Genre: Thrash Metal/Experimental Rock Label: Ladd-Frith Productions Tracks: 8 Length: 35 Minutes Style:Angry/Weird My Rating: 6/8
Mr. Bungle was the first (well-known, at least) band that Mike Patton (also in Faith No More & Fantomas) was in. The band started back in 1985, as part of a high school talent show where they mainly just dicked around (it's even on videotape!), but quickly they assumed more of a super-angry crossover-thrash style, and they would eventually become more of a goofy funk-metal group not too different from Faith No More itself, but in 1986 they released their first cassette-only album (with the green label), and let's hear it NOWWW...
1. Grizzly Adams Warm and sad-sounding acoustic guitar instrumental tune, with a little lead off to the side (right), it's very calm-sounding, so let's jusst sit back and relax for a little while and bathe in the melancholy of it all... this is really really beautiful-sounding. Just when you least expect it, now, the song becomes extremely loud and metallic and more dangerous-sounding, but that doesn't last for very long...
2. Anarchy Up Your Anus Starts off with a really loud angry-sounding riff with Mike reciting lines from the book "Snow White" in a calm voice. The song pauses and then speeds up. Wow, now I know why the Accused almost chose Mike Patton as their new vocalist! He really does sound just like Blaine Cook on this album! AN-AR-CHY upyouranus! The riffs are lightning-quick and sound just as much like a blender as musical instruments!
3. Spreading the Thighs of Death Ooh, sounds sexy! This song starts off with a scream and the tempo is fast but not that fast. The song pauses and the other guitar which sounds really quiet can be heard playing, and then the song is really fucking fast, with Mike Patton's brutal vocals lighting the way in an otherwise directionless ever-changing muck of pure-y fury! Then there's one part with a bunch of squealing noises from the guitars and the band moaning and groaning in CONFUSION (is sex). GUITAR SOLO!! There's one relatively melodic part of the song around 3 1/2 minutes, but there's very little repetition in this song so it doesn't last long. Is it wrong that the name of this song somewhat gives me a boner?
4. Hypocrites This one sounds a bit more like plain old hardcore. Slow beginning, and then it gets real fast, and then I'm hearing a part of "La Cucaracha". Then there's a fucking ska section of the song, can you believe it? "We're hypocrites, but we're not hypocrites". Soon enough, the ska section ends for a repeat of the first two parts of the song. Totally awesome!! Then there's a really really cool Sabbath-esque guitar solo after that. It's really cool-soundin', man!
5. Bungle Grind This song's absolutely awesome. All the riffs here fucking rule. It alternates between so many different parts it's not funny, and Mike's voice sounds like a cross between Roger Miret and Blaine Cook in this song. The verse riff meanwhile sounds so desperate yet energetic. It sounds so awesome when he belts out that line "Life... is a fucking... JAILLLL!!!!!". Then he tells us to 'do the Bungle Grind'. HOW to do it is not explained, however. The guitar just chugs along like a giant fucking steamroller. The drums are audible but very blurry so I can't comment much on how awesome those sound. End of Side A.
6. Raping Your Mind LOUD, FAST, HEAVY, PISSED-OFF. Like a monster. Mash. Like a monster mash, kidz. They shred really fast!! It's like a jillion angry bumble-bees buzzing and stinging people all at once. Imagine that racket! Dissonant Melvins-like chord progressions punctuate the verse riffs. Then there's some crazy overblown solo-age going on.
7. Evil Satan This one's a little more experimental and punk-sounding. There's a neat watery guitar sound and a bongo beat, but then the tempo changes and you hear Mike Patton rapping the lyrics here; the first instance of the vocal style he'd be more recognized for later. There's horns in here (being played by Mister Trey Spruance who wrote half of the songs for this record) also. Every now and then he sings in that angry brutal tone. Name an instrument, it was probably used in this song. Harmonicas, trumpets, kazoos, bongo drums, cymbals, etc.
8. Sudden Death Blues-y tempo and a vicious tearing guitar riff. After a minute and a half, the song becomes very fast like you might expect! REALLY FUCKING FAST at some points. The great riffs just keep going. I like some of the clattering drum sounds, also. You hear Trevor doing some backing vocals with Mike at one part. At another point, you hear video game music (probably Nintendo) sychronized with the thrashing madness of the band's own music! I DUNNO I DUNNO. Hearing the vocal duties go back and forth between Mike and the rest of the band sounds very good. And it's totally the longest song on the tape, 'cuz it's just over 7 whole minutes long. And that's the end.
Well, that was fucking wild. Having heard "The Real Thing" by Faith No More where Mike Patton's voice sounds much cleaner, it's hard to believe he can pull off those sorts of screams and growls! And even though they were playing thrash metal here, the weird element is definitely already there, with the band willing to pull off any bonus trick in the hat to surprise you! It's really something else, it's super-angry and aggressive-sounding music but manages to keep a little weirdness and humor in there as well. The sound of the music is extremely lo-fi, probably recorded directly to cassette tape, but this album is not considered a demo, so the self-titled LP from 1991 is NOT the first Mr. Bungle album (much like people incorrectly label "God Ween Satan" as the first Ween album). They were only about my age (or close) when they recorded this, so this is really impressive. Things would get a little funkier for the band's music, they graduated high school, and Mike Patton's musical career has really taken off since this point. But even with that unconsidered, this album SERIOUSLY rocks, and if you like thrash metal bands with a punk edge like the Accused and Suicidal Tendencies, or even grindcore or death metal like Napalm Death, then DO check this out, man.
...DEAD Kennedys were a very political, creative punk rock band that existed from the late '70s to mid '80s (same timeframe as Black Flag), and the band was fronted by the charismatic, very intelligent man known az JELLO "BI AFRO" BIAFRA. They put out some singles in the 1970s with humorously political-centered tunes such as "California Uber Alles" and all that SHIT, and now here's their first full-length album, FRESH FRUIT for ROTTING VEGETABLES!!
1. Kill the Poor HEEEREZ a nice jolly little tune about killing poor parts of the world with neutron bombs to make more room for fancy hotels and golf courses! WHAT FUN. Even liberals are wimps, too! Everyone sing along with me -- KILLKILLKILLKILL THE POOR! KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL THE POOR TONI-I-I-I-IGHT! The beginning part is slow, but then it gets a bit faster.
2. Forward to Death Even faster, eh? This song's about somebody who's so bored of life in capitalist consumeristic society that he's "looking forward to death", because American society puts a lil' frown on hiz face, man. This song was written by 6025.
3. When Ya Get Drafted Awesome catchy guitar riffs and yet also a frantic, freakish side as well. This song's about Ronald (McDonald) Reagan revving the American people up for a new war with Russia and it's all for fucking BIG BUSINESS (not the band), MAN. The verse riff just sounds fun, and the chorus riff is more mean and mutated. The solo sounds like something out of a horror film.
4. Let's Lynch the Landlord A bit slower. It's funny how all of these songs sound so gawdamn party-tastik and yet the messages are so serious. It's an awesome-sounding song, though. And it's about killing yr landlord (rather than yr idols). Because he wants more money for everytime you drink water. Some landlords who are Dead Kennedys fans have indeed complained about them writing this song.
5. Drug Me This is a really fast song that's not really as much an anti-drug tune as much as comparing the mainstream media and the government and entertainment industry themselves to drugs, using endless fake pleasure to keep ze kiddies entertained THEIR WAY. Yeah, I have to admit that I am into drugs somewhat myself. Not a TON yet, but I do know that getting high/drunk is totally fun. So yeah, drugs are bad mm'kay, but they're also really fun. Awesome weirdo solo in the middle of the song. You can't tell me they weren't on drugs to come up with THAT one!
6. Your Emotions East Bay Ray wrote this lil' song. Awesome super-legit guitar riff. The beat iz fast, just makes me wanna dance! The song discusses how people are somewhat programmed how to feel by society and their surroundings, becoming like biological tape-recorders. YOUR EMOTIONS MAKE YOU A MONSTER!
7. Chemical Warfare AN AGGRESSIVE SONG ABOUT... CHEMICAL WARFARE. "Down at the arsenal they keep the nerve gases, guarded day and night by caged white rabbits" -- AHAHAHAHAHA. In the middle, there's a freakish slow section that sounds like a creepy carnival song, sung by the famous klown, RAMBOZO. Then there's a bunch of hilarious sounds at one part right before the end. End of Side A.
8. California Über Alles One of the most famous Dead Kennedys songs ever... original released as the band's first 7" single ever in 1979, but this is a different version of the song. This version's slightly faster, and it portrays then-governor-of-Kalifornjia as the hippie Hitler enforcing his extremely liberal views on the rest of the state. "Mellow out or YOU WILL PAY"... man.
9. I Kill Children EIGH KULL KHULDRUNZ is another fun fast song beigh the DAD KINIDIZ about a KEH-REZEH SERULL KULLOOWER HO LOIX TEH KULLZ VER MINEH CHILDREN. "I've been butt-fucked one too many ways". Ain't that a drag. I like the riff during the mid-section of the song.
10. Stealing People's Mail Stealing PeoplE'S Mail. Who the hell "People" is, I dunno, but if they were talking about PEOPLE as in the plural pronoun, then Jello would have titled it "Stealing Peoples' Mail", right, right? RIGHT?????????????? NOW NOBODIE KUNT FIND THER MAIL, GODDAMMIT!!!!!!
11. Funland at the Beach Funland, funland... at the beach... Funland at the beach... yeah, I've been there. It FUCKING RULES. The sand is pink, the sky is always blue, and the cloudz are made of cotton kandYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. But really, funland @ ze beach is not always fun, 'cuz the lil' fat kids who like to the candy at this magical little world are getting killed and splattered to bloody little bits by the gigantic fucking rollercoaster and FUN-LAND. OH NO!! (cue Mr. Bill, here). Then there's a guitar solo hyah.
12. Ill in the Head The riff consists of some normal chords succeeded by very quirky weird lead note progressions. The song's about a person who grows a case of mental insanity as an unconscious of tactic of coping with mundane life in the schizophrenic western society.
13. Holiday in Cambodia The most famous Dead Kennedys song ever, so famous, so FUCKING PUNK ROCK that it was FUCKING PUNK ROCK FEATURED IN... a car commercial? What is this world cumming to? Gee, I dunno, but here's what I think about the song: it's catchy. It's about a liberal college student who thinks he knows everything about politics and thinks American life's so hard, but even a sucky moment in the U.S.A. is better than... A HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA, LA-LA-LA-LA-LA! Here's actually what I said about the song in my review of "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death" earlier this year: "The most famous Dead Kennedys song. Now being used in car commercials, video games, and the like, it is quite well-known in mainstream music fandom possibly for those reasons, and also because it's just a catchy, fun song. This iz the version from the single in 1980. This version mocks the mainstream "liberal elite" kids who think they've "seen it all from daddy's car", but back east "their type don't crawl" -- telling the kids who think American life is tough to cheer up because even the hardest times in America are still "a holiday in Cambodia". The vocal harmonies in the chorus are great."
14. Viva Las Vegas This is a cover of the song by Elvis Presley. Cool bass melody. It's pretty fast. It's a happy-go-lucky tune about going to Las Vegas to see all the girls and have a bunch of fun and shit. Interesting way to end an album, I say.
The album has a lot to say about a lot of perilous situations that plagued the world at the time and just even moreso now! People are crazier than ever, these days! The album has a really gritty, vaguely garage-rocky feel to it, like the band just recorded it to their garage to a few tapes and put it on some wax as-is. I could be totally wrong though, and totally am. It's kind of like the first Dev-O album, but harder. Most of the shit I've said about this album was said in the individual track-reviews, so yes, there's my fucking opinion. Definitely listen to it, if you have anything up that brain of yours you'll enjoy something about it for sure! The Kennedys would go on to perfect their creative genius with their next albums.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. When Ya Get Drafted 2. Your Emotions 3. Kill the Poor
Year: 2006 Genre: Hardcore Punk Label: Feral Ward Records Tracks:10 Length: 18 Minutes Style:Angry/Political My Rating: 5/8
"No Moderation" is the second release and first full album from the Richmond, Virginia, United States, North America, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Universe hardcore punk band known az Government Warning. The production here on this album is a little more crisp. Like a crisper, full of vegetables, maybe? No? Okay, time to review ze songs...
1. No Moderation Awesome riff, really fast. High energy. This song's about being young and completely reckless and drinking and breaking shit! "Set the night on fire, let it burn!". Cool drumming on this track. I'd like to live like this.
2. Jocks and Cops The lyrics here are fucking hilarious... the song's about jocks who love to flex their muscles and get hard-ons for their own selves and go pick up chicks and can't wait to become cops so they can shove their nightsticks up a punk's rear end. Best lines: "you stand for everything that I hate." and "Hide that erection for Sylvester Stallone" -- ahahahahaah!
3. Cutting Room Floor This song's about how the news takes emphasis off of the real problems of society and war and tries to hide the blame from the real culprits. There's a cool tempo-shift in one part.
4. Fat Nation The guy actually sings here! This song's about fat people who do nothing but eat and sit on their asses and "gargle grease", eating fast food and never getting out or exercising or anything like that.
5. Self Medication This one's a sort of sad song about a person who can't enjoy life due to money problems and does nothing but drink to the point that he's become an alcoholic. Great singing, and there's some background chorus vocals as well. End of Side A.
6. Trend City The song starts out with a deeper-sounding riff and a slow beat, but then it gets really fast. It's about how trend-conscious the punk scene has become and mainstream society as well, and how he's "sick of cars and cellphones" and just wants to hide from it all at home. The second part of the song is slow also.
7. Slave Labor WASTING YOUR LIFE AT A SHITTY JOB SUCKS. THAT'S WHAT THE SONG'S ABOUT. THE GUITAR RIFF IS PRETTY COOL.
8. Powder Keg Really energetic and angry-sounding! The guitar rules here. Just a fucking good fast pissed-off song. Slower part at the end.
9. See the Truth Awesome guitar riff. Really fast and to-the-point and stuff. It's an anti-religion song criticizing people who take up so much space in culture for the sake of "something that isn't even there".
10. Sick of Home First half of the song is a repeated slow guitar riff. Then the song gets faster and Kenny sings about being turned into a ghost by fatigue and sells all his possessions and leaves with just a car and some drugs.
So, that's my review of the album. The lyrics describe a feeling of hopelessness in society and even his own friends. The music is pretty much what you'd expect from a typical hardcore punk record, and I have to admit that it can get a bit same-y, but the songs are still pretty good, so I give 'em credit for that. It's decent but I can't say it's the best fucking thing ever made. So that's all I can think of to say for now. Goodbye.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. See the Truth 2. Trend City 3. No Moderation
Year: 1982 Genre: Hardcore Punk Label: Orange Records Tracks:4 Length: 7 Minutes Style:Angry/Political/Fun My Rating: 6/8
Yep, GG Allin... one of the only artists to be more famous for shitting on stage, eating the said shit, throwing the shit at members of the audience, mutilating himself regularly, performing on-stage rape, getting into a lot of fights, being naked, having a two-inch wang and still being a total badass, and all that other stuff. Of course, what half the people who already know this DON'T know is that he was actually quite a good musician. Not God's gift to the ear of mankind, maybe, but still definitely better than people give him credit for. And at one point he was a really good singer, too! GG started performing in the late '70s, and this is one of his earlier records, which came (yes, ejaculation) out just after his first LP from '81. This is a 7" EP with four songs. Time for the MAGICAL REVIEW, CHILDREN...
1. No Rules GG's voice sounds pretty youthful and clean-sounding compared to his monstrous growl of later times. It's fast, there's a shouted background chorus; just a big angry anthem to anarchy! However, it's probably the worst of the four songs on the record.
2. A Fuck-Up "Ohohoho, Nelly!" YOU'REAFUCKUPYOU'REAFUCKUPYOU'REAFUCKUPYOU'REAFUCKUP... those are some lines from the song. It's about being a social misfit/outcast and not giving a fuck and shit like that. "Why don't you just leave me alone... suck my bone" -- hehehe. Then there's a cool guitar solo in the middle. End of Side A.
3. Up Against the Wall I guess this is actually a cover of a song by a band called "the Ohio Express"... still haven't heard the original version. This was the first GG Allin tune I heard and it's really really good! It's a tad slower than the two songs before it (and the one after it). Extremely catchy and the singing's really good. The lyrics revolve around a battle of the lower class against the law/oppressor. But yeah, this is a fucking awesome song and probably the best on here. I love it.
4. NYC Tonight I like this one a lot, also. It's a song about going out to New York City and partying and causing trouble and all that fun stuff. It's so fun to listen to! The riff in the middle part rules. You can just imagine how wild things would've been getting while this song was being played live by this point. "The city's mine, the Big Apple I'll bite!"
So there's my review. Side A has some pretty good songs, and Side B has some really good songs. Especially "Up Against the Wall". As you can tell here, he wasn't a total monster yet at this point... yeah, he always sang crude lyrics and was totally fucked up, but at this time his performances consisted more of just doing Iggy Pop-style stage antics, which was "extreme" then, but it wasn't anymore once the shit-flinging and rape started taking place... or so I've heard. Maybe everything I've ever heard iz a lie. This music is high-energy party-rock that has the same sort of hot-headed guitar and beats as the Germs. Anyways, yeah, this is a good record and if you think that GG Allin wasn't talented or good at all, then listen to this and it might change your mind!
Year: 2009 Genre: Hardcore Punk/Noise Label: No Label Records Tracks:3 Length: 7 Minutes Style:Angry My Rating: 6/8
I think this is either the second or third release from the band Mentally Challenged. It's 7 inches wide and not very tall and it has three songs on it. So right now I'm listening to Suicidal Tendencies while I'm typing this, 'cuz I was already listening to that album and then I realized "HEY, I NEED TO WRITE ANOTHER FUCKING REVIEW". So that's what I'm doing right now, man. And I'm gunna keep doing it until I'm done! So anyways, I'm eating some chips right now. I'm typing this shit so it can look like I've said a lot of crap about this release even though there's not much to say until I start reviewing it track-for-track. I think I've said enough, now...
1. False False Memories Starts out with some really cool noises, then the first section of the song is real fast and shit with a complete storm of noise charging at you. Later on in the song is a little slower, but with the same confused chaos! Then there's a really slow part after that! The song ends in a muck of clanging sounds before ending with an echo.
2. Prey for Monsters This was one of the first M.C. songs I'd ever heard. The bass guitar sounds real prominent in this one. Slow chorus, fast verse. End of the first side.
3. Bloodfeast This one's a tad less noisy and a big more "normal" sounding, with singing rather than screaming. Reminds me a slight bit of "Human Cannonball" by the Butthole Surfers. Two singers in this song, also. One of them sings more normally and the other one yells the vocals all pissed-off-sounding and the like. But it's really good, because it just sounds awesome and there's still a ton of feedback buzzing around in a semi-harmonious way to the music. Totally awesome song to listen to.
So there's my review of DOCTORS, LAWYERS, COPS + PRIESTS. I don't have it, but I'd love to own it one day! Also, these songs can be found on the "Year One" CD compilation by the band. It doesn't really go too far from the sound of the first 7", but it's a really unique sound so it doesn't really matter. So please, if you can, try fucking your ears out with this piece from a good band. Bye for now.
Year: 1980 Genre: Punk Rock Label: Posh Boy Records Tracks:6 Length: 6 Minutes Style:Fun My Rating: 6/8
Before the famous pop-punk group known as REDD KROSS was REDD KROSS, they were "Red Cross". And before that, they were "The Tourists". But this EP is by Red Cross, and even though it would have been short enough to be on a 7", it's a 12" EP. The band was only in middle-school when they formed, so they were really young when they started making music! And I haven't heard much Red Cross/Redd Kross besides that cool song they wrote for "Desperate Teenage Lovedolls", so now it's time to listen to the first Red Cross record:
1. Cover Band This song makes fun of cover bands, playing nothing but popular (and boring) songs that everyone knows and that they're unable to write their own music. The riff reminds me of "Mildred Pierce" by Sonic Youth, though this song was written 10 years earlier, so really it's the other way around. Cool beat, also.
2. Annette's Got the Hits Awesome heavy guitar riff and awesome beat, also. ANNETE'S... GOT THE HITS! Real catchy n' cool and a bit slow, but in a good way. A fun party anthem.
3. I Hate My School This is a song about how the band hates school and cheerleaders and jocks and their social conformity, and how they can't wait to graduate. The riff is catchy and sort of poppy. The beat rules, also!
4. Clorox Girls This song makes fun of California girls who try to be all tan at the beach but bleach their hair blonde, resulting in a really un-natural look to the point where their hair looks white! This one's good a guitar solo at the end.
5. S&M Party This song is really fucking good! The riff and the singing is awesome. It's about getting beaten for pleasure at an S&M party! What fun.
6. Standing in Front of Poseur Some of their voices haven't even changed, yet! This song has a different vocalist, and he sounds like a fucking girl... but he's still a good singer. STANDING IN FRONT OF POSEUR. I swear he's screaming "HOOKER" half the time... I think he is! Cool chords.
So far, I'm sold on Redd Kross. Every song on this EP was real cool to listen to. At this point, the band's lineup was Jeff McDonald (vox), Greg Hetson (guitar), Ron Reyes (drums), and Steve McDonald (bass), in case you're wondering -- actually, I didn't know Ron Reyes was in Red Cross... that's pretty awesome. So definitely check this out. It's a very cool little record from Posh Boy Records, and all of you pop-punk posers should listen to this if you wanna hear how it's SUPPOSED to be done!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. S&M Party 2. Annette's Got the Hits 3. I Hate My School
THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Year: 1966 Genre: Psychedelic Rock Label: International Artists Records Tracks:11 Length: 35 Minutes Style:Emotional/Weird My Rating: 7/8
The 13th Floor Elevators were an awesome psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 by Roky Erickson in Texas, and this iz their first album! And it's very cool, all of this music is great, especially for Roky being only 19 years old and it being so old. That and it's pretty good. I mean, geez, they've even got someone playing an ELECTRIC JUG. A JUG... that is a container used to hold liquid, correct? Why would you even bother making it electric, and WHY would you? So you could make awesome sounds for the 13TH FLOOR ELEVATRES, that iz why! Maybe it was filled with a MAAAGICAL kind of alcohol that made funny noises when you bubbled it up. Well, you'll hear plenty of that in this album, but the songs themselves are real great as well, so what the hell am I doing still talking about magic furniture (note: the author of this article does not actually believe a jug to fit the qualifications necessary for it to be considered a piece of furniture and opinions expressed by the author this article may not be endorsed by the author of this article) and let's CUT TO THE CHASE!
1. You're Gonna Miss Me One of the coolest songs ever! Reminds me of a hot summer night listening to this song with not much to do, but God, this song is so fun to listen to! The riff is great and sounds very good, and the rough screamin' vocals and the weird little jug sounds give it all a distinct, otherworldly but friendly atmosphere and I need to listen to this while being high on something to totally enjoy its flavor, I feel. But yeah, this is one of the coolest songs ever and it's the first song I heard by the band and the only one that got sorta famous, they say. Man, how the hell could they have locked Roky up after listening to THIS? Well, it's a real euphoric feeling song. Cool harmonica solo, also. Roky wrote it for a previous band when he was only 16!
2. Roller Coaster This one's a little more depressing and slow. A lot more bass. The chorus part is cool, and that giggling jug just keeps on at it. The song speeds up after the first chorus and I thought that was pretty cool. It's like a hangover in the beginning but then it gets better. It encourages people to try acid because it will open up your mind and allow you to see things from a wider point of view. Cool guitar solo at the end.
3. Splash 1 (Now I'm Home) Awesome guitar sound. The chorus that goes "now I'm home..." sounds absolutely beautiful. The whole melody does, really.
4. Reverbation (Doubt) This one's a little more upbeat. Reminds me of punk rock a little bit. Roky sings, and the backing vocalist sings in a falsetto voice. The riff is real tough and fiery sounding. It's like taking off in your car/motorcycle or whatever and riding off into a giant horizon of fiery rocks. Man, Roky really can sing! The sound at the very end reminds me of a very annoying fly...
5. Don't Fall Down DON'T FALL DOWN... that's the repeated the chorus line, as Roky sings the lyrics corresponding to this line. I really love the guitar melody here, and the nice happy jug and yeah, it's all fucking awesome! I'm not sure if the woman being referred to in this song is a drug metaphor or an actual girl (maybe you are both on drugs together, ohohoho).
6. Fire Engine The song kicks off with the sounds of fire engine! The riff is awesome and everything's just melting and bubbling around all at once, but it all works together to sound real good. "AYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAUGHHH" - something that Roky Erickson totally said in this song.
7. Thru the Rhythm Another totally great tune from this album. This song once again encourages the search for absolute truth and for people to commit "knowledge crimes" against the oppressor and the hall of mirrors and illusions elaborately painted throughout the walls of the world. Musically, the riff is great, all of the guitar playing is so awesome, the beat is cool, the bass guitar cannot be neglected, and the jug spices things up too. It feels real relaxing but it has this energy to it at the same time. Do whatever you want to this music, man. Total freedom?
8. You Don't Know (How Young You Are) I like this one a lot. It's another love-problems type of song like "You're Gonna Miss Me", but in a little more of a down-to-earth way. The guitar melody is so beautiful -- hell, the whole song is, but that definitely is a huge part of it. You can hear a little bit of acoustic guitar played alongside the electric ones as well. The song changes to a different part around the end.
9. Kingdom of Heaven A bit of a scarier, more ominous-sounding song. It's pretty slow too. The bass riff just throbs and pounds like that, but then climbs upwards briefly periodically.
10. Monkey Island MONKEY ISLAND! WHERE ALL OF THE MONKEYS LIVE! This song is really happy-sounding, and the jug here somewhat sounds like a monkey here. Which is funny. Monkeys are funny. They eat bananas and throw coconuts at people and they live in trees. However, monkeys are unable to see Roky. They just believe he's there. Roky Erickson is the figment of a monkey's imagination... which reminds me of this one time when I was about 8 years old where I had a dream that I was alive and then it turned out that reality was all just a dream had by a monkey. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
11. Tried to Hide Wookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawooka. The lead guitar is kinda cool. Cling-a-cling. The song's good, but it's a bit overshadowed by the other songs on the LP.
Well, man, that was puh-sykadelick. Too bad I was sober the whole time! Maybe a sugar rush here and there, but I doubt that even happened... does my Tootsie Pop I'm having right nauw count? GOD ONLY KNOWS. THAT THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS HAD PUT OUT A GOOD ALBUM IN THE YEAR OF 1966, AND YESSIR, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS YOU BIG BUTTHOLE. MEANING THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BIG BUTTHOLE. LIKE COWS. THEY HAVE PRETTY FUCKING HUGE BUTTHOLES. AND GUESS WHAT ELSE? THERE WAS A COW ON THE BAND'S FINAL ALBUM COVER AND THAT COW WENT ON TO FORM A BAND KNOWN AS THE COWS AND KEVIN RUTMANIS WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE IN THAT BAND AND THEN HE WOULD GO ON TO JOIN THE MELVINS AND HOLY SHIT REALITY IS CAVING IN ON ITSELF, OHGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for the ultimate LSD-induced knowledge trip. If pretending you know something is mental masturbation, then actually knowing something must be getting laid mentally... it'd be like, you're looking at a girl/guy and you just keep on looking at eachother, knowing that there's totally something goin' on that others can't see, and neither can you, but MAN, YOU CAN FUCKING FEEL IT. It's that look. It's like the eyes are kissing. The irises would be like the lips, and the pupils would be like the actual mouth... and if you go far enough down, you'd find out that the eyes go back into the head and into the brain, which is the STOMACH of the head, and your EYES intake the knowledge through the PUPILS, which is the MOUTH of the head... wait, what?
So, 13th Floor Elevators? Two thumbs up. Listen to this album. It is cool. Like cats. Cats are cool. I'll bet a lot of cats have listened to this album. And they loved it. Because they're soft and fuzzy and cute and they're mean. Which is funny. Cats are funny. They have little tails, also. So do dogs. A lot of animals have tails, really. A baby bird without feathers vaguely resembles a lizard, I've also found. Hell, a baby robin even looks a bit like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (without the mask or opposable thumbs), and THAT'S a hell of a stretch, but I know you're willing to make the leap bekuz YOU'VE GOT THE POWAH. And that's what this iz all about. POWAH. POWAH TO THE PEOPLE. POWAH IN YOUR MIND, which is something this album seems to promise, but I just wanted to know if it was okay if Little Jimmy got a boner while reading about facesitting. Okay?
Top 3 Favorites: 1. You're Gonna Miss Me 2. You Don't Know (How Young You Are) 3. Thru the Rhythm
Year: 1985 Genre: Punk Rock Label: DSI Records Tracks:6 Length: 9 Minutes Style:Funny My Rating: 6/8
Y'alls have probably heard of the legendary dead dog-raping, baby-killing mutated band from Antarctica known as GWAR, and if you know about THEM you might also know about Dave Brockie's (who NEVER EVER sang for GWAR at all) "involvement" with the band, and, well, before GWAR, and even parallel to GWAR in their first few years, he was also in a band called "Death Piggy". The first Death Piggy EP (which was reviewed on the site earlier this year) was mostly fast, funny, food-oriented hardcore punk, and this is the second Death Piggy EP which is a bit more musically distinct (even moreso than already) than "Love War", and the songs are slower and more just straight-forward funny funky punky rock. So let's review, shall we?
1. Welcome Fast with a lead guitar riff, and this is interrupted for Dave talking in a hilariously lethargic voice to say "WELCOME TO THE RECORD. ONE TWO THREE FOUR.", and then the music continues. Not for long, though.
2. Boner This one is a laugh-out-loud riot fuckfest. Styled vaguely after '50s rock & roll, this song's about a guy with a boner so big that it causes women all over the world to become immensely horny! Here's just one really funny line from the song: "Y'KNOW HE'S COMIN', HE'S COMIN' TO TOWN -- AND WHEN HE GETS HERE, HE'S GONNA FUCK YOU". What a boneriffic little tune!
3. Showbiz This one has a really cool weird lead guitar riff and a nice little bass guitar melody as well. This song tells people to come down to where "all your friends live", which is Showbiz... Showbiz Pizza?? Home of the animatronic rock band, the "Rock-a-Fire Explosion"?! God damn, how'd I be for sure? Yep, he even guarantees a great birthday experience there.
4. Dinner in the Morning This is a faster song about eating dinner at all of the different times of day. Dave sings in a very bizarre falsetto voice during random points of the song and expresses his wish to be a supervisor. He does kind of sound a bit like Jello Biafra. And that's the end of Side A.
5. Whippin' Round the Bay What does "whipping 'round the bay" even mean? Golly, why don't someone tell me already? Anyways, this song is a bit more of an emotional moment, but still humorous, lyrically. There's lots of sounds of seagulls and ocean waves, and the song starts out acoustic and then segues into an electric melody with swooping lead guitar bits and it has a really good, touching melody that kinda melts your soul a little bit. "I've got Daddy's charge card, hey hey hey hey...". LUMPY LUMPY LUMPY LUMPY. This is the longest song on the EP, being almost four minutes long.
6. Ceramic Butt The guitar sounds real fuzzed-out and awesome. And the beat is about as cool as they come. The lyrics are real surrealistic and it's all totally cool, but unfortunately, the song fades out a little too soon.
Well, that's all for now. The record is sadly long out of print and very rare, and its songs (as well as everything else by Death Piggy) can be found on a compilation CD known as "Smile or Die", which in turn is also out of print and quite rare, so FUCK ME IN THE ASS WITH A NIPPLE SANDWICH gee, that really sucks. But you'll probably find it somewhere eventually, or just do what I did and illegally download it -- TAKE THAT, ALL YOUR HARD WORK YOU SLAVED AWAY FOR JUST TO PUT OUT A COUPLE DEATH PIGGY RECORDS IN THE '80S AND I SHAT UPON IT BY DEFILING THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM BY WHICH YOUR LIFE DEPENDS, DAVID BROCKIE... no, I didn't mean that. Life iz good. But anyways, yeah, it's crazier n' funnier than the first one. It's like, it's FUNNY, and it's PUNK, so you could really call it "FUNK", but that's already the name of a musical genre SO I GUESS WE'RE PRETTY DERN SCREWED IN THIS CASE, BUDDY.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Whippin' Round the Bay 2. Boner 3. Ceramic Butt
Year: 2010 Genre: Hardcore Punk Label: Survive Records Tracks:5 Length: 8 Minutes Style:Angry/Political My Rating: 5/8
Total Trash is yet another cool new hardcore band from Toronto, Ontario. Having just formed earlier this year, this is their demo tape and it's got about five songs on it which are pretty cool, so let's reveu (pronounce it "rev-wah") it, now shall we? But before that, here's a few more details about the band: well... um... shit... I really don't know what the names of the band members are... crap. Well, let's see if I can identify any by looking at a picture of the band playing...
...
...
...
Let's see, that's... a straight-edge guy with glasses playing the guitar... I'll call him "Ian". And then, on the other guitar, there's a man wearing an Agnostic Front shirt... we'll call him "Agnes"... the singer is wearing a red shirt and making the shape of a sickle and hammer with his two arms so he's obviously a communist and his name is going to be "Joseph". And the drummer is invisible so he'll be called "Invisibo". That's right, Joseph (vocals), Ian (guitar), Agnes (bass/other guitar?), and Invisibo (drums). Now, time to talk about the songs.
1. Gregor Samsa Awesome beat and a heavy bass riff. The singer sounds like a cross between Mike Muir and the dude from Bad Choice. As you might expect, the song gets a lot faster halfway through and the riff changes and it's sloppy but cool. Too bad there's no lyrics, as I always say (except for cases in which there ARE lyrics). Who IS Gregor Samsa, anyways?
2. Socially Fucked Another cool riff. Really hot and fuzzy-sounding. SOCIALLY FUCKED! SOCIALLY FUCKED! C'MON KIDDIEZ, SING ALONG WITH ME!! The bridge section has the coolest riff, even if it's just two chords. Sounds good together.
3. Sanitize Me Pretty similar to the previous song -- fast, angry, cool riffage. No idea what he's singing about, still. Wish I gnu. Cool lead guitar stuff on this song.
4. No Freedom The song starts out slow, and the riff is fucking awesome and the beat rules during this part. Then the song gets really fast! After that, there's another slower part with a cool beat where Joseph shouts "NO FREEDOM!", which is succeeded by another really fast part.
5. No York This one's fast but not as fast as all the other ones. It's a big diss to New York, condemning the snobs and posers and Joseph proclaims that "this fucking city ain't for me". I can actually kind of understand the lyrics to this song. The riff is cool also. And th-th-th-ththth-thTHAT'S ALL, FUX!
Sometimes I wonder if they were named after the song by Sonic Youth or not. That would be cool if they like Sonic Youth... who were from NO YORK as well. So maybe not. Who NOSE, anymore, right? Hopefully they'll be around more to put out more stuff, 'cuz they're pretty good. A bit generic, but still good. So I hope you enjoyed my review. I will hopefully be back tomorrow.
Year: 2009 Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Pop Label: HoZac Records Tracks:2 Length: 6 Minutes Style:Happy/Relationship My Rating: 6/8
The Girls at Dawn aer a trio from Brooklyn (New York, United States, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Universe, Plane of Existence, God's Butthole, etc.) that formed in 2008 and their musical style is very '60s-influenced with a lot of elements of psychedelic rock, '60s garage rock, and maybe even a little punk. The band's members are: Erin Campbell (guitar), Ana Economou (bass guitar), and Sarah Baldwin (drums). All three sing, often in harmonies, and the music has sort of a childish innocent quality to it. This is the band's first release ever, and it's a 7" single with two songs on it (wouldn't that make it a DOUBLE? hmm...). Anyways, here's what I've got to say about the songs.
1. Never Enough Definitely an old-fashioned pop song. It has a nice bouncy beat, jangly guitar sounds, friendly sing-songy vocals and a synth organ, also. The lyrics are about love and holding hands and missing your lover and stuff. Pretty much how I feel about the girl I like, even though I've never even touched her before! Da-na-na-na-na... blahblahblahblah... stuff like that. This music would put a baby sleep... if it was POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL!!!
2. Every Night I like this one better. The riff is really good and the vocals fit well with it and the vocal harmonies sound good. Particularly I enjoy the verse part, that part's real good. Everything sounds like it was recorded in a cave, like the song before it. Lots of echo-ey stuff goin' on, here.
There you have it. The single from ze Girls at DAWN. If you like this, they also have an EP and an album out for you to listen to, so enjoy the music, especially if you like really old music and shit like that. Or the Velvet Underground on anti-depressants with just a bunch of happy singing girls. I really liked "Every Night", but I guess which one iz better is a matter of taste in this case. Both have more hooks than a chronic fisherman! But yeah, that's my review. Check them out on MySpace or something.
Coso. Is a band. From Buenos Aires, Argentinia. Also home of my good friend, FAKEIS751 (YouTube user-name). He has had some good stories to tell about their concerts. Which are noisy and weird and kool. AID. Sis a very bad disease to get and you should alwaeyz ware proctetion 'cuz ya jush nver now whoze gots it this day. And age... it's something that happens to us all, all the time. In fact, I'm pretty old now compared to how young I was when I first started typing this. Is my review of the one and only release by Coso (other than FAKEIS751's live 10/10/10 bootleg) and it's pretty gawdumdingdarn short and it'sh gawtz 5 songs on it so ya shuld stick around and try to hold all that SHIT up in your ANUS for just a little bits longah 'cuz FUCK ME SONOFABITCH we're gonna be reviewing this lil' nuglet in aboutz as long as the EP plaeys for. And, if you want to read this review really fast, you're just gonna need ta SCROLL DOWN REALLY FAST while wearing "Old McMotherFucker's Super-TinySight Glasses" so you can see all the words REAL GOOD), 'cuz I know some of y'alls need to take a dump real bad, just like myself... ahh, that's better. Y'see, it'd been two days (or more) since I last had a bowl movement, so it's no wonder I felt a bit upset up 'till today.
Well, the songs... they're all pretty short. It's kinda no-wavey... the songs are really short and barely melodic at all, no singing, and much abrasive energy. You'll like this if you dig Teenage Jezus & the Jerxx and Sonic Youth n' all those types of sexual music. Ah, what the hell am I saying, let's start this review, now shall we?
1. PP Untitled Awesome beat, a bunch of clattery ringing noises, and squeaky sounds on repeat. After that, we hear some a cool guitar chord repeated, and then it is succeeded by another guitar chord progression, and then it returns to a part more like the first part with even more fucked-up sounding squeaky noizes. Then in one part the beat gets twice as slow. Poiinnnng!
2. PP 1 Gee, they sure like to name their songs after URINE, now don't they? This one actually has kind of a melody to it on the guitar, and beneath that is a bunch of fucking around on the other guitar in lead and there's a slow beat. Some of the sounds made on the backing guitar get to sound pretty frantic.
3. Control Alt This song is the best one! It has a really cool beat and it has a really weird but awesome lead guitar melody. Kind of reminds me of driving through the desert, out in the middle of nowhere. It has a real cool feel to it and I love the beat too! Reminds me a bit of "Out in the Gardener" by the Meat Puppets.
4. Reset Temptation The first part of the song has a really chaotic, violent-sounding riff that sound like a bunch of monsters (or killer rabbits?) trying to attack you. The second half of the song is more bassy and thumping and it has a throbbing, angry riff. This one's pretty short like the song before it.
5. PP 8 A little quieter and slower. Just a thumping bass beat and some weird stroke combinations, and then after that there's a part where it's just a soft repeated note. Then a real loud chord and a few sparse snare hits make up the next part of the song. Keeping in tempo, the part after this is equally as loud but more consistent, and then after that it sounds like song is over, but then there's one more part that sounds like the previous section but more distorted, and then the song's really over. Ze ende.
That's the first Coso off'ring. You can listen to and download the entire EP from the band's MySpace page, or you can go to one of their shows and get an official CD copy! One thing I liked was that they kept the songs real short so it stayed interesting and nothing got too repetitive; everything stays in its place and you keep wanting more rather than everything getting hammered into your skull repeatedly. In some parts it reminded me like the Meat Puppets (for the psychedelic weird desert vibe), and much of it reminded me of Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (for the clangy abrasive sounds). And geezus christ, why don't make up your own lyrics since there AREN'T any? Sing them over the songs, and whaddaya know, you're the newest member of fucking Coso! Aren't you so gawsh-darn proud? Well, goodbye! Have losts of fun tonight.
Year: 1982 Genre: Post-Punk Label: Ruthless Records Tracks:6 Length: 20 Minutes Style:Angry My Rating: 5/8
Big Black was a band that formed in 1981 in Evanston, Illinois. Steve Albini, the frontman and main member of the band joined the Chicago punk scene in his college years, and the first incarnation of Big Black featured Steve singing and playing guitar with a Roland drum machine supplying the beats, due to being unable to find a drummer. Big Black was somewhat apart of the hardcore scene, but the music of Big Black progressed further beyond the conventions of hardcore and aside from the already unique-sounding electronic drumbeats, the music was very much influenced by '70s and early '80s post-punk, new wave, and no-wave, and very noisy and avant-garde sounding as well. Steve recorded his first Big Black EP all by himself during a spring break and this wuz the result.
1. Steelworker The lyrics are really really good. The beat is slow, and the guitar melody reminds me of a creepy spiderweb being spun. The song also uses imagery alluded to a hunter chasing down his food and killing it. GREAT BIG THING, CRAWLIN' ALL OVER ME.
2. Live in a Hole This one's a bit faster. The beat sounds like a gunshot! The guitar sound is fizzly and freaktastic. The song describes a man who digs in a hole for a living to be able to live and works so much that his hole is practically his home. I think, at least. The melody is pretty interesting. There's some saxophone, also.
3. Dead Billy Weird synth melody on this song. Slow like "Steelworker". I'm not entirely sure what this one's about... my mind's a little cloudy today, but there's a lot of reference to war and vietnam and pedophilia; perhaps 'Dead Billy' is a soldier in Vietnam who sexually abuses a girl and then kills her. Pretty fucked-up, in that regard. End of Side 1.
4. I Can Be Killed The lyrics here are almost as psycho as the last song! The beat is a lot faster and there's a neat electric-sounding New Wave melody with a little noise interspliced as well. That seriously is a really cool melody. Maybe it's a guitar with a weird effect. Could be both, man! Steve's voice sounds a little creepy, here.
5. Crack Reminds me a lot of "I Can Be Killed", musically. The lyrics are more spoken here, and it describes somebody whose life is finally working out well, only for everything to fall apart into shambles. Maybe the sadness of being rejected, or something like that. DUN-NUH!
6. RIP This song sounds a lot like the type of songs that would be heard on the next two EPs, "Bulldozer" and "Racer-X". It kinda sounds like it's about the government wanting to kill the poor to clear out overpopulation, and how they view the poor as "dirty" and "not looking quite right". I might be wrong, that's my guess. It's the shortest song, though.
Well, that's "Lungs" by Big Black. I've only started listening to Big Black recently, but this is a pretty good EP. I don't like it as much as "Bulldozer" or "Racer-X", but it iz still good, especially inspiring to know it was recorded by just one person! I guess early editions of this album came with all sorts of random goodies included, like razor blades, blood, hair, Public Image Limited concert tickets, squirt-guns, condoms, and other great things like that! It's like an angrier, more sick version of New Wave music, and they say it preceded the whole industrial rock thing as well, which sounded a bit similar to this sort of music. Steve Albini has gone on to be a figurehead in the underground music scene, so yes, I guess this makes this EP somewhat of an important release. The end.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. I Can Be Killed 2. Live in a Hole 3. Dead Billy
RAGING WRATH OF THE EASTER BUNNY
