tracks: 4
Length: 6 Minutes
Style: Angry/Political
My Rating: 5/8

This is the third release by Government Warning, after the "No Way Out" EP and the "No Moderation" LP (you'd think THIS record would be called "No Arrest" or something like that). Four songs, seven inches, two sides. No crazy fun facts that I know about this one, so let's cut to the chase!

1. Arrested
Somewhat speedy with a pretty decent riff. It's got a guitar solo in the middle. It's the longest song on the EP.

2. Maniacs
YES! Very fast! The guitar melody is really cool. Very good drumming here. This one's just under a minute long. End of Side A.

3. Killing For Fun
This one's really fast like the song before it. I like the part between the verse and the chorus, it has kind of a frantic feel to it. Not that the rest of the song doesn't, but it's especially in that part. The vocals remind me a lot of Minor Threat.

4. Safe and Sound
There's a real militant feel to the chord progressions on this one. Sort of like the choppers of a helicopter spinning or some sort of battle soundtrack. The mid-section of the song iz the best part.

Well, that's all there iz of "Arrested"... just six minutes of fast music... the first song is kinda fast, the second and third songs are really fucking fast, and the fourth one is too to a lesser extent. But yeah, could've been better, I suppose. But there's nothing really bad about it either, so I leave it with a 5/8 score.

Review #155: The Mad - Eyeball (Single) (1978)

EYEBALL (Single)

Year: 1978

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Disgusting Records
Tracks: 2
Length: 4 Minutes
Style: Weird
My Rating: 6/8

Lemme start this off by saying I don't know a whole lot about this band, but their songs shure are GOOD. I guess the band was an early shock-rock type of act, and did a lot of weird shit and special effects on stage and stuff. The frontman's name is Screamin' Mad George, and has continued a career beyond his band. Also, this band is likely one of the earliest New York hardcore bands ever, being released around the same time as "Nervous Breakdown" by Black Flag and having great riffs and lyrics, so it kinda sucks not as many people know about this band as there probably should be.

1. Eyeball
This song isn't as good as its b-side, but it's still pretty good. The vocals are pretty muffled, so it's hard to understand what Mr. George is sayin', but you sure can him sing the word "eyeball" a whole lot. Shouted backing vocals in the chorus are indeed present. It's alright, but it could be better.

2. I Hate Music
Here's the REAL gem on this record. It's an abrasively catchy song about, well, hating music and lovin' NOIZE! The song goes onto sing about how "I", "he", "she", and "we" all hate music, and in the next version the same is applied to loving noise. Lotsa screaming and stuff during the chorus and inbetween each line in the verse parts there's some weird saxophone stuff being played. It's kinda funny, but it really is a fucking cool song to listen to. I think it was also featured on the "New York Thrash" compilation tape from 1982 (which included the Beastie Boys and Kraut as well) also.

So you should probably listen to these songs. This is possibly one of the oldest occurrences of the hardcore punk sound in New York -- before the Beastie Boys, Reagan Youth, Kraut, etc., before the whole D.C. scene was really solid enough to influence the New York punk scene, way before the whole "tough guy" scene set foot in New York City. But I know that just makes me sound like a lame-assed historian, so I'm going to say that "I Hate Music" is a great song and makes this 7" worthwhile just for that. Seeya!

Review #154: Ween - Axis: Bold As Boognish (1987)

WEEN II - AXIS: BOLD AS BOOGNISH

Year: 1987

Genre: Rock, Punk Rock, Experimental
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Bird O' Pray Records
Tracks: 17
Length: 42 Minutes
Style: Funny/Weird/Happy
My Rating: 7/8

Last time I reviewed a Ween album, it was "Crucial Squeegie Lip"... when Ween were still in high school and just starting out, they were able to have tapes of their early albums released through Bird O'Pray Records. So, CSL was the first Ween album... they released another album in 1987 called "Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death", but this was just a more condensed version of the first album with a couple out-takes. The "true" second Ween album is this one. AXIS... BOLD AS BOOGNISH.

Musically, it's a huge step up from the first one... in 'Crucial Squeegie Lip', the songs were mostly just noise or one-chorders with a few exceptions, and the songs weren't very long either. In just one year, their skills at playing their instruments really improved. However, it's all still hilarious, so don't worry! Time to cut to the chase and give All the Right Reasons (tm) why...

1. I'm Killing It (Kill Everything)
The title sounds like something that GG Allin would write! The song opens with various screams from Deaner n' Gener, and the song has a pretty cool beat and rather than guitars playing the melody like you'd expect, it's tubas instead! Gene rants about "killing it".

2. Tweet Tweet
Begins all cut-n'-spliced, and then the song becomes more linear and tells a story about accidentally wrecking someone's car, and the pressure just builds up until Gene screams "TWEET TWEET!" repeatedly, and the beat gets really fast n' stuff. More tubas. Gene re-enacts the pissed off man whose car has been wrecked, complaining about how he's going to have to WORK, AND WORK, AND WORK, AND PAY, AND PAY, ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

3. On the Beach
A neat song with a really cool riff singing about surfing and hanging out at the beach. Very catchy. Oh, and there's a guitar solo also. A little Beach Boys-inspired, it feels like.

4. I Like You
This one was also on their live album that I reviewed in February, but the vocals on here sound a lot more 'psycho', and I like the chorus a lot. The guitar on that part sounds awesome. As you might be able to guess, the lyrics describe liking this one person named "You", and flying through the night together on their bikes... kind of like E.T., I guess. The little riff they play at the very end of the song was neat.

5. Bumblebee
AHHH! FUCK! A BUMBLEBEE! A lot of people might know about this song from the album "God Ween Satan". The early version is not any less funny. Gener screams about a BUMBLE BEE that has stung him and caused his sanity to go in shambles. There are even weird little (obviously fake) bumble-bee sounds in the background. Ha ha ha ha heeeeeeeeeee! Poor Gene Ween.

6. Emily
I like this one a lot, too! It's just Gene and Dean singing to an extremely cool guitar melody. I fucking love this song. It just feels great to listen to, man (or wo-man). E-M-ILY! E-M-I-L-Y! E-M-I-L-Y! In the last verse, Gene sings in falsetto.

7. David the Negro
This song is fucking hilarious, but not necessarily because of the usage of the word "negro". Y'see, the Weeners realized that it would be fucking funny as shit if they altered their voices to make it sound like they were constantly changing speeds... ah, I can't think of a good way to put it, but the way they do it sounds REALLY funny. Here they show off how much better they've become at playing guitar (lead guitar, at that) since the last album. David's a good boy.

8. The Iron Whore
This song's sort of a piss-take on heavy metal, with Gene singing like Bon Scott from AC/DC or some other guy like that. The riff, while sounding like a lot of 70's metal songs in itself, is still pretty nice. Then there's a pretty awesome yet generic-sounding solo at the end of the song.

9. Sitting On My Ass (Wanton Nougat)
A song with a bluesy a capella melody, and a weird-ass falsetto sex scene being acted out by Gene & Dean in the background.

10. Smoke In My Brain
Cool beat, cool riff, and lots of screamed vocals! Pretty good, but also pretty short.

11. Anne
The original version of this song was on "Erica Peterson's Flaming Crib Death"... this version is about twenty seconds shorter. Very fast, with lots of goofball screaming! Shortest song on the album (48 sex).

12. Aqua-Ween
Man, the Weeners sure can scream! The chorus part is really cool. The song sings about doing all sorts of cool stuff in the park and at home.

13. She Said, She Said
"She said... I know what it's like to be dead...". This song has a pretty cool catchy melody, and the singers harmonize the vocals on thees song. They sample their own vocals and start placing them around randomly in the second half of the song. Kind of like a New Wave version of the Butthole Surfers.

14. The Journey Into Dinh
The song opens with a fragment of the hilarious final track of the band's first album (the one where they scream for two minutes straight). Then the "song" begins, with lots of fucking around with the tape, as a lot of lead guitar can be heard playing inbetween. It's a pretty scary and weird piece. I'd imagine it'd make good theme music for some weird psychedelic claymation horror film. That I should make. Soon.

15. Gene's Lament (Tree Love Theme)
A slow, droning ballad by Gene Ween himself! It's pretty calm, and it's packed with excellent guitar-playing and melodies.

16. Opus 51 Fugue Trilogy in A (Take Me To the Tree)
This song iz made up of many different parts, so I'll review this one piece by piece.

A. Yurtle Swimming
I'm guessing they're referring to "Yurtle the Turtle", because if they are, then I can see why, 'cause the main thing I think of when I hear this is Yurtle the Turtle swimming a pond made of yellow water. Excellent observation, Weenerz! It starts off with bass, a marching sort of beat, and a lead guitar melody, before transforming into an epic chord-laden trudge, with Gene screaming pure poetry on his way through! The guitar sounds really cool. Then there's a lot more of guitar noodling and needling until transforming into the next song.

B. The Tree
This one's faster and more upbeat. This song's about wanting to go on magical journeys to a TREE. What fun!!!!! The riff is awesome, every part of this part of this part of this album rules.

C. Bertha Gets the Mooshy-Mooshy
This part's just funny. It has a weird, creepy sort of melody, and a slower pace. The chorus goes, well, see the title. As a wonderfully retarded lead-guitar melody plays, the two scream "BERTHA GETS THE MOOSHY MOOSHY" faster and faster until they have no choice but to go back to the other section.

D. The Kitty and the Squirrel
This is a section featuring one G-chord and harmonizing lead melodies, and Gene screaming over this tune (in rhyme, of course). This part takes up the rest of the song until...

E. The Departure
Just a couple seconds of noise at the very end of the song.

So, in total, the entire track is over 13 minutes long. And it's a very legit 13 minutes!

17. One Love For Boognish
An instrumental, psychedelic song. A soft, serene echoey feel to it. I love it. It cuts off at the end.

SOOOOOOOOOOooooOOOoooOoOoOoO, there we have it... this album is as Bold As a Boognish! Definitely a step up from the first album, possibly even better than "God Ween Satan", though nowhere near as good as the three albums that followed God Ween Satan. So, if you're a Ween fan and haven't heard their really early stuff, I strongly recommend checking out this album. It's very cool. Just be prepared to hear Dean and Gene scream a lot! The End.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Opus 51 Fugue Trilogy in A (Take Me to the Tree)
2. Emily
3. One Love for Boognish

Review #153: The Pods - The Pods (EP) (2009)

THE PODS (EP)

Year: 2009

Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Sun Moon and Talia Records
Tracks: 6
Length: 14 Minutes
Style: Happy/Emotional
My Rating: 6/8

The Pods are a punk rock band from Phoenix, Arizona. The group formed around 2007, and there's not a whole ton of a back-story about the band that I'm aware of, but they're influenced by a lot of good bands. Their style is sort of reminiscent of 1970s punk/new wave, with a little bit of a "garage" element, maybe... so I shall review them. So I now shall review them. Right... NOW. Just kidding. How abouttt................................ NOW!

1. In the End
There's a lead progression over some quieter chords... Jackie's singing style is pretty laid-back sounding, but sometimes she yells n' stuff. A little more produced than the demo version they had on the page a year ago... more vocal effects and stuff. The song is still pretty good, though.

2. Damaged Goods
In the beginning, there's some pretty cool lead guitar going on. I really like the beat. Great melody. There's a chorus where the singer just goes "ya-da-da-da-da-di"... a nod to the Dada movement, perhaps? Pfft! Hahahahaha. Yup, good riff and beat.

3. Darkwave
Wasn't "darkwave" a sub-genre of gothic new wave in the '80s? What the hell. Yeah, I like this song... as the title suggests, the song is a little darker-sounding than the two tracks before it. There are neat little lead tones floating around in the background... like little birdies or something. Good vocals in the chorus section. There's a mid-section with a faster beat and more quiet noise in the background. Then there's a part with a cool riff that goes real well with the lead guitar, and then the song returns to a final verse before ending. Totally one of the best songs on the album, and it's pretty sad-sounding.

4. Tied Down
This one sounds like more of an angry song. The singing also happens to use that over-used megaphone technique... not that it's as bad as autotune by any means or even bad at all, just something I notice being used A LOT in underground rock today. This iz another really good song, with great riffs and lead melodies.

5. Farewell
Another happy, pop type of song. And it's a breakup song. But it's still pretty good. There's sort of a floaty lead guitar melody for this one. Floaty and echoey.

6. 90's Girls
Yep, there were girls in the 90's... I'm pretty sure, at least. Maybe there were only men in the 1990s... but then why were there a bunch of really cool bands with girls in them in the 1990s? So many MYSTERIES IN LYFE! Yeah, there were girlz in the 90'z. They were 90'z girlz. Anyways, about this song. It's a pretty cool instrumental song that shifts between mid-tempo and fastness, with a neat gee-tar sound and all that crap and it's very good sounding. Also the shortest song. And the fastest. And the lastest.

I liked "Darkwave", "Tied Down", and "90's Girls" the most. The band's line-up? Who are theeze ladies (and gentleman) playing theeze instruments? They are: JACKIE (GUITAR CHORDS AND VOCAL CORDS), COLLIN (DRUMS), and DUSTY (OTHER GUITAR AND OTHER MOUTH). I guess it's a pretty good EP. Maybe they will make more and better songs in the future. That would rule. Oh, and it you're from around the area, the Pods are playing on the 9th anniversary of 9/11, as evidenced by THIS SHOW POSTER:



We now know the axis of evil that truly caused the 9/11 terrorist attacks: Destruction Unit, the Discos, Becky Lee, and the Pods. And they're going to do it all over again to two cactuses very soon. My condolences to all the good-hearted families who are going to be killed by these terrorists. And you can watch for free... at 9 PM... at the Yucca Tap Room... fucker.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Tied Down
2. 90's Girls
3. Darkwave

Review #152: Diehatzu Hijets - Farmer Automatic (EP) (2010)

FARMER AUTOMATIC (EP)

Year: 2010

Genre: Acoustic Rock
Label: None
Tracks: 3
Length: 12 Minutes
Style: Emotional
My Rating: 7/8

Diehatzu Hijets has a bassist named Drew Lamb, now... just pointing that out. Who the hell even reads these, anyways?? But yesh, this is the second Diehatzu Hijets thingy, and at theese point, Drew still wasn't in the band. This is a 3-song digital EP with mainly acoustic stuff, apparently either acoustic versions of three songs from the album that comes out this month, "Doo Doo Boy" (professionally pressed!), or three acoustic songs from the album that comes out this month, "Doo Doo Boy" (professionally pressed!). Your call. Maybe Layne can get back to me on that one. I first found out about this back in July, so I'm assuming it was unveiled about then. Three songs. One down-load. So let's load it on down to the old PC, hell, even make a little CD of it and then print out the cover art and stuff (something I do a lot when I find free music). As you can see on the cover here, there is Layne... playing a guitar, as a dog, one of his loyal fans giving him undying attention gazes on. Because dogs love music, didn'tcha know? I'm not sure. Dogs can perceive a whole layer of sounds that human beings can't, so that layer of sounds is probably either going to be the most beautiful melodies that reach the ears just by stroking a single chord, or some horrible freakish sound that makes nails on a chalkboard sound like the Beatles. Now for the song-reviewz, dudezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... zzz... zzzzzzZZzzz... zzz -- oh, sorry, I feel asleep for a second, there. THERE. IS a DOT. ON THE SCREEEEN! YAEY! (Update: I just checked the release date and it was JUNE! AGGHHH! NOOOOOO!)

1. O Me
All of the songs are acoustic, so it's all just Layne singing along with his MAGICAL GUITAR, boys n' girls! I love the riff. It sounds great. The song starts off with the chorus, and then there are some really good verses, and Layne's singing just brings more texture to the song. The song's about losing your way in life needing to pick yourself up off the ground and brush off before heading back the direction you intended to. In the end of the song, he adds a little more lead to the riff. I thought that sounded really good. Best and longest song. I'm not sure if it's gonna be a different version on the new album, but it'd be really cool to hear this one with electric guitars and drums... though this version does feel a little more personal.

2. Couldn't Stand
This one's faster. In this song there are a few overdubs, including some more acoustic lead and background synths. The song continues on a similar theme to returning from feeling lost inside yourself and overthinking about problems. The bridge section is pretty nice, also. "I can feel it coming back".

3. Take a Run
This one feel's more folky. I like the little chingy sounds (tambourine?) in the chorus, and there's an extra guitar in that section as well. Really great chorus and it's a pretty optimistic-feeling song, with a good solo in the middle. This song seems to be about maybe Layne deciding to head "west for the mountains" to find that place to go to pursue his dreams in life. It's a real great way to end the record.

The record is sort of a teller of "what's to come" on the full-length album slated for release this month. If you want to hear even more new Diehatzu Hijets songs, they are on the band's MySpace, so enjoy those ones as well. I'm looking forward to that. If you want to download the EP, you can get it at this link:


http://www.mediafire.com/?hnc3ww41tn0

Hope you enjoy it. Also coming soon from Diehatzu Hijets is a split album featuring Diehatzu Hijets and my band, White Noize! Available on cassette tapes as the first release from Ulcer Records! The official site for Ulcer Records can be found at this link:

http://ulcerrecords.blogspot.com

BYE, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review #151: Patti Smith - Horses (1975)

HORSES

Year: 1975

Genre: Rock & Roll, Blues, Punk Rock
Label: Arista Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 43 Minutes
Style: Emotional
My Rating: 7/8

Whew, I shoure have been a lot busier, lately... from a part-time volunteer job to going to bed early to art classes to homework, there's been less time for me to write reviews, unfortunately. One day after work I did get to read a couple chapters of "Just Kids" by Patti Smith. I really liked that book. I couldn't locate it after the second time I wanted to read it, though. Maybe this next week I'll find it again so I can continue where I left off. I've also bought two phonograph records over the past week, which are "Raw Power" by the Stooges and the re-pressing of the "Hunted Down" single by SoundGarden. Both are pretty damn awesome. Now I have just quarters left! I also saw a copy of "Uncle Scam" by the Defendants (a local hardcore band) at the same record store I bought the SoundGarden 7" at for only $5, so that was a neat surprise as well. By the way, the name of the store is "Toxic Beauty Records", and it's in Yellow Springs, so if you're from the area and have never been there, you should check it out. And yeah, I had to say that. It's part of my deal for buying a $10 single for only $7. Shh!

But yeah, you might have read by review of Patti Smith's debut record that I wrote in April, and I really liked the songs on it. So, now I'm going to review her first full album. It steps more towards some early punk rock, whereas the first 7" was piano-dominated blues-y stuff. Yep, Patti was one of the first punks in the first punk scene in New York City! Actually, she was more of a beatnik. What the hell, she's just Patti Smith. Hah. Ha. H. Is for Horses. That is THIS ALBUM, boyz n' girlz. TIME TO REVIEW THE SONGS NAUOW, GAHAHEHEHEHEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Gloria

A much-improved cover of the song by the 1960s band "Them". The song is made up of two "halves". The first part is called "In Excelis Deo". The second part is just called "Gloria". The first half of the song is piano-driven and slow, and Patti opens the song with the line, "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine", referring to her decision during high school to leave her Catholic past behind. The guitar has a sort of countryish twang, and Patti's voice has an earthy sound and sort of a snarl to it as well. By one minute into the song, a percussion section becomes audible, and the song slowly becomes more upbeat and speeds up a little until we're in the second part of the song, which is an ultra-catchy punk version of the repeated melody, and a fucking awesome chorus section with a group-sung "GLORIA", to which Patti responds, "G-L-O-R-I-A!". There's a messy, slow bluesy mid-section as well which adds a little breather space to the song before revving up for a final chorus.

2. Redondo Beach
This song uses a synth keyboard and some other neat instruments. Cool beat as well. Very cool and easy-going riff, but the song is about a girl who commits suicide to the shock of the rest of her community. There seems to be a bit of a reggae influence to this song.

3. Birdland
Just a piano and Patti's voice. The song starts with spoken lyrics, which Patti sort of begins to sing in the third line. The song conveys a long poetic story of a boy feeling alienated from the rest of society, wishing to become more like the birds who he feels more at peace with. At one point in the song, Patti's speaking becomes more and more intense until finally collapsing into more singing. Almost 10 minutes long!

4. Free Money
This one's got a little more guitar in it. It gets progressively faster as it goes on. The song's a love song about using the power of dreaming to do the things and go on the adventures you can't afford to do with money. End of Side 1.

5. Kimberly
I love the way the drums sound on this one. The verse melody is great. Richard Sohl plays the synth-organ. This song might be about the baby that Patti had when she was 18 that she put up for adoption not long after and her short experience as a mother. Sometimes she sort of speeds up and goes off on these beatnik-esque rants. I think that's really cool, it adds an intensity to the music.

6. Break It Up
A slow blues-rock song about a breakup with a boy that Patti loved. Either that or someone dying. I'm not completely sure, but it sounds like something that must've hit her pretty hard, judging by the pure emotion behind this one. In one part it sounds like she's thumping on her chest to add an extra vibration to her voice. In the end of the song, Patti just begins screaming "BREAK IT UP", as it all fades out.

7. Land
A three-part song. Part I is called "Horses", Part II is called "Land of a Thousand Dances", and Part III is called "La Mer (De)". The song starts off with Patti speaking, until the background music fades in, as we can hear a parallel recording of Patti speaking in the background. The guitar has an awesome zingy sort of sound to it, and the protagonist in the song is "surrounded by horses", as the beat becomes faster, just like the running of a group of horses. Then the second part of the song after two minutes is a cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances" by Chris Denner, with a punky feeling and some wild piano chords as well. And of course, a plethora of new improvised lyrics by Ms. Smith herself. The third part of the song is more about the percussion and bass, keeping the same beat as the middle part of the tune, but calmer and more silent, with Patti continuing her vocal part. And then the song ends.

8. Elegie
The shortest and final song on the album. Patti sings real strongly here, and the song has a calm piano melody, with some bass guitar and even a little lead, and in one part, Patti's voice soars into a soprano. The lead guitar in the background in the end sort of flail about like dying monsters.

Very good album. The emotion here is very strong, but Patti doesn't really sound that angry, there's a general optimistic feel here, like in "Birdland", and a lot of music I listen to his pretty angry. There's also a great piano presence here, and you'll feel just as much blues here as early punk rock. One of the first albums of the New York scene ever, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, it doesn't sound exactly like everything else I listen to, but for that it does stand out as something different, and I'm sure Patti has been a very large influence on many of the more recent artists I enjoy... and hey, Patti's still going! I'm not extremely familiar with all of her material, just this album and the "Hey Joe" single, but so far I like what I hear... so yes, this iz a great album and I liked it and you probably will too. Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Gloria
2. Kimberly
3. Redondo Beach

Review #150: Black Flag - Slip It In (1984)

SLIP IT IN

Year: 1984

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 38 Minutes
Style: Angry
My Rating: 6/8

After being prevented from releasing any new albums for about a year and a half by law, the band began releasing new albums like crazy several times in one year to compensate. 1984 started off with the infamous album My War, then in September, the band released a spoken-word/instrumental album that was musically weirder than anything else they had released at the time, "Family Man". Now, only three months later in December, the band released another new album called "Slip It In", which returns more to the style of music that can be found on the first half of My War, and it's got a lovely lil' cover of a nun holding some dude's leg (probably Greg Ginn's). But yeah, it's the fourth Black Flag album. It's pretty good.

1. Slip It In
Yes, it is the song that the album iz named after. Surprised? Well, yeah, there's this really cool bass riff being played by Kira, and then soon enough, the guitar and drums are brought into the mix, with the signature musical pause in the song done once, before Henry starts singing. There's a lot of guitar leads which add to a more intense feel for the song. I love the rhythm guitar riff that Greg plays right before the first verse begins. Oh, and Suzi Gardner from L7 does the backing vocals on this song... that's right, the girl who's moaning "slip it in!" throughout the song. Yeah, this song's about a typical slut who tries to pretend that she's innocent but usually ends up fucking everyone in the end. "You're not loose, you're wide open!". Yeah, and don't forget to watch the truly awesome music video for this song either.

2. Black Coffee
One of the first Black Flag songs I can remember listening to. And it's pretty good. The riff is legit, the song wouldn't be complete with the descending lead notes that play during the verse, and the beat is fast enough to give it that punch it needs. There's a nice solo about mid-way through the song.

3. Wound Up
This song has the feel of an earlier Black Flag song... it's mainly in the guitar riffs. The things that set it apart from early 'Flag is the noise-feedback cracks in the first riff, and the breaks/pauses in the chorus section. But I could totally see Keith Morris singing this. Another guitar solo in the middle.

4. Rat's Eyes
This is a slower song, tempo-wise, but there's more to it, usually extra beats and chords added on succeeding a section of the song where the verse or chorus "should have" actually ended. I think the point of this song is to describe feeling like being in the lowest of lows in society, being regarded as "filth" and "shit" because of a lack of money. This was definitely the situation of the band at the time that this song was written, and continued to be until after the band broke up. End of Side 1.

5. Obliteration
Am I hearing gongs here? Maybe they're just cymbals or something. This is an instrumental piece, riddled with confusing tempo-shifts and note progressions. Very unpredictable. Either that or I'm just stupid. At the end of the song, the tempo begins to progressively slow down to a trudging slowness as it is suffocated by an endless array of lead guitar melody.

6. The Bars
The song starts out sounding a ton like "Slip It In", until the riff is revealed to be much different. I mean, the bass riff is different also, but not that different, and I swear you could probably at least have the first minute of these songs playing together in perfect sync. The song's lyrics describe the feeling of living life itself as being trapped inside a prison cell, as Henry sings "every time I see, I've got my hands wrapped around the bars". The first verse of the song sings about a girl who "saw the prison inside", and "on angel's wings jumped out of her apartment window", alluding to suicide.

7. My Ghetto
The song ominously begins with a long hum of feedback, before the first verse abuptly begins, with extreme full force and intensity. Henry rants of the monster known as his ghetto, which sucks in victims and devours, so eager to give nothing to its victims. The beat gets progressively faster and faster until it collapses upon itself into pure noise, which dissipates into nothing but more feedback. Shortest song on the album.

8. You're Not Evil
The longest song on the album. There are slow parts, fast parts, calm parts, angry parts, scary parts, it has a lot of variety in it. The song describes somebody who feels guilty about being themselves and that "they're evil" because society pressures them into feeling that way. If that's what the song's about, then I can say I can relate to this one. "YOU'RE NOT EVIL..."

It's not quite as good as some of the other albums like "In My Head" or "My War" or "Damaged", but still a good album for sure. There's a lot more heavy metal in this album than the ones before it, so metalheads could probably appreciate this one too. I'd even go as far to say that there's a jazz influences as well... not as much as on "Family Man", but it's definitely there. And I'm just spewing crap, 'cause I don't even listen to jazz, but I've heard enough to know that this album is influenced by it. So, yes, Slip It In. Slip It In-to your CD player. Slip It In back into its protective cover (tehe) when you're done listening to it on your turntable. Slip It In-to your cassette tape player. Slip It In to some girl's pussy. Or a dude, if you swing that way. Or not. But yeah, that's all I can think of to say for this review. Now enjoy this music video.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Slip It In
2. My Ghetto
3. Wound Up

MUSIC VIDEO FOR "SLIP IT IN"

Review #149: The Melvins - Set Me Straight (Single) (1989)

SET ME STRAIGHT (Single)

Year: 1989

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Sludge, Hardcore
Label: Do the Right Thing Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 9 Minutes
Style: Angry
My Rating: 6/8

Well, it's been over a week since my last review, but that's what a long summer does to ya, makes you all lazy and stuff so it's hard to push yourself to get anything done. Well, school has started again, so it's pretty much back to a schedule and taking classes and reading books and filling out worksheets and all of that FABULOUS stuff.

But anyways, this 7" record is more often called Outtakes From the First 7" (referring to the band's first EP), but there is no official title and "Set Me Straight" has more of a ring to it and is less awkward to say, so I just go with that one. Yeah, these are three songs from the sessions that produced the band's first record that didn't make the cut. And they're pretty good songs. The first one is one of the band's oldest songs, "Set Me Straight", and the two other ones are even more obscure tracks that were some of their slowest tunes at the time. It's also a bootleg, so if you own a copy of this record, the Melvins have the right to break into your home at any given time and raid it of all of your snacks and records and anything else they might want (and if they DON'T want it, then they'll just destroy it!). But yeah, these three songs are pretty heavy n' cool n' stuff, so now I'm going to talk about them.

1. Set Me Straight
One of the oldest Melvins songs. However, like "Snake Appeal", the Melvins decided that the song was still for keeps several years later, but this time they slowed the song down instead of speeding it up. It's an awesome song with a Stooges/Flipper-hybrid feel, but a more vicious riff and Buzz's rougher vocals. The verse riff is one of the coolest riffs ever. This version of the song just has a massive, pounding feel, like every time Dale hits a snare that you're getting smashed into the ground once more. The Melvins did yet ANOTHER version of this song on the album "Houdini". Now for the b-sides.

2. Show Off Your Red Hands
Starts off with a speedy intro with Black Sabbath-style tonage, until quickly dissolving into a sludgy romp through Melvinsland. This version of the song can also be found on Side B of the "Your Blessened" single as "Pronoun Piece Me". But yeah, the title of this song kinda cracks me up... it's like, Buzz finds this guy who secretly has RED HANDS and with majesty like no either he shouts, "SHOW OFF YOUR RED HANDS, YOU THIEVING BASTARD!". Yeah. That would be funny. Buzz's vocals were so fucking awesome during this period. The song gets even slower towards the end of the song. Very heavy.

3. #2 Pencil
This song also has a fast intro section, though here it lasts a little longer and the beat changes up several times before descending fully into monster-mode. Makes "My War" by Black Flag look pussyish (which I think is a GREAT ALBUM before you start talking shit, by the way). Basically the musical elements of that album consolidated into one song. After all, it was them who inspired Buzzo & the gang to be so different in the first place. The lyrics of the song describe a pencil which has been stuck into Buzz's skin and stuff like that. Slow and awesome. After this song the record ends.

All three songs are equally good, so it's up to you what the best one is. The first song is a lot more "normal" sounding, and the second and third songs are both pretty similar in composure. Alternate versions of both songs on Side B can be found on the "Eight Songs", "Ten Songs", and "26 Songs" albums from C/Z Records and Ipecac Records, so it's not so hard to find these songs anymore. But yesh, definitely recommended for anybody into the earlier workings of the Melvins. So that's all I have to say for right now. I'll be back with a longer review of something else sometime soon.