A COMIC BOOK I MADE

For something a little different tonight, I bring you this brand new comic book I made. Enjoy.







































tHe ENd.

Review #148: NO-FX - NO-FX (EP) (1985)

NO-FX (EP)

Year: 1985

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Mystic Records
Tracks: 7
Length: 11 Minutes
Style: Rebellious/Funny
My Rating: 6/8

NOFX formed in 1983 in Los Angeles by members Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, and Erik Sandin (that's a lot of Ericks... meh, not actually that much, actually... nevermind). While NOFX has basically hit relatively mainstream popularity in more recent years, the early years of NOFX were less pop-punk/melodic-hardcore oriented and more raw and hardcore punk-sounding. In 1984 they recorded a demo produced by Don Bolles of the Germs (the drummer) himself! Soon enough, they found a home on Mystic Records, and this was their first 7" EP ever.

1. Live Your Life
Starts out slow for a brief moment before speeding up to a fast speed. The verse is very fast and the chorus is slower. The song asks people why they give their money away to churches and religion instead of focusing on living their own lives. It's a pretty good song. Sometimes a set of more heavy chords will interval between a flowing riff.

2. My Friends
The first half is slow and the second half is fast. The song's about having friends that just use you and steal things from you and betray your trust for cheap laughs. Mike exclaims that his real friends are in his band.

3. Six Pack Girls
This one's a short song. I love the riff for this one. It's about a party where all of the girls are lame. However, after getting hammered the girls start to look pretty good, and you end up hung over with one of them the next morning!

4. Bang Gang
A slower song. It's about violent gangs, criticizing them for fighting "20-on-1", and their disregard for life. It's quite bassy. End of Side... A! For apple!

5. Hit It
This song kinda reminds me of later Black Flag, riff-wise. Much like Minor Threat sung about 'Straight Edge', eventually having their message over-exaggerated by a bunch of try-hard followers, this song refutes the aggressive Straight Edgers and Mike sings that he "has his own set of values". It's basically an anti-Straight Edge song.

6. Hold it Back
This one's about how hardly anything in life can just be divided into black/white matters. There are TWO guitar solos in this song! WAUW. The beat is cool in the ending part.

7. I.D.
Starts off with backwards talking. Probably something very EEEVIIILLLL. The song progressively gets faster and faster. The lyrics are about Mike meeting a drug dealer who promises to "set him free" from the stresses of everyday life, and him eventually get addicted. Then after the main part of the song there's a bunch of false endings and lead guitar-wanking... then another thrashy section is performed, and then there's yet ANOTHER fake ending before the real ending.

Well, that's the first NOFX record for ya. It's a pretty decent little EP, it's got some fast songs, some slower songs, the lyrics are pretty good n' stuff. The contents of it can be found now on a CD called "Maximum Rock n' Roll" that has the rest of their early stuff on it, or if you wanna track down an original copy of the 7", I'm sure that's possible also. Might have to go on some magical journeys, though... I hear they store some of these in a cursed Aztec ruin. So, just be careful! But anyways, yeah, it's a good EP and you should listen to it. Bye.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Live Your Life
2. Hit It
3. Hold it Back

Review #147: Happy Flowers - Songs for Children (EP) (1984)

SONGS FOR CHILDREN (EP)

Year: 1984

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Noise
Label: Catch Trout Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 10 Minutes
Style: Weird/Funny/Scary
My Rating: 6/8

Happy Flowers iz just one of those kinds of bands... part genius, part hilarious, part gloriously inept. And part legit, also. The band formed in 1983 (ten years before my birth) in Charlottesville, Virginia, by two members of a hardcore band called the Landlords... that band released one album called "It's a Teenage House Party With the Landlords". Shortly afterwards, the members of the band went their separate ways and John Beers and Charlie Kramer both decided to start Happy Flowers. John was now "Mr. Horribly Charred Infant", and Charlie was now "Mr. Anus". Two names I wish my parents had given me. "Songs for Children" was the first Happy Flowers release. You can just imagine a cute little 7" record in a store with nice kiddie drawings on it and a name like 'Happy Flowers', and hey, the songs are for CHILDREN, also! What fun! A naive parent would pick this up, play it on the record player to put the 2-year-old to sleep, and then ten minutes later the 2-year-old would walk out of the bedroom looking like Charles Manson. That's the greatness of Happy Flowers for you. The early songs of Happy Flowers have practically no structure at all, just grumbling guitar damage, screaming, and if you're lucky, dialouge that resembles lyrics. The 7" also contains the band's most famous song, "Mom, I Gave the Cat Some Acid".

1. Mom, I Gave the Cat Some Acid
Starts off with the revving guitar sounds of what sounds like a really large animal dying and desperately trying to escape from a tar pit. Soon we hear Mr. Horribly Charred Infant moan a childlike "Moooommm...", looking for sympathy in this tone of voice, but this "Mom" character does not hear him, so then Mr. Anus speaks up. Soon enough, the wimpers turn into screams, and the two continue to scream, "MOM, I GAVE THE CAT SOME ACID!!!", while begging Mom not to tell Dad or the Police. I suppose this type of thing is so hilarious because it's so easy to envision it actually happening in real life. From the childlike vocabulary to the idea of a little kid accidentally giving a cat acid and then freaking out about it, the song pretty much paints its own picture with just one phrase. I wonder how much acid they were on when they did this... this song basically set the standard for the other Happy Flowers tunes, in that they became famous for the group basically screaming about childhood freak-accidents of noisy music. I think this song was on a compilation as well. But yeah, you haven't lived until you've heard this song. And once you've heard it, you've died. But then you get to live again. Now, for the B-Sides.

2. Meadowlands
Starts out sounding enough like a song with a melody, with a folky sort of electric guitar melody, with only a little bit of fucked-up shit in the background, until a really loud scream is heard, and the whole thing just turns into a heavy, improvised, noisy monster of a song. There's actually a little bit of a melody in there if you listen real hard, but it's so overshadowed by the chaos that dominates the song that you barely even notice it. Even after the guitars stop playing, you still hear that same scream repeated over and over again amidst the silence.

3. Requests
This one basically featured Mr. Horribly Charred Infant singing a bunch of random pop songs over a bunch of scary wild guitar noize with Mr. Anus sort of singing along in the background. Perhaps some people "requested" that they play these songs and this wuz the result. Then there's a bunch of feedback.

FUN FAKT: Hey, kidz! Did you know that if you play Happy Flowers music around a Flower garden, that the flowers will all get really Happy and come to life and then EAT YOU? No, really, it's true! What do you think tulips use those lips for anyways? THEY HAVE MOUTHS, DUMBASS! And stuff like that. These songs were later featured on the album "Making the Bunny Pay", which contains this EP and the second EP called "Now We Are Six". I'll review that one also sometime. But for now, hope you enjoyed my review and the wonderful music, and remember to play this music for your children all the time!

Review #146: The Faith/Void Split (1982)

THE FAITH/VOID SPLIT ALBUM

Year: 1982

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Dischord Records
Tracks: 24
Length: 27 Minutes
Style: Angry/Emotional/Weird
My Rating: 7/8

The Faith and Void were two hardcore punk bands from Washington D.C. in the early '80s. The Faith was fronted by Ian MacKaye's younger brother, Alec MacKaye, and this was their debut release. Void had already released a 7" EP before this, and they are considered an influential band in starting the crossover-thrash genre (combining heavy metal and hardcore punk). Despite having many songs, the songs are often a minute or less in length, so the record totals up to just under a half-hour of music. And I dunno any crazy backstories for this one, so let's just get to it.

1. The Faith - "It's Time"
Pretty cool surf-y sounding beat and a great riff. The vocals have the classic D.C. snarl and it's a pretty damn solid track. Very angry-sounding. The chorus is a little more up-beat. The song is about wanting to get revenge on a judgemental society.

2. The Faith - "Face to Face"
Much faster! More melodic backing vocals are sung in the mid-section before the end of the song.

3. The Faith - "Trapped"
The song starts out sounding like the song before it, but the riff is much better. Then it changes up a lot in the chorus, with the ascending razor-sharp chorus riff.

4. The Faith - "In Control"
Starts with a slow section with a near-perfect guitar riff that just sounds really fucking awesome. Then that part ends and the song speeds up and the riff changes. After that part, the song repeats a little bit of the slow part one more time before ending.

5. The Faith - "Another Victim"
Fast. Sucks I don't know the lyrics. Not easy to figure out when Alec sings so damn fast.

6. The Faith - "What's Wrong With Me"
I love the little drum roll that intervals in the beginning of the song in the verse section. The chorus part is fucking awesome, with a little bit of extra guitar over-dubbed to harmonize with the main rhythm guitar, and adds to the flavor of the melody in that part.

7. The Faith - "What You Think"
Yep. Fast song yet again. This one's about the singer not caring what society thinks about him because they don't understand where he's coming from or his views on life anyways.

8. The Faith - "Confusion"
Slow, heavy intro. Eerie little lead guitar bits in that part. Alec's voice sounds all echo-y as he sings of his inner delusion and confusion that torments him. Then the song gets fast in the chorus part. The next section repeats the first part except the vocals are angrier and more intense this time around. Then another fast part. The song ends with some wisps of feedback.

9. The Faith - "You're X'd"
A song about posers in the Straight Edge scene who only claim it as their lifestyle as a fashion trend and secretly partake in drugs and alcohol anyways.

10. The Faith - "Nightmare"
This song's fast but not quite as much as the other ones. The tempo is sort of like "Circle One" by the Germs. The chorus riff is pretty cool.

11. The Faith - "Don't Tell Me"
Awesome verse riff! I love it. The song is pretty simple -- about people complaining about problems and pointless shit when we've already got our own problems to deal with. Great solo at the end.

12. The Faith - "In the Black"
Starts off with a weird backwards part. Then after a bit of jumbled bass, the song 'really' starts, and it's more mid-tempo. It's the longest song on the Faith's side. The melody here is more depressing and downbeat than the other songs. The song ends very abruptly! And that's the end of the Faith's side. Time for some Void...

13. Void - "Who Are You"
Starts out kind of weird, with some fucking around with the speeds, and then a false-start, and then the song just fucking blasts off like a rocket! John Weiffenbach sounds like an even angrier version of Ian MacKaye, and the synchronization between the vocals and the instruments with eachother sounds so shaky and strategically erratic that it just sounds like a big fucking blast of musical violence! Almost a response to the Faith's "Don't Tell Me" from the other side of the LP where this time the song's protagonist is mad because nobody ever listens to his problems! The song's chorus goes "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE??".

14. Void - "Time to Die"
Extremely aggressive and abrasive song! Kind of like a freakish cross between Minor Threat, Black Flag, and the Germs. The first riff is very cool, and the verse riff sounds real catchy, and then just sort of dark in the third riff. Seriously, this guy sounds like he's about to fucking lose it! I love it.

15. Void - "Condensed Flesh"
Very fast, with lots of tempo pauses and some parts feel like pure noise rumbling beneath your ears! An early version of this song can be found on the "Charred Remains" compilation tape.

16. Void - "Ignorant People"
Slow, heavy metal-style intro. The verse is full-speed-ahead fast, and the chorus is just like the intro riff and speed. A really fucked-up guitar solo can be heard near the end of the song before the song goes for an extended version of the verse section. The song attacks ignorant conformist people who "think they're individuals" when they only conform at every turn.

17. Void - "Change Places"
Slow, ominous intro. This song is pretty interesting in the sense that the tempo is constantly shifting between kinda fast and very fast, often when you don't expect it coming.

18. Void - "Ask Them Why"
The intro's slow and heavy. The verse and chorus are very fast, and John still sounds like he can barely keep up with the rest of the band. I like the riff that plays at the very end of the song.

19. Void - "Organized Sports"
My guess is that, well, this one iz about sports at school. Slow chorus with a shouted chorus that goes, well... uhh... see the title. Dude. There's some pretty fucking funny-sounding sped-up vocals in the background in the chorus section.

20. Void - "My Rules"
The first Void song I ever heard. There was another version of it on the "Flex Your Head" compilation. Awesome fast verse section, and a memorable-as-hell slow chorus part. I love it.

21. Void - "Self-Defense"
Don't know the words to this one. It's fast. It has a shouted chorus. Yeah.

22. Void - "War Hero"
Echo-y, spacey intro. Very fast. John's vocals are a little more muffled here. Gotta love the awkward tempo-shifts that happen in the chorus. The song ends in some clashing and bashing of noize at the end.

23. Void - "Think"
Second Void song I listened to. The vocals here are just about as loud and screamy as you can get without just sounding ridiculous. First half iz fast. Second half is slower and has a cool riff that goes perfect with the singing in that part. Neat backwards solo. And then MORE FAST MUSIC! HOLY SHIT!!

24. Void - "Explode"
The song begins with an ominous noodling about of the guitar and a one-note weird guitar noise. This is repeated, gradually faster and faster as Johnny just laughs n' laughs until the song segues into an extremely fast section that quickly does 'explode' into pure noise and musical chaos. And then, my friend... you die. YOU DIE! YOU DIE! YOU DIE! AAAGGGHHH!

Well, I strongly recommend this. I hadn't listened to the whole thing aside from a few songs prior to this review, but it definitely feels like one of the better hardcore albums I've heard. The Faith songs are fun as hell and very well-written, and the Void songs are overflowing with energy and hit you with un-expected twists at all the right times. Most of the songs here are great. So, definitely check this one out. Basically a step or two higher evolved than Minor Threat.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Don't Tell Me (The Faith)
2. Time to Die (Void)
3. In Control (The Faith)

Review #145: Sonitus Revolution - There is No One Way to Dance (2006)

THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO DANCE

Year: 2006

Genre: Punk Rock, Folk, Psychedelic Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk
Label: Wrong Island Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 19 Minutes
Style: Dark/Emotional
My Rating: 7/8

"There is no one way to dance"... this iz something that is very true... are we to river-dance? Do jumping-jacks? Ballet dance? Tango? Waltz? Tap-dance? Slam-dance? Square-dance? There are so many ways to do something that can only be summed up in one word: DANCE. D-A-N-C-E. 'D' for "Does". 'A' for "a". 'N' for "Nightowl". 'C' for "Catch". And 'E' for "EDS". "Does A Nightowl Catch EDS?". Of course not! Nightowls are SUPPOSED to be sleepy during the DAY, dumbo! But I digress.

This is the first and only full album from the Sonitus Revolution. It iz a band consisting of Jay Briggs (a.k.a. Jaysonitus), Chris DiMaio, Frank Federici, and Phil "Meatball" Montalbano. The band formed in 2005 and has occupied New York, playing music since then. Jay Briggs has also been a member of the band Grrrl Friend, and the group released a split live album with Duffy Wrong Island's other band, Bionic Senses in 2007, the year after this album came out. Bdee from his own band, the Venomous Oranges has also been in this group at one point. Anyways, time for a little overview on this record... the album is steady mix of funk-influenced punk rock and psychedelic folk music, ranging from the hot sounds of "Laius" to an electric psychedelic instrumental, "Raga I", to a dark, poetic acoustic piece known as "the Burden". Now, as I always do, I shall assess this songs one-by-one. So let's begin!

1. Laius
As I said before, the very best song on the album. For some reason, though, I've always felt that the best song should go at the end. But you've gotta have something to draw the people in, right? Well, anyways, this an absolutely awesome song with a beautiful guitar sound and elements of funk and psychedelic rock alongside the completely awesome punk rock melody of the song. The tempo and the riff just work perfectly alongside eachother. The bass line is always interesting, and just before the song steers too far off-track in the chorus section, it returns back to that awesome verse riff, but there's always little things in the background to make the song diverse and never boring. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Jay really does sound a lot like D Boon to me. However, he has the hair of a fucking Ramone!

2. Sociopath
The song eases in... drums first, then bass, and the rhythm guitar. The melody here is more ominous, but still pretty up-beat. The chorus riff and the bass combined together sound real cool on the chorus. What iz pain? What iz pleasure? What iz sadness? It's... SATURDAY! "What Am I??", screams Jay at the end of the song. A sociopath, that's what. Know how I knew that? 'Cause the answer's in the TITLE!

3. Black Dwarf
This one's an acoustic song. The guitar has a real nice sound here. I think it might be the mixing. Just those couple top strings sound real good. Nice use of double vocals here. Too bad there's no lyric sheet for this album that I know of. The guitar melody sounds very good in the part where they sing "the stars are there preserved with care". The song becomes shifts to a much less peaceful repeated chord after that, and then ze song... ENDS.

4. Raga, I
Kind of reminds me of "My Broken Head" by Grrrl Friend that I reviewed a couple days ago, except less creepy. There is the tinkling of the brass, an odd electric melody, a synth piano tune, as well as some unsettling sounds droning on in the background. No vocals on this song.

5. A Match Made in Human
This song is played with two mandolins and a simplistic bass beat of a drum, as well as more singing from Jay and the gang about friendship and relationships between human beings. I can't quite get into it that much, but it's still a good song. Sounds like folk music from another country of descent, but I can't quite put my finger on what that would be.

6. Borderline
This is one of the faster songs on the album. More of a "normal" song, I suppose. The song starts with a clean electric guitar sound, but in the first verse, there is also an extremely distorted guitar dubbed over, giving it almost a hardcore sound. There's also a very cool guitar solo 2/3 through the song. There's a live version of this song on the album "Draft Beer, Not Students".

7. The Burden
Another acoustic song. An acoustic guitar with some synth droning in the background for the needed ambience. Jay's not really singing here as much he's just reciting a poem that he probably wrote.

8. Overactive Mind
The melody for this kinda reminds me of an early Dinosaur Jr. song (like their first album). Somewhere between folk and punk. The chorus is pretty upbeat sounding. Cool mid-section with an also cool guitar solo in that part of the song. The song fades out right when it ends and that iz the end. Of the album.

It's a very unique and underrated album. But then again, it's harder than it has been to get noticed these days. But yeah, I think there just may be something for everyone on this record. You get some cool rock n' roll songs, some cool non-rock songs, fast stuff (sort of), slow stuff, upbeat songs, depressing songs. It's a pretty damn talented piece of work. Just recently the band re-released this album through Jay's own new record label, "Dinosaur in Vietnam", in 2009. Aside from this album and the "Draft Beer, Not Students" album, you can find more Sonitus Revolution songs on the Dinosaurs in Vietnam compilations. There are two of them so far, one from last year called "Save Our Heads for the Future" (with one new song and a great re-recorded version of Laius), and one released this June called the "Crude Oil Compilation", with one new song under the name "Jay Briggs and the Oily Rainbows". So yeah, you can download this album for free from the Dinosaur In Vietnam website, so definitely give it a listen when you can. So for now, stay legit. And have a fucktastic weekend! BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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(P.S. - Isn't that cover-art just plain awesome?)

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Laius
2. Borderline
3. Black Dwarf

Review #144: Cop Warmth - Centaur Cop Top (EP) (2008)

CENTAUR COP TOP (EP)

Year: 2008

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise
Label: Disaro Records
Tracks: 3
Length: 3 Minutes
Style: Angry
My Rating: 6/8

Cop Warmth is a band from Houston, Texas. The group formed circa 2006 and they have released a demo tape and one 7" vinyl EP with three sawngs on it. The line-up consists of Craig (guitar), Nathan (bass guitar and drums), Dan (other guitar), and Marky G (bass guitar and drums). Yeah, the band doesn't have a huge-ass history as far as I'm aware (unless they'd like to tell me otherwise), so let's get right to this...

1. Anksciyeti
What? Angsty yeti? The closest word I was able to find was "anksiyete", but I have not yet discovered the meaning of the word. I shall update this later. Extremely noisy in the beginning, almost like Teenage Jesus & the Jerks/no-wave sort of thing. Complex lead-guitar melodies in the verse sections, and a crashing beat like some blows (not the good kind) to the face. Extremely noisy, with the guitar, and vocals are mixed pretty distorted (a common trend in modern punk). The bridge section is pretty awesome and deep-sounding. Then the ending part of the song just features the band screaming "ANK-SCI-YE-TI" over a shrieking guitar and drum pound before pausing and repeating. Very unique-sounding.

2. Dancing is My Bad
Not very long. This song has a more straight-forward beat. But there is still a lot of neat lead-guitar super-abrasive stuff going on. The bass melody iz nice, though.

3. Jamz Allen
It's JAMZ ALLEN, the secret brother of GG ALLIN! They repeat the name of some guy named "James Allen". Fast, abrasive, reeks of breaking glass. I'm pretty sure they're singing in spanish in the later part of the song.

So, if you're able to, give this record a spin. The real stand-out track here without a doubt is "Anksciyeti" (the first song), but the other two songs are decent. The band's music conveys noise-punk anarchy over hardcore beats and lyrics, and it works well. What may initially sound like a very unskilled band making noise is really some well thought-out shredding combined to sound, well, insane! You can listen to the contents of this 7" if you follow the link I supply below:

http://www.last.fm/music/Cop+Warmth/Centar+Cop+Top+E.P.

Bye. Stay tuned for the next review tomorrow!

Review #143: Grrrl Friend - B-Sides & Rarities (2009)

B-SIDES & RARITIES (Grrrl Friend)

Year: 2009

Genre: Punk Rock, Folk Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk, Hardcore
Label: Wrong Island Records
Tracks: 14
Length: 41 Minutes
Style: Emotional/Angry/Fun
My Rating: 7/8

Yup, more of your favorite grrrl friend: GRRRL FRIEND! WHOOHOOOO! Alongside their newest compilation record, "Isolation, Chronic Masturbation & Daydreams" (the title being taken from a line from one of their songs) -- this is the OTHER compilation. And while originally only 7 songs upon its release, it has been re-issued or so to speak to contain TWICE that much. For those of you who suck at math, that's 14 FUCKING SONGS! YAEY. And this one basically contains every song the band has recorded in the studio that's NOT on "Isolation, Chronic Masturbation..." blah blah blah. It also contains a few acoustic demos and live recordings as well. Material recorded from 2007 - 2009 (the early years of Grrrl Friend). Time to review this masterpiece. I will just put in what I've said about a song if it's already been covered on a previous album, unless I think what I said when I reviewed the aforementioned could be improved upon/de-stupidified. Okay, NOW time to review!

1. Probably (Acoustic Demo)
This is an acoustic demo version with both Duffy and Cora on the vocals this time, playing the classic song that opens their first EP. However, this version doesn't feel as erratic as much just totally blissful and everybody should listen to this song. The chords just sink into your skin, they're so good. Unfortunately, it doesn't contain the ending part like the other version does.

2. The Rag (Acoustic Demo)
Duffy really needs a fucking cigarette. Anyways, this iz an acoustic version of the SECOND song from "The Rag" (first Grrrl Friend EP), and it's pretty nice. No boingy sounds here, though. Excellent riff and vocals and lyrics. Slow in the verse parts, and fast in the chorus parts. Very catchy.

3. My Broken Head
A creepy, weird sound-collage with very strange and scary noises floating around your hearing range and Duffy mumbling things in a creepy, muffled way. If there's anything he's actually reading here, it'd be nice if were explained. It's only a minute long.

4. Homesick (Live)
A recording of a live performance of the band playing "Homesick", one of the songs from "the Rag". The guitars here sound very electrifying and fuzzed-out as hell. Here's my description of the song from an earlier review: 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.

5. Ouch!
This one isn't even a "B-Side" (how could they have b-sides if all of their albums are digital or CDs?), or rare! But alas, here it iz on this album. Here's a description of my song on an earlier review: Another one of my favorites, here. Starts with just guitar and vocals. It's very soothing and uplifting. It's almost like the soundtrack to getting stoned in the summer. "TV controls the world, it's hard to cope" -- a sad but true lyric. In the second verse, the drums and the other cool weird sounds come into the mix. The chorus is very aggressive and chaotic, contrasting from the relaxed verse sections. If I knew all of the lyrics to this song, I could say more. Musically, it feels equivalent to watching yourself skip through the park in slow motion in Super-8 or something like that. What a beautiful song. After the second chorus, there is an outro section which consists of nothing but a repeated melody being played on an acoustic guitar.

6. Toole & I (Acoustic Demo)
Another acoustic demo. This was the closing song for the Grrrl Friend half of "Some Say It's Genetic". It's a mid-tempo love song, presumably about a person and his "Toole" and their loneliness together. Or maybe I'm completely missing the point. Probably am. YES!

7. Deceptacon (Live)
This iz a cover of a song by Le Tigre (featuring Kathleen Hannah). This was from a performance at a release party for a movie about Mia Zapata from the Gits in 2008. They play the song quite well, with a nice warm guitar sound like a boiling vat of water. It sounds very different from the original version... more Grrrl Friend-y, I suppose. And they played it RIGHT IN FRONT of Kathleen! Very good song. It's not necessarily easy to notice at first, but the icing on the cake here is the quieter lead guitar melodies playing in the background. THAT is fucking good.

8. The Flow
One of my favorite tunes from the "Grrrl Friend" EP (the second one). It has a nice crunched-out guitar sound, a great riff, nice beat, and to top it off, some apathetic-sounding horn-like keyboard playing. There's really only one riff for this song, but it's a good one, so it iz okay. Somewhere between completely pissed, tired, and motivated. Duffy screams like a wild animal here. There's a nice little keyboard solo towards the end that sounds like an organ. Great touch.

9. Fleet Would Mock
Another great song from the second EP. Description from another review: I'm guessing that this one's title is supposed to be a play on the name of the band, Fleetwood Mac. But this song starts out pretty calm, with just Duffy singin' and an acoustic guitar. Then the drums start drumming, and then somehow, the acoustic guitar somehow transforms into a noise-spewin' electric one, and Duffy is now yelling instead of softly singing. Seriously, the guitar sounds weirdly awesome, here. Almost sounds like a DJ scratching a record or something, but I'm pretty sure that the DJ (who happens to be Duffy Wrong Island) is just scratching his guitar (that should be a euphemism for masturbation). Makes me think of walking down into the sunset in the melting snow.

10. Tsantsa
Know what a tsantsa is?? It's a goddamned shrunken head, kidz! This was the last song on the second EP. The verse is wispy and ominous sounding, and the chorus is very slow and fuzzed out. The chorus is kinda catchy in an abstract way. You just gotta love the slow chugging of that part, and how the lyrics just roll with it.

11. I Think of Demons
A Roky Erickson cover. Once you've gotten out of the water and dried off, you can walk away listening to this one. It's a lot more straightforward than the other songs here... because it's a cover. It's a pretty catchy, nice song. It's about demons and stuff. Good guitar riff.

12. 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...

13. Homesick
The studio version of "Homesick".

14. By a Thread
One of the most unique Grrrl Friend songs. 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.

So, THAT iz the B-Sides and Rarities album. Funny, 'cause unless Grrrl Friend hasn't been telling us something, there really aren't many b-sides. The songs are all nice, though. A lot of cool little rarities and songs from other albums that seem to just be on here just 'cause. The first half of the album are actual rarities, and the second half are some songs from the other records. But the songs are all great, so please do check this album aut. BYE FOR NOW.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Probably (Acoustic)
2. Deceptacon (Live)
3. Homesick (Live)

Review #142: Pukeoid - Demo (EP) (2010)

PUKEOID DEMO (EP)

Year: 2010

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Not Normal Tapes
Tracks: 8
Length: 6 Minutes
Style: Angry/Dark
My Rating: 6/8

Pukeoid is a new hardcore band from Indiana (not terribly far from where I'm from), and they're pretty damn wild! They formed in August 2009 (about the same time I started doing White Noize songs), and this iz the band's very first offering. It's a nice eight-song cassette tape with a bizarrely sexy cover, and only one song is barely over a minute, so who could go wrong with THAT? Well, let's see how very wrong this could go, so let's listen to this six-minute mash of mayhem...

1. Neva Follow
Slow intro. Quickly turns into a fast thrasher! Damn, this iz an angry sounding song... it's about not wanting to fall into the trap of the conventional enslaved average lifestyle that most Americans follow.

2. T.V. Junkie
Extremely fast on both ends of the sandwich, but slow in the middle. This song also attacks conventions of the American lifestyle, accusing people who watch television shit all day of being useless human beings filling their minds with corporate garbage.

3. Choke
Excellent riff! Slow part in the middle. THISSSS SSSSSSSSOOOOOONGGGGGGGGISZZZZZZZZ PROBABLY ABOUT CHOOOOOCKING...?

4. Shot in the Head
Once again, nice riff. This one's a little more mid-tempo. First song I heard by the band. It's about feeling empty and bored in society and feeling like there is no purpose for life.

5. Suffocate
Shortest and fastest song! I imagine a great slam pit going on with performances of this song. This song's about having suicidal thoughts. The song has a totally awesome riff, too.

6. Gimme Death
The only song that even gets to a minute long. It's a slower, heavier song, which adds some nice variety to the mix... some weird, creepy lead guitar notes also sorta float around here. In the middle, there's a fast part, but then the song gets slow again. Once again, the lyrics here are about suicide, but this one also talks about cutting and self-mutilation. An accurate portrayal of the emptiness of being a young person in a dead middle-american society.

7. Shame Society
Another good riff. It slows down a tiny bit at the very end, and there's a really nice guitar solo after that.

8. Line of Fate
Good tempo variations here -- it goes from really fast to just sorta fast. This song's about wanting to just end the entire world to rid it of all of its problems. Pretty good closing song.

Well, it's pretty good, and it's kind of exciting to know there's a new band that's actually kind of close to where I live that sounds really good. Maybe sometime I will get to see 'em! But yeah, this tape definitely scrapes into the jadedness of the youth today in our culture. In a society that completely ignores the real misfits and loners and continually rewards conformity to their desired standards, many of us often feel completely alone and many times suicidal. That's what the songs on here are about. The music is pretty good; not much that hasn't been done before, but it feels pretty damn real, so it's all legit and stuff. If you enjoy super-fast, raw-as-shit hardcore punk, then I recommend you check it out. OH! And check out this wondrous POSTER that comes with the tape!



Hope you enjoyed my review. Check the band out on MySpace or whatever else you want if you hate MySpace.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Suffocate
2. Gimme Death
3. Shame Society

Review #141: Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun (1985)

UP ON THE SUN

Year: 1985

Genre: Punk Rock, Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Sub-Genres: Post-Punk
Label: SST Records
Tracks: 12
Length: 33 Minutes
Style: Happy
My Rating: 6/8

Even in the beginning, the Meat Puppets were always a little different from their hardcore brethren -- they frequently injected psychedelic rock elements into otherwise thrashy songs, had a taste for country music, and a bizarre LSD-influenced sense of humor. Of course, this uniqueness attracted the attention of none other than SST Records, who released their first LP. By 1984, they came out with their second album, which was very different from the first, and expanded fully upon their new country and folk-influenced style of music. Curt now sings in an earthy, warbly voice rather than a raving Darby Crash-like growl, and the music became mostly slower, and less hardcore-oriented. In 1985, the band released their third album and fourth release in total, "Up On the Sun", which expanded on the sound of "Meat Puppets II", and it was not very popular with most of the hardcore crowd at all. However, this release was one of the various albums in the year 1985 which marked the beginning of a new movement which eventually broke into the mainstream in the early '90s. But enough with that. Now's the time to listen to "Up On the Sun", the third Meat Puppets album ('cause I've already reviewed everything before this)!!

1. Up On the Sun
Mid-paced beat. Strong bass, noodly little guitar sounds, and calm, clean vocals from Curt Kirkwood. In some parts, there's a bit of vocal harmonizing going on 'tween the Kirkwood brothers. Very folky guitar sound.

2. Maiden's Milk
Very neat-sounding guitar playing in the intro part! Both the bass guitar and lead guitar play in harmony, going up and down the scale, sounding great. The lead guitar really sounds nice on this song. After that, the song speeds up a little, and the bass-line here is great in just about all parts. Beautiful lead guitar. Reminds me of ice and snow and stuff. Everyone's whistling... there's no lyrics, so I guess that means it's virtually an instrumental aside from the whistling. In the later parts of this song, there's another beautiful, deeper-sounding lead guitar two-note tone going on. It sounds like a ringing bell. It's a really nice song.

3. Away
Similar speed to the song before it. Beautiful harmonized vocals in the chorus section. The vocals sound a bit mumbly in other parts, but in a good way. In some parts, the guitar sounds really twangy like a banjo or something. Definitely one of the best songs on the album!

4. Animal Kingdom
Even faster than the song before it! This song's evidentally about animal kingdoms being everywhere... amazing, ain't it?? There's weird animal-ish sounds being made with the guitars also. Pretty neat. It's actually one of the shortest songs on the album... just a minute and twenty seconds.

5. Hot Pink
Another song I enjoy a lot. It takes the speed down a few notches, and there's really good vocal harmonies here. Great bass guitar melody in the build-up to the chorus section, combined with those funky little lead guitar melodies that overlap. And then in the chorus, the lead guitar sounds like an 'Animal Kingdom' itself... I used to have these little cassette tapes about "Frog and Toad" when I was really young, and the theme tune for those tapes sounded like the lead guitar on that part of the song... probably why I associate it with animals! But yes, this album's about all sorts of things that are the color of HOT PINK. "Pink"... te-he!!

6. Swimming Ground
They made a 7" single for this song a couple years later. This one's pretty fast, and the guitar melody here sounds really nice with the effect they used for the guitar here! A little bit of falsetto background vocals here. Kurt sings here about how one of his favorite places he knows of was a little swimming ground far away from civilization. After this song ends, so does Side A of this album... let's listen to what's on the other side, now.

7. Buckethead
The guitar here almost sounds like ska in some parts. In other parts it just sounds like folk music on speed. Great bass melody, once again. These Puppets of Meat sure are talented musikians, hur hur! In the mid-section, there's a spacey part with echo-y sounds of guitar strokes and little animals from the Animal Kingdom. The melody goes up a couple octaves in the ending part... something done in a lot of pop music but rarely ever in punk rock.

8. Too Real
Typical Meat Puppets power-folk with a little bit of Black Flag-style punk-metal riffage sandwiched inbetween. And this evolves into a nice guitar solo starting in the middle of the song.

9. Enchanted Pork Fist
Starts out with a very fast section, similar in speed to their early work! Sorry, but when I hear "Enchanted Pork Fist", I giggle a little bit. Just sounds funny. The song slows down a bit for the main parts of the song. Holy shit, they must've eaten those RED PISTACHIOS! I never could figure out why they made red ones, I mean, they just painted they red, and like the song says, they really DID get your figures red! I dunno what was the point of it. Great psychedelic-sounding guitar solo mid-song. The song ends in a manner similar to how it began.

10. Seal Whales
I bet a Seal Whale would be really cute. I bet they WERE really cute, until they all were killed in a mass-extinction when the sharks realized how fucking TASTY they were! This song iz another instrumental piece, with folk guitar playing and stuff. There's one part about 2/3 into the song where there's a bunch of false endings, but by the end of the song it's all back to normal n' shtuff.

11. Two Rivers
Another fast type of song. Watery guitar melodies, and a dark bass riff. One-third into the song, Curt begins singing in a lonely, echoey voice. It's a tad mysterious-feeling.

12. Creator
Yup, this one's pretty fast too. It's quite energetic, with really nice guitar melodies. I swear I heard him say something about alligators. That's kind of funny. "Making love to open windows"? Gotta have a HUGE dick to do THAT!! Anyways, this song's not very long, so, there's not much I can say, but it's pretty good.

So, THAT is "Up On the Sun". This iz probably the most recent Meat Puppets album I've ever listened to, so as I expand my knowledge of these meaty ol' puppets, I will try to bring you more reviews of them. In some ways I enjoy this one more than "Meat Puppets II", but in other ways I don't. It's not quite as raw or "punk" feeling as Meat Puppets II, but it sure does have some really good songs which all have a really good sound and feel to them. A lot more psychedelic folk stuff going on here. I wouldn't say this one places as much emphasis on country either, here. But yeah, Up On the Sun is good and you should listen to it! Stay Legit.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Maiden's Milk
2. Hot Pink
3. Away

Review #140: Government Warning - Paranoid Mess (2009)

PARANOID MESS

Year: 2009

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: No Way Records
Tracks: 15
Length: 28 Minutes
Style: Angry/Political
My Rating: 6/8

Government Warning is a band from Richmond Virginia blah blah blah blehh blah blah blah blooh bleh blah blah blabber blibber bleebber blubber blakkety-blak! Anyways, the band has released various EPs since 2005 when they formed, and their first LP was released in 2006 and titled "No Moderation". Now, their latest album, titled "Paranoid Mess" was released in 2009, and it's very good. Alrighty, now... time to listen, shall we?

1. Rot and Decay
Starts out with a screech of feedback. Then the song segues into rumbling drums and fiery rhythm guitar, exploding into a very fast thrashy song. Pretty good riffs throughout the song.

2. Nowhere to Go
A more straightforward thrash piece. Excellent riff in the chorus part. Extremely speedy! Not very long, though.

3. Urban Warfield
This song's a little more mid-tempo than what we've heard, so far. Can't find lyrics for any songs off of this album, so I have no idea what these songs are about other than what the titles suggest. There's a guitar solo at the end of the song.

4. Endless Slaughter
It's a fast song and probably about killing or some shit like that. I like how the drums sound in the chorus section of the song. The riff gets a whole lot better in the second half of the song.

5. Stop Again
One of my favorites from this album. It starts out with a pretty neat slow intro. Then after that, the song speeds up a little bit and the first verse of the song begins. I love the chorus riff, and the vocals in that part. A bit of lead guitar here, too. Then after the second chorus, there's a bridge section with a fucking awesome beat that punches you in the face alongside some nice chords! The chorus repeats one last time before the song ends.

6. Revolving Door
Begins with an insane drum solo and the main riff, before cooling down into a more conherent thrasher (yet again). But it's got a pretty good chorus. Some of the riffs used here are actually a little more complex than just three chords. I guess this wouldn't be a bad soundtrack to running around in circles through a revolving door over and over again. That would be pretty fucking funny!

7. Blurred Yellow Line
A blurred yellow line... like in the middle of the road? I suppose they're kind of blurred. Who knows! This one has a tempo more like "Stop Again" or "Urban Warfield". There's a pretty neat solo in the middle of the song. The vocals sound good here. Yet another solo! The section played at the end of the song has a neat riff. Then the bass gets pretty heavy. That's the end of Side A.

8. Disengage
Starts with a noisy intro. The verse section has a really good guitar riff. Every now and then you'll hear little bits of backup guitars which sort of play alongside the main riff for short bursts. Oh, and this song is also fast. Just in case you were not sure. Heh.

9. Hour After Hour
HOUR AFTER HOUR! HOUR AFTER HOUR (after hour)!!! AAAAUUUUGHHHH!! OOOHHH, THE AGONNNYYYYY! In later parts of the song they throw in a few extra sections with different riffs to add variety to the mix.

10. Glued
Love the beat here. It's pretty fast, but not, like, ultra-fast. But it just sounds good here, y'know? Yeah, this song iz pretty good. Not sure what it's about. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep at night 'cause I don't know what these songs are about... *sniffle*...

11. Factory Line
And this song is extremely fast! This band's gotta have a pretty good drummer, I'll say that. And let me not neglect the bassist... the bassline here is actually pretty good in the chorus, which is only about half the pace of the verse section.

12. Shot Fulla Holes
Also extremely fast... this one's okay. I can't really think of much great to say about it, though it does have a pretty awesome solo in one part of the song.

13. Global Warning
This one's an instrumental! It's just a slow song with a really good verse riff and an okay chorus riff, but it sounds really cool. The verse riff sounds like you're being surrounded by an army of evil robots that are trying to take over the world. It's a pretty awesome song. Some parts of the song implement more metalish strokes of the guitar strings.

14. Paranoid Mess
The song that the album is named after, and one of the best songs here! There's not much wrong with this song, it's very paranoid-sounding like the title suggests, and it's a mad, energetic piece of action, pretty much the whole core of the album. It captures the intensity and chaos of a paranoid person in American society. The vocals here sound really good here, also.

15. Enough Is Enough
The longest song on the album (three and a half minutes), and it sounds very different from the other songs on the album. The chorus part is really catchy, even though I wasn't very huge on the verse part. There's a guitar solo towards the end of the song.

So yes, that's "Paranoid Mess", and it's the newest offering from Government Warning. The same year they released this they also recorded a 7" single called "Executed", so that would be another recent Government Warning album. There are a few moments that feel a bit weak in my opinion, but for the most part it's a pretty good, solid album it should be worth a listen. The band's music here is also a lot more, well, musical than some of the other hardcore bands -- there's always an occasional break from the typical verse/chorus/repeat mode that's so common these days. So, yes yes, Paranoid Mess. Check it out!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Stop Again
2. Paranoid Mess
3. Global Warning

Review #139: Scream - This Side Up (1985)

THIS SIDE UP

Year: 1985

Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Post-Punk
Label: Dischord Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 37 Minutes
Style: Wild/Political/Emotional/
My Rating: 7/8

Scream was a punk rock band from Washington D.C., formed in 1981 by Peter Stahl, Franz Stahl, Skeeter Thompson, and Kent Stax. In 1983, the group released their first album called "Still Screaming", which was released on Ian MacKaye's Dischord Records label. That album earned the band success and the style was very politically-oriented, fast, loud hardcore punk. Well, this was their second album, and they added another member to the lineup; Robert Lee Davidson, to play the guitar, and here their musical style began to change and become more melodic.

1. Bet You Never Thought
Some of the guitars here seem a little cleaner than some of the more fuzzed-up sounds the band had offered before. Many nice guitar leads here. The song has a rather 'large' feel to it, but it's still quite energetic. There's a lot of backing harmonized vocals as well from the other band members. In the second half of the song, the beat becomes faster. There are a few parts where everything stops and it sounds like the song is going to end, but then the music all returns just before it all gets a little too off-course.

2. Things To Do Today
A very fast song similar to their earlier stuff, but even better! I love the guitar riff, here. There's a really fucking great funky little guitar solo midway through the song. Peter's vocals can be beautiful at some times. Ooh! Another great metal-ish solo at the end.

3. This Side Up
This one's a bit more dark-edged. The tempo is speedy like the two songs before it, but the riff in many parts seems more bleak. However, there are little shimmering streaks of optimism in the song, with the chorus and it's pretty good. You can hear the sounds of breaking glass at the end of the song.

4. Gluesniff
An anti-drug song about a man who sniffs glue. Begins with a beautiful acoustic intro, with Peter singing in a more monster-ish sounding voice as the glue-sniffer, and after that part, the song explodes into a noisy foray into the user's mind. This one's kinda fast, but not nearly as fast as the other songs before it. However, the complete chaos and energy to this one makes up for it. The vocals are excellent! Around the end, there's some nice group chorus vocals.

5. Still Screaming
Yeah, I'm guessing that the first album was named after this song. Funny that it didn't even get on that album! Well, it's a pretty long song, so BRAAACE YOURRRSELLLVEEEEZ (say those last two words in the voice that Peter uses in the intro of "Gluesniff"). But yeah, this song doesn't sound like anything else by the band I've heard. This song has elements of ska, with a post-punk sort of feel and even a saxophone! Feels like walking through the rain in a city or something in the evening time. Hey, in one part, we even get to hear a SCREAM! Who woulda thunk? Anyways, it's a very unique song. And, it's the end... of Side 1.

6. No Money Down
Yup, feel those chainsaw-sounding guitars. Some parts feel almost like early emo, and other parts of the song more just straightforward hardcore. Also, nice lead solos, which the band apparently had plenty of. There's a twist here, and the song ends in an acoustic section with the band singing "got no money -- no money down...", as the song fades out.

7. Show And Tell Me Baby
Some parts are angry-sounding, and others are more melodic sounding.

8. The Zoo Closes At Dark
Begins with a clippet of a person sayin' "that kid's makin' too much noise!". This is a very fast, rage-filled song. Excellent riff and drum beat. It actually kind of reminds me of a song I wrote myself, riff-wise (that song will be featured on a split album with Diehatzu Hijets very soon).

9. I Look When You Talk
Starts with only an acoustic guitar and the drums. Then it explodes into a piece that combines both the electric guitar and the acoustic guitar -- something that's always sounded real cool to me. It's a nice song, with a good riff, and a more upbeat style. Lots of variety and different sections to the song, adding to the mix.

10. Iron Curtain
This song sort of reminds me of crossover thrash (a mix between thrash metal and hardcore punk), mainly because of the song's riff and of course, the large usage of lead guitar. The beat is pretty cool in the chorus section. Nice vocals, nice everything. The second half of the song uses a different beat and tempo and echoey vocals, feeling more like later Black Flag.

11. Walking Song Dub
The first part of this song has a very wispy, aquatic feel to it, and the guitar here sounds much more gentle and mysterious. No lyrics in this part, just some humming to the music. This is interrupted by the sounds of street traffic, and then the song goes into a reggae/hip-hop-sounding song, with some heavy usage of samples and lots of whistling as well. The guitar melody is nice in parts of the song. Once again, very long (almost seven minutes), like the song "Still Screaming". And that's the end, the end. The end, the end -- that's the end!

With this being the first time I've ever listened to this album, I must say that I'm extremely impressed -- a huge improvement over the album before it! It retains the fury and style of hardcore punk, but it's for the most part a very experimental album and I like it. After this album, they released "Banging the Drum" in 1986... that one's pretty good also. But yes, check this out for sure if you can. It's pretty awesome.

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Things to Do Today
2. Gluesniff
3. Still Screaming

Review #138: The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)

THE STOOGES

Year: 1969

Genre: Punk Rock, Garage Rock
Label: Elektra Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 34 Minutes
Style: Rebellious/Fun/Mysterious
My Rating: 8/8

The Stooges... well... what can I say? They're a pretty damn good band. This album is truthfully all I've heard of them. In fact, this is probably the oldest album I really really like. And I guess that makes me sort of musically ignorant, but I still like this record. The Stooges are usually considered to be sort of the early leaders of the "proto-punk" (a.k.a. punk rock before they had a name for it) movement, and it really shows here. They also play garage-rock styled music (similar to the Velvet Underground and a lot of modern indie-rock bands). I like the harder stuff better, personally. If this was the first band to sound like this, then that's pretty damn impressive. The group formed in 1967 and supposedly also used household objects in their early performances. The band's famous frontman, Iggy Pop, often performed shocking stage antics such as cutting himself, cussing, diving into the stage, and fighting, something was emulated by future artists in the decades to come. By 1968, the band was signed to Elektra Records and began recording their first album. This the result...

1. 1969
1969. 19... 69. 19. 69. 69. He-he! "69"... ohohohoho! The song begins with a slow intro and a wah-ooh-wahh guitar sound effect. Then the rhythm changes and a more normal-sounding guitar riff is played, and there's hand-claps as well. This song describes boredom and apathy towards the then-new year of 1969, in which Iggy expects nothing exciting to happen. Actually, they say some pretty exciting stuff DID happen in '69. I wasn't there, though. It's kinda fun, 'cause with the guitars, there's always something happening in one ear and then something else happening in the other. Bring on the funky guitar noises and great lead solos! Iggy lets out a truly animalistic scream towards the end.

2. I Wanna Be Your Dog
A classic. The first song I'd ever heard of the Stooges from, 'cause Sonic Youth covered this song and put it on one of their albums. This version's better, though. One of the first great punk rock songs, with a deep-cutting riff, sexy lyrics, and nice little ching-ching sounds alongside the beat. And the solo is fucking amazing... you have to listen to know what I mean (if you haven't already). Not much else I can say. Great song.

3. We Will Fall
A very slow, loooong song. Not as hard or energetic as the two songs before it, it incorporates an ancient tribal chant continuing throughout the entire song. Iggy sings in a softer, less abrasive voice. To be completely honest, this song doesn't interest me a whole ton, but maybe that's just because I'm not mature/stoned enough. If you love the Velvet Underground, you'll probably really like this one, 'cause that's one band this reminds me of. A lot of little treakets of lead guitar whisping around along the sides of your ears, like bats in a dark cave. The faint droning sounds feel like a candle in the dark, as the chants and singing echoes throughout the stony walls. That's what this song feels like to me. No drums, just soft beats, probably made on a different instrument. But yeah, this iz the end of Side 1.

4. No Fun
Now for something a little more up-beat! The riff is pretty nice here, and there's some more clapping to the beat of the song. Now the lyrics, I feel like I can relate to. Being alone and bored, having trouble deciding whether to go out and do nothing or stay at home and do nothing. That's just the way it goes. Ironically, the song is pretty fun-sounding in itself. Halfway through, we get another nice guitar solo. "Well, come on!"

5. Real Cool Time
Now, Iggy decides to have a Real Cool Time instead of No Fun... anyways, originally, the Stooges had only written five songs for the album -- the four songs that have just been reviewed so far, and a song called "Ann" which comes after the fifth song on the album. Well, it'd be a shame if they stopped there! Elektra did not feel that they had enough songs for an entire album, so the group was forced to write three more songs in order to get their album released... and these songs were really good! This is the first of these songs, and it's the best song on the album in my opinion! Unfortunately, it's also the shortest. Oh my (and boo-hoo)! Oh well. One of the greatest guitar riffs, a steady bass-line, and just orgasming wahh-wahh guitar as well! Geez, this song sure ROCKS. I'd fuck to it. Just listen to it!

6. Ann
Another more garage-y song. It's a somber, depressing love song. Kind of blues-y, also. More emphasis on the bass guitar, here. The song gets louder and more aggressive around the end of the song. Then it sorta fades out.

7. Not Right
Know what? I think that it's "Not Right" to have "No Fun". Hee-hee! This one is sort of like the first hardcore punk song in a sense, 'cause the distortion is pretty up here, the riff sounds like that genre, and it's more speedy and aggressive than a lot of the other songs here. However, there's also a lot more emphasis on lead guitar and such here. Another song I really like on this album.

8. Little Doll
This one reminds me of heavy metal a bit (a genre this band also influenced). Not a whole lot I can think of to say for this song, but it's another love song and one of the songs that the band wrote in order to please Elektra. Thus, the lyrics are pretty simplistic here. But, that's the end! THE END.

Well, I probably didn't do this album enough justice with this review. Some old-timer who was actually THERE when this record came out or hipster will probably read all this and jump on me for not worshipping such a historically significant record hard enough. Well, sorry! Yeah, most people think either the Velvet Underground or the Stooges started the whole punk thing. Which is a pretty good accomplishment alone, in my opinion! I'd die happy if I'd done that. But, this album should appeal to all fans of hard rock. Well, most of 'em. It's pretty ahead of its time, this sound has become the standard in rock n' roll. And deservingly so. Back in 1969, this was the face of underground rock! And they weren't from New York or England... they were from Detroit in Michigan! I actually own this album on vinyl (bought it for about $19) and I listen to it quite often. You should also if you're interested. Well, I'm pretty thirsty, so I'm gonna leave it at this for now. Bye bye!!

Top 3 Favorites:
1. Real Cool Time
2. I Wanna Be Your Dog
3. No Fun