Year: 2008 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: P. Trash Records Tracks: 3 Length: 4 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Angry/Weird My Rating: 6/8
The Homostupids are an American hardcore band that formed in 2005. Their records have a very rough, noisy sound with virtually zero production values. Because of this, they could also be categorized as "noise rock". The Homostupids, however, refer to their band as a "music band" (probably one of the most accurate descriptions one could give any band) and remind us to "buy all of their shit". I probably should. So should you.
1. Ron Items Starts with some sort of vocal thing being yelled. The music may be abrasive, but there's still subtleties to pick out. They're actually playing pretty good songs, but the sound quality is ultra lo-fi. Well, the song's riff is more down-beat (rather than up-beat). Lots of clashing cymbals. The song is a minute long.
2. Weekend Er My favorite song on the album. Why? 'Cause I like the riff. Pretty solid vocals of what I can make out. There's a nice slow section in the middle. Longest song on the record, being almost two minutes long. End of Side 1.
3. Back With the Wolf More harsh screaming vocals. To a certain degree, the song's melody is bass-driven. Still, it seems like it ends sooner than normal. But that's the end of the record.
The time just flies by, but the songs are pretty good. They're not ultra-fast like a lot of hardcore songs, but fast enough to slam to. The sound quality makes me these songs were actually performed live. Hey, it's possible. Either that or performed into a single microphone. Vagina. Anyways, they released a NEW LP last month, called "The Load", so if you liked this record, I recommend you check that out as well. The band has a blog and a MySpace as well. A certain picture on their MySpace caught my interest:
Uhh... I think you're supposed to... color it... or something.
Anyways, here's the links to their Blog and MySpace. Have fun, childrens. http://www.homostupids.blogspot.com/ http://www.myspace.com/homostupids
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: New Alliance Records Tracks: 17 Length: 26 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Political/Fun My Rating: 6/8
Hüsker Dü was a punk rock band that formed in 1979. They were one of the several bands to help build the alternative rock genre in the mid-'80s, and were known for their classic album, "Zen Arcade". However, awhile before that, they were a lot like any other hardcore band. They wrote really fast, hard songs. They sang about their disgust with the Cold War and Ronald Reagan's policies. They sang songs that didn't really hold any meaning. This was their first LP, and it was recorded live in August 1981 at 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis. As a result, the sound quality is a little blurry, and it's almost impossible to understand the lyrics, but fortunately, they provided a lyric sheet with the album.
1. All Tensed Up Starts with the sounds of a few members of the crowd screaming. It's a pretty good fast thrash song. The lyrics are about a guy who took so many pills to curb his appetite that he's really jittery and can hardly stand still.
2. Don't Try to Call Really cool riff. It goes well with the beat. The song's about a person whose friend is turning into an unstable maniac, and the protagonist is trying to beckon the other person to "forget his name" and "forget his number" and to stop calling him.
3. I'm Not Interested This song is about a girl who's "living in another world" and "is too damn surreal"; probably a popular girl with few problems in life 'er something like that. The chorus part of the song is about the singer not being interested in what she has to say "because it's all lies anyway."
4. Guns at My School This song is about, well, guns at school. Basically a criticism of violence as a use of solving problems and how society thinks guns are "cool". Just under a minute long.
5. Push the Button I like the riff for this one, as well. It's about a hypothetical situation if the government became so paranoid that they "pushed the button" and started a nuclear war in which everybody would have to live underground in a cave. This song has a relatively lengthy solo.
6. Gilligan's Island A song about wanting to fuck Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" under a palm tree and making the professor make good drugs. These sentiments are succeeded by a solo. Ironically, two-thirds of the members of Hüsker Dü were gay.
7. MTC Not quite sure what this one's REALLY about, but it describes a guy rushing to get onto the bus, where everybody's scurrying about and there's hardly any room for him to sit.
8. Don't Have a Life This one is more interesting. It has a neat, noisy riff and a crazy bassline. The song is basically about the song's protagonist not having a life that he/she would want to spend with a certain other person, for according to their idea, it would REALLY suck. End of Side 1.
9. Bricklayer This one is extremely fast. It's about a dude who throws heavy bricks from a window of a building at peoples' heads.
10. Tired of Doing Things The single line of this song is "Tired of Doing Things Your Way", which is repeated, as the song's tempo gradually speeds up.
11. You're Naive This song attacks politicians and those who follow them. It also attacks Nazi punks who claim to be anarchists but celebrate the ideas of White Supremacy, putting all of the targets of this song off as naive sheeple who don't know what to believe.
12. Strange Week This song names all of the names of the days of the week and repeats "Strange Week" a lot. This week must've been really strange. Uhh, there are seven days in a week. Words of wisdom from Hüsker Dü indeed. But yeah, their week was apparently really strange. I'll just take their word for it.
13. Do the Bee A new dance invented by Hüsker Dü! It's called "the Bee!". You buzz around to the guitar noise, fly around like a queen and... pollinate? Somehow. I like the riff of this one. Yes, I'm a sucker for songs in the key of "E". "E" rhymes with "Bee". And "Bee" rhymes with "Be". And "Be" rhymes with "B". And "B" rhymes with "Bee". THE BEE.
14. Big Sky The sky is pretty big. The city is big, to a lesser extent. There are black and white people. And they also remind you to "shove that tape-deck up your ass". I probably wouldn't have known to do that if they didn't tell me in advance.
15. Ultracore An anti-Cold War tune. Very fast. The chorus goes "Ultracore, ultracore, we don't wanna die in your fucking war". Basically expressing the fury and reluctance of what Ronald Reagan almost imposed on his own citizens.
16. Let's Go Die I think it might be about a punk trying to run away from jail who gets caught and is stuck because "Now you've got me, I'm here to stay". It could also be about a punk trying to run away from home. Not sure
17. Data Control The slowest and longest song on the album. It has a good riff. Really interesting lyrics about the government attempting to keep track of all data of every citizen ("a nine-digit number for every living soul"). Exposes the corporate and multinational monolith that becomes more and more prominent in society. This song is more relevant now than it was in 1981. There's a pretty legit noise solo at the end. Ends with Grant Hart telling the crowd, "we'll be back for another set..."
So, that's "Land Speed Record". I don't think they kept that record for long, though. 'Cause, like, Deep Wound n' stuff... anyways, the lyrics here REALLY remind me of something Jello Biafra would write. Maybe not as intriguing as his lyrics, but they definitely share a lot of the same ideas, especially with the final track. However, it sounds a lot different from "Zen Arcade", or another one of their more well-known records. Here, they were just starting out, and they still had a way to go, but there are still some very good songs on this record.
Year: 1980 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: SST Records Tracks: 7 Length: 6 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Political My Rating: 6/8
The Minutemen were a Californian punk rock band that existed during the early to mid 1980s. Founding members D. Boon and Mike Watt became friends at the age of 13 in 1971, and the two formed their first band, "The Bright Orange Band" in 1973. In 1976 they discovered punk rock and formed the bands "Starstruck" and "The Reactionaries" throughout the rest of the decade. In 1980, the two formed their band "the Minutemen", whose name was a slam at a 1960s conservative group of the same name.
They quickly signed to SST Records, releasing the second SST record ever, a 7" E.P. called "Paranoid Time". This was their first record. The general theme seems to be the paranoia and fear surrounding most of America due to the perceived risk of the Cold War, which was still ongoing during that time.
1. Validation Mike Watt sings this one. Starts pretty quickly. Vocals more yelled than sung. A lot of pauses in the beat. Ends with a short rhythm-guitar solo and a single beat of the drum. This song is really short.
2. The Maze A fast beat like the previous song. Pretty neat bass-line. The lyrics are about the incompetence and lies of the government. This song ends extremely abruptly right in the middle of the song. It literally just fades out in the middle of the second verse.
3. Definitions Starts with some spoken vocals and Mike Watt playing the bass guitar. After nearly a minute, the song picks up the speed and the beat and the guitar start playing along for a few seconds, until it all erupts into a wreck of noise. I don't know the lyrics, but there's a lot of references to the Dictionary.
4. Sickles and Hammers This is an instrumental song. My personal favorite track on the album. It just sounds cool. And it has the same tempo as the previous three songs. Really cool bass-line. End of Side 1.
5. Fascist Another fast song. The song makes further discussion of oppression of the Working Class by the government and criticism of the Capitalist system, the main theme of the record. Sounds pretty similar to "Sickles and Hammers".
6. Joe McCarthy's Ghost The slowest song on the album (but not actually a slow song). This one is very bass-driven. It's a song slamming the modern Joe McCarthys of the world, proclaiming, "I'm not gonna fight, when they call out my number". The song ends with the group repeating "Joe McCarthy" again and again.
7. Paranoid Chant Starts with the fast beat, jangly guitar, and strong bassline. D. Boon portrays a paranoid man in the Cold War who can hardly work and worry about real problems because he's so scared to death of Russia and a possible Third World War. Ends with the whole group yelling and screaming in supposed paranoia.
Like many hardcore records, this one's driving topic is the devastation and fear that the Cold War and Ronald Reagan were creating in America. However, this one offers a more working-class perspective, citing the unfairness to their class that is a common result of Capitalism. Musically, it's a very bass-driven record; the rhythm guitar is nice, but Mike Watt's bass guitar really makes the melody. The EP's music is already considerably more experimental than most hardcore in 1980. The Minutemen went on to become one of the very first "alternative" rock bands, and they gained a lot of respect among other alternative rock bands of their day, such as Sonic Youth. Still, this is a pretty good start, already. And it's only six minutes long.
Year: 2007 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Ipecac Records Tracks: 4 Length: 4 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Weird My Rating: 5/8
The Melvins are a punk-rock band that formed in the great state of Washington. Starting out as a very aggressive hardcore band, they eventually simultaneously invented what people call the two genres of "grunge" and "sludge-metal" by making their music slower, heavier, and more complex. For the most part of their history, the Melvins have been playing their trademark style of extremely heavy and slow music. However, in this record, they return to their initial style.
1. Smash the State Already fast and noisy like the Melvins of old! The lyrics can't even be deciphered. Background vocals can be heard. I wonder if it's Dale. Speaking of which, I wonder how it feels to be playing unusually fast beats all the sudden. Ends with a weird solo and Buzz barking "Smash the State!"
2. Stalin's Solution Buzz opens this one with... fuck, I can't understand hardly anything he says in this record. Sounds very similar to the first track, except in the chorus section of the song, there's a lot of abrupt pauses in the music. End of Side 1.
3. Communist Concubine These songs are all played in the same damn key! Which is okay, at least they're all good songs. It's fast. Buzz yells. There's an electric guitar. Hardcore.
4. Useful Idiot The only relatively slow song on the record (certainly not as slow as the Melvins have been before, though). It doesn't sound like the others. Sounds like Dale Crover speaking in the beginning with Buzz speaking in the background. The chorus is sung by both of them. There's a repeated line, "I'm the useful idiot!".
This EP is really short. Shorter than an early Black Flag record or "In a Car". There's probably shorter ones still, though. Like, an EP that's two minutes long with one minute on each side. Or an EP that's one minute long with thirty seconds on each side. Damn, that'd be like... a 4" vinyl, right? Do those even exist? Anywhere? Any... way, this is probably the closest to being political that the Melvins have ever gotten and probably will ever get. The record is laden with references to communism and anarchism. Still, I have a hard time believing the Melvins are such staunch communists. They seem the least concerned with that sort of thing out of most punk-rockers. But I digress... this is not a sludge record. It's very fast and thrashy. So if you like their old hardcore stuff (Deep Six, 26 Songs, Mangled Demos from 1983, Making Love Demos), you'll probably like this, though it's a new record, so there are some elements of their newer sound in here. And don't miss their new record. It's coming out before this summer, supposedly. They record it next month. Hopefully it'll be awesome.
Year: 1991 Genre: Psychedelic Rock Label: Shimmy-Disc Records Tracks: 23 Length: 76 Minutes (Very Long) Style: Weird/Happy/Sad/Funny/Mysterious My Rating: 8/8
Ween is an alternative rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania that formed in 1984. Ween released a series of underground, little-known albums throughout the '80s, but Ween eventually left their first label, "Bird O'Prey Records", to sign to Twin-Tone Records, and released their first record, "God Ween Satan" in 1990. After that, they signed to Shimmy-Disc Records, the label that they would release "The Pod" on. The Pod is said to be their most "challenging" work, and it might be for some, but I think any true Ween fan will love this. While Ween's music was mostly punk rock, as well as experimenting with other sorts of genres, this album marks their shift to the bizarre psychedelic rock, the style they are mostly known for playing.
With that being said, this is probably their weirdest album they did. Legend has it that they were high on scotchgard glue during the recording of this album, though the band itself denies it. Still, I'll bet they were on SOMETHING. Most "normal" people could only dream of making music this awesome. The album itself will make you feel at least stoned. It's got a very funny, odd, fuzzy, murky, but endearing nature about it. And it's one of the best works of Ween ever.
1. Strap On the Jammypac I dunno if this was the intent of the song, but this one is too funny. Basically the same riff combined with clattering cymbals and one of the funniest-sounding voices ever saying "Stwap on da jaimmypac...", or some other unintelligible phrase, followed by a single beat of a drum. This just repeats over and over for several minutes in a hilariously annoying manner. I love it.
2. Dr. Rock One of the more normal songs on the album (still very weird, however). It's a psychedelic-punk-type song with phasered-vocals. The song seems to center around "Dr. Rock", some type of superhero/doctor type of guy who you can call whenever you need help.
3. Frank A slow, acid-drenched song. First mentions of the elusive "Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese" and "Mega-Weedge", two prominent items that are often mentioned throughout the album. The song is about a guy named Frank who is being asked by the song's protagonist for some food.
4. Sorry Charlie This is a great one. It's a mellow, softer song with telephone-sounding vocals and a light stick-beat. It's half-sad, it's half-happy. The lyrics are about a guy named Charlie who's having a pretty shitty life and doesn't have enough money to support his girlfriend who's still in high school, and he has to resort to selling more pot. Nice to listen to when you're feelin' blue.
5. The Stallion, Pt. 1 "The Stallion" is a recurring character throughout the Ween universe. This is a really trippy song with bizarre vocals. It's actually somewhat scary. This song seems to actually be about some sort of tough-guy horse (the Stallion, of course!) who recons you not to fuck around with him.
6. Pollo Asado This one is really funny. It's sort of another mellow, psychedelic song, but in the foreground is a hilarious skit about a guy trying to order mexican food. It's funnier than I'm making it sound. End of Side 1.
7. Right to the Ways and the Rules of the World A song with some violin (or at least a synth) in it. Uses a lot of acoustic guitar, and vocals from both Gene Ween and Dean Ween. Not a ton of effects used on this one, but that's okay.
8. Captain Fantasy A truly great song. It's a slow, hard, trippy song with sped-up vocals. It's just really good. What else can I say? This song is really legit.
9. Demon Sweat A slow, soft song that makes use of synths. It's really relaxing to listen to. It's like a lullaby or something. I think they were really tripping out at this point. There's some vocal harmonies, as well. At two minutes and thirty seconds, the song suddenly gets louder with synth organs and a ridiculous guitar-solo. The song gets really off-tune during this point.
10. Molly Sounds like a Butthole Surfers song. Really funky vocals combining a normal voice and a really high-pitched voice. And the quiet mumbling of "mollymollymollymollymollymollymolly...". Pretty slow and weird.
11. Can U Taste the Waste? A short heavy-metal song whose only line is "Can U Taste the Waste?". EXTREMELY badass. Or "brown", as a lot of Ween fans prefer to say.
12. Don't Sweat It A slow, gothic-sounding, dreamy song. There's a mid-section where the guitars get even more distorted and there's a beautiful little solo towards the end. End of Side 2.
13. Awesome Sound A really weird funk song. Second mention of the "Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese". Actually somewhat similar to the Butthole Surfers. I even heard one of the vocalist use an exact same vocal effect involving taking a voice and slowly speeding it up as used in "Human Cannonball" by the Butthole Surfers. Towards the end, you can start to hear the two cracking up.
14. Laura This is one of the best songs on the album, but I can't even understand what the fuck he's saying, here. The voice sounds extremely weird. Still, it has a very nice guitar-line. It all fits the mood of the song very well. Very slow. I really wish I came up with the riff for this song first.
15. Boing The shortest song on the album (one minute and thirty-three seconds long). It's an extremely quiet, bassy song with extremely low-pitched vocals and mostly bass guitar (though a little rhythm guitar does try to creep out). Sounds like someone's fat grandpa snoring/talking in his sleep.
16. Mononucleosis It's said that the group was down with Mononucleosis when they were recording this album. With that being said, it's a good song to listen to when you feel sick. It's a very echoey, depressing sort of song. "Now you're on the couch, you can't even move your fucking head... tell me that you wish that you was dead..." crap, if I listen to this song anymore, I might get sick myself!
17. Oh My Dear (Falling in Love) A pop song. Probably the most normal-sounding song on the album. Really pretty guitar sounds. You just can't get a sound like this out of digital recording. Digital recordings hurt my ears, which is why a lot of new music (regardless of the actual song) sounds so unlistenable to me.
18. Sketches of Winkle A punk song. My favorite part, however, is the chorus that goes "Sketches of Winkle, flying through the heavens in a fit of rage", followed by a great-sounding guitar lead. Another great song on the album. End of Side 3.
19. Alone A very quiet, slow song. I read the lyrics, and I feel like I can relate. It's basically a song about those people who feel very alone, with few or no friends, as everyone else seems to move forward, and you're just stuck in the same shit forever.
20. Moving Away A soft, reggae-sounding song. Similar to "Alone" in a lot of ways as far as the musical notes used and the riff, but it's more of a reggae riff. Gener and Deaner have never sounded more black. There's an R&B-sounding section at the end of the song, too. The song in general seems to be an impersonation of black music.
21. She Fucks Me Another mellow song. It's a love song, the way Ween does it, anyways. Very calm and beautiful. Yet ANOTHER mention of the "Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese". In fact, that line is just repeated in the background throughout the entire sound. Despite the fact that the vocals are very slowed-down, they still sound very good. Wonderful-sounding guitars. Another really good song.
22. Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese You saw this one coming. Or maybe you didn't. Anyways, this song is the culmination of all Pork Roll Egg and Cheeses that existed throughout the album. It's a very happy song with water-y sounding guitars. It's my favorite song on the album. There was a very rare music video for it with trash floating around the city streets and Dean Ween swimming at the beach shot with a Super-8 camera. It's really cool, and it was on YouTube for awhile, but it was taken down by Warner Bros., the corporate gluttons, even though they didn't even publish this album. I can't find it anywhere else, but I'm guessing it was on one of the Shimmy-Disc Video Compilations.
23. The Stallion, Pt. 2 The final song on the long, long album. A slow, groovy piece with weird vocals with the recurring line, "I am the Stallion, Mang." Hilarious yelled vocals at a part towards the end. Unfortunately, that's the end of ze record.
Wow... what a trip. This is pretty much one of the greatest Ween albums of all time. It was also their last on an independent label for awhile. After this, they were invited to become artists on Elektra Records, a label owned by Warner Music Group. They released "Pure Guava", which was of a similar style to this album to some extent, but still not nearly as weird as this one. Still, I like "Pure Guava" slightly more. But this album is just as good. Many would consider it better. They are probably right. But what the fuck? Ween is great. Listen to this album if you like weird music. It's very un-mainstream but it's almost pop. It's happy but it's sad. It can make you laugh and cry simultaneously. Like, if you laughed so hard that you started crying. Or if you cried so hard that you started laughing. Drugs will only enhance the experience. This album is great to listen to even sober. Fuck anyone who says otherwise. Ween is one of the greatest bands ever.
(There were actually three music videos made for "Pollo Asado", "Captain Fantasy", and "Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese" created for the Shimmy-Disc Video Compilations, but they are extremely rare on the internet and I cannot find a single copy, so I can't show you any of the videos for it. But they're pretty cool. They look like the album sounds.)
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Post-Punk Label: Touch & Go Records Tracks: 3 Length: 6 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Mysterious My Rating: 6/8
L-Seven, not to be confused with another punk band, L7, were a little-known punk band from Detroit, Michigan that existed during the early 1980s. This was their only record, and they signed to Touch & Go Records. Turns out that because of the more post-punk style of the band, they actually made an offshoot for that style of music called "Touch & Go Special Forces". This was the only record ever on that fraction of the label.
1. Insanity Pretty much starts immediately. A lot of lead guitar and a really cool bassline. A neat phaser-effect in the mid-section. I think Larissa's (the band's vocalist) voice fits really well with the music. She might have been British or something, 'cause her accent sounds like it. However, this is a pretty short song.
2. Secrets This is the fastest song on the album. Once again, it uses a lot of lead-guitar instead of the rhythm guitar. Love the vocals. However, I'd have to consider it the weakest track on the record. End of Side 1.
3. Clear Vision My favorite track on the album. It's a very good song, and it's the most interesting of the three. Starts with a slow tempo and a very aquatic guitar sound. Then there's a lead-up to the chorus which sounds pretty cool and uses a lot of lead-guitar. The chorus is harder and faster than anything else on the record, but then it goes back to the lead-up, and then back to the verse section. The mid-section is cool, where she keeps singing the vocals from the lead-up section, and then it goes to the lead-up and finally the chorus again. Larissa's voice sounds great in this song. This is the longest song on the record. And the last one.
It's a shame that there isn't anything else by this band around. They seemed to have a lot of talent and artistry to their craft. Larissa Stolarchuk, the band's vocalist, went on to play guitar in the band, the "Laughing Hyenas". She passed away in 2006. Still, while only three songs long, is a very good sort of footprint for any band to leave, really. They really should have done more. Who knows how many other even better L-Seven songs there are that were never recorded?
Year: 1978 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Slash Records Tracks: 3 Length: 5 Minutes (Very Short) Style: Demented/Rebellious My Rating: 7/8
The Germs were one of the greatest punk rock bands of their time. Formed in 1977 by Darby Crash (who was at the time Bobby Pyn) and Pat Smear, they're considered the first hardcore punk band, but that is up for dispute. I believe Black Flag actually formed a year before them, but the Germs were releasing records before Black Flag, so who the hell knows?
This is the second Germs release. It marks the "cleanest" point in their career -- the Germs were no longer a just-joking-around group that didn't even attempt to play music, but Darby Crash was not yet as fucked-up by drugs as he'd get about a year later. And unlike the previous single, the album's lyrics are slightly more coherent (not very, though). And yes, I think that's Adolf Hitler on the cover. Darby was said to have an infatuation with Hitler, as he supposedly thought of himself as a cult-of-personality-type figure. This record actually probably goes into more detail in describing that aspect of him more than any other Germs record.
1. Lexicon Devil Like I just said, it's a song describing the mentality of a leader seeking power and control. As for the music itself, it's got a really cool riff, extremely catchy in that aspect. They re-recorded the song for "(GI)", but this version is more famous with fans.
2. Circle One Faster than "Lexicon Devil". The lyrics are pretty much a poem in which Darby Crash rhymes his name with a bunch of stuff that you could say that he was. When the Germs were around, "Circle One", I believe, was actually some sort of cult/group that centered around Darby that some of the Germs' fans were apart of. Not much is known about it, but they say he could have had a much larger following if he wanted. The riff to the song is pretty catchy like "Lexicon Devil". This was the first Germs song I ever heard.
3. No God An anthem to Atheism. Darby Crash sings about how he grew to learn that there wasn't a God and how he believes it to be a creation of human beings in itself. Personally, I'm an agnostic, but I still found a little comfort in this song when I was feeling persecuted for leaving my church. The song's tempo is similar to that of "Lexicon Devil". The riff is fucking awesome, and the vocals are really aggressive, here, and pretty sloppy as well (part of what I love about the Germs). The riff in the mid-section is even better than the verses. They shot a music video for this song at Target Video in '78.
So, that's "Lexicon Devil". The themes here seem to be power, religion, and insanity. Every song on this record is considered iconic to Germs fans, and they're probably the most well-known Germs songs that there are. After this record, Darby Crash supposedly started getting into heroin, and they were beginning to banned from most clubs for their apparent destructive behavior on-stage. For those who weren't into their more noise-oriented stuff, this record solidified them as a band. They went on to record "(GI)" in 1979, which was slightly less accessible than this one, but more accessible than "Forming". This album has the most linear sound of the three. So, if ya like the Germs, you've probably already heard this one. But if you haven't, give it a try!
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise Label: Alternative Tentacles Tracks: 7 Length: 21 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Weird/Funny My Rating: 6/8
After the Butthole Surfers' first LP, they began recording what would be "Psychic, Powerless... Another Man's Sac" in 1984. However, when recording issues came up, the Buttholes reportedly had a financial need to release another album. And so, they released a live record, "Live PCPPEP" on Alternative Tentacles to supplement this. This is the first instance of a clown on a Butthole Surfers album cover.
The album is mostly made up of live versions of most of the songs on "Butthole Surfers", but there's two new songs as well: "Cowboy Bob", a song that would later appear on the next record, and "Dance of the Cobras", a short, bizarre noise piece.
1. Cowboy Bob A different version of this song was on "Psychic, Powerless... Another Man's Sac". I like this version better, though, to be honest. It's a little slow in most parts, and it utilizes Gibby's saxophone talents, as Paul Leary screams line a maniac, and Gibby wails.
2. Bar-B-Q Pope This is pretty similar to the song on the first record, except inbetween the verses, Gibby is doing a mile-a-minute imaginary sports commentary, probably tripping on acid 'er something. The studio version is still superior, though. I thought Paul's vocals sounded more hilarious on the original version.
3. Dance of the Cobras This track never really appeared anywhere else. Not even sure if it quite counts as a "song" as much as just a noise-jam. Just bass guitar and saxophone sounds for about half a minute.
4. The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave Once again, like the original, but slightly inferior. The beats in the instrumental sections aren't as fast, and the lines seem a little more forced, here. Still, it's the Butthole Surfers. End of Side 1.
5. Wichita Cathedral Starts with the little bass-thingy, which lasts a lot longer than the studio versions's does. Otherwise, this song is pretty much the same as the studio version.
6. Hey This one begins a lot slower than the studio version. They usually started "Hey" off a lot slower when it was played live. However, like the studio version, it gets a lot faster in the halfway section onwards.
7. Something Much like "Hey", they played "Something" really slow live. This version is two fucking minutes longer than the studio version. Ends with Gibby Haynes talking to the crowd.
So, this was the first Butthole Surfers live album. Not quite as epic of proportions as "Double Live", but it's still somewhat solid (heh, "solid"). In my opinion, the main reason to get it iz the badass version of "Cowboy Bob", or if you wanna hear what "Dance of the Cobras" sounds like. The sound quality is pretty nice for a 1984 live record. BUTTHOOOOOOOLDFLEELEELFSLE;GLS;'GL';FLG DFDKLGJFDGS[PSDGPSFGSLD6576GHJKJ
Year: 1982 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise, Post-Punk Label: SST Records Tracks: 14 Length: 21 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Angry/Weird My Rating: 7/8
Hardcore-Punk's two main strongholds in the United States were in Los Angeles and New York City. However, somewhere out in the desert in Arizona were a couple of bored-ass punks who decided to start their own band. Less than a month ago, I reviewed their first record, "In a Car", a five-minute EP which was almost nothing but extremist thrash with almost ridiculous-sounding screamed vocals which were extremely unintelligible. Well, for the most part, this album is even more of that, but it marks the start of a transition towards a later sound that the band would become more famous (or infamous) for. There are two covers of old country songs, "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds" and "Walking Boss". There are also a few slower songs, and there is a more prevalent psychedelic LSD-inspired sound throughout the record.
1. Reward A pretty fast song with trippy-sounding guitar and more weird, meat-puppety vocals. Not a very long song.
2. Love Offering Similar beat to the previous song. Curt Kirkwood sounds like a kid with Down's Syndrome, here.
3. Blue-Green God Some twangy guitar noises in this one. More aggressive vocals here, sounding like Darby Crash or something. It's pretty cool. Nobody ever really told us what color God was before this song came out, anyways.
4. Walking Boss This is a cover of a song by Doc Watson. And so, it's slower than a lot of the other songs on here. This is about as clear as the lyrics get, here. It's a little quieter, as well. There's a solo about one minute and twenty seconds in. This is the longest song on the album.
5. Melons Rising My favorite song on the record! This is about as insane as the album gets, and it's pretty close to what you'd hear on "In a Car". Basically demented screams, a very fast beat, and fuzzed-out guitars. I love how Curt's voice sounds the most in the first "verse" for some reason. It's under a minute long.
6. Saturday Morning A very good song. This one starts slow, but it gets really cool and fast halfway through. Ends with a guitar-solo.
7. Our Friends This is an instrumental. It's pretty slow, too. It actually reminds me a lot of Flipper (the band). It's got that slower beat, bass-driven melody, with a layer of trashy guitar-noize in the foreground. I find something very beautiful in that. This song ends Side 1.
8. Tumblin' Tumbleweeds Another country song. It's a cover of a song by Bob Nolan. And it's slow. However, I doubt the original sounded nearly as crazy is this. According to the band, they were really tripping on LSD when they recorded this entire album. It really shows, here. And I love it.
9. Milo, Sorghum, and Maize An instrumental song. Begins with a strange little jam, but then the song really kicks off into the fast-n-hard mode about one-third into it.
10. Meat Puppets A SONG named after the BAND! It's got a weird lead-driven riff, groovy bass, and more raging vocals. The riff gets even cooler at about a minute into the song.
11. Playing Dead Another song I really like off of this record! This one has a pretty nice intro, but then the first verse starts and the song gets more aggressive. The vocals aren't quite as loud, here, but the rest of the music makes up for it.
12. Litter Box A little box is a place where cats like to shit. I coulda sworn I actually heard Curt use WORDS in this one part of the song! This song iz pretty short.
13. Electromud Shortest song on the album. It's also the fastest! It's pretty similar to "Melons Rising" in those aspects, as well as the vocals. There's also a solo in this song.
14. The Gold Mine This one's pretty fast as well. I really enjoy Curt Kirkwood's raving maniac vocals throughout this album. It almost speaks to a certain part of brain 'er something. Unfortunately, the song isn't very long, so it ends with a few seconds of feedback. So does the album. So, I guess that means we're at the end.
Even more-so than the "In a Car" EP, this album, to me anyways, paints a picture of an almost ridiculous amount of rage and energy accumulated in those of us who are fucked-up, stuck in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to go, but seein' the same shit everywhere over and over again. I base this on nothing, however. All I'm sayin' is that if being into punk rock in the rural midwest makes you feel like crap at times, being into punk rock in the rural southwest has gotta be even shittier. Maybe. I hear they have a lot of acid down there... Anyways, not long after this came out, the band began writing more mellow, psychedelic songs (which they already were bordering on doing here) for their third record, which would be released in 1984, "Meat Puppets II". Curt Kirkwood would take up new, strange musical talents like USING WORDS to sing, as well as other stuff that I'm probably forgetting. As a result, the Meat Puppets started to alienate their hardcore-punk audience. Still, they likely were alienating them in the first place, since they never really whined about Ronald Reagan or stuff like that that a lot of popular bands at the time did then (sort of like how a band would criticize George W. Bush or even Barack Obama nowadays), and they had long hair n' stuff as well. But as for this album... well, it's pretty simple. Many of the songs follow a similar theme, but there's still a lot of diversity.
Year: 2009 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Noise Label: FastMade Recordings Tracks: 7 Length: 12 Minutes (Short) Style: Angry/Weird My Rating: 6/8
Vendetta, one of the various bands from the European noise-punk scene (I'm not too keen on using "grunge" to describe bands that play faster music), formed in 2007, and the band is from France. I do not know a whole ton about them, except that the band incorporates elements of noise-rock and hardcore into their sound, and it's quite nice. This EP is up for listen on the band's MySpace page, as well as some demos and a live cut.
1. Outside Girl Starts relatively cleanly, until that clean-ness is destroyed by fucking DIRTY guitars and yelling. This song sounds pretty Black Flag-inspired to some degree, but places more emphasis on the raw speed, noise, and energy. I can't understand the lyrics 'cause this band sings in a different language, but I can describe the song... aggressive, distorted, and noisy.
2. Bands Beach I really like this one. As the title might imply, listening to this song makes me think about walking along a beach at night time. It's an instrumental track. A slower beat than the previous track, and some psychedelic, peaceful-sounding guitars. It gets REALLY grungy right at the very end. It's a pretty song, though.
3. Run Run Run This is a fast song. More drunk-sounding singing from Gotch, the band's vocalist and guitarist. Very thrashy and distorted.
4. Bloody Blow Yet Another instrumental. Starts with a peaceful-sounding guitar intro. The drum-beat fades in, and the guitars get more aggressive and distorted. While initally slow, the song speeds up and there are phaser effects implemented. The song alternates between fastness and slowness.
5. TAB in Hell My least favorite song on the record. It's still alright, though. It's fast and heavy, like the first track.
6. Psychotic Reaction Fastest song on the album! Starts with a very fast beat, and then there's some singing. It's a very slam-dancy sorta song. They made a music video for this song.
7. 0$ Jam ANOTHER instrumental. Basically a total noise-fest that alternates between very fast and very slow. Pretty neat to listen to... unfortunately... that's all there is on this album! It's over!
In my opinion, Vendetta seems like a band with a lot of potential. They actually remind me of hardcore punk and noise-punk a lot more than grunge, yet they don't seem like they're clinging to any specific cliche or stereotype, and they have a lot of original elements. I just wish there was more... hopefully they'll do some more releases! The album reminds me the most of the Meat Puppets and Black Flag circa the early '80s. If you like those bands, you should check these guys out. Also, these guys are huge Nirvana fans, and there's a few Nirvana elements as well, so it's pretty good. It's a fresh, exciting soup of psychedelic punk madness! MySpace URL: www.myspace.com/bloodybloodyet
Year: 2002 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Epitaph Records Tracks: 12 Length: 28 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Angry/Emotional/Happy My Rating: 7/8
For the first time in awhile at least, the 00's were a fucking musical Dark Age. There was SO MUCH utter SHIT in the first decade of the 21st Century, it's not even funny. And yet, it wasn't entirely unbearable. Once in a great while, you could come across a great band like the Distillers. It's like finding a diamond in the shit. In an era where Brittany Spears, BrokenCYDE, Soulja Boy, N*SYNC, My Chemical Romance, Blink-182, and Lil' Wayne were the "hottest thing" among my peers and what the popular kids would listen to to try to look like "badasses", kids with actual taste in music were so fucking grateful when they'd find a band that had no bullshit and could actually write good songs. I was, at least. And the age of SHIT-MUSIC is not quite over yet, so I still am. However, the Distillers left us in 2006, so they're not really anything that new.
Now, not everybody liked the Distillers. Because Brody Dalle was married to Tim Armstrong of Rancid for a few years, a lot of sexist fuckfaces liked to accuse Brody of having Tim write songs for her, and that the Distillers were nothing more than a female-fronted version of Rancid. They also accuse Brody of being a "whore". Look how many fucking MEN in rock n' roll sleep around, and nobody cares! I swear, some of these fucking douchebags just like to keep their women under control. If that's the case, then I'd love to rip their balls off. Anyways, back to my point, no, I actually think the Distillers were a much better band than Rancid. Sure, they might have been musically similar in a few ways, but the Distillers' charm is mainly in the fact that Brody is quite skilled at writing good plain old rock songs. Good chord progressions, good lyrics, good beats, good vocals... y'know, the stuff that makes a band listenable. Sing-Sing Death House isn't much of a difference from their debut LP, style-wise, but the old fire is still with 'em at this point. These are pretty much the songs that would've been on that first record if there were enough room for 'em. And they're great songs. Time to talk about 'em.
1. Sick of it All Arguably my favorite song on the album. It's a hard-edged song about problems among teenagers in this era, such as self-starvation, school shootings... still the confused protagonists of the song have one thing to keep 'em alive -- punk rock n' roll! Brody does some really good vocal melodies here, especially in the "pull the fuckin' trigger 'cause I'm sick of it all" line. The song starts very fast, and the "we are kids" end-section of the song is slightly more easy-going, but still fast and energetic.
2. I Am a Revenant As you can see, they put the two best songs at the beginning. And that's okay, I guess. It's similar to "Sick of it All" in the fact that it's a mostly very fast song that ends a little slower, but the lyrical content is a slight bit more uplifting. Wonderful vocal harmonies in this one. This is one of the greatest songs of its time, in my opinion.
3. Seneca Falls An athemic song dedicated to the various battles for Womens' Rights that have taken place throughout the ages. It's another fastie like the two songs before it. As I said before, it's got a lot of historically-oriented lyrics. Hell, the lyrics to this song could be written as a history text-book. Kinda like the "Red Carpet and Rebellion", but a little happier.
4. The Young Crazed Peeling This one's slower than the three songs before it. There's a music video for it, with the band performing in a white room and walking through the city. It's basically Brody singing about her lame childhood and how it's all better now. This was the first Distillers song I ever heard. I don't regret it one bit.
5. Sing Sing Death House This one's really thrashy. Basically an angry, fast, short, abrasive song of internal torment. Very nice vocals.
6. Bullet and the Bullseye Very similar to the previous track, style-wise. Not a ton I can say, except that I thought the line "You think I'm a sucker, aw, you're fuckin' sick -- the only thing I suck is my man's DICK!" was unintentionally pretty funny.
7. City of Angels Another one of the first songs by the band I ever heard. It's probably the most mainstream-sounding song on the album, and there's a music video for it. Basically a very up-beat song about the grim underside of Los Angeles.
8. Young Girl This is a more finished version of the hidden track on the album before this. It has backing vocals, bass, and a beat. It's about Brody's friend who was abused by another man as a child.
9. Hate Me Damn, listen to her SCREAM! This is a pretty fast song, and the lyrics can't really be deciphered, 'cause Brody screams more high-pitched here than any other Distillers song there is.
10. Desperate A fast song that's supposedly about drug addiction. It's pretty short, but it's good. Great vocals.
11. I Understand Starts with the line "Hey, double-bubble, I'll give you a ride", which is followed by a scream. A fast, mostly bass-driven song. It's a song about how Brody felt like her awful teenage years destroyed her in some ways.
12. Lordy Lordy This one has almost a country-ish sound to it. Similar theme to the previous song, except in a more present-tense viewpoint. Not very long, but it's not a bad closer for the al-bum.
So, I don't care what anyone has to say about what I'm about to say: this is one of the greatest albums of its time. The songs are just good. It needs no fluff. It needs no musical complexity. This is just a really good ROCK album. After this album was released, the Distillers went on to sign with Sire Records, and Casper Rose Mazolla left the band, leaving Brody as the only remaining member of the original lineup. I was so happy when I found out about this band, and I'm still glad that I did. If you're a fan of Hole, Rancid, or the Gits, you might end up liking this a lot... hell, I hope you like it anyways! Good album. One of the best albums of the decade.
Year: 1983 Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: 13th Floor Records Tracks: 9 Length: 27 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Rebellious My Rating: 8/8
Social Distortion is a band much more well-known for their country-punk hybrid brand of music that they play nowadays, but at one point, they were one of the musically best hardcore bands of their time. Like "Group Sex" by the Circle Jerks, this album paints a picture of the feelings and motives of punks back in the early '80s who wanted to escape mainstream society which seemed destined to self-destruct and live their own way of life.
The album's music is a lot more melodic than its peers at the time, but it doesn't overdo it, it mixes musicalness with edge, so it doesn't sound like some pathetic political form of pop-punk that tries to pass itself off as "hardcore". It's more aggressive than the later Social Distortion releases, and it was released before Mike Ness's heroin addiction nearly did him in a couple years later... still, he recovered, and the band still performs and has released music to this day. This my favorite album by them, however. There are some really great song here...
1. The Creeps (I Just Wanna Give You) This song fades in, and it's much faster than the other songs on this album. Not the best song on the album, but it's an alright opener, I suppose. What is yet to come is much better, however.
2. Another State of Mind Starts with tinkling brass cymbals and a clean guitar lead. The rest of the instruments blast in, and Mike Ness delivers some great vocals which already sound like his familiar singing style. Seems to be describing a protagonist's feelings for a girl that he loves. It's a pretty good song!
3. It Wasn't a Pretty Picture You can already feel the slight country element coming in at this point. The song describes the hardships and problems experienced by those who live in the city, such as prostitutes, bums, corrupt politicians, drug-using children, etc. Very grim lyrics, but the music has a slightly optimistic side to it.
4. Telling Them Totally my favorite song on the album. Starts with an alright solo, but it really gets good when the rhythm guitar starts playin', as well as the bass and drums. The lyrics are about a young punk who is bored of daytime life which consists of drinking, working, and getting harassed by his parents, but loves to have fun at punk rock shows at night. The music is really fucking inspirational for any teenager who has rebellion issues and just wants to break free and have some fun. What I really like here is the little subtleties in the rhythm guitar during the verses. There's almost an aquatic quality to it if you listen to it really closely. Seems to be almost a personification of pent-up energy being released in a relatively calm manner. The end of Side 1.
5. Hour of Darkness This is another great one. It's got a similar beat to the previous song, but it's slightly more down-beat, lyrically and musically. Deals with a destructive lifestyle and a fear of imminent death. Ends with a nice solo, seeming to imply some sort of bad incident.
6. Mommy's Little Monster This iz another good song. It sounds happier than the previous song. It's about "Mommy's Little Monster", who could be pretty much any punk who ran away from a middle-class suburban life to go live a lifestyle which is more exciting and rewarding to them. Getting drunk, doing drugs, playing in bands, seeing bands... their parents are shocked when they see what they've become, especially when compared to the lives their siblings are living.
7. Anti-Fashion A song attacking mainstream fashion and the way of life of the "popular crowd", which is laughable to most punks. Faster than a lot of the other songs on this record.
8. All the Answers This song is really fun. The lyrics are about how the public at the time were seeing the punk rockers as a threat to American society and didn't know what to make of them. Ends with the line "and you thought you had all the answers...". This song is really good!
9. Moral Threat Has a rather "epic" intro... finally, the crashing drums and more rhythmic cymbals signify the starting of the song. The song starts and Mike Ness starts singing. The line is basically the anthem of an alienated punk to the parts of society that have rejected him/her 'cause "cause you didn't like my looks, 'cause I'm not in fashion books." There's a long, slow instrumental mid-section that iz very cool and adds a lot of variety to the song. The song ends with the chorus repeated one more time. End of the album.
After this album, Mike Ness started to deal with a very nasty heroin addiction, until he finally got his act back together circa 1986 to '87. The band's music following this album would start to take on a more Johnny Cash-inspired flavor, but still with plenty of punk attitude. This, however, is my favorite, since it seems to be sung from a teenage point of view, and the songs on this one are just really fuckin' good. I consider this album to be my third-favorite record from the 1980s. Definitely give this a try!
