The death last month of Gang Of Four's founding guitarist Andy Gill is still reverberating all throughout the music world, and as a tribute of sorts the band rush released the last few songs that they were working on with Mr. Gill right  before his untimely passing, a re-recorded and reimagined song collection named This Heaven Gives Me Migraines, and I gotta say it's not very good as far as tributes go. Of the 3 songs on here, only 1, Natural's Not In It, showcases the level of guitarical genius that Andy Gill was capable of, with the other 2, The Dying Rays and Toreador, more a testament to his lush, atmospheric production style than anything else. To flesh out the release they tacked on snippets of Andy Gill's isolated vocal track from Love Like Anthrax at the beginning of this release and of him talking about his favorite color purple at the end of it. Weird but ok. Sonically this sounds incredible, the re-recording of Naturals Not In It sounds a bit stiff and stale though, and besides the obvious cash in of royalty payments I see no other reason for bands to re-record their early classic stuff, reimagined or not. If you got nothing to say now musically, then quit reminding us of what you had to say musically back then, back when it was real, back when it was sincere and not just a give it a name grubby cash grab. Mr. Gill deserves a much better tribute from the band than this. Much better.

Available digitally wherever Punk is bought and sold like the cheap commodity that it is. 

     Remember Punk Rock? Remember what it sounded like back when you were a kid? I mean, like what it REALLY sounded like, when it was played with an anger and a message and a ferocity that was almost contagious, music played by pissed off kids who almost did it out of a necessity more than anything like success or recognition. This band Smut has all of this and more in spades. Serio! They're that fucking good and they're that fucking impressive, impressive like getting to the gig early and actually going into the venue instead of drinking in the parking lot and once entering being balls out blown away by an opening band that you have no idea who they are or where they're from? Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Smut, from Los Angeles, California. They've been around for a few years, self released a few cassettes, done a few tours, and this is the product of all that hard work, the bands very first official release, via Iron Lung Records, and it is incredible. A fucking clove and cheap beer stained breath of fresh air that reaffirms my belief in all things Punk Rock. This 4 piece band sounds like every great Punk Rock band you can think of - Black Flag, SSD Control, Bad Brains, Wasted Youth, Misfits, G.I.S.M., Christ On Parade, Poison Idea, you fucking name it. This band just took in all things Punk and just regurgitated it back up into something truly beautiful, a fantastic 8 song collection of some short, angry, catchy as fuck, mind blowingly good songs. The vocals are snarled and dripping with attitude and aggression, with the drums and the bass and the guitar all just hammering away in synchronicity at a furious pace set to destroy faces and entice circle pit action anywhere it's played. Songs like Party Pimple, The Stranger, Cum Inside and Bag, with it's super cool ending, are the type of songs you'd put on a compilation tape to impress your friends with a band that they know nothing about. Oh, who's that? they would ask when they hear the songs, and you'd casually say Oh that's Smut, and they kick ass!! Seriously, do yourself a favor and check this band Smut out. If you don't like them then I guess you should just give it up and start growing a quiff and go listen to some Rockabilly. Punk Rock might not be the thing for you anymore. 😎

Available from Iron Lung Records on beautiful white vinyl by clicking here. Also available digitally on the Smut Bandcamp page by clicking here, on Amazon by clicking here, Apple Music by clicking here.