Don�t they even bother to read this? I mean I�m sitting here with a 24 ounce can of Old Style watching the record spinning on the player with my mouth wide open in awe at the ridiculous notion that some label owner somewhere sent this record to me in hopes that I would like this shit, this so-called product where adults, grown men and women, actually stand around at live events and twitch their legs to outdated boring pseudo Chuck Berry licks. I mean, wouldn�t you read somebody�s column to get the gist of what their taste in music is before sending something you feel so strongly about that you actually spent money on to get this music onto vinyl out to some guy who reviews records? I would. Really. Is common sense really that foreign in this country today? I guess so.
So lets get this straight, Mr. Label Owner, because you have pained my ears and you have wasted not only my precious time, but also wasted your money on sending this piece of shit of a package to me. I don�t like garage. I don�t like lyrics about hot dogs and dancing and pizza and whatever trivial bullshit these people in these bands write/sing about. I like punk. I like mean, loud, nasty, in-your-face punk rock with lyrics that offend and entice my ears and my imagination and don�t necessarily cater to one specific genre or one specific style of music. The product you are selling bores me.
The point I have here is where is your passion? Mine is in writing about these bands in these columns because this is what I do. I listen to these bands. I dissect them. They give it their all so I give it my all. I go see them live. They give me their records. I go home and listen to them and write about them while pouring booze onto my brain. Where is you passion, really? It�s obviously not in the bands that write and record music for your label, now is it? Because if it were you wouldn�t be placing your product in the hands of a man you know nothing about without knowing whether I�m going to hate it and spill ink about it that thousands of people could potentially read. So, Mr. Label Owner, before sending something my way do me a favor and read up on the column because I�m getting sick of cleaning up my burning pile in the corner of my bedroom on an almost daily basis.
Bad Chopper s/t CD/LP
To say I was skeptical before popping this disc into my CD player would be a vast understatement. Bad Chopper is CJ Ramone�s new band and the first thing I looked at was the name of the band, which is not exactly my idea of a very good band name, and the fact that it�s another new band featuring another ex-Ramone, which often means you should immediately induce vomiting before taking the CD out of the player and throwing it frisbee style into the wall to shatter it into a million pieces. Like I said, I was skeptical. Very skeptical. So to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I pressed the play button and the sound that came screeching out of my speakers is also a vast understatement. The sound that shot through my room and into my ears was good. Real good. The songs were catchy, loud, ballsy, straight to the point, fun, angry, emotional, aggressive, simple, and though somewhat Ramonesy there�s a great mix of garage and hardcore thrown in there to satisfy. CJ�s screechy vocals accompany the music perfectly and the band which features Mark from Out Cold and GG Allin on drums, guitar and vocals and legendary Heartbreakers� guitarist Walter Lure on a couple tracks is as solid a lineup as you could ask for in a punk rock band. Produced by legendary Ramones producer Daniel Rey. Twelve songs all in all and not a single stinker. Grab this up ASAP! (MCP)
(Acme Records// www.acmerecords.net)
Born Bad �Moron Music� 7"
Eighties influenced hardcore out of Winnipeg, Born Bad is everything a hardcore/punk band should be. With short, fast, angry, high-energy, confrontational, and antagonistic songs with growled out vocals with a sense of humor and nihilistic attitude to boot. This is exactly the kind of record I want to hear when I throw a hardcore record on to the player. Six pissed off songs that fly by without feeling repetitive like so many other hardcore records feel and leave you pumping your fist in the air or smashing it into your neighbor�s face. Another hit for arguably America�s best punk label, Fashionable Idiots. Flawless. If you don�t like hardcore in your punk don�t buy this record. Born Bad IS hardcore.(MCP)
(Fashionable Idiots Records // www.fashionableidiots.com)
Civic Progress �Disposeable� 7"
Second vinyl offering from Cincinnati�s Civic Progress. Done in a similar style as their first piece of vinyl but with a recording that suits them much better. These guys are hard to pin down with a sound but if the Crucifucks and Minutemen played 80's hardcore and their vocalists screamed their guts out they�d sound a lot like Civic Progress. I mean this stuff is fast and in your face like many hardcore/punk bands but has semi-arty/funky beat changes like the Minutemen and lyrics and attitude like the Crucifucks. This is some of the most innovative hardcore/punk I�ve heard in ages. Nine songs in all and they all rock it. Recommended, especially if you�re bored with what�s in your current collection.(MCP)
(Fashionable Idiots Records // www.fashionableidiots.com)
iKiLLCaRS �At Ease With Your Haste� EP
iKillCars is a three piece Austin, TX punk rock band combining many elements of garage, post-punk, and straightforward punk, sounding like a good mix of Velvet Underground, Television, Minutemen, and the best of the 1980's SST bands. It�s really a very unique and refreshing sound all their own. It�s catchy, hard, weird, and just really fucking good. This is what the Velvet Underground would have sounded like if Lou Reed were growing up in 1980's Southern California. You get 5 songs that sound nothing like the previous track before it. Very solid release.(MCP)
(What Records? LLC // myspace.com/ikillcars)
Out With A Bang �Love My Life� 7"
Italy�s most hated are back with their third vinyl offering and I�d be a flat-out liar if I told you this record doesn�t smoke like a Tijuanan crackwhore. These are the kind of guys and girl that proudly boast of drug use, public drunkenness, lewd behavior, black eyes, and throw in plenty of fag references. The kind of people that would shit in your kitchen silverware drawer, puke in your girlfriend�s purse, pour sugar in your mother�s gas tank, piss on your livingroom floor, etc. Three songs in all with the same signature sound of hardcore/punk meets snot-punk with the swagger of the punkest elements of garage-punk. Best line: �Fagophobe, welcome to the real world�. Possibly the most solid and most un-PC one yet. Great shit.(MCP)
(Fashionable Idiots Records // www.fashionableidiots.com)
Rot Shit �Have You Seen Rot Shit?� 7"
Second 7" by Pittsburgh�s Rot Shit but this time around without the female vocals. I dug the first Rot Shit record but this one is a bit more put together and the songs have a much better quality to them. This shit�s short, loud, fast, obnoxious, stupid, and offensive as hell. With song titles on the A side like �Fuck Yer DJ Night�, �Full Retarded�, and �Drive Fucked Up� and with the length of most of the songs ranging between twenty and forty seconds this record is certainly not for the PC-minded punk who likes his music in a more serious sort of jugular vein with every song ending in a barked out �FUCK!!!�. The B side gives us a 3 minute punk rock noise fest with the singer screaming out the names of both bands and people and immediately screaming �GAY!!!� at the end of each name called out. Comparable to the angriest more lo-fi Rip Off Records bands with a healthy dose of Angry Samoans and early Queers thrown in for good measure. Have I seen Rot Shit? Yes, I have. Twice. The second time was a perfect under ten minute short set the way punk should be played live. The first time though, I was hit in the face with a live eel as bottles and chairs whizzed by my head. Not a record for the weak of heart. I give it an A.(MCP)
(Fashionable Idiots Records // www.fashionableidiots.com)
Zooparty �You Are Here� CD/LP
I knew nothing of these guys until the CD landed on my front porch and I popped it into my CD player. Zooparty is a three-piece punk rock band straight out of Sweden, fronted by long-time Swedish punk fixture Erik Petterson and long-time collaborators Per Karlsson. Their sound though undeniably their own reflects a very 70's punk feel and is both catchy and melodic while still maintaining a vicious bite. I mean these guys actually SOUND like a punk rock band that�s formed in 1977 Sweden and not like a band that formed in 2005 out of the ashes of a slew of previous bands they were in. Think The Damned meets The Professionals. Songs that show a distinctive anti-social streak such as �Trading Happiness For Songs� and �Remember To Forget� show you exactly where this band is coming from. Produced by both Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock and Damned guitarist Brian James. Twelve songs in all. Chalk up another hit release by Dracut, Massachusetts' Acme Records. Recommended.(MCP)
(Acme Records // www.acmerecords.net)
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