Year: 1980 Genre: Punk Rock Label: Posh Boy Records Tracks:6 Length: 6 Minutes Style:Fun My Rating: 6/8
Before the famous pop-punk group known as REDD KROSS was REDD KROSS, they were "Red Cross". And before that, they were "The Tourists". But this EP is by Red Cross, and even though it would have been short enough to be on a 7", it's a 12" EP. The band was only in middle-school when they formed, so they were really young when they started making music! And I haven't heard much Red Cross/Redd Kross besides that cool song they wrote for "Desperate Teenage Lovedolls", so now it's time to listen to the first Red Cross record:
1. Cover Band This song makes fun of cover bands, playing nothing but popular (and boring) songs that everyone knows and that they're unable to write their own music. The riff reminds me of "Mildred Pierce" by Sonic Youth, though this song was written 10 years earlier, so really it's the other way around. Cool beat, also.
2. Annette's Got the Hits Awesome heavy guitar riff and awesome beat, also. ANNETE'S... GOT THE HITS! Real catchy n' cool and a bit slow, but in a good way. A fun party anthem.
3. I Hate My School This is a song about how the band hates school and cheerleaders and jocks and their social conformity, and how they can't wait to graduate. The riff is catchy and sort of poppy. The beat rules, also!
4. Clorox Girls This song makes fun of California girls who try to be all tan at the beach but bleach their hair blonde, resulting in a really un-natural look to the point where their hair looks white! This one's good a guitar solo at the end.
5. S&M Party This song is really fucking good! The riff and the singing is awesome. It's about getting beaten for pleasure at an S&M party! What fun.
6. Standing in Front of Poseur Some of their voices haven't even changed, yet! This song has a different vocalist, and he sounds like a fucking girl... but he's still a good singer. STANDING IN FRONT OF POSEUR. I swear he's screaming "HOOKER" half the time... I think he is! Cool chords.
So far, I'm sold on Redd Kross. Every song on this EP was real cool to listen to. At this point, the band's lineup was Jeff McDonald (vox), Greg Hetson (guitar), Ron Reyes (drums), and Steve McDonald (bass), in case you're wondering -- actually, I didn't know Ron Reyes was in Red Cross... that's pretty awesome. So definitely check this out. It's a very cool little record from Posh Boy Records, and all of you pop-punk posers should listen to this if you wanna hear how it's SUPPOSED to be done!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. S&M Party 2. Annette's Got the Hits 3. I Hate My School
THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Year: 1966 Genre: Psychedelic Rock Label: International Artists Records Tracks:11 Length: 35 Minutes Style:Emotional/Weird My Rating: 7/8
The 13th Floor Elevators were an awesome psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 by Roky Erickson in Texas, and this iz their first album! And it's very cool, all of this music is great, especially for Roky being only 19 years old and it being so old. That and it's pretty good. I mean, geez, they've even got someone playing an ELECTRIC JUG. A JUG... that is a container used to hold liquid, correct? Why would you even bother making it electric, and WHY would you? So you could make awesome sounds for the 13TH FLOOR ELEVATRES, that iz why! Maybe it was filled with a MAAAGICAL kind of alcohol that made funny noises when you bubbled it up. Well, you'll hear plenty of that in this album, but the songs themselves are real great as well, so what the hell am I doing still talking about magic furniture (note: the author of this article does not actually believe a jug to fit the qualifications necessary for it to be considered a piece of furniture and opinions expressed by the author this article may not be endorsed by the author of this article) and let's CUT TO THE CHASE!
1. You're Gonna Miss Me One of the coolest songs ever! Reminds me of a hot summer night listening to this song with not much to do, but God, this song is so fun to listen to! The riff is great and sounds very good, and the rough screamin' vocals and the weird little jug sounds give it all a distinct, otherworldly but friendly atmosphere and I need to listen to this while being high on something to totally enjoy its flavor, I feel. But yeah, this is one of the coolest songs ever and it's the first song I heard by the band and the only one that got sorta famous, they say. Man, how the hell could they have locked Roky up after listening to THIS? Well, it's a real euphoric feeling song. Cool harmonica solo, also. Roky wrote it for a previous band when he was only 16!
2. Roller Coaster This one's a little more depressing and slow. A lot more bass. The chorus part is cool, and that giggling jug just keeps on at it. The song speeds up after the first chorus and I thought that was pretty cool. It's like a hangover in the beginning but then it gets better. It encourages people to try acid because it will open up your mind and allow you to see things from a wider point of view. Cool guitar solo at the end.
3. Splash 1 (Now I'm Home) Awesome guitar sound. The chorus that goes "now I'm home..." sounds absolutely beautiful. The whole melody does, really.
4. Reverbation (Doubt) This one's a little more upbeat. Reminds me of punk rock a little bit. Roky sings, and the backing vocalist sings in a falsetto voice. The riff is real tough and fiery sounding. It's like taking off in your car/motorcycle or whatever and riding off into a giant horizon of fiery rocks. Man, Roky really can sing! The sound at the very end reminds me of a very annoying fly...
5. Don't Fall Down DON'T FALL DOWN... that's the repeated the chorus line, as Roky sings the lyrics corresponding to this line. I really love the guitar melody here, and the nice happy jug and yeah, it's all fucking awesome! I'm not sure if the woman being referred to in this song is a drug metaphor or an actual girl (maybe you are both on drugs together, ohohoho).
6. Fire Engine The song kicks off with the sounds of fire engine! The riff is awesome and everything's just melting and bubbling around all at once, but it all works together to sound real good. "AYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAAUGHHH" - something that Roky Erickson totally said in this song.
7. Thru the Rhythm Another totally great tune from this album. This song once again encourages the search for absolute truth and for people to commit "knowledge crimes" against the oppressor and the hall of mirrors and illusions elaborately painted throughout the walls of the world. Musically, the riff is great, all of the guitar playing is so awesome, the beat is cool, the bass guitar cannot be neglected, and the jug spices things up too. It feels real relaxing but it has this energy to it at the same time. Do whatever you want to this music, man. Total freedom?
8. You Don't Know (How Young You Are) I like this one a lot. It's another love-problems type of song like "You're Gonna Miss Me", but in a little more of a down-to-earth way. The guitar melody is so beautiful -- hell, the whole song is, but that definitely is a huge part of it. You can hear a little bit of acoustic guitar played alongside the electric ones as well. The song changes to a different part around the end.
9. Kingdom of Heaven A bit of a scarier, more ominous-sounding song. It's pretty slow too. The bass riff just throbs and pounds like that, but then climbs upwards briefly periodically.
10. Monkey Island MONKEY ISLAND! WHERE ALL OF THE MONKEYS LIVE! This song is really happy-sounding, and the jug here somewhat sounds like a monkey here. Which is funny. Monkeys are funny. They eat bananas and throw coconuts at people and they live in trees. However, monkeys are unable to see Roky. They just believe he's there. Roky Erickson is the figment of a monkey's imagination... which reminds me of this one time when I was about 8 years old where I had a dream that I was alive and then it turned out that reality was all just a dream had by a monkey. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
11. Tried to Hide Wookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawookawooka. The lead guitar is kinda cool. Cling-a-cling. The song's good, but it's a bit overshadowed by the other songs on the LP.
Well, man, that was puh-sykadelick. Too bad I was sober the whole time! Maybe a sugar rush here and there, but I doubt that even happened... does my Tootsie Pop I'm having right nauw count? GOD ONLY KNOWS. THAT THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS HAD PUT OUT A GOOD ALBUM IN THE YEAR OF 1966, AND YESSIR, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS YOU BIG BUTTHOLE. MEANING THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE A BIG BUTTHOLE. LIKE COWS. THEY HAVE PRETTY FUCKING HUGE BUTTHOLES. AND GUESS WHAT ELSE? THERE WAS A COW ON THE BAND'S FINAL ALBUM COVER AND THAT COW WENT ON TO FORM A BAND KNOWN AS THE COWS AND KEVIN RUTMANIS WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE IN THAT BAND AND THEN HE WOULD GO ON TO JOIN THE MELVINS AND HOLY SHIT REALITY IS CAVING IN ON ITSELF, OHGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for the ultimate LSD-induced knowledge trip. If pretending you know something is mental masturbation, then actually knowing something must be getting laid mentally... it'd be like, you're looking at a girl/guy and you just keep on looking at eachother, knowing that there's totally something goin' on that others can't see, and neither can you, but MAN, YOU CAN FUCKING FEEL IT. It's that look. It's like the eyes are kissing. The irises would be like the lips, and the pupils would be like the actual mouth... and if you go far enough down, you'd find out that the eyes go back into the head and into the brain, which is the STOMACH of the head, and your EYES intake the knowledge through the PUPILS, which is the MOUTH of the head... wait, what?
So, 13th Floor Elevators? Two thumbs up. Listen to this album. It is cool. Like cats. Cats are cool. I'll bet a lot of cats have listened to this album. And they loved it. Because they're soft and fuzzy and cute and they're mean. Which is funny. Cats are funny. They have little tails, also. So do dogs. A lot of animals have tails, really. A baby bird without feathers vaguely resembles a lizard, I've also found. Hell, a baby robin even looks a bit like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (without the mask or opposable thumbs), and THAT'S a hell of a stretch, but I know you're willing to make the leap bekuz YOU'VE GOT THE POWAH. And that's what this iz all about. POWAH. POWAH TO THE PEOPLE. POWAH IN YOUR MIND, which is something this album seems to promise, but I just wanted to know if it was okay if Little Jimmy got a boner while reading about facesitting. Okay?
Top 3 Favorites: 1. You're Gonna Miss Me 2. You Don't Know (How Young You Are) 3. Thru the Rhythm
Year: 1985 Genre: Punk Rock Label: DSI Records Tracks:6 Length: 9 Minutes Style:Funny My Rating: 6/8
Y'alls have probably heard of the legendary dead dog-raping, baby-killing mutated band from Antarctica known as GWAR, and if you know about THEM you might also know about Dave Brockie's (who NEVER EVER sang for GWAR at all) "involvement" with the band, and, well, before GWAR, and even parallel to GWAR in their first few years, he was also in a band called "Death Piggy". The first Death Piggy EP (which was reviewed on the site earlier this year) was mostly fast, funny, food-oriented hardcore punk, and this is the second Death Piggy EP which is a bit more musically distinct (even moreso than already) than "Love War", and the songs are slower and more just straight-forward funny funky punky rock. So let's review, shall we?
1. Welcome Fast with a lead guitar riff, and this is interrupted for Dave talking in a hilariously lethargic voice to say "WELCOME TO THE RECORD. ONE TWO THREE FOUR.", and then the music continues. Not for long, though.
2. Boner This one is a laugh-out-loud riot fuckfest. Styled vaguely after '50s rock & roll, this song's about a guy with a boner so big that it causes women all over the world to become immensely horny! Here's just one really funny line from the song: "Y'KNOW HE'S COMIN', HE'S COMIN' TO TOWN -- AND WHEN HE GETS HERE, HE'S GONNA FUCK YOU". What a boneriffic little tune!
3. Showbiz This one has a really cool weird lead guitar riff and a nice little bass guitar melody as well. This song tells people to come down to where "all your friends live", which is Showbiz... Showbiz Pizza?? Home of the animatronic rock band, the "Rock-a-Fire Explosion"?! God damn, how'd I be for sure? Yep, he even guarantees a great birthday experience there.
4. Dinner in the Morning This is a faster song about eating dinner at all of the different times of day. Dave sings in a very bizarre falsetto voice during random points of the song and expresses his wish to be a supervisor. He does kind of sound a bit like Jello Biafra. And that's the end of Side A.
5. Whippin' Round the Bay What does "whipping 'round the bay" even mean? Golly, why don't someone tell me already? Anyways, this song is a bit more of an emotional moment, but still humorous, lyrically. There's lots of sounds of seagulls and ocean waves, and the song starts out acoustic and then segues into an electric melody with swooping lead guitar bits and it has a really good, touching melody that kinda melts your soul a little bit. "I've got Daddy's charge card, hey hey hey hey...". LUMPY LUMPY LUMPY LUMPY. This is the longest song on the EP, being almost four minutes long.
6. Ceramic Butt The guitar sounds real fuzzed-out and awesome. And the beat is about as cool as they come. The lyrics are real surrealistic and it's all totally cool, but unfortunately, the song fades out a little too soon.
Well, that's all for now. The record is sadly long out of print and very rare, and its songs (as well as everything else by Death Piggy) can be found on a compilation CD known as "Smile or Die", which in turn is also out of print and quite rare, so FUCK ME IN THE ASS WITH A NIPPLE SANDWICH gee, that really sucks. But you'll probably find it somewhere eventually, or just do what I did and illegally download it -- TAKE THAT, ALL YOUR HARD WORK YOU SLAVED AWAY FOR JUST TO PUT OUT A COUPLE DEATH PIGGY RECORDS IN THE '80S AND I SHAT UPON IT BY DEFILING THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM BY WHICH YOUR LIFE DEPENDS, DAVID BROCKIE... no, I didn't mean that. Life iz good. But anyways, yeah, it's crazier n' funnier than the first one. It's like, it's FUNNY, and it's PUNK, so you could really call it "FUNK", but that's already the name of a musical genre SO I GUESS WE'RE PRETTY DERN SCREWED IN THIS CASE, BUDDY.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Whippin' Round the Bay 2. Boner 3. Ceramic Butt
Year: 2010 Genre: Hardcore Punk Label: Survive Records Tracks:5 Length: 8 Minutes Style:Angry/Political My Rating: 5/8
Total Trash is yet another cool new hardcore band from Toronto, Ontario. Having just formed earlier this year, this is their demo tape and it's got about five songs on it which are pretty cool, so let's reveu (pronounce it "rev-wah") it, now shall we? But before that, here's a few more details about the band: well... um... shit... I really don't know what the names of the band members are... crap. Well, let's see if I can identify any by looking at a picture of the band playing...
...
...
...
Let's see, that's... a straight-edge guy with glasses playing the guitar... I'll call him "Ian". And then, on the other guitar, there's a man wearing an Agnostic Front shirt... we'll call him "Agnes"... the singer is wearing a red shirt and making the shape of a sickle and hammer with his two arms so he's obviously a communist and his name is going to be "Joseph". And the drummer is invisible so he'll be called "Invisibo". That's right, Joseph (vocals), Ian (guitar), Agnes (bass/other guitar?), and Invisibo (drums). Now, time to talk about the songs.
1. Gregor Samsa Awesome beat and a heavy bass riff. The singer sounds like a cross between Mike Muir and the dude from Bad Choice. As you might expect, the song gets a lot faster halfway through and the riff changes and it's sloppy but cool. Too bad there's no lyrics, as I always say (except for cases in which there ARE lyrics). Who IS Gregor Samsa, anyways?
2. Socially Fucked Another cool riff. Really hot and fuzzy-sounding. SOCIALLY FUCKED! SOCIALLY FUCKED! C'MON KIDDIEZ, SING ALONG WITH ME!! The bridge section has the coolest riff, even if it's just two chords. Sounds good together.
3. Sanitize Me Pretty similar to the previous song -- fast, angry, cool riffage. No idea what he's singing about, still. Wish I gnu. Cool lead guitar stuff on this song.
4. No Freedom The song starts out slow, and the riff is fucking awesome and the beat rules during this part. Then the song gets really fast! After that, there's another slower part with a cool beat where Joseph shouts "NO FREEDOM!", which is succeeded by another really fast part.
5. No York This one's fast but not as fast as all the other ones. It's a big diss to New York, condemning the snobs and posers and Joseph proclaims that "this fucking city ain't for me". I can actually kind of understand the lyrics to this song. The riff is cool also. And th-th-th-ththth-thTHAT'S ALL, FUX!
Sometimes I wonder if they were named after the song by Sonic Youth or not. That would be cool if they like Sonic Youth... who were from NO YORK as well. So maybe not. Who NOSE, anymore, right? Hopefully they'll be around more to put out more stuff, 'cuz they're pretty good. A bit generic, but still good. So I hope you enjoyed my review. I will hopefully be back tomorrow.
Year: 2009 Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Pop Label: HoZac Records Tracks:2 Length: 6 Minutes Style:Happy/Relationship My Rating: 6/8
The Girls at Dawn aer a trio from Brooklyn (New York, United States, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Universe, Plane of Existence, God's Butthole, etc.) that formed in 2008 and their musical style is very '60s-influenced with a lot of elements of psychedelic rock, '60s garage rock, and maybe even a little punk. The band's members are: Erin Campbell (guitar), Ana Economou (bass guitar), and Sarah Baldwin (drums). All three sing, often in harmonies, and the music has sort of a childish innocent quality to it. This is the band's first release ever, and it's a 7" single with two songs on it (wouldn't that make it a DOUBLE? hmm...). Anyways, here's what I've got to say about the songs.
1. Never Enough Definitely an old-fashioned pop song. It has a nice bouncy beat, jangly guitar sounds, friendly sing-songy vocals and a synth organ, also. The lyrics are about love and holding hands and missing your lover and stuff. Pretty much how I feel about the girl I like, even though I've never even touched her before! Da-na-na-na-na... blahblahblahblah... stuff like that. This music would put a baby sleep... if it was POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL!!!
2. Every Night I like this one better. The riff is really good and the vocals fit well with it and the vocal harmonies sound good. Particularly I enjoy the verse part, that part's real good. Everything sounds like it was recorded in a cave, like the song before it. Lots of echo-ey stuff goin' on, here.
There you have it. The single from ze Girls at DAWN. If you like this, they also have an EP and an album out for you to listen to, so enjoy the music, especially if you like really old music and shit like that. Or the Velvet Underground on anti-depressants with just a bunch of happy singing girls. I really liked "Every Night", but I guess which one iz better is a matter of taste in this case. Both have more hooks than a chronic fisherman! But yeah, that's my review. Check them out on MySpace or something.
Coso. Is a band. From Buenos Aires, Argentinia. Also home of my good friend, FAKEIS751 (YouTube user-name). He has had some good stories to tell about their concerts. Which are noisy and weird and kool. AID. Sis a very bad disease to get and you should alwaeyz ware proctetion 'cuz ya jush nver now whoze gots it this day. And age... it's something that happens to us all, all the time. In fact, I'm pretty old now compared to how young I was when I first started typing this. Is my review of the one and only release by Coso (other than FAKEIS751's live 10/10/10 bootleg) and it's pretty gawdumdingdarn short and it'sh gawtz 5 songs on it so ya shuld stick around and try to hold all that SHIT up in your ANUS for just a little bits longah 'cuz FUCK ME SONOFABITCH we're gonna be reviewing this lil' nuglet in aboutz as long as the EP plaeys for. And, if you want to read this review really fast, you're just gonna need ta SCROLL DOWN REALLY FAST while wearing "Old McMotherFucker's Super-TinySight Glasses" so you can see all the words REAL GOOD), 'cuz I know some of y'alls need to take a dump real bad, just like myself... ahh, that's better. Y'see, it'd been two days (or more) since I last had a bowl movement, so it's no wonder I felt a bit upset up 'till today.
Well, the songs... they're all pretty short. It's kinda no-wavey... the songs are really short and barely melodic at all, no singing, and much abrasive energy. You'll like this if you dig Teenage Jezus & the Jerxx and Sonic Youth n' all those types of sexual music. Ah, what the hell am I saying, let's start this review, now shall we?
1. PP Untitled Awesome beat, a bunch of clattery ringing noises, and squeaky sounds on repeat. After that, we hear some a cool guitar chord repeated, and then it is succeeded by another guitar chord progression, and then it returns to a part more like the first part with even more fucked-up sounding squeaky noizes. Then in one part the beat gets twice as slow. Poiinnnng!
2. PP 1 Gee, they sure like to name their songs after URINE, now don't they? This one actually has kind of a melody to it on the guitar, and beneath that is a bunch of fucking around on the other guitar in lead and there's a slow beat. Some of the sounds made on the backing guitar get to sound pretty frantic.
3. Control Alt This song is the best one! It has a really cool beat and it has a really weird but awesome lead guitar melody. Kind of reminds me of driving through the desert, out in the middle of nowhere. It has a real cool feel to it and I love the beat too! Reminds me a bit of "Out in the Gardener" by the Meat Puppets.
4. Reset Temptation The first part of the song has a really chaotic, violent-sounding riff that sound like a bunch of monsters (or killer rabbits?) trying to attack you. The second half of the song is more bassy and thumping and it has a throbbing, angry riff. This one's pretty short like the song before it.
5. PP 8 A little quieter and slower. Just a thumping bass beat and some weird stroke combinations, and then after that there's a part where it's just a soft repeated note. Then a real loud chord and a few sparse snare hits make up the next part of the song. Keeping in tempo, the part after this is equally as loud but more consistent, and then after that it sounds like song is over, but then there's one more part that sounds like the previous section but more distorted, and then the song's really over. Ze ende.
That's the first Coso off'ring. You can listen to and download the entire EP from the band's MySpace page, or you can go to one of their shows and get an official CD copy! One thing I liked was that they kept the songs real short so it stayed interesting and nothing got too repetitive; everything stays in its place and you keep wanting more rather than everything getting hammered into your skull repeatedly. In some parts it reminded me like the Meat Puppets (for the psychedelic weird desert vibe), and much of it reminded me of Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (for the clangy abrasive sounds). And geezus christ, why don't make up your own lyrics since there AREN'T any? Sing them over the songs, and whaddaya know, you're the newest member of fucking Coso! Aren't you so gawsh-darn proud? Well, goodbye! Have losts of fun tonight.
Year: 1982 Genre: Post-Punk Label: Ruthless Records Tracks:6 Length: 20 Minutes Style:Angry My Rating: 5/8
Big Black was a band that formed in 1981 in Evanston, Illinois. Steve Albini, the frontman and main member of the band joined the Chicago punk scene in his college years, and the first incarnation of Big Black featured Steve singing and playing guitar with a Roland drum machine supplying the beats, due to being unable to find a drummer. Big Black was somewhat apart of the hardcore scene, but the music of Big Black progressed further beyond the conventions of hardcore and aside from the already unique-sounding electronic drumbeats, the music was very much influenced by '70s and early '80s post-punk, new wave, and no-wave, and very noisy and avant-garde sounding as well. Steve recorded his first Big Black EP all by himself during a spring break and this wuz the result.
1. Steelworker The lyrics are really really good. The beat is slow, and the guitar melody reminds me of a creepy spiderweb being spun. The song also uses imagery alluded to a hunter chasing down his food and killing it. GREAT BIG THING, CRAWLIN' ALL OVER ME.
2. Live in a Hole This one's a bit faster. The beat sounds like a gunshot! The guitar sound is fizzly and freaktastic. The song describes a man who digs in a hole for a living to be able to live and works so much that his hole is practically his home. I think, at least. The melody is pretty interesting. There's some saxophone, also.
3. Dead Billy Weird synth melody on this song. Slow like "Steelworker". I'm not entirely sure what this one's about... my mind's a little cloudy today, but there's a lot of reference to war and vietnam and pedophilia; perhaps 'Dead Billy' is a soldier in Vietnam who sexually abuses a girl and then kills her. Pretty fucked-up, in that regard. End of Side 1.
4. I Can Be Killed The lyrics here are almost as psycho as the last song! The beat is a lot faster and there's a neat electric-sounding New Wave melody with a little noise interspliced as well. That seriously is a really cool melody. Maybe it's a guitar with a weird effect. Could be both, man! Steve's voice sounds a little creepy, here.
5. Crack Reminds me a lot of "I Can Be Killed", musically. The lyrics are more spoken here, and it describes somebody whose life is finally working out well, only for everything to fall apart into shambles. Maybe the sadness of being rejected, or something like that. DUN-NUH!
6. RIP This song sounds a lot like the type of songs that would be heard on the next two EPs, "Bulldozer" and "Racer-X". It kinda sounds like it's about the government wanting to kill the poor to clear out overpopulation, and how they view the poor as "dirty" and "not looking quite right". I might be wrong, that's my guess. It's the shortest song, though.
Well, that's "Lungs" by Big Black. I've only started listening to Big Black recently, but this is a pretty good EP. I don't like it as much as "Bulldozer" or "Racer-X", but it iz still good, especially inspiring to know it was recorded by just one person! I guess early editions of this album came with all sorts of random goodies included, like razor blades, blood, hair, Public Image Limited concert tickets, squirt-guns, condoms, and other great things like that! It's like an angrier, more sick version of New Wave music, and they say it preceded the whole industrial rock thing as well, which sounded a bit similar to this sort of music. Steve Albini has gone on to be a figurehead in the underground music scene, so yes, I guess this makes this EP somewhat of an important release. The end.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. I Can Be Killed 2. Live in a Hole 3. Dead Billy
Year: 2008 Genre: Thrash Metal/Hardcore Punk Label: Hot Mass Records Tracks: 4 Length: 14 Minutes Style:Angry My Rating: 5/8
Ah, Seattle... home of, well, ROCK AND ROLL music. Black Breath is a crossover thrash/hardcore band from the area and this is their first release ever, called "Razor to Oblivion", and it's 12 inches wide and it's gawt four songs and the razor cuts the space-time fabric apart, which creates a tear leading to Oblivion. Makes sense, now don't it? Well, okay. There's two songs on four sides of the album. Wait, no, I meant two sides on each song of the -- SHIT, I mean two songs on two sides of the album! God DAMN IT. Anyways, that would be four songs. Which are on this album. The band consists of... well, I dunno. Maybe I should go ask 'em. But I'm lazy and I wanna get to the point, now. So hear I go.
1. Razor to Oblivion Fast beat and the song has a real bad-ass riff. The vocals are kinda scream-y, but they're still alright. This song is more of a straight-up hardcore song, but there's some good lead guitar scattered here n' there as well. Cool slow part in the middle. Then after that, there's a guitar solo. Good song.
2. Beneath the Crust The beat at the beginning of the song rules! The guitar riff here is a bit heavier-sounding. I like the alternating between two different beats during the verse section of the song, it's an awesome touch. After that, the song transitions into a part that's really fast like the first song. After this part, the song slows down briefly and there's a false stop with clock sounds and the last section is slow, and GOD DAMMIT, can this guy sing in any other voice? End of Side 1.
3. Fatal Error The intro to this song feels like a giant wood-chipper shredding up your skull. Once again, fast. Cool riff. Angry singing. The part around 1 minute and 30 seconds sounds cool. Then after that there's a slow part which is basically the same riff being played in a different tempo. Did he just say "poor little nigger"?
4. Murder This one's rather slow. Midway through the song gets a little faster. And then there's some pretty cool riff-age in another section of the track. Good drumming, definitely. The track that I have cuts off at about two minutes and thirty seconds, so I don't know what happens next. So that's all I know. Right now.
Well, it's a pretty decent listen, especially for fans of metal-influenced hardcore. My only complaint is that the singer only sings in ONE FUCKING VOICE. Yeah, the scream. Seriously, this would be way more entertaining if he had more character to his singing style. But nope, expect to hear the exact same screamed vocal style throughout the entire EP. Sorry... otherwise this music is pretty damn good. And it has a pretty awesome cover, might I add. This year, the band released their first full album, which is more heavy metal than punk, and I haven't listened to it, but it's released on Southern Lord records, a notable metal label, n' all that shit. So, check it out or don't. It's all up to youuuu (dununununun...).
Year: 1970 Genre: Hard Rock/Punk Rock/Noise Label: Elektra Records Tracks: 7 Length: 37 Minutes Style:Fun/Sexual/Emotional/Scary My Rating: 7/8
The Stooges released one of the coolest albums of their time and still one of the best albums ever, "The Stooges" at the end of the '60s and you probably know about all that SHIT 'cuz in the summer I reviewed that album for you, didn't I? Well, I got this one used on CD and it's also good, but it doesn't sound just like the first album, so expect something a little different. You also know how they originally played blenders and trash cans and stuff as instruments, which iz AWESOME! I should find a blender-player for my band! But this iz the second Stooges album, and it's FUN just like the title suggests, so let's begin, now shall we?
1. Down On the Street This album is mixed pretty well. OOOH! RAAAAKHHHH. HEE! Iggy's voice sounds real badass here, and this one's sort of subtle but wild and fucked-up at the same time. Nice lead guitar. The chorus is more aggressive than the verse, but it's all pretty sexual and positive-feeling. Back when music being "sexy" meant it was good. Goddammit. DEEP IN THE NIGHT, I'M LOST IN LOVE... Then there's a shit-ton of improvised stuff like many Stooges songs have, so you'll hear a lot of that which makes the song twice as long as its pre-written mirror half.
2. Loose YES! The best and coolest song on the album, totally. It's got that AMAZING bass melody and you can hear the rhythm and lead guitar, but it's more off to the sidelines, the bass dominates, and Iggy's snotty voice that cuts straight thru yer SKULL like a sharp KNIFE. 'CUZ I'M LOOSE! ALWAYS! Aw, man, this is such a great party song, you've gotta listen to it! What more SHOULD I say? Great song.
3. T.V. Eye "LOOOOOOORD!!" - that's what Iggy yells out at the beginning before the song ends. This song has a really good beat and a neat-o bass melody and guitar riff n' stuff and you'll probably like this one also if you like the first two tracks; perfect punk energy to keep you goin' through the night! Iggy screams and hisses some more. At one part, it sounds like the song's ended, but then it starts again for a short while. That part sounds like it was recorded live or something. Man, he sounds like a wild animal...
4. Dirt This iz a slow one. A little sadder and calmer. Kinda seems like it would've influenced "My War" by Black Flag. The guitar melodies here are pretty neat. DO YA FEEL IT WHEN YA TOUCH ME? It's like the calm after the storm, I suppose... the first three tracks are real rowdy and this one seems more like... whatever you feel like it could be. Could be anything... mud turning into dirt? HAH, I didn't even realize that one! "Dirt", who woulda THUNK, man? End of Side 1.
5. 1970 Remember "1969" from the first album? Well, the Stooges came ("came", hahaha) back a year later to give you... "1970"! Wow, how amazing! The beat is even similar. Lyrically it's another sex/party/chaos sorta thing, just like all of the other songs on here, which is pretty cool 'cuz the Stooges don't sound LAME when they sing about (and I can hear some guy tellin' me, "well YOU sound lame when you TYPE about it", and to him I say, "I KNOW THAT, now FUCK OFF, MAN!"). There's even a cool saxophone solo starting towards the end of the song. Jesus whiz!
6. Fun House Even more saxo-magic! Not referring to the anglo-SAXOns here, but rather the SAXOphone... perhaps there is a connection, no? This one reminds me a bit more of "Loose". And similar beat to "T.V. Eye", beat-wise. But what the hell do I know? HEY, LET ME IN! OOOOH! OOH! OOH! TAKE IT DOWN! I FEEL ALRIGHT! OOH! HOO! !OOH HOO! !OOH LITTLE BABY GIRL LITTLE BABY BOY... sounds like Iggy's wantin' a threesome here, no? With CHILDREN, man! AAARRAAGGGGHH! WAHWAHHHOOOWAAAHHHOOOOWAHAHOWEOWEOWEOWEOWEOWOWWEOWOEOOWEOEO...
7. L.A. Blues Okay, this is a conceptual song in which a nice family is going to visit the circus, only to find out that the circus is actually really tiny and the whole thing is stepped on by a regular-sized elephants with an asshole filled with peanuts, and the whole thing just goes to hell, man. This is total chaos and total noise, with guitars, drums, saxophones, voices, and all that great stuff. It's like getting stuck in a giant hurricane with no escape. It all just swirls AROUND and AROUND and AROUND and AROUND and AROUND and AROUND and I DON'T THINK WE'RE IN TEXAS ANYMORE. It'd be really funny if the band was picking up the amplifiers and spinning them around in the room and breaking shit in the studio and stuff. That'd be hilarious. Just like a REAL LIFE TORNADO, KIDZ.
Well, that was crazy! But it wuz ze Stooge, s what you do expect? Feelin' good n' really right now, so less juss lev a' tha', sha' w'? Do go listen to the alb', y' w' like i', unless you suck! TEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Drink alcohol and party to this album.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Loose 2. T.V. Eye 3. L.A. Blues
Year: 1985 Genre: Hardcore Punk/Heavy Metal Label: SST Records Tracks: 9 Length: 34 Minutes Style: Angry/Energetic My Rating: 7/8
By 1985, a lot of Black Flag's fanbase began to dwindle 'cuz they were becoming so damn different from all of the other bands that they had influenced. Integrating heavy metal into their music, playing slower, elements of free-jazz, a spoken word album, and all other sorts of things that were seen as "un-punk" (how ironic!), Black Flag returned once again just a few months after "Slip It In" came out to bring us this album, called "Loose Nut". Looks like that guy in the cover of the album may be having a "loose nut" himself, dontcha think? Anyways, this album is very similar musically to "Slip It In", maybe a tad bit poppier, and it includes an older song also called "Modern Man" which was written back in the early '80s.
1. Loose Nut Wow, the production is pretty far above what I'm used to hearing from this band! A lot more reverb here. Which isn't so bad. The riff is real heavy-metal sounding. Kool feed-back on this, as well. The lead guitar on the third verse sounds pretty damn awesome. A lot of layered vocals, the whole song feels like a huge wall of melodic chaos bouncing off the sides of your eardrums! And then, you've gotta love the expectable schizophrenic guitar solo from Greggy Ginny! The song speeds up and collapses into a moment of chaos at the end.
2. Bastard in Love The first song I heard from this album (in this digital age it is likely you will not hear the first song on an album first). It's pretty catchy and surprisingly poppy for a Black Flag song, but of course with that edge you'd still expect from a Black Flag. Just a lot more up-beat. Gotta love that guitar solo as well. And there's even vocal harmony in the background with either Greg Ginn or Kira Roessler (probably Greg). It's a good-feelin' song.
3. Annihilate This Week Another catchy as fuck (in a darker way) song! It's a satire on a person who goes out and gets fucked up and does drugs every week to pass time by and always parties. I love it... there's something really dark yet up-beat about it. You can hear Kira and Greg in the background yelling the names of the days of the week inbetween Henry's lines in the chorus section. Kira's voice sounds AWESOME. "But you're a regular party MACHIIIINE...". FUCK YEAH! And to make things better, there's a fucking kick-ass guitar solo that's REALLY AWESOME AND FUCK YES, THIS SONG FUCKIN' RULES YOU FUCKIN' FUCKERS SO FUCKIN' FUCK OFF YOU FUCKIN' PIECE OF FUCK! Which would be a compliment. Damn, I'm really feeling the energy from this one. Must mean it's an awesome song, man! YES!!
4. Best One Yet The intro vaguely reminds me of "Slip It In". This one's once again a little more positive-sounding than that song. TAKEALOOKAROUNDTAKEALOOKAROUNDTAKEALOOKAROUND! THIS WILL BE THE BEST ONE YET! The bass riff is real cool too, so listen to it, man/woman!
5. Modern Man This song's older than the other songs on this album, and an earlier version of it can be found on the "1982 Demos" album. The intro is slow and similar to Black Sabbath with the thumping bass pedal and that demonic-sounding riff. But this all speeds up after many repeats of that... to turn into something a lot more fast and the riff changes into a chaotic, energetic speedy fucker that reminds me of driving the car through the street in the daytime and banging my skull on the air in front of me! Henry sings about a character, "Modern Man", representing the state of people who have no time for intimacy or to be personal and are so fixated on work and the like that they don't even have a desire to enjoy life as much as be a gear in the machine. Another really good song, once again.
6. This is Good Sort of an erratic guitar riff to this one. A little bit like "Swinging Man", but slower, riff-wise. A little too repetitive, still, so it drags on even though it's probably one of the worse songs on the album.
7. I'm the One A little better than the track before it, but still kind of falls short compared to the first five songs. It's fast and it's got a verse and chorus and shit. Like that. Hehe. Maybe I just don't feel as good as I did earlier.
8. Sinking A slow song. Neat bass riff. It's a little less energetic. Not downright fucked-up like the My War stuff, but here's Henry singing "it hurts to be alone". One minute in there's a real good guitar solo, but it's also very short. Starts out kinda melodic but quickly flails into atonal sadness. 'nother guitar solo at two minute and fifteen seconds in. Come to think of it, this song sounds a lot like the kind of stuff they'd be playing on "In My Head", the slow psycho-delic sorta stuff. This one's pretty good.
9. Now She's Black The beginning is slow. The beat vaguely reminds me of the Butthole Surfers, somehow. Did Black Flag even listen to the Butthole Surfers? I do nut know. This song's about Henry being really in love with a girl who ends up turning on him. There's a slow guitar-only bridge section with Henry speaking the lines rather than singing them. BLACKKK!!! BLAAACK!!! FLAG.
That's the end of the album. Many people don't like the album for its production or the fact that it sounds too much like heavy metal, but that does sort of make it stand out and I like it in some ways better than the similar album that came before it, "Slip It In". There's some real high-energy moments to the album, however, especially the first five songs. YEAH! So, go check it aut if you haven't already. It's a real cool album, mannnnn. WOWEE ZOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Annihilate This Week 2. Modern Man 3. Bastard In Love
Year: 1984 Genre: Hardcore Punk Label: Gasatanka Records Tracks: 18 Length: 36 Minutes Style: Political/Funny/Mysterious My Rating: 6/8
Third Strike is the second album (despite what you'd assume from the title) by White Flag, after their first record called "S is for Space". This album is almost twice as long as the first White Flag album, and a lot of the songs veer more into the hard rock realm instead of nothing but hardcore. Well, even though I'm pretty tired today (as I was yesterday), I am going to attempt to review this album 'cuz I only gave you a couple reviews last week. So, pop on your record/CD/tape player or whatever you listen to music with and enjoy hearing me state the obvious about your favorite and least favorite hits by White Flag!
1. Cross Dogs Very similar riff to their song "Shattered Badge", but this song is about a rock star taking drugs and drinking alcohol to ease the stress and confusion of the life. Guitar solo mid-way through the song.
2. Psycho Cop This song paints a policeman as a "black knight", who goes out, using his weapon and his sense of pride to instill fear and respect into his victims. There's a neat vocal harmony in one part of the song.
3. Shadow Zone This song's a tad slower than the first two tracks. Cool bass riff. At some parts the singer's voice kind of reminds me of Darby Crash's growl.
4. Celebate This is a much faster song about a person who "tries his hand at love", gets rejected, and decides to become a priest and ends up molesting little boys because "love's a jinx". The shouted chorus just goes "CELIBATE! CELIBATE!", though the title of the song is mis-spelled.
5. You've Got a Problem This song's about a relationship gone wrong (I think) and it's got an awesome chorus melody.
6. At the Mountains of Madness This song's kinda slow. The vocals are in harmony and it's more relaxed-feeling than some of the other songs on the album. Then there's a guitar solo after the second chorus. The lyrics are kind of sad. Pat Fear sings on this song.
7. Victors of the Universe This song's really fast. It's about drug addiction (heroin, probably) and names a man named "Todd", as the one who will save his addicted slaves. 'nother kool gee-tarr solo.
8. Ticket to Moscow Very fiery feel to this song. Sounds like they're playing more than one rhythm guitar on this song. This song is an anti-communist anthem, criticizing people who believe that communism will save us from the problems of the economy and the current government, and how it would make us "equally poor and equally sad". It's not that often that you hear a hardcore punk song that kinda defends the U.S. government. And it isn't perfect, but they make some good points, here.
9. Flaming Halos Cool psychedelic-sounding intro... this song goes on even further to question the norms of the punk scene, asking them why they claim to be so anti-establishment and revolutionary when they hide in the shadows and seem to want to BE the establishment. The song compares these types to "soliders waging wars with leather souls and six-string guns". Also, the song asks that even if the government was overthrown, then who would take its place and how would we improve it? Al Bum (the singer) finishes off by saying that he's "tired of all your anti-answers". End of Side A.
10. Flipside This song pokes fun at the Flipside video-zine and compares it to a punk version of MTV, for the punk rocker who wants to sit on the couch and watch bands play in the comfort of his own home... which is pretty much what I've been doing for years, as a matter of fact. Hmm... well, the song has a pretty damn poppy-sounding chorus. And that guitar solo is totally fucking awesome! Guitar solos rule. Awesome song, even if it's pretty much making fun of me! Hah hah hah. Someday soon I'll be in the house a lot less.
11. Wake Up Screaming The lyrics here are pretty dark. In the chorus, the band says "Just like ______ said to me, what irons will enshackle, White Flag will set free". There's one part where there's a really weird-sounding vocal harmony involving a regular voice and a sped-up sounding voice. It's pretty fast also. Cool verse riff. "These four walls are my only friends, they'll always be around".
12. Festive Shapes Awesome melody here, and a fuckin' hot beat as well. This song's about an outlaw horse-rider out west going through towns and robbing them before riding off into the sun.
13. Over My Head This song makes fun of '80s glam metal. And the beat is cool.
14. Overlords of the Underworld Really fast and it sounds a lot like the Germs (in a good way). Yet another fuck-off to communist punks ("Communist Punks Fuck Off!"), or as they put it, "leaders preaching leaderlessness", creating a set of rules in a supposedly free-thinking faction of society, "intimidating the kids that don't understand".
15. Middle-Class Hell Awesome guitar riff and there's some cool lead-guitar also. This song's a satire on a middle class kid who lives a comfortable life and gets the things he wants from his parents, but only wants more and wishes he could "be like Ace Frehley, smash my Delorean into cars" and wear more expensive clothes and hang out with rich people and all that crap, instead of just being happy with what he does have. Real cool-sounding song!
16. There's a Place This is a cover of the Beatles. I actually never heard the Beatles version before (haven't listened to very much Beatles stuff), but this is done in a hard punk rock style. It's a love song, talking about a person who can feel better by spending time with his/her lover.
17. Pieces of Chris Trent This song has a real funky-sounding bass melody. Slower verse and fast chorus. You know... how that... go...es. And there's a guitar solo also. This solo actually has two different lead guitars, which makes it slightly different. You hear a slight clippet of a television show before the song ends. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. (that's the record skipping... means you need to press "stop", now)
Well, that is "Third Strike", the second album by White Flag (not to be confused with the Black kind), and one thing I have noticed is that the album cover art resembles an American flag, with the White Flag logo instead of the stars over a blue square and red and blue stripes, with White Flag playing and the U.S. army overlapping this, obviously. Pat Fear gets to sing more on this album also, which I like. The album, similar to the Dead Kennedys, also does a lot of criticism of the conventions of the punk scene which had accumulated by this time. Some conventions can be cool, but I'm glad someone actually had the guts to question communism... there aren't many punks in communist countries! Anyways, that's my review, and it wasn't great, but that's as great as I'm feelin' today, so deal with it. Adios, amigos!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Flaming Halos 2. Flipside 3. Overlords of the Underworld
Year: 2010 Genre: Doom Metal Label: Sekt Ov Gnozis Tracks:6 Length: 49 Minutes Style:Mysterious My Rating: 6/8
Lord of Doubts is a Russian heavy metal band from Russia... where exactly, I do not know. But Russia. The former U.S.S.R., y'know? Whatever you wanna call it. The band formed in 2008 and this is their first album. It has six songs on it and each one is pretty long and it's fuckin' heavy! Very nice, slow riffage that you can just get stoned/drunk to... great fucked-up sounding vocals as well. I just found out about these guys last night. And this is very good. One complaint is the MIXING... God, they never fucking learn. Mixing your album to be loud as possible does NOT make it sound better, just more condensed, and even though it might seem illogical that mixing your album makes it sound more compact and "small", this is actually the case. So, I have personally re-mixed the album so that I can fully enjoy it, but I probably won't release this re-mix since I could get sued/bitched at and shit. Which I can understand. A budding rock band needs its money. And I say this having illegally downloaded tons of music from new artists. Hey, I can't find fucking School Jerks records in my FYE! I don't have a credit card, either. Well, enough about that. It's review time.
1. Temple of the Riff The power of this one lies in the riff itself (like the title suggests), the tempo, and the singer's voice. It's slow and sludgy as fuck... in the beginning, you can hear sound clips of people chanting, maybe "Hail Satan" or hail something else, it's hard to make it out. But the riff is really good and just sorta plods along like a giant monster. After a few minutes, you hear Art's (the singer & guitarist) fucked-up sounding voice, and he beckons his "brethren" and "children" to come to the temple, and to come to the altar... of... THE RIFF. Maybe it's the riff of this song. Near the 3-minute mark you hear an airy sort of guitar solo. The song has a just an extremely monstrous, powerful vibe to it. This is a really good song and you should listen to it.
2. Take Me There The song starts with another television show soundbyte. This is actually the shortest song on the album, just over 5 minutes long. Not nearly as good as Temple of the Riff, but still good. Those last two chords of the verse riff are pretty interesting. Art's voice is echoey. Also listen to that drum beat! It's far from basic like many songs are. At the end of the song, the guitar fades out first, then the drums, then the bass guitar. Reminds me of the ending of "Leeech" by the Melvins.
3. Endless Slumber Endless Slumber... wouldn't that be kind of like dying? Or at least permanently comatose? Which would be endless slumber? Hee hee ho. After a long string of feedback in one ear and a lead guitar melody playing the main riff, the song segues into the main riff with a drum beat and bass and all that jazz. There's even a neat organ solo in the middle of the song. After another section, there's another fuzzed-out guitar solo. After about six minutes, the song transitions to an ambient, spacey part with wispy sounds and periodic trebly splashes.
4. Satan's Magic Smoke This one has an AWESOME guitar sound that sounds just... awesome. It's cool. Almost sounds like a singing person, but it's not. Just a weird effect. In the second half, the guitar changes to a more low-pitched, bass sound. Just a lot of cool guitar-play and such. It's a good, relaxing instrumental tune.
5. Heavier Than Universe Yaey! More singing! Gotta love Art's drunk slurred sounding voice. It sounds great. Just a heavy trudge through the heavy mud beneath your thighs... awesome psychedelic-sounding guitar solo in the song, too! There's a short bass-guitar solo in the song, too.
6. Electric World Electric World... where everthing is ELECTRIC... kind of like EARTH, as a matter of fact! The song starts out with a bunch of feedback and then kicks off with the main riff played, and the guitars in this song have a really cool sound. This one reminds me a lot of Black Sabbath. The singing has been modified to have a really cool, echoey, trippy effect to it, so that's a plus. It's hard to understand what he's saying, though. Awesome-ass solo after the first verse. I just want to sit down and listen to this fucking song somewhere else besides on my computer. It's loud and powerful, and you want it to make love to you and your friends in a rock orgy in the privacy of your own room. I'd fuck to it. Weowowoweowowoweowowoweowowowowowowowow.
So, that's the end. By the way, if you're wondering who's in the band, according to the CD, they are: Art (guitar, singing), Andres (bass guitar), and V.M. (drums), so thank them for this album. There's not much else I can say, but if you love slow, loud, heavy psychedelic music, then this iz for you! So go and check it aut, why don't ya? Have a nice day, folks.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Temple of the Riff 2. Electric World 3. Satan's Magic Smoke
RED CROSS EP
