Genre: Spoken Word, Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Jazz-Punk Label: SST Records Tracks: 11 Length: 33 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Demented/Dark/Weird My Rating: 6/8
"Family Man" has always been sort of the odd-one-out in the whole Black Flag discography. It's no regular punk record, that's for sure. Family Man. One half spoken-word album, one half-instrumental album -- actually, not quite: there is one song with instruments and vocals on here, and it's called "Armageddon Man". Nine minutes long, too! Well, if you're looking for a "Damaged" or a "Jealous Again", you won't find none of that here... which would actually mean that you WOULD find that here, but the harsh truth is that you won't. This iz far-off, musically complex shit that your typical hardcore band wouldn't even know where to start playing. And that's okay. Black Flag were masters of their genre. The first half of the album is really more just a "Henry Rollins" record, as it's just him talking (except when you can hear some of the other band members laughing). Yeah, you'll hear a lot of his early spoken word pieces here. Some are rather disturbing, and others are slightly humorous. Maybe not for the easily offended... I can't imagine how many people I know would probably try to burn this album if they heard the title track. And hey, the title track is the first track. What an excellent place to start, right? Get out your wax, place it on the turntable, stick your needle in the right place, and get it spinnin'... OR just put your CD in the stereo... or just click on the fucking MP3 file... lame-ass. Ahem. On with Family Man.
1. Family Man In the beginning, there was Henry, and there was Kira. And God saw that it was good. After eons passed, Henry speaketh: "Do you want the Family Man, or do you want the Swingin' Man? You choose"... to which Kira answereth: "family man". And like a tape recorded set off by a single click of the 'play' button, Henry goes off like a fuckin' gun. "Family Man"... even just two words in, you can feel the contempt and venom in the lexicon. "Taking no chances on the new day", "your sandcastle's all built, smiling through your guilt". Henry basically talks about how much he hates the 'family man'. The thing that people with no other idea of what to do become. The patron saint of mediocrity. "Taking no chances on the new day". This track is the ultimate weapon against middle American generic cookie-cut values. Tell 'em something that offends them. Speak irreverently about their loved ones, even if you don't mean it. It's the words that stab like a salt-covered sword. Your mediocres, wannabe alpha-males, society followers, sick perverts... they all come neatly wrapped in the Family Man. "Smiling through your guilt". This piece is your weapon. It will make your own friends uncomfortable. Try it. I dare ya.
2. Salt On a Slug A slightly more low-quality track. This one's about Henry poured salt on a large slug. They say it's not a nice thing to do. Well, let's just say this slug was pretty much fucked. Then Henry imagines that he's a giant tongue that gets dipped in salt.
3. Hollywood Diary A bizarre love story about a guy who loves a woman so much that he cuts off his own left arm (the good one), and sends it to her with a box of chocolates. The woman eats the chocolates and watches some television. The man shoots himself in the head, and then takes the pieces of his splattered cranium and puts them back in place, to start over "with a renewed vigor not seen by many".
4. Let Your Fingers Do the Walking Sort of a stream-of-consciousness rant with a good sense of wit and intensity. It's the longest spoken word piece on here, being over three minutes long. "How much time do you have? Do you know? How much do you need to get the job done? You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't ya? Of course you do. That's exactly why you came here in the first place."
5. Shed Reading (Rattus Norvegicus) Rattus Norvegicus: the Brown Rat. This one is spoken from the viewpoint of a rat. Henry's favorite animal. It really makes you feel a lot of sympathy for the furry hero. Rattus reminds us that "if you could see past the fur, I think you'd realize that I'm a lot like you". Rats actually do share much DNA in common with human beings. Perhaps we should be more considerate of the rights of rats. What the hell, now I sound like one of those PeTA people...
6. No Deposit, No Return This one's pretty depressing. That's probably what it's about. The feeling of isolation and depression. Being alone. It's late at night. No deposit... no return...
7. Armageddon Man The real stand-out track here. It's the only "song" here, in the sense that it contains both vocals and instruments. Even then, the vocals are spoken, not sung. Musically, this shit far weirder than "My War" could dream of being. By this point, the punks who thought they knew what Black Flag was all about were leaving in droves. It's like free jazz, or something. Just real fucked-up, y'know? I have no idea if he wrote the whole thing or if he just improvised it. "THESE PEOPLE ARE FOR REAL. THEY WATCH TELEVISION. THEY RUN IN CIRCLES. THEY BARK LIKE DOGS. THEY RIP AT MY HEELS. THEY WANT TO PUT A COLLAR AROUND MY NECK. THEY WANT ME TO BE LIKE THEM. WELL, I JUST WALK RIGHT PAST THEM, RIGHT OVER THEM, RIGHT ON TOP OF THEM. I JUST CRUSH THEIR FACE: BECAUSE THEY'RE NOTHIN'." This song is really long, it's nine minutes long. End of Side 1.
8. Long Lost Dog of It Here begins the instrumental side. This tune has an eerie, ominous feel to it, as a dark bassline is played, along a plodding, thumping bass drum, with droning lead guitar. Slowly, the drum work gets slightly more aggressive. The song fades out after about two minutes.
9. I Won't Stick Any of You Unless I Can Stick All of You! This song's faster and more urgent. At some points (the chorus), the music goes into little brief jabs of one-note music, until 'laxing back into something with more flow. Some parts are faster than others. In other parts of the 'chorus', the guitars all stay the same, but the drumming gets real wild. It plays on a repeated general "melody", but the trick is that in each section, there's always something different going on with at least one of the tracks of audio.
10. Account For What? So all this time, Henry just gets to sit back and do nothing while the rest of the band slaves away at these musical monsters. All he had to do for this album was just say stuff. Hah hah hah... This one's okay. Not a huge fan of the bassline, but it's still a decent track. The bass sort of drives the rest. Meanwhile, the guitar (and at some times the drumming) is all over the place!
11. The Pups Are Doggin' It This song begins by simply fading in. It's pretty speedy. That doesn't stop it from being Black Flag-tastic, though. The lead guitar is real cool. At one point, the tempo slows down or something like that. After the band finally gives up their game, it all dissolves into a clattering mess of noise that, well, fades out.
That's "Family Man". Definitely one of the strangest and most challenging works of Black Flag. And yes, the date written on the cover of the album is when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Apparently Family Man saw it necessary to assassinate himself. Because the government told him to. Because aliens n' reptilians and Osama bin Laden and stuff. Blah blah blah. Hey, here's a joke: what does a PUPPY do? It DOGS things. Because puppies like dogging stuff. Like, they DOG things. And when they become DOGS, then they just PUPPY things. It all makes perfect sense. Mathematics. Science. Sexual Education. School. Agh. Yes, this iz a good thing butt it iz probably not fer everyjaun. I'm hungry. Thanks for reading my review. Enjoy these videos I have posted below for you. Goodbye, now!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Family Man 2. The Pups Are Doggin' It 3. Let Your Fingers Do the Walkin'
Genre: Hip-Hop, Punk Rock, Reggae Sub-Genres: Post-Punk Label: Rat Cage Records Tracks: 4 Length: 13 Minutes (Short) Style: Fun/Funny/Weird My Rating: 6/8
Ah, the Beastie Boys... what a strange group they have been. Starting out in 1979 in New York as a hardcore punk band, they were originally known as the "Young Aborigines", and their first release was an eight-song 7" EP called "Pollywog Stew" -- one of the best New York hardcore records ever! This iz their second release, and it's quite different from Pollywog Stew. Here, we have the Beastie Boys experimenting with other genres, such as hip-hop (which would eventually become the main genre they are known for) and there's even a reggae song! Definitely a very compelling release from the Boys Entering Anarchic States Towards Internal Excellence Boys. In this record, what starts out as a mere innocent prank call at Carvell's Ice Cream turns into a sample-laden, record-scratchin' nightmare as the gang is antagonized by the elusive Cooky Puss, a deliciously hideous half-ice cream, half-cookie (cooky?) monster from, well, somewhere else. Maybe the D.C. punk scene.
1. Cooky Puss Many consider this song to be the Beastie Boys' first hip-hop song ever. And I guess you could say so, but despite that, there isn't a whole ton of rapping. More just excessive usage of samples and bippets and snits of spoken lines by the Beasties over a punk rock beat. The story behind this one is a prank call to Carvell's Ice Cream revolving around Cooky Puss (their famous cookie-cake-creature) and stuff. There's also a ton of clips of some comedian guy, which the Beastie Boys pretty much scratch and fuck around with into oblivion. Hell, they even use samples from their own record, Pollywog Stew! Gotta love the part at the end where they're all going "whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo, BEASTIE BOYS". So catchy! This iz a very fun song.
2. Bonus Batter Basically an instrumental remix of "Cooky Puss", but it mixes things up even more, and uses some new samples, like a crowd cheering and stuff like that. End of Side 1.
3. Beastie Revolution Now, this one's just hilarious. It's a reggae song. And in the manner of the Rastafarians, the Beastie Boys are completely stoned off their asses in this one. The bassline is very good, here, and so is the guitar. For some reason I find it hilarious when Adam (M.C.A.) says "a man called Giri", to which Kate replies "a man called Cooky Puss" -- Kate had been thoroughly aware that Cooky Puss was still yet to be pursued. I have no idea what that even means, by the way. The stoned Beastie Boys slowly begin to lose their ability to contain their laughter, and then the song sort of decays into a parade of bizarre samples from the very song that they are playing, led along by a repetitive bassline. And that's the end.
4. Cooky Puss (Censored Version) It's "Cooky Puss" without all of the naughty words. YAEY!!!
Eventually, the Beastie Boys' foray into hip-hop would lead to Kate Schellenbach leaving the band. I actually heard that Kim Deal from the Pixies and the Breeders was in the Beastie Boys for a short while. After this EP, they successfully sued British Airways for using part of "Beastie Revolution" in their commercial without their permission, and used the money to get their own place to live at. By the mid '80s, the Beastie Boys were a full-fledged hip-hop group, with the band members changing their names even to their more familiar rapper names: Mike D, M.C.A., and Ad Rock. Actually, I'm not even sure if Ad Rock was in the band at this point or if it was still John Berry, but it probably was Ad Rock (who was Adam Horovitz at this point). But yes, this is a dandy little record, and you should listen to it. So long, nauw!!!!
(P.S. -- I know I already reviewed this album back in December... FUCK THAT! I RE-REVIEWED IT, MAN!)
Genre: Punk Rock Label: Slash Records Tracks: 9 Length: 28 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Energetic/Mysterious/Dark My Rating: 7/8
X is one of the founding bands of the Los Angeles punk scene. They formed in 1977. The band originally consisted of John Doe (bass/vocals), Billy Zoom (guitar), Exene Cervenka (vocals), and DJ Bonebrake (drums). This is the line-up which would record their debut album, "Los Angeles" (the album I'm reviewing right nauw). The first label X got signed to was called Dangerhouse Records. The band released two 7" singles through this label, which were "Adult Books" and "Los Angeles". By 1980, L.A. punk rock was reaching an all-time high, and the band was signed to Slash Records, a then-independent punk label. Their first LP, Los Angeles was surprisingly well-liked by the mainstream media; perhaps one of the early steps towards the mainstream acceptance (and slow, painful death of) punk rock. Now, for my two cents: I had not listened to X until I heard "Nausea" at the beginning of "the Decline of Western Civilization". Very good song. The studio version turned out to be even better. The album is very good for the most part -- it's not quite hardcore or anything like that, but that lack of pigeon-holing works to their advantage because this band's appeal seems to be in their punkness... avoiding/modifying the cliches of punk rock which were already very apparent by the time of this album's release. Now, enough with my bullshit. Let's listen to LOS ANGELES by X!
1. Your Phone's Off the Hook, But You're Not The riff is tinged with a little bit of early rock n' roll. The vocal harmonies are good, but I think they're used to a better effect on some of the other songs. Exene mostly sings, here. The song seems to be sort of a breakup song or something.
2. Johnny Hit and Run Paulene This song's about a date rape. The verse riff is real up-beat and catchy, but the chorus melody is considerably more dark and dreary. Johnny, the character in the song, drugs up each "Paulene", as the song refers to his victims, and, well, has his way with 'em. In the final verse of the song, it is said that the last Paulene "wouldn't cooperate", and that there were clumps of hair in Johnny's bed. Each verse ends in "but she was still awake"... not sure what that means.
3. Soul Kitchen This is a cover of a song by the Doors. This version is much faster and straightforward -- hey, it's punk rock! It's a very good song. The riff is awesome, the vocals complement it just right, and it's got a whole lot of energy to it.
4. Nausea This iz probably the song that turned me on to them, when I first heard it in a movie (which I mentioned earlier). It's a bit slower than the other songs that I've talked about, so far. The song is about the "nausea" felt by those suffering from poverty. The constant thumping of the bass drum during the verse section will keep you bobbing your heard up n' down for awhile. Hell, maybe you'll even dance to it. Who knows? Another thing I love about this song is the organ! It just sounds so cool, here... maybe we need more bands with organ-players in 'em, who knows?
5. Sugarlight John Doe mainly sings in this song (though Exene still helps out sometimes). The riff is real awesome. Gotta give 'em credit for the good vocal harmonies in the chorus part. Cool guitar solo during the bridge section, too! End of Side 1.
6. Los Angeles The title track of the album, and deservingly so. The song's lyrics are pretty simple -- a girl grows sick of living in Los Angeles and tries to leave. The chorus is fucking awesome; especially the vocal harmonies in that part. They start out harmonizing, and then eventually intertwine into almost a single voice. It sounds really good. One of the best songs on the album.
7. Sex and Dying in High Society Great guitar riff... a little cowbell... even a little bit of synth strings. The song basically describes the darker side of the lives of the rich -- including incest, masochism, and well, sex n' dying. In a high society. Good song.
8. The Unheard Music A slower, more blues-y song. The guitar is real lowdown, real cool... the lead guitar is wonderful. A little organ in here, too. The song seems to basically describe the lives of Los Angeles punks, while contrasting their "unheard music" with the "smooth chords on the car radio". Damn car radios!! "We're locked out of the public eye". Longest song on the album (nearly five minutes).
9. The World's a Mess; It's In My Kiss A fast song with more organ! The rhythm guitar can be real entertaining sometimes, with those old-school sorts of riffs that you don't hear much of anymore. The final part of the song contains a completely fucking excellent organ solo! Great way to end an album...
For a first album by a band, it's definitely great. Now, it's not the greatest album ever made (though some might argue), but there is indeed... good... stuff... in this record. X was also Darby Crash's favorite band from the Los Angeles scene -- just thought I'd point that out. Yeah, the organ definitely needs to be in more albums, 'cause that kicks testes, also. But I'm really tired and don't feel like writing a review today, so I'm just gonna cut it short of all the crap and tell you to check out this album. The End.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Los Angeles 2. Nausea 3. The World's a Mess; It's In My Kiss
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Grunge, Hardcore Label: Homestead Records Tracks: 6 Length: 28 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Dark/Demented/Mysterious My Rating: 6/8
Green River was formed out of the remnants of the Limp Richerds, a hardcore band from the early 1980s that stopped performing in 1984 (but never officially broke up until 1987). Mark Arm and Steve Turner were in that band, and those two decided to start a new band called Green River (named after a notorious serial killer). They also recruited Jeff Ament, who was previously in a band called Deranged Diction. Green River is often considered to be one of the first 'grunge' bands ever. The band came from Seattle, Washington, and experimented musically by taking the hardcore punk sound they were used to playing and slowing it down to a heavy metal pace, similar to what another band, the Melvins, were starting to do around this time. By late 1984, they were in the process of recording their debut album, "Come On Down". This album is often considered to be the first grunge album ever.
1. Come On Down Begins with a mysterious whisp of noize. The song is pretty slow. Mark Arm plays the role of Green River, inviting you down to him in a sinister way; "C'MON DOWN TO GREEN RIVER...". The guitar is cool, but I don't think it's quite loud enough. But it's okay. During the chorus, alternating parts of the vocals are sung into the left and right side of your speakers. I thought that was a pretty nice touch. There's a guitar solo.
2. New God A slow, heavy song. Once again, it plays upon the victimizer theme. This song is told from the viewpoint of a cult leader or the devil or something like that. The song's narrator assures the listener, "I don't want your money, or anything you own -- I'm not asking for much, I only want your soul". The character also asks for the souls of your children, lest the character gets "ugly and mean". The riff is very ominous and cool-sounding.
3. Swallow My Pride This song sounds more like a traditional punk song, but with a little bit of guitar twang off to the side. The song's about something we've probably all dealt with at some point. It tells the story from the viewpoint of a guy who's dating a girl, who confronts him about politics, telling him, "There's one thing you've gotta see: even though we're heading for war, this nation's prouder than ever before/it's just the spirit in the air; we're more American than anywhere". The song's protagonist feels an undying rage for the girl he loved, thinking "this little girl is going to hell" -- surely if someone said those sort of things to me, I'd be pretty disturbed, too. The riff is a lot more upbeat, in my opinion. There's two other versions of this song that can be heard. One is from their 1988 album, "Rehab Doll", and the other is an early demo featuring Kim Gordon singing the lines that are supposed to be the words of the female character. That version is my favorite one.
4. Ride of Your Life The song kicks off faster than anything else of the album -- real fast! Then it slows down a half-minute into the song, which is the pace it stays at for the rest of the song. For the most part, it's slow and dark. The song describes the process of a person overdosing on heroin ("you bought your last ride with a shot in your arm"). Slowly, the energy shifts, getting more and more calm and beautiful until fading out, like a pleasant death... a guitar solo is played, as the song slowly fades out. End of Side 1.
5. Corner of My Eye Another fast song (not quite as fast as the song before it, though). It's about a stalker who watches his victims and learns all about them, until he attempts to take from them, or else he won't let 'em leave. Halfway through the song, the tempo slows down. Mark's vocals are somewhat muffled by the guitar sounds, which adds to a sort of ominous tone of the song. Towards the end, the song speeds up back to the normal pace, with plenty of lead guitar this time!
6. Tunnel of Love The band attempts to start the song a few times before it finally begins. It's like a heavy hardcore punk song. Similar to Flipper, I guess. It's a very long song, too (eight minutes long). It's about a guy who falls in love with a girl, only to be allowed to do so if he "gives it all up" (it's never really implied what that meant, though). But apparently it had some pretty damn bad effects on the guy, 'cause he shows up at Mark's house all green-faced, and "he fell down shaking on to my floor". Mark reaches some really fucking high screams in this song! The song at one point becomes very slow and quiet, before a fast finale hits us one last time!
To be honest, I never even listened to Green River a whole ton before this. It's still not my favorite album in the world, but it isn't bad either by any means. And hey, helping invent a new genre of music isn't so bad. It's a sinister, creepin', crawlin' mess of sarcasm, cynicism, and a twisted sense of humor. If albums were people, this album would be the guy who snickers at you on your way down to Hell. But anyways, it's a pretty good example of the early days of grunge... somewhere between Black Flag and the later grunge bands (I'm sure you know what those are).
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Swallow My Pride 2. New God 3. Corner of My Eye
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Rat Cage Records Tracks: 11 Length: 15 Minutes (Short) Style: Angry/Political My Rating: 6/8
Agnostic Front formed in the streets of New York City in 1980. As one of the early members of the New York hardcore scene, the band consisted of a group of skinheads; Vinnie Stigma, Diego, and Rob Krekus. Later on, they were able to find a proper vocalist for their band in Roger Miret. In 1983, the band released its first EP, called "United Blood". This was their second release and their first LP, and it's the most demonstrative of their original hardcore sound. Later on, the band would begin to play thrash metal, and then they changed their sound yet again to street punk by the late '90s when they reformed. While New York was the birthplace of punk, they received hardcore a bit later than California or Washington DC. While the Californians went off about Reagan and partied, and the D.C. punks sang about social and political problems, New York hardcore was based around the troubles of street life and poverty. These sort of situations plagued the members of Agnostic Front, so much of the lyrics to this album are about that.
1. Victim in Pain Starts with a single stroke of a chord and beat of a drum, like a punch in the face to ignite a fight. The verses are fast, and the chorus is slow. The drumming is real furious! Roger starts asking why he's going insane. But nobody ever tells him. Maybe he should go ask someone else. Less than a minute long.
2. Remind Them A song about the oppression of the working class. The song's lyrics are about the need to "remind them" (the ruling class) that the capitalist system does not fulfill the needs of the poor. The vocals here are pretty cool, they sort of go upwards one moment and then descend downwards the next. The song iz fast. For some reason I love the line "remind them they taught us to lie."
3. Blind Justice This one's about the injustice of the legal system to the poor. The song's very fast in the first half, and then slow in the second half. The riff is really awesome in the second half. "We need justice for ALL OF US", proclaims Roger. One of my favorite songs on the album.
4. Last Warning Another great one. The verse is slow, and the vocals are so fucking intense. The chorus is fast as fuck, in a great way. The riff is just classic, here. It manages to be very angry and intense while catchy in a strange way as well.
5. United and Strong Starts out as fast as the chorus section of "Last Warning". Y'know, those really fast beats. The second half is slower. "NO! NO HOPE!" is triumphantly shouted, as the chords ascend. Roger starts going on about there being unity for blacks and whites, punks and skin[head]s, etc.
6. Power It's about fighting the "Power", which is described as "an anti-social fascist regime". Roger yells "STIGMA!", and on command, he whips out a pretty good solo. End of Side 1, childrenz.
7. Hiding Inside First half is fast, second half is slow. The song calls for people to be themselves instead of conforming to an idealized image.
8. Fascist Attitudes Awesome verse riff! This song criticizes "Fascist Attitudes" in the punk scene itself, in which people criticize eachother for simply looking or acting different than themselves. Still very relevant. "Remember we're a minority, and every one of us counts".
9. Society Sucker This song is really fucking fast, like "Last Warning" and "United and Strong". The chorus is slow with a truly awesome riff. It criticizes the many "Society Suckers" of the world, who want to live like the rich and go out and be a big-shot like everyone else does even though they have nothing, risking the money they have left to try to climb the social ladder.
10. Your Mistake There's not a ton I can say about this song that I've already said... fast/slow/fast, it's about getting pissed off at mainstream society. This song was later re-recorded for their 1986 album, "Cause for Alarm".
11. With Time The longest and slowest song (over two minutes long). The bassline is very ominous and cool. Roger's voice is very echo-y, here. "Feel confused, lonely at the moment" -- sums up the general vibe of this song. It's like feeling lost, in an echo-y, dark, lonely dungeon of nothingness.
Like many hardcore bands of the early '80s, Agnostic Front eventually moved on to heavy metal. Not to say that the stuff after this was totally non-punk, but this and "United Blood" are their only records with a pure, raw hardcore sound. Agnostic Front released many more albums in the mid '80s until the early '90s... they broke up in 1993. They re-formed in 1997, with new street punk sound, which, unfortunately, is strongly inferior to their earlier work and resembles half the stuff that Epitaph Records has been putting out for the last ten years. This, however, feels very powerful and full of youthful rage. It's a good record. So, stay legit and listen to good music! Seeya!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Last Warning 2. Society Sucker 3. Blind Justice
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Mad At the World Records Tracks: 4 Length: 5 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Angry My Rating: 6/8
The Omegas are a hardcore band from Montreal, Quebec. The band formed in 2007. When this record was released, the line-up consisted of Ryan Hogan (vocals), Tony "the Vezz" Frenchman (guitar), Yannick Sarrazin (other guitar), Spoiler (bass), and Dan Sklbrock (drums). This EP is somewhat considered their demo. It can now be downloaded for free off of the Mad at the World Records website (the original cassette is out of print).
1. False WorshipThe guitar comes firing at you here like a fucking flamethrower! Same with the vocals. The riff in the first part of the song is just about as cool as it gets. The song is a criticism of organized religion, and people who live their lives to worship and "raise their arms to touch the high and mighty man." Very good song.
2. Futile PleasuresThis song's a little faster than the song before it. Halfway through, the song slows down. The lyrics are about the fact that we only resort to cheap thrills to stay happy. The song ends in a really fast part before it's all ovah.
3. Secret SignalsThis uses a similar theme to "False Worship", except from the view of the preacher himself, not the follower. As "the eyes of millions" have followed his every word up to this point, he proclaims "and as my final instruction, I demand self-destruction". The song starts out fast, but ends slow.
4. Gimme OblivionAnother song on here, I really like. It's the fastest song... the riff and chords n' stuff are awesome. The mid-section is a little slower (like all of the other songs). The beat is furious and this song is really cool. The lyrics seem to just be about how weak-willed humans are.
The Omegas have just released a new EP called "Sonic Order", which also contains four new songs and is available from No Idea Records. The band also has a weird song on their MySpace called "Slam Skank", which is simply just the band yelling "SLAM! SKANK!" over some samples. Unfortunately, there's no interesting stories or anything like that I really know about this band. I just know that this is a good record and you should listen to it. Here's the link:
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Placebo Records Tracks: 6 Length: 7 Minutes (Very Short) Style:Fun/Rebellious My Rating: 6/8
J.F.A. formed in 1981 as a part of the southwestern skate-punk scene. The band's name, J.F.A. stands for "Jodie Foster's Army" -- in reference to John Hinckley Jr.'s attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan, who believed he would win the love of Jodie Foster by doing so (he was obsessed with the film "Taxi Driver", in which Jodie played a 12-year-old prostitute). But, being in the area and playing hardcore punk, the group quickly found a following and about as much success as a most notable hardcore bands got back in those days. This record is their first one, and the contents can now be found on an in-print CD compilation.
1. Out of School Fast, good riff, furious vocals... good stuff. This song's about how the real world kinda leaves you cold after high school's finally over... "No more chicks to love, no more classes to ditch, no more jocks to hate, no more teachers that bitch..." -- I can't say I really ever experienced any of that. But I can still see where they're coming from. Good song, anyways.
2. Jodie Foster's Army Begins with a frantic, abrasive guitar solo, before going into some more skate thrash -- the bass guitar is really awesome n' catchy. The lyrics here are an ode of support to John Hinckley Jr., expressing what he may have been thinking during the assassination attempt as they proclaim themselves as JODIE FOSTER'S ARMY.
3. Do the Hannigan The lyrics here are a little more stupid and nonsensical. Musically, it's even faster than the two songs before it. Very short... less than even half a minute long.
4. Count Even shorter and faster than "Do the Hannigan"! Literally only about five seconds long. Well, it's a song about counting. Wow... end o' Side 1.
5. Beach Blanket Bong Out The verse sections are slow n' laid back, and the chorus is fast n' awesome. This song's about a group of punks hanging out on the beach, avoiding jocks and hippies while not caring about being outnumbered. The riff of the verse section is perfect for the beach, and the riff for the chorus is perfect for the bong-out. Definitely a classic hardcore song. A musical representation of a PARTY!
6. Cokes and Snickers Well, this song's pretty self-explanatory. It's about only eating Coke (the drink) and Snickers, while yelling "HEALTH SUCKS"... I have to disagree somewhat, there. But those things are pretty good. But health doesn't suck. Uhh, it's fast. Yup.
This is a great EP to put on when you just want to be immature, let loose, and have some fun. It's pretty typical for a suburban Southern California-based hardcore punk band, but it manages to be so without being cliche or corny. It's just a good slice of punk rock fun n' games... JFA is actually still around and playing, also! I DO wonder what Jodie Foster actually thinks of this band, though...
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Beach Blanket Bong Out 2. Jodie Foster's Army 3. Count
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Hardcore Label: Wrong Island Records Tracks: 6 Length: 15 Minutes (Short) Style:Emotional/Fun My Rating: 7/8
Sometimes you find a band, and the moment you hear them, you know they're gonna be great. That's kind of the story with when I found out about Grrrl Friend. A punk band from Portland, Oregon, lead by Duffy Wrong Island, formed in 2006. The group has a very strong D.I.Y.-based ethic, and has gone through durastic line-up changes for the entirety of its existence. I also admire their skills of writing good, catchy songs, as well as their lo-fi production which gives the music a very organic, raw feel to it.
For awhile, I thought this was the first Grrrl Friend album, but I recently found out that that iz not the case -- there was another record before it called "Period", which is now out-of-print and they have not released it as a free download like their other releases, so I am not sure how the hell to even obtain that one. But this is the earliest one that you CAN get for free at this point. In my opinion, this EP has most of their greatest songs on it, so far (there's a really good song called "Get Up", but it's on a compilation album that I do not yet own and have only heard from a live video... "Roadside Picnic" is really good, too). The first two songs are more hardcore-oriented, but everything else is totally a sound of its own... the first listen is a very moving, emotional, genuine sweep of beauty ingrained into your skull. To put a long story short, I believe this is the kind of music that lives forever. Now, onto the review.
1. Probably Begins with two thumping drums amidst the silence, before the dreary riff kicks off, along with a somewhat fast beat. Duffy's vocals and the just slightly abrasive sound of the guitar set the mood for the song -- a path being taken which is off-beat but on-point. Not sure what it's about. Doesn't matter though, 'cause I can hear Duffy say that we're going to "have a good time". Well, I am having a good time listening to this. However, there is an acoustic version on the "B-Sides and Rarities" album that's even BETTER than this version of the song, with Elyssa (or maybe it's Cora) and Duffy on double vocals. THAT is the ultimate version of the song, but it's all legit.
2. The Rag After the frantic-ness of "Probably", we are treated to the title track, "The Rag", which starts off on a downhill slide... and by that I mean that the verse part is slower. The riff is wonderful. The song's probably about, well, being "on the rag" or something like that. The chorus section is fast n' furious, with a boingy sound being made on one of the other guitars. The band actually sounds like they're having fun... you can hear Duffy and Elyssa laughing just before the second verse. I like this one the best while driving or walking off into a sunset or something like that...
3. Mine Starts with a short acoustic intro (a.k.a. the riff being played once) -- this song's really happy and relaxing. It's slower, with a more psychedelic tinge to it. The verse riff is beautiful, and then there's a nice chorus with a trippy-sounding lead guitar playing during that part. Elyssa also sings in this song -- hell she sings in about all of the songs on here except for the first one. Definitely a song that deserved to be written.
4. Cast a Shadow This one's a Beat Happening cover. Great acoustic guitar sound... actually, it starts out acoustic in the very beginning, and then quickly morphs into an electric one with not a whole lot of distortion... the lead guitar is so fucked up here, but it's awesome. You can credit that to Jay Briggs of the Sonitus Revolution, who was in Grrrl Friend at this point... "Cast a shadow on my ERECTION" -- hah!! The song fades out...
5. Homesick This one's a little slower, like "Mine"... driven like a gear in a great machine or a tiny falling snowflake, there's neat lead guitar here... just peddling along like a... bicycle... or something. Heh heh. The rhythm guitar here is a bit more heavy than the other songs, like grunge or something. Here, the vocal duties are sort of different... Duffy sings high-pitched, and Elyssa sings more low-pitched. When the lead guitar doesn't sound all sparkly, it's got a crazy sound to it like a ripple in a lake of ACID. The song sort of reminds me of the feeling of going back home after a long, exciting journey. Duffy yells, "DO IT, JAY", and Jay whips out a neat-o guitar-o sol-o on command.
6. By a Thread This song is more dominated by an acoustic guitar than the rest. Either that or an electric with very light effects. Duffy n' Elyssa on vocals. It's a very soft, serene song. The bass is pretty easy to hear. At one point, there's a BACKWARDS solo. I thought that was pretty cool. It's a cool-down after a storm of coolness, I suppose. The song ends, and then so does the EP.
It's sort of lame once the record's over, but don't worry, they'll be back! Actually, the band has just been releasing some new demo songs (Black Jesus, Doppelganger 12-Step, etc. just to name a few)... in my opinion, these songs are amazing. You should definitely get this. Even if the cover art offends you/grosses you out. Ignore that if it's that big of a deal. Yeah, definitely awesome. This record restored my hope in the music of today and gave me optimism for the current generation of musicians... I recommend this for everyone. Listen to good music.
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Mind Rot Records Tracks: 8 Length: 8 Minutes (Short) Style:Angry My Rating: 6/8
Nowhere Fast was a British hardcore band that was active from 2008 to until just earlier this year. The band consisted of Ad (guitar), Tank (bass), Tom (vocals), and Joe (drums). During its existence, the band released a 7" EP... that EP is currently out-of-print, so I found you can download all the discography of the band for free, including the demo. Today, I'm gonna talk about their 7" record.
1. Useless A fast song. Rough but distinct vocals. They actually sound pretty cool. There's a solo in this song. This song's about people who think they're "saving the world", but get wasted more than actually doing anything to save it. Great guitar riff.
2. No Escape Even faster than the song before it! The end section iz slow, though.
3. Brainwash Broadcast This one's about how the mainstream media has fed the current generation a sterilized, "safe" agenda, turning the youth of today into pussies while filling their minds with "sex, drugs, and fake rock n' roll" -- it's true, kids my age today suck BALLS.
4. Imposter This one's very fast, and then in the middle, it goes into a slower part before speeding up again. End of Side 1.
5. Get Away Slow intro. Then a fast part. Then another slow part. Then a very fast part at the end. Longest song on the album.
6. Shutdown This song's about the city slowly dying as political and social pressures close in on it, and the displeasure in the idea of a city collapsing due to this. Cool bridge section.
7. Never This one's about never giving in to the system or becoming a "button down slave". Fast, hard. Real cool riff!
8. Hatred Uhh, it's about hatred. And hating people n' stuff. And it's fast. And it has guitars and drums and stuff. The riff is good. It has an amount of distortion. The song ends in a cool slow outro.
This is a pretty traditional hardcore record, but it's quite well-done and the songs are good and the production is too, and stuff. Half the songs are under a minute long! Others are, well... OVER a minute long. The band reports that the members have gone on to be in different bands. What bands are those? Well, one of them is called "Amateur Video", a new band that plays songs that are fast, but not quite as fast as these ones. They have just released a demo, and it's very good! So search that band up, or just wait for me to review 'em... anyways, Nowhere Fast seems like they were pretty good. At least before they went away, they left a good EP to be remembered by... if you like fast, hard punk, then try listening to this.
Genre: Blues Rock Label: MER Tracks: 2 Length: 9 Minutes (Short) Style:Emotional My Rating: 7/8
Patti Smith is often considered the "Godmother of Punk". She was born in Illinois to a poor family, and raised in New Jersey. She worked in a factory during high school, left her religion, and after graduating high school, she went to Glassboro State College. She began to pursue the arts at this time, painting, writing poetry, engaging in performance art. She also frequented the early CBGB (which would later be the most famous 'punk club' in the world). As a big fan of rock n' roll, she eventually became the singer for the band Blue Öyster Cult for awhile.She was even a rock journalist, and she got her writings published in magazines such as Rolling Stone.
In 1974, the Patti Smith Group was formed, which played rock & roll music Patti wrote herself, and, well, punk rock! "Hey Joe" was their earliest release, and it's more of a blues-rock record, as Patti would not really set out her punk rock sound until "Horses" came out a year later. The A-Side is a cover of "Hey Joe" by the Leaves, and the B-Side is a completely original song called "Piss Factory". Let's hear it...
1. Hey Joe Patti made sure to make her version of the song very distinct from the original. The song starts out with her giving a spoken intro about Patty Hearst, a girl who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, and was a member of their ranks during the time that this song was released. A reference is made to a photo taken of her "with a gun in her hand". This song is slower and clamer than the original. The chords are piano-dominated, but there is a clicking noize being made by the guitar, and a soft bass drum can faintly be heard in the background. Lyrically, the song is similar (with a few additions) to the originally, but placed in the context of Patty Hearst, who was at this point with the Symbionese Liberation Army. The singing style is supposedly common of the beatnik poetry style, which I haven't heard a ton of, but from what I can hear here, it is real fuckin' furious and I think it's actually a tad cooler than just yelling to the rhythm. There is an insane guitar solo going on in the background towards the end... it's like a bunch of spaghetti created by the sounds of a guitar just... doin' stuff, I guess. Because of its low budget and the fact that it's from 1974, the quality is rather murky, but it's okay, because it adds a certain aura to the sound... something almost aquatic, vague, but re-assuring. The song ends by fading out...
2. Piss Factory Patti wrote this song completely. The main musical instrument here is a piano, but trust me, it's full of energy and furor... this song's about when Patti was 16 years old and working in a factory, and the depression, anger, and frustration with the life she was living, until she discovered and stole a poetry book by Arthur Rimbaud called "Illuminations". Patti goes on about how she wants to go to New York City to be a "big star" and never return. You can hear the determination in her voice... sometimes it sounds like she's just yelling, and at others, it sounds like she's kind of singing to the music. Later on you can hear a little more lead guitar (which sounds great on this single). The song fades out at the end...
I think this is a great first release... for any band, really. I don't listen to a whole ton of piano-oriented rock, but this music is really good! After this, Patti would go on to release an album called "Horses", which is in a sense the earliest punk LP, and after that, many more. She is still performing and making music today, but I have not heard much of her work beyond this 7" single so far... new discoveries, y'know? Anyway, it's a great single, and I recommend it to just about anybody who likes rock n' roll. Period.
Well, it's been four months and 100 record reviews... here's every band I've ever reviewed so far (and how many I've reviewed by them). Just for the hell of it.
A.N.S. (2 reviews) AIDS Wolf (1 review) Bad Brains (1 review) Bad Choice (1 review) Beastie Boys (1 review) Bionic Senses (1 review) Black Flag (8 reviews) Butthole Surfers (5 reviews) Circle Jerks (1 review) Dead Kennedys (1 review) Death Piggy (1 review) Deep Wound (1 review) Defendants (1 review) Diehatzu Hijets (1 review) Dinosaur Jr. (1 review) Distillers (3 reviews) DrunkDriver (2 reviews) Ecoli (1 review) Flipper (1 review) Germs (2 reviews) Government Warning (1 review) Green Day (1 review) Green River (1 review) Grrrl Friend (1 review) GWAR (1 review) Homostupids (1 review) Hüsker Dü (4 reviews) Kraut (1 review) L7 (1 review) L-Seven (1 review) Lunachicks (1 review) Malfunkshun (1 review) Meat Puppets (3 reviews) Melvins (9 reviews) Minor Threat (2 reviews) Minutemen (1 review) Nazi Dust (1 review) Nü Sensae (2 reviews) Nüklear Fear (1 review) Offspring (2 reviews) Pandora (2 reviews) Pissed Jeans (3 reviews) Ramones (2 reviews) Reprobates (1 review) School Jerks (2 reviews) Scream (1 review) Screaming Trees (1 review) Seaweed (2 reviews) Sex Pistols (1 review) Shocker (1 review) Skin Yard (1 review) Social Distortion (3 reviews) Sonic Youth (3 reviews) Sonitus Revolution (1 review) SoundGarden (2 reviews) Suicidal Tendencies (1 review) Teen Idles (1 review) U-Men (1 review) Vendetta (1 review) Ween (2 reviews)
Favorite Five Albums I've Reviewed So Far: 1. Lunachicks - Babysitters on Acid 2. Social Distortion - Mommy's Little Monster 3. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation 4. Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician 5. Black Flag - My War
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Pop-Punk Label: Sire Records Tracks: 14 Length: 31 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style:Fun/Happy/Love My Rating: 6/8
"Rocket to Russia" was the Ramones' third album. By the time this record came out in 1977, punk was at an all-time high. There were many, many punks and punk rock bands in both the U.S.A. and England, and it was becoming visible to the point that there was actually a large moral panic amongst the more conformist segments of the population and the police, who believed that punks were only no good and punks during this period were often beaten, arrested, and generally abused for no reason other than their clothes or the music they played. It was a hard time, but they lived for the music. This album is similar in style to the two albums before it, and it's the last Ramones studio record to feature Tommy Ramone, the original drummer (and the only still-living member of the original line-up!).
1. Cretin Hop Well, it's a song about some dancing "cretins". Apparently a Cretin in the literal sense of the word is a person with a severe stunted growth disorder, often appearing to look very similar to a troll doll. Seriously. So if the Ramones were actually singing about a bunch of Cretins dancing around and stuff, then that's pretty cool. Anyways, the song is pretty good, but it's not the best of the bunch.
2. Rockaway Beach Once again, speaking in real-life terms, Rockaway Beach is an actual beach in New York. The song was probably named after this beach. The song sounds very influenced by the Beach Boys or something like that. The Ramones sing about not wanting to hang out on the street because it's too hot and because "they blast out disco on the radio".
3. Here Today, Gone Tommorrow They say that this is the first song that Joey Ramone wrote all by himself. It's a slower love song. Probably something you n' your fellow Ramones-lovin' lover could listen to on the radio (instead of blasting out disco) and kiss passionately to as the sun sets out on Rockaway Beach. Well, actually, maybe not, since it actually seems like it's supposed to be a song about breaking up. Like, you could listen to it, and then just turn off the radio when he starts talking about breaking up. But that's probably a bad idea. Heh-heh. I could swear a heard a phaser or something at one point in the song. Someone had to pay the price. It's a nice, sort of sad-but-also-happy riff.
4. Locket Love It almost sounds like there's a little bit of acoustic guitar here. Either that or the distortion just isn't as high, here. I like the instrumental riffs inbetween the verses more than the verse riffs to be honest. Still, good, though. Lyrically, it's another stupid love song. It's good, though.
5. I Don't Care The riff here is really bad-ass. Lyrically, it's very simple: "I don't care". Not caring. Dee-Dee provides strange falsetto backing vocals.
6. Sheena is a Punk Rocker First we knew that Judy is a Punk, then Suzy is a Headbanger. Now, meet Sheena. She iz a punk rocker. This is a fun, fast, catchy song. I like the vocal melody during the chorus section.
7. We're a Happy Family Definitely my favorite Ramones song I've ever heard. This song is about Johnny Ramone's dysfunctional family life during childhood, though the lyrics give a more humorous take on it all. The riff is awesome, the vocals are awesome, they all fit really well together, actually giving you that "happy family" feeling of total harmony with the music. A bunch of random sound clips start fading in as the sound slowly fades out, with random radio clippets and snippets of the band arguing with eachother playing until the song ends. End of Side 1.
8. Teenage Lobotomy The lyrics are kind of nonsensical (unless there's something I don't know) in this one. It's pretty good.
9. Do You Wanna Dance A cover of a 1958 pop song by Bobby Freeman translated into pop-punk song in which Joey asks some unnamed girl if she wants to dance. More Beach Boys-style "oooh, ooooh"s for background vocals. Probably 'cause the Beach Boys ALSO covered this song.
10. I Wanna Be Well A slower song about being a burnout who gets high all the time. However, as already suggested by the happy melody, the Ramones sing, "my future's bleak -- ain't it neat??"... could be sarcasm, though. Little did this kid know he would eventually grow up to be a Ramone and be in a band called the Ramones which was really cool n' stuff.
11. I Can't Give You Anything More acoustic guitar here -- I just love the sound of an acoustic guitar combined with the fury of an electric one, y'know. This song's about a girl who likes a boy, but doesn't realize that he's poor and can't buy anything for her.
12. Ramona Yet another woman loved by the Ramones: meet RAMONA! A girl that always comes over to hang out with the Ramones and listen to loud music with them. Ramona was probably, like, some girl who was going to be the fifth female Ramone, but she didn't make the cut because she didn't play any instruments. And get this -- she's a spy for the B.B.I.!
13. Surfin' Bird A cover of the classic rock song by the Trashmen (who could be considered one of the progenitors of punk rock themselves). However, the Ramones version takes the cake. It's about a fucking surfin' bird! YEAH! Don't tell me you haven't heard about the bird... what? You have? OH YIPPETY-YAY! Anyways, it's a very fun, cool song. Joey even goes on to imitate the little "Poppa-Oom-Mow-Mow" part halfways through the song.
14. Why is it Always This Way? The riff is very upbeat and happy (I swear, the Ramones couldn't write a sad song), but the lyrics are very dark... it's about a girl who Joey knew, who committed suicide by drinking poison. The song just sorta fades out during the second chorus. Well, that's the end.
So, that's "Rocket to Russia". The actual album itself has a lot of neat cartoons in and on it, including, well, a guy riding a rocket to Russia! Coincidence or incidence? Who knows, man. As you already probably heard, after this one, Tommy was kicked out of the band and replaced by a new drummer named Marky Ramone -- both are still alive and well. This album takes a slight deviation from the straight-forward punk sound they pioneered, and shows their great interest in pop music, surf-rock, and garage rock. It's a pretty neat album, and if you like the Ramones or punk in general, then what are ya waiting for? Go listen to it.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. We're a Happy Family 2. Surfin' Bird 3. Locket Love
