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Showing posts from 2010

Review: Various Artists - "Past Present: Breaking Out the Classics"

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In hip-hop and hardcore alike, it’s often perceived as easier to conveniently categorize acts in mutually exclusive opposition according to an implied time frame. Old school versus new school. Then and now. Past Present. But despite the title, Revelation’s 150th release is actually a lesson in the contrary, effectively displaying the constant evolution that no arbitrary dichotomy could explain. Take the first track, for example, a cover of Warzone’s “As One” by Sick of It All. Is it a current band covering a defunct act? Well, yes, but the original was released in 1988, after Sick of it All had already been a band for two years. Not to mention that Warzone continued on well past any potential old-school milemarker until frontman Ray "Raybeez" Barbieri’s death in 1997. Next, Bold covers Supertouch. And at the end of the comp, Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Quicksand, CIV, Rival Schools) covers Sick of It All. So in a way it kind of comes full circle, but

Review: We Ride - "Directions"

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Madrid, Spain’s We Ride is a four-piece bundle of contemporary hardcore in the same musical vein as Madball, Terror and Death Before Dishonor. Except they’re female-fronted by a vocalist who sounds like a prepubescent 12-year-old boy. It actually doesn't sound as weird as it may seem once you realize it’s a female behind the mic, and that factor alone plunks them into the same pool as Reaching Hand, Bitter Verses, Oathbreaker and the other few European hardcore bands that boast a female vocalist. But We Ride takes a bit more basic approach to modern hardcore, with moshy, drop-D (or drop C#?) progressions and well-placed breakdowns to set the pit ninjas’ limbs ablaze. The lyrics are almost all in English (aside from the Spanish hip-hop “Epilogue” and some of the backing vocals) but are still only semi-intelligible. From what I can understand they seem about standard fare--if not slightly more progressive--than the hardcore norm, with tracks like “A Call to Revolution” and ‘Us Agains

Review: Yuppicide - "Anthology: '88-'98"

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Yuppicide is one of those classic developmental punk bands that gained a huge following with their aesthetic and often outlandish outfits and performances despite not being particularly good from a musical standpoint or being particularly inventive when it came to songwriting. Jesse Jones’ accented British snarl gives the late '80s NYHC band a sound that more closely resembles the late '70s and early '80s Oi! scene than the burgeoning hardcore community that was spawning bands like Sick of It All, Youth of Today and Madball. The pace is a bit more stiff, errant guitar solos occasionally fill space between lyrics, and the aesthetic lacks the austerity of the reputation the scene would eventually earn. In that way, Yuppicide almost comes closer to fellow NYHC misfit kinfolk Murphy’s Law, playing around with 2-tone styles like “Ska Army,” and the sluggish “Bang Bang” among other experiments. Though generally following the chord progressions with his vocal melodies with little

Review: Symbol Six - "Monsters 11"

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Symbol Six is a perfect paradigm of the universal truth that past successes are not necessarily indicative of future outcomes. After rising from the rubble of hardcore legends the Necros, Der Stab and Gaudy Trash in 1980, Symbol Six made waves in the rapidly changing Los Angeles hardcore scene with the release of their self-titled EP on Posh Boy in 1982. The gritty blend of punk and hardcore featured such gems as “Taxation” and “Beverlywood” that raged like the Adolescents with the musical sensibilities of Social Distortion and eventually found airplay on Rodney on the ROQ. The songs were incisive and relevant, especially for a band whose members boasted an average age of 15. Fast-forward nearly 30 years to the release of the band’s second proper offering, 2010’s Monsters 11, and something is noticeably lacking. The battering assault and driving rhythms have softened under the gloss of modern production practices. Where once was a group of kids playing overachieving hardcore punk is no

Review: Suicidal Tendencies - "No Mercy Fool/Suicidal Family"

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For 10 years since the release of 2000’s Free Your Soul...And Save My Mind, Mike Muir has been teasing us with various reissues, re-recordings and live offerings from Suicidal Tendencies and his various associated acts. From the recently released Live at the Olympic Auditorium DVD and Infectious Grooves/Cyco Miko live disc to tour-released compilation Year of the Cycos, there hasn't been a patently new studio album in a decade and the tradition continues with No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family. Half the songs on this disc are selected re-recorded tracks from Suicidal Tendencies’ 1987 crossover masterpiece Join the Army, while the other half are re-recorded versions of a couple selections from No Mercy’s first and only album Widespread Bloodshed...Love Runs Red, which originally featured Muir and Mike Clark of ST. The album sounds good. The songs are tight, the mastering is spot on, and there isn't really much to complain about, unless one ventures to ask what the point of such

Review: The Brains - "Zombie Nation"

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If there’s one point worth mentioning about the Brains (and there are actually multiple), it’s that they aren't Bad. Nope. Three white dudes from Canada playing psychobilly. But they’re not bad either, and exhibit both a musical proficiency and adept songwriting skills on their fourth release, Zombie Nation. The Quebecois act doesn't shy away from their culture at all, either, slipping the entirely French “Après Cette Nuit” ("After This Night") in the middle of their otherwise English tracklist. The language doesn't matter a ton--one can imagine it’s probably the same campy horror imagery of the rest of the album--and it would even seem that the Brains aren't particularly concerned with getting a message across. In lieu of lyrics, the insert booklet instead folds out to a spread of three bodacious zombie babes, open lacerations and all. What’s particularly impressive about Zombie Nation is the musicianship that fuses guitar licks and chord progressions straigh

Review: The Insurgence - "The Insurgence"

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The Pacific Northwest's oh-so-controversially-titled Insurgence plays a style of fast, aggressive punk rock that’s equal parts hardcore, street punk and occasionally speed metal. Their self-titled release on Digital Warfare Records captures those sounds with ease from what appears to be a fairly musically proficient act. Thematically, the Seattle-based quintet sticks to almost exclusively war-themed songs or metaphors, evident throughout in titles like “Destroyed Republic,” “Honor Killing,” “Don’t Give Up the Fight,” “Wings of Death,” “Faces Wrapped in Black,” “Left to Die,” “This Bullet Has No Name,” etc. The Insurgence makes use of multiple vocalists depending on the song styles, with melody on the punkier tunes and raw-throated screams on the hardcore tracks. The hardcore vocalist sounds almost identical to the lead singer of Straight Faced, especially on tracks like “Left to Die” where he cuts loose on the high-pitched yells. The band busts some mean chops on songs like the thr

Review: The Mongoloids - "New Beginnings"

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Somewhere between New Jersey and Los Angeles on any of multiple tours around the United States, the Mongoloids became the hottest thing since Trapped Under Ice among suburban hardcore kids. How or why that happened is anyone’s guess, but on New Beginnings they return with better production, fiercer licks and a few surprises that might catch the kids off guard. The Mongoloids' brand of straight-edge hardcore-meets-Motörhead biker rock is vicious and vehement and growling with gusto on New Beginnings. Despite the lineup changes, the Mongoloids have maintained a fairly similar approach here as their breakout 2008 offering, Time Trials. The minute-long instrumental “March of the Gloidiaks” stomps forward with a searing lead that almost makes up for the lack of Lemmy-like vocals that appear throughout the rest of the release. Traces of Slapshot and Righteous Jams also emit from lead singer Greg Falchetto, which are joined by the unexpected addition of female vocals on “In the Name of Mi

Review: Crookedhook - "All We Got"

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Crookedhook is back for the first time on All We Got, their debut full-length that showcases a band in development but still very capable of writing fun, catchy songs in a variety of styles. Primarily within the boundaries of pop-punk, ska-punk, and skatepunk, Crookedhook doesn't really snag anything notable until the third track, “Relax and Unwind,” which packs in several punchy pop-punk melodies in just 60 seconds. The ska-punk of “One for the Team” follows and is almost as catchy, while “Love Tunnel” recalls drunken debauchery with a grin: “You put the fun in funnel / The quickest way to get booze to my gut / I want through your love tunnel.” Crookedhook lays on the ska-punk rather thick on “So Sorry Sir” and “Freestyle Battle,” which are good musically but lyrically a little flippant. “Fair Weather” and “Death of a Small Town” are far superior in that category, plus are a bit catchier and more enjoyable overall. As a whole, All We Got is about what you’d expect from a debut ful

Review: Heavy Heavy Low Low - "Hospital Bomber"

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If you’re like me, you probably discredited Heavy Heavy Low Low long ago despite never hearing them due to their questionable name and association with the often unreliable Ferret Records. But whether or not their prior material is worth any attention is currently moot, as the spastic hardcore clusterfuck of Hospital Bomber is not only worthy, but demanding of said attention. 18-second opener “Je Suis Ame Solitaire” serves as a proper introduction for the unpredictable and brash four-song EP. Equal parts noisecore, hardcore, post-hardcore, metalcore and some type of jazzcore, Heavy Heavy Low Low ricochets an emotional pinball from violent outbursts to discordant, psychedelic moments of mellow. ”Customary Input” opens calmly before a near-instantaneous barrage of angular buzzsaw riffs and a rhythm that quickly moves from revolvers to machine guns to shotguns. The dizzying track cycles through at least eight movements in its 1:38 of length before launching into the heavy (heavy, low, low

Review: Black Cobra - "Chronomega"

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Black Cobra? More like Black Sabbath, amirite? Black Flag, right? Black Tusk, eh? OK, so it’s not particularly fruitful to just list off Black bands that may have some similarities to what’s on Chronomega, but at least it follows a chain of logic that’s hard to ignore when listening to the album. Black Cobra isn't the name of an interracial porno, although it certainly could be. In this case, Black Cobra is a sludgy, riff-heavy Los Angeles metal band that simultaneously channels doom, stoner rock and hardcore punk on their third full-length, Chronomega. Southern Lord is a nice fit for Black Cobra in that it’s probably the label one would rationally associate with a band of this persuasion and abilities. Whether it be the influence of Paranoid-styled metal of Black Sabbath, My War sludge of Black Flag or pummeling jackhammer jams à la contemporaries Black Tusk, Chronomega shreds. From the first track, “Negative Reversal” through “Nefarian Triangle,” Black Cobra weave their grooving

Review: Cyco Miko / Infectious Grooves - "Live in France '95"

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"Sex Pistols and Parliament were my two favorite bands when I was young." – Mike Muir That statement sets the tone for Funk It Up & Punk It Up: Live in France ‘95, a release that captures one show in Lyon, France on a tour where frontman Mike Muir pulled double duty with his band Infectious Grooves and also opened each show with his own set as Cyco Mike. The title of this release could not more accurately describe the sound, a fusion that fans of Muir’s work in the mid-'90s era of Suicidal Tendencies know well. Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, who joined Suicidal Tendencies in 1989, was also partially responsible for the formation of Infectious Grooves, which provided an outlet for slightly more bass-heavy and funk-oriented sounds than the (already funky) thrash of Suicidal Tendencies at the time. The first disc of the two-disc set is eight songs plus a concert introduction of Cyco Miko playing selections from his debut solo album Lost My Brain! (Once Again). Althou

Review: Shang-a-Lang - "Collection"

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Hey. Word has it that for some reason you haven’t collected Shang-a-Lang’s entire non-LP discography up until this point. That’s messed up, dude. But there’s a quick fix for that problem now, and it doesn’t require a crate full of vinyl splits, comps and 7-inches. It’s in the format of a convenient compact disc (though also available on wax) and is simply called Collection. Go pick it up from your local indie store now and all past transgressions will be forgiven. For those unfamiliar, Las Cruces, NM’s Shang-a-Lang plays a fast, garage-y brand of pop-punk somewhat similar to fellow New Mexico torchbearers Scared of Chaka. This comparison is particularly salient on tracks like “Five Long Years” and “Nothin’ I Can Do,” with catchy, distorted melodies atop rough guitars that maneuver efficiently between chord progressions and punctual choruses that don’t dominate the song’s pop appeal. Album opener “Friends Grow Up” from Shang-a-Lang’s debut 7-inch Error: You Cannot Add Yourself as a Frie

Review: Execution - "Hellbound" [7-inch]

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Buried in the annals of American hardore punk history is San Jose’s Executioner, who after 25 years finally put forth an official release for their 1982 demo Fix Me/Hellbound. Essentially a local band who generally stayed within eyeshot of the California coastline from their inception in 1982 to end in 1983, Executioner did share the stage with a handful of legendary acts including TSOL, Crucifix, Social Distortion, the Faction, Bad Posture, Social Unrest and Redd Kross (who were still known as Red Cross at the time) to name a few. Although alleged to be revolutionary in the release’s press materials, Fix Me/Hellbound came some six years after the formation of Black Flag (and four years after Black Flag’s “Fix Me”) at a time when hardcore had pretty much already spread across the country from the East and West coasts to the nether-regions like Minneapolis and Detroit. And while Executioner’s sound isn’t a total copy job of other West Coast hardcore at the time, it wasn't all too di

Review: Five Iron Frenzy - "The Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy" [DVD]

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Clues: They were a ska-punk band that found success without the help of mainstream radio, major labels or MTV airplay. Their varied songs tackled such controversial subjects as police brutality, homophobia, corporate hegemony and female empowerment. No, not Choking Victim, Against All Authority or Operation Ivy. Bonus clue: They played their songs for the glory of Jesus Christ. For nine years, Denver, Colorado’s Five Iron Frenzy walked a fuzzy line between a hard-working, heavy touring ska-punk band and a successful Christian mainstay. This DVD chronicles their journey from pre-inception to post-breakup in its three hours and 15 minutes of footage, photos, interviews and more. Yes, I did say three hours and 15 minutes. And that doesn't include the bonus disc. This exhaustive documentary was assembled entirely by frontman Reese Roper and lies somewhere between overkill and ultimate archive for the FIF superfan. I personally thought there was a little too much coverage of their early

Review: Bastard Noise / The Endless Blockade - "The Red List"

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Noise and grindcore, noise and grindcore: go together just like early Warsore. This I tell ya, brother... The Red List, a split between Bastard Noise and the Endless Blockade, does it in a totally different way, though. Everything is much more controlled and orchestrated with hypertechnical rhythms and an electronic ambience that moves from annoying to punishing with various shades in between. Bastard Noise is a side project of powerviolence pioneers Man Is the Bastard on the cusp of their 20-year anniversary. Often joined by guest musicians, their five contributions to this split are solely the work of Bastard Noise main members Eric Wood, Bill Nelson and Danny Walker. ”Movement Two” is the best Bastard Noise track, a violent, noisy, but technically sound instrumental that twists and weaves with complex time signatures in between all-out hammering hardcore. “Fallen Species” is a pretty cool progressive hardcore song that manages to stay fresh even at seven minutes while the lyrics con

Review: Ambassador Gun - "When in Hell"

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Blast beats, blast beats, blast beats! Shred sessions! Thrash attacks! Ambassador Gun demonstrates their eight years of experience with gusto on When in Hell, one of the best metal releases I've heard in some time. Granted, I haven’t listened to much metal at all, but Ambassador Gun’s ability to intermingle grind, thrash, hardcore and punk with an evenhanded blend of politics, ire, and sardonic humor means a much broader appeal than most heavy underground acts might yield. The album opener “Killed Hooker’s Money” busts out blast-beating like Nasum while “Serpent Stampede” follows suit. The subsequent “Ignorance Is This” has much more of a heavy hardcore feel with guttural grooves sutured between violent outbursts. The minute-long “Hurricane” returns with a full-out Phobia-like frontal attack and a more conventional outro breakdown that blends inconspicuously. The cockled homage to hardcore star Taylor Rain on “Taylor Reign” is as riff-heavy as the band gets, while timing signatures

Review: Angel City Outcasts - "Angel City Outcasts"

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Ladies and gentlemen, we have a grower. At first spin, Angel City Outcasts’ self-titled effort left little to consider, save for a bad aftertaste from the bawdy, cocksure swagger they seem to pride themselves on. Strangely, though, the first impressions turned from slight annoyance to converse enjoyment. The one big reason: guitar leads! Main axeman Tak Boroyan doesn't just wail--he slices and dices with acute precision and an ear for melody that elevates every song his solos and searing leads touch. Whether it’s the warm, friendly licks of the opener “Five Guns West” or string-shredding “Sidewinder,” this album would have a fraction of its appeal without Boroyan leading the way. What makes Angel City Outcasts stand out is precisely what will turn off many potential fans, and that’s the glam rock strut that would fit alongside River City Rebels or the Heartaches with a tinge of Southern punk rock à la River City High. The lyrics don’t help much either. You know the bit: “Stole my h

Review: Various Artists - "Saints and Sinners"

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Saints and Sinners is a Wolverine Records compilation of bands from across Europe, Canada and the United States contributing punk, ska, and lots of psychobilly. Since about half the disc is psychobilly, I’m going to assume that the “sinners” are the psychobilly and horror punk acts and the “saints” are everything else. That’s all a guess, but it seems like it would make sense. Most of the bands are fairly obscure, including acts like Strawberry Blondes and Rämouns, but including some bigger names like Gutter Demons and Sarah Blackwood. Blackwood’s catchy acoustic number, “Lonely Parade” is actually one of the best tracks of the comp despite sticking out like a pretty thumb. The Celtic punk of Pipes and Pints is extremely catchy while the Clerks' ska rendition of AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long” turns out exceptionally fun considering how played out the song is. Turbonegra is apparently a San Francisco Turbonegro cover band that contributes a pop-punk cover of “Rendesvous with Anus

Review: Monument to Thieves - "Monument to Thieves"

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Damn. For what it could be, Monument to Thieves is not greater than the sum of its parts. It’s less. Boasting members from Throwdown, Eighteen Visions, Adamantium, the Mistake, the Agony Scene and Force of Change, Monument to Thieves should be a veritable powerhouse of hardcore facilitation. Instead, they sound just like many of the acts their original bands inspired--competent, certainly, but nothing terribly surprising except for perhaps their far-left politics. With all the audio clips (five total) spliced among the music tracks on this self-titled disc, you’d think you were listening to a G7 Welcoming Committee podcast. Whether it’s pundits arguing about gay marriage from an Anderson Cooper 360 broadcast, John Perkins talking about “The Confessions of an Economic Hitman” or Ian Mackaye talking about punk, the audio clips give an impression that the music sandwiching the rhetoric is going to be of equal articulation. But unfortunately, it’s usually not, as vocalist Keith Barney shou

Review: Rocket from the Crypt - "I Sell Soul" [7-inch]

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Rocket from the Tombs! For fans of garage rock and protopunk, those four words are synonymous with the birth of a golden age that also included such influential groups as the New York Dolls, Dead Boys, Pere Ubu, Television and countless others. Following their original disbanding and splintering in 1975, RFTT reunited in 2003 with several original members, though 2010’s I Sell Soul 7-inch is the band’s first original studio output in 35 years. With members Cheetah Chrome, David Thomas and Craig Bell of the classic lineup, the 2010 incarnation of Rocket from the Tombs does a superb job of representing the group’s legacy without replaying it note-for-note on their two new songs. The title track on Side A is more of a straight-ahead garage-punk number than the majority of RFTT originals recorded in their initial run. Lead singer David Thomas’ voice has taken on a much more self-aware tonality than the cocky, raucous shouts of their 1974 and 1975 recordings, but it still works with the pou

Review : Mouth Sewn Shut - "2009"

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Back with their third full-length record, Mouth Sewn Shut again attacks the crust scene with a ferocious blend of rough reggae and hammering hardcore. On 2009, though, the title is more generic, the artwork is more generic, and instead of a more evenly weighted ratio of crust to ska, there are far more of the traditional, generic crust tracks. But generally speaking, it’s still a pretty good collection. Most of the complaints being lodged against 2009 are the result of it directly following the superb Doomed Future Today. If it wasn't for that, 2009 would probably feel a lot more fresh and a lot less like a rehashing or part-two than it does here. But that’s also because not only are the song styles generally the same, but even some of the themes repeat, like 2009’s “They’re Watching You,” which doesn’t deviate far at all from the previous release’s “Watch Out.” Many of the tracks aren't even rehashes--they’re just the same song re-recorded and altered a bit, like “World War Th

Review: Hellbastard - "Eco War"

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Hellbastard emerged from their 15-year dormancy in 2009 with the simultaneous release of The Need to Kill and Eco War EP. While the former was a fairly decent studio full-length, Eco War comes off as an unloved and inferior little brother, slightly resembling the full-length but not given the same level of care and attention in songwriting the LP received. With just five tracks including a reprise of “Going Postal,” whose original was on The Need to Kill (and the reprisal appears here in lower-grade form), Eco War is pretty scant. The second song, “Sea Shepherd” is probably the best of the bunch if only for its advocacy of the activist conservation organization, and despite some fairly mediocre lyrics and cheesy vocal effects: “In tune with Gaia, in tune with Gaia / Stoke the fires / Of the whalers' pyre.” “Woe, the People” enters with tired butt-rock metal riffs before morphing into more of a swamp-boogie jam, and at five-and-a-half minutes is just way too drawn out. The followin

Review: Part Time Christians - "Rock and Roll is Disco" [Re-issue]

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With a cheeky name and a weirdness that eclipses their musical talent and songwriting abilities, I’m entirely unsurprised that Jello Biafra has been a supporter of Part Time Christians from the get-go. Rock and Roll Is Disco is a re-release of the original Alternative Tentacles vinyl from 1984, and though I greatly respect Taang! for their devotion to archivist releases, this is one of the few they've done that could just as easily have stayed dead. Combined with the reissuing of the Rock and Roll Is Disco EP are four songs that make up the P.T.C. Lives EP from 2008, and P.T.C. Demo circa 1983. While the production improves significantly with each studio effort, the songs are, for the most part, drawn-out punk-metal hybrids with goofy lyrics that leave a lot to be desired. For some reason, Part Time Christians decided on bowling themes as their gimmick of choice. “Strength Through Bowling,” “Bowling Pin Massacre,” “Orthopedic Bowling Shoes” and “Gutterball” take up the majority of

Review: Ashers - "Kill Your Master"

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Ashers are a five-piece hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mark “Unseen” Civitarese with members of Crash and Burn and Deadly Sins. While the Unseen has been quiet since 2007’s Internal Salvation, Ashers have been busy, releasing the Cold Dark Place EP in 2008 and touring the U.S. and Europe for the past several years. Since the Unseen was embracing an almost distinctly hardcore sound with Internal Salvation, Ashers isn't a huge change for Mark Unseen and company. The songs on Kill Your Master are short, aggressive and angry, but have enough variety to stay interesting through the 25 minutes of music. Beginning with the savage title track and through the two-minute slam-pit anthem “Faith Denied,” Kill Your Master rarely lets up. Gang shouts, slicing guitars and head-pounding rhythms populate most of the tracks, with an occasional guitar solo thrown in for good measure. The only big departure comes on “Blood and Grain,” a sludgy rock number written and sang by guitar

Review: The Kings of Nuthin' - "Old Habits Die Hard"

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Back in the swing and ska craze of the 1990s, a lot of bands in those styles were involuntarily siphoned into the punk scene like Squirrel Nut Zippers and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. But few bands with brass-and-key ensembles (Royal Crown Revue excluded) were actually conceptualized as punk bands until the turn of the millennium with acts like the World/Inferno Friendship Society and our subject here, the Kings of Nuthin’. Boasting tenor, baritone sax, piano and even washboard amidst the standard rock instrumentation, the Kings of Nuthin’ command an impressive arsenal and an eight-man roster. Even more importantly, they have the style and swagger to boot, led by the crotchety vocals of Torr Skoog and with guest windpipes by Lenny Lashley (Darkbuster/the Piss Poor Boys), Kevin Stevenson (the Shods), Stephanie Dougherty (Deadly Sins), and guest bass saxophone by Dana Colley of famed Mass jazz band Morphine. Despite the big band sound, the Kings of Nothin’ drop working-class jams on their fir

Review: Citizen Fish / M.D.C. / Embrace the Kill / Mouth Sewn Shut - "Solid"

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The Solid EP is a four-song, four-way split between some familiar faces in the Rodent Popsicle family. M.D.C., Embrace the Kill, Citizen Fish and Mouth Sewn Shut all make contributions, while Dick Lucas plays the most prolific role, providing lead vocals for Citizen Fish, guest vocals for Embrace the Kill, and also doing the cover artwork and handwritten lyrics insert. The M.D.C. track “Mary Jane for President” starts things off with their goofy, quasi-political rabble-rouser, which is a decent enough track but already available on Mobocracy, M.D.C.’s split with the Restarts. The crusty ska-punk of Embrace the Kill’s “Polizia Controlla” is a nice Citizen Fish-influenced number, even more so since Subhumans/Citizen Fish frontman Dick Lucas provides most of the vocals. It’s one of the better songs on the record, but again, it was already released on their self-titled 7-inch. Citizen Fish contributes easily the best song on the Solid EP with “Better,” a bouncy and light ska song with terr

Review: The Down and Outs - "Cacophony"

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Providence, Rhode Island’s the Down and Outs are bringing the mid-'90s skatepunk style back on their debut LP, Cacophony. Though this disc isn't really a cacophony by any stretch of the imagination, the '90s EpiFat influences are unmistakable. Rolling rhythms, lightning palm mutes, and gang "whoa"s populate this album, which at 40 minutes runs on the longer side of such a style, though several of said minutes are dead air leading to the four-minute “secret” track, a cover of Paula Abdul’s 1988 hit single “Straight Up.” Excessiveness seems to be the only real problem on an otherwise nice debut effort by the Down and Outs. The opening track “Villain” clocks in at 3:46, taking a minute-and-a-half to build before it finally gets going. On “Numbers” it takes nearly a minute, while on both “Bridges and Breakdowns” and “Hanging Up” there’s 45 seconds of chords progressions and drums before any vocals kick in. It’s not a huge complaint, but it’s kind of boring to listen t

Review: Laudanum - "Coronation"

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"Any press is good press." That may be the reasoning over at 20 Buck Spin, where despite my known lack of interest in blackened doom, drone and all associated styles, their releases just keep showing up in my mailbox. Of course, it’s not all about me. My approach to reviewing has always been to write for the reader more than to impose a personal opinion, but in this case the two paths probably arrive at the same destination. If you’re a regular, active user on Punknews.org, chances are slim this is going to be an album you seek out. If you’re reading this only because you Googled “Laudanum – The Coronotion” or something similar, chances are you already have an interest in this, and therefore it may very well be to your liking. But again, this review isn't for you. Granted, there is a small minority of hardcore kids who don’t mind sludgy, repetitive noise and they might be the most likely significant demographic of readership to have an interest in Laudanum. After all, the

Review: Oxxon - "Radio Zero"

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For years, there was a running joke propagated by those at Fat Wreck that German punks Wizo didn't even have the common courtesy to write their songs in English. Nobody seemed to have a problem with that, though, as the band enjoyed widespread success across the globe. And when they did sing in English, they were able to effectively convey messages as fluently as in their native tongue. Most non-English bands, however, would be better off sticking to the language they use on a day-to-day basis. Stuttgart, Germany’s Oxxon is one of those bands. “Doing nothing doesn't strain / Doing nothing causes no pain / Doing nothing is a wonderful thing / Doing nothing keeps me thin” are the opening lines of Radio Zero on “Doing Nothing,” a fairly standard rock/punk number saved only by a nice guitar lead. These kind of quasi-intelligible lyrics continue throughout the album, as the pointless minute-long “Stupid Song” suggests: “This is another stupid song / You've been waiting for so lo

Review: Knowledge - "A Gift Before I Go"

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Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everything. So goes the moniker of one Lawrence “Kris” Parker, but for frontman Nick Traina, Knowledge was more of a rebound from Link 80, the Bay Area ska band from which he was ousted as vocalist while battling drug abuse, depression and attempted suicide. The son of famed harlequin author Danielle Steel, Traina had grown up in a wealthy but broken home, a bi-polar manic depressive with a gift for music and an affinity for living life on the edge. As his unpredictability led his bandmates in Link 80 to move on without him, Traina sought to start over with Knowledge. A Gift Before I Go is actually a demo, released posthumously after Traina committed suicide at age 19 in 1997. However, it’s a phenomenal demo both in recording quality and content. In somewhat of similar manner as Link 80, the cornerstone of the Knowledge sound is a combination of hyper ska and punk rock, though with no horns and perhaps a broader palette. Whereas Link 80 generally fo

Review: The Business - "Doing the Business"

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London, England’s legendary Oi! boys the Business have been cranking out working-class punk rock longer than many of us have been alive, and despite periodic bouts of inactivity, have remained a productive musical force for 30 years. Doing the Business is the band’s first release on Sailor’s Grave, a union that seemed bound to happen and is, frankly, a little surprising it took this long. Obvious statements aside, this release combines a four-track studio EP with six live tracks, five of which were recorded at the London’s Marquee Club in 1982. Why they didn't feature all the live tracks from the same show is anyone’s guess, but the live tracks here aren't the main thrust of the release anyway. The studio portion of the disc is made up entirely of covers, which is surprising since the release hasn't been marketed as a covers album at all. First, English rock band Status Quo has some punk energy injected into their 1973 single “Mean Girl,” which makes for a pretty good openi

Review: This Moment in Black History - "Public Square"

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This Moment in Black History is a difficult act to analyze, not merely due to their crosscutting stylistic directions or unorthodox structures, but for their entire approach as it pertains to art and substance. In what might be deemed the burgeoning style of hipster hardcore (or ”blipster” hardcore depending on whether you agree with the New York Times coining cultural terms), TMIBH joins the ranks of those such as Pissed Jeans, the Death Set and latter-day Fucked Up who dabble in experimentalism as much as raw energy. On Public Square, the sense of irony in songs like “Forest Whitaker (In an Uncompromising Role)” and “Theophylline Valentine” bubbles over much more so than any Minor Threat, Bad Brains or even late-era Black Flag. Sure, at times TMIBH can be rather straightforward, like in “MFA” where the simple message of the chorus is “It’s what I worked so hard for.” The verse is another story, though, spewing cryptically “250 miles down south / Put that chili back in your mouth / Fa

Review: Adams Dagger - "Adams Dagger"

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Of all the retro styles bands are aping today and turning into their own, what sound is conspicuously absent in releases of the past few years is that of the early Southern California punk scene. No, not the SoCal hardcore of Black Flag, Uniform Choice or the Circle Jerks, but the quirky, quasi-melodic punk of bands like the Vandals, the Angry Samoans and D.I.. That’s what Adams Dagger has masterfully revisited, and it should come as no surprise that they happen to hail from Long Beach, California. At times amusing and at times disturbing, the most prevailing set of adjectives to describe Adams Dagger’s self-titled release would be “delightfully catchy yet unrefined.” Not just in their name (an 18th century slang term for “penis”) but even more so in their music and lyrics. With simple, melodic basslines and straight-ahead drumming, Adams Dagger doesn't need to soak their approach in allegiance to the past to recall the formative years of California punk. Whether it’s a brutally op