Music Reviews - January 2004
Clit 45 - Your Life To Choose
Punkcore Records Not what I expected, but in no means is that a bad thing. I liked the album Tales From The Clit, but this doesn't sound anything like that album. This single came in an excellent looking sleeve with a lyric sheet, so you can scream along with Dave to the 3 punk rock songs on this release. The sound isn't the best that it could be, but it's Punk Rock, so who cares? The feeling comes through on the recording. The bands look and sound is very U.K. 82-ish, and brings to mind bands like the Varukers or Chaos U.K.. I think the band is from Long Beach, CA., and if I didn't know better, I'd say the pictures on the single were taken at Zed Records, but I thought that place closed? Anyways, great single from Clit 45. |
The Adicts - Rise And Shine
Captain Oi Records Holy Crapola Batman! This album is absolute shite! More keyboard driven than anything I've ever heard from them, it's even worse than 27! LOL It sounds like Pete is singing lead vocals now instead of Monkey! His singing reminds me of Brian May from Queen... and that's not a good thing. The Adicts version of I Want To Marry A Lighthouse Keeper is mildly funny, but as the 4th song on the CD it's an annoyance, as is that damn Goldfish song. An AdictsSongs Of Praise or This Is Your Life. ::sigh:: I'm gonna go give this CD to Kenny to use as a chew toy. Hopefully he gets more enjoyment out of this CD than I did! song that lasts 6 minutes? That would of been unheard of in their classic days of |
Dee Dee Ramone - Legend Of A Rock Star
Punk Rock Press I encourage anyone that's currently in a band to read this book and re-evaluate whether you really want to play in a Rock and Roll band that Tours. Sure, if you're Stink 182 then touring is fun (sometimes), but this book details what Life is really like on the Road - all the Sex and Drugs and Bad Food and Cheap Hotels that you can handle, all just to get up on stage and play to people who've never seen you before. Fun. The book is subtitled The Last Testament Of Dee Dee Ramone, and I'm not sure why. This book is actually just a diary that Dee Dee kept while on his las Tour of Europe, with some stuff tacked on at the end after Dee Dee's untimely death, all from the people who knew him and loved him the most, including my friend Ena from Youth Gone Mad. Such a loss of Talent. Still, it's a fascinating read, and a very revealing peek into the Man, the Myth, the Legend that was Dee Dee Ramone. Punk Rawk Maaan. Check it out. |
The Bouncing Souls - Anchors Aweigh
Epitaph Records This new record is mediocre. Not very good, but it has it's moments. I always like when the Bouncing Souls are playing fast and furious, but I've never liked the guy that replaced Shal, their original drummer. The new drummer is such a sterile, schooled player, while Shal was just an Animal! LOL Besides that, most of the songs on here are mid-paced sing along ballads which I'm sure are perfectly suited for little rich kids who think they're working class Oi while living with their Mommy and Daddy and listening to their Mp3's on the iPod their Nanna bought them. I expect Fast, Loud, Hard, Obnoxious shit from the Bouncing Souls, not this WARPed Tour sounding crap. Phooey. Some of the better songs on here are Apartment 5 F, New Day and Blind Date. Like I said earlier, this album has it's moments, but a lot of it sounds like formula following, cookie cutter shit, and that's sad when you consider what a great band the Bouncing Souls used to be. |
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Capitol Records Someone who shall remain nameless told me I might like this album. "It sounds like The Bends". Yeah right. Radiohead will never be that good again, but there are 2 songs on here that sorta come close. The opening track 2+2=5 starts off slow, but then it builds into a great sounding song, with Thom screaming about penetration or something... LOL Johnny's guitar work brings to mind the phenomenal work of Andy Gill from Gang Of Four. Just fantastic stuff. Johnny's a hugely underrated guitarist. After this good opening song the album goes into OK Computer territory... Yuck! The other song that brings to mind when Radiohead were good is Myxomatosis (no, it's not a cover of the Flux Of Pink Indians song by the same name), a swaggering little tune with a cool jazzy feel to it. Only 2 songs on this album were good. Oh well. I didn't like this album, but I'm sure lots of others out there will. Coldplay fans take note - this is the band that they stole everything from. The Originals. |
Knife Fight - Self Titled
My War Records Marco is a funny guy. He's always angry and stuff, and he walks around with Punk Rock vinyl in his stinky backpack that he uses to steal food with. Usually what he has in his backpack sucks, but at the Club House he played me this Knife Fight single the other day and I was impressed. Very impressed. Real Negative Approach / Jerry's Kids hardcore that had me wanting more, which is what a classic Punk single is supposed to do. Not a track on here is over a minute long, which is so Punk Rock it's sickening! I wish that it was recorded better, but it's Punk Rock so who cares! LOL Force Fed is an amazing song, as is Hypocrite, Who Are You and Get Me Out. Fuck yeah! I like this band! Too bad that Knife Fight is playing the Hammer House the same night as the Sex Pistols are playing the Hard Rock, otherwise I'd be checking these guys out big time. I still might... who knows? Great single from Knife Fight. |
Buzzcocks - Self Titled
Merge Records Holy dog shit! I can not stop listening to this album! It's fucking amazing. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve heard in a long long time. Actually, it’s the most beautiful thing I've heard since the All Set LP, because I thought that Modern sucked and was a pretty crappy album from my favorite band from Manchester, but with this fantastic release all is forgiven. Fuck! I could listen to the Buzzcocks sing the Yellow Pages and it would still make me swoon like a little school girl. I love this band THAT much! I don’t think that Jerk should have been the first single, though. It’s a good song and all, but I would of went with Friends, which has that classic Buzzcocks feel to it...chainsaw guitars...beautiful vocals...man, it’s just amazing. And I love the new version of Lester Sands (Drop In The Ocean), which was originally recorded with Howard Devoto on vocals during the Spiral Scratch sessions, and never released proper until now. Morning After is the greatest song ever written about being hung over (It’s nature’s way of telling me / That I had better stop). All the songs on here are brilliant! Every band in the fucking world owes a huge debt to these gentlemen, mostly for their style of music, but even for the whole D.I.Y. thing that they started. Lots of bands wish they were this good. When you listen to this album, you’ll love the Buzzcocks even more for all the great music on this CD. I'm seriously addicted to it. The Best Album Of The Year...hands down |
The Dirty One compilation
Dirty Records Congratulations to Devon & Aaron for finally getting this CD out and for letting some Local Las Vegas bands get the due recognition that they so deserve. Miss Roxie did a great job on the booklet layout (was that a Cheaters flyer I saw on there? LOL) but the home burned, hand written CD itself is VERY disappointing... boooooooooooooo. So on to the music. The Loud Pipes 2 songs start the comp off in kick ass fashion. Absent Minded put up 2 of their more mid-paced songs, which show off the melodies in their music real good. They're a really great band that you should check out as soon as possible. Fuck yeah! The Dirty Babies get the next 2 songs, with one off of their Live At Budokan demo, and the other, Live Like A Man, Die Like A Woman, is off of their upcoming release. So looking forward to that. Unfortunately, it's all downhill from here as the Shaws play 2 songs with even worse timing than the Germs first single. Were they even listening to the same song when they were recording these tracks? And what the fuck is up with Eight Fingers Down contributing SAMPLES of their songs? I've never even heard of a band doing that before! Good grief! Punk Rock Pirate by Local 15 is a funny song. very NOFX like in musicianship. Their other song isn't bad either. Stuck Naked end the comp with 2 OK songs, nothing spectacular, but not crap either. All in all, an excellent release which showcases some of the up and coming bands from Las Vegas... on Dirty Records, naturally! |
Metallica - St. Anger
Elektra Records I don’t know. I sort of bought into all the hype... hoping that this was just gonna be a jaw dropping, lose-my-shit kinda release. It isn’t, of course, but I give them an 'A' for effort! The songs are too long, uninspired, Nu-Metal crap with no balls at all. And I hate that annoying ringy snare drum... sounds like shit dude. And the lyrics are worse than ever, basically riffing on the AA - 12 step program that James is going through (My life style / Determines my death style), boo fucking hoo. I actually like the live versions of these songs (available on the Frantic bootleg) better than the studio ones. The live stuff doesn’t sound so gay and it’s mixed better and it’s played A LOT faster. Go figure. Somebody on Airbag summed it up perfectly by saying: You might care about Metallica, but Metallica only cares about your wallet. That’s exactly what this album sounds like. A pathetic attempt to cash in on a scene in which they used to belong, a long long time ago. |
Jane's Addiction - Strays
Capitol Records Not even close to being as good as Ritual or Nothing’s Shocking, but that is asking a lot. Way too arty - tripped out for me, but it has some good beats going every now and then that remind you of when Jane's Addiction were a beautiful band. Nothing too heavy on here, but the title song is pretty good, as is Suffer Some and Hypersonic. But I am getting sick of this We’re-back-to-pay-our-rent bullshit that this album reeks of, but what can you do. If it was a great album I might over look it, but since it isn’t, it’s hard not to call them on it. The single Just Because tries too hard to re-create the sound of Been Caught Stealing, and it comes with 2 live versions of songs on the Strays album, which are dedicated to “people that used to go to The Scream.” Such a great club, and Jane's Addiction were amazing when they played there, but this album is a far cry from the band that they used to be. Now they’re more style than substance, but back in the day... sigh. Back in the day they were great. |
Panda Blaster - Demo
Who Knows Records This is it! The first song off this demo... I think they call the song Annihilate, but it’s an exact copy of the Foo Fighters Everlong song... Wowsers. I saw this band at the Hammer House recently, and I didn’t like them then, and I definitely don’t like them now. If you can ignore the fact that all the songs on this demo sound A LOT like many other bands, I guess this it OK. Even the 3rd song sounds like Everlong! Chicks seem to dig it though. It’s all emotional and deep and stuff. Go figure. |
The Movielife - 40 Hour Train Back To Penn
Drive Thru Records Do you really have to stoop so low by playing such tepid, bland music that bimbos think is totally rocking? Grow some balls, turn the volume up on that guitar and just rock out with your cock out! These guys sound just like Trapt, Papa Roach, and others of their ilk, and I bet that The Movielife would like to be just as sucky as those other bands are. On songs like Spanaway, Face Or Kneecaps and Kelly Cries they come really close to achieving total sucky-ness. Avoid at all costs. |
Swingin' Utters - Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass And Bones
Fat Wreck Chords Damn! If you do not go out right now and buy and or steal this album, you’re a sorry excuse for a Punk. This is another amazing album from the Swingin' Utters, and if you don’t know who that is, well, I feel sorry for you. You probably like Limp Bisquick too, huh? Fantastic release with more hooks than a fisherman’s tackle box! I can’t stop listening to this album - it’s really fucking good. Lots of keyboards and accordions and even a vibraphone can be found on here... damn that Darius is talented. Johnny’s vocals remind me of when Mike Ness used to sing for a Punk Rock band! Just kidding... heh heh. Standout tracks include Don’t Ask Why, No Pariah, My Closed Mind and Glad. Another great album from the Swingin' Utters, but what else did you expect? When you’ve got as much talent in this band as they do, you can’t help but make great music. |
Speedealer - Burned Alive
Radical Records Yee haw!!! Speedealer just released a live album, which was recorded by Daniel Rey on the 4th of July this past year, and it sounds killer and does a great job of capturing what the band’s live assault sounds like. This band from Texas has evolved into a full on Thrash Metal Punk hybrid of a monster, and on songs like Gotterdammerung, Machinations and Pig Fucker, their full frontal attack really shines through and hits you like a kick to the teeth. This band seems to be in a constant state of evolution, and the line up on this album is really brutal and ferocious. This band gets compared to Zeke a lot, and when you listen to any of their CD’s you’ll quickly know why. Just like them, Speedealer's songs are catchy and full of hooks... it’s just that they’re played at a break neck pace. Anyways, give this a listen if you're a fan of some hyper agro punk metal tunes. It’s almost guaranteed that Speedealer won’t disappoint ya. |
The Misfits - 12 Hits From Hell
Caroline Records OK, first off... this album was never officially released. It was slated to be put out when Caroline Records was re-releasing the Misfits back catalog, but this fucking amazing album slipped through the cracks, apparently because Glenn wasn’t involved with the re-mix done on it and He did everything in his power to prevent it from ever seeing the light of day. It is considered the "lost" album, and is the only release to feature both Bobby Steele and Doyle playing on all the tracks. Recorded in 1980 during the legendary MSP studio sessions, some of these tracks were used for the classic singles (3 Hits From Hell, Halloween), but they removed all of Bobby’s guitar tracks when they released the singles, since they had just booted him out of the band and replaced him with Doyle. The combination of the two guitars sounds great on London Dungeon, Horror Hotel, Violent World and Where Eagles Dare... this version is the best one I’ve ever heard of this amazing Misfits song. This album even comes with an previously unheard version of London Dungeon, which sounds magnificent. The booklet that came with this bootleg has some critical liner notes from Eerie Von, who brags about having a copy of this album on 8 TRACK and tells the story about Doyle riding his bike over to Eerie Von’s house so that he could let him hear what the recordings sounded like! lol The Pictures that are in it are incredible, including some shots from the infamous cave sessions and some other never before seen pix and handwritten lyric sheets that will just blow you away. If you even think that you’re a proper Fiend Club Ghoul or Gal, you need to have this bootleg in your collection. It sounds amazing and is worth seeking out at any cost. |
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