Squidhat '77: A Las Vegas Punk Rock Tribute To 1977

​Written by GE 138.

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Photo from Squidhat Records

hahahahahahaha If there was ever a shittier choice of an opening song for a Punk Rock compilation, I have never heard it in all my miserable years on this wretched planet. Opening tracks of albums are supposed to grab you, reel you in, make you want to listen to the rest of the album to see what it offers. The first track on this latest compilation from Squidhat Records called Squidhat '77 is so embarrassing, so hackneyed, so ham handedly shitty, that I almost took the needle off the record and flung it against the wall, never to be played again, but cooler heads prevailed, and after suffering through The Heiz, who I guess are considered a Vegas band now, I finally got to the song I wanted to hear - The Civilians doing Thin Lizzy's Bad Reputation, and it sounded great - easily one of the best songs on this crappy compilation comprised of "Local" Las Vegas bands doing songs from the year 1977 for some reason or another. Nostalgia Sells. There are some incredibly amazeballz versions of songs from that year on here though, like The Psyatics version of Pigs by Pink Floyd. "Ha, ha, charade you are." Mind blowingly great. Been stuck in my head for days now. Same goes for New Cold War's version of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac. Holy Shit! is that a great version of that song - probably the best song on here. Easily. They did a better job with a Fleetwood Mac song than Judas Priest did, that's for sure!!  Frank & Deans do a great job with ELO's Turn To Stone, and Unfair Fight do the most incredible cover version of Joy Division's Warsaw I've ever heard, although technically that song wasn't recorded until 1978, but what do I know, huh? LOL The Dirty Panties do a good version of the Talking Head's Psycho Killer, and The Civilians & Friends close out this double LP with a 1 take, non-rehearsed, spontaneous version of The Clash's 1977, which was only Trueland and I with 'The Wizard' John Brown on bass and Dirk Vermin doing vocals with a shitty faux British accent for some reason. Whatever. Everything else on here is just sad, uncomfortable, shameful cookie cutter versions of songs done better by the bands that originally did them in the first place. Ugh. Even the beautiful gold colored vinyl, gatefold cover, excellent artwork and packaging couldn't save this double LP release, which would of probably worked better as a 10" EP or double 45 release, which also would of been in line with the '77 theme. Oh well. As with most Squidhat Records compilations, this one is more 'miss' than 'hit', but it's worth the price of admission for the handful of songs on this compilation that are actually listenable. Seek out at your own risk. 

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Available from every band on this compilation at every gig they play. Just go up and ask them! This release is also available on beautiful gold colored vinyl and on a digital format directly from the Squidhat Records Bandcamp page, which you can go to by clicking here. Support Local Music... blah blah blah blah blah blah blah... 

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