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Showing posts from April, 2010

Review: Refuse Resist - "Socialized"

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Since Slapshot has been virtually inactive over the last couple years (there’s a new record in the works, apparently), it makes perfect sense that Boston’s Refuse Resist would step in with the same gargly hardcore punk as Choke and the boys to fill in the temporary void. While not a dead-ringing clone entirely, Refuse Resist (presumably taking their name from the left-leaning human rights campaign of the same name) plays a very similar brand of straight-ahead, old-time hardcore as Slapshot, and vocalist Shawn Refuse does the world’s best Jack Kelly impression. Coincidentally, while Slapshot featured Ed Lalli of the Welch Boys filling in on guitar for Digital Warfare and Tear it Down (which came out on Thorp Records), Socialized features the Welch Boys’ Mark Powers standing in on bass and is also out on Thorp Records. As if that wasn't enough, original Slapshot guitarist Steve Risteen is now shredding axe as a member of Refuse Resist. The cover of Socialized is marked by one of the

Review: Hellbastard - "The Need to Kill"

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Despite being often recognized for their role in helping shape the budding crust punk scene of the 1980s, it was the metallic crossover thrash style of their 1990 LP Natural Order that garnered Hellbastard the accolades that have stuck through two decades despite a 15-year hiatus. As such, it only makes sense that upon the band’s 2008 reunion and subsequent revival, the same approach be taken for their comeback album, 2009’s The Need to Kill. Opening with a brooding “Enter Sandman”-esque guitar lead and rather unsettling series of labored whispers, Hellbastard spends the entire three minutes of their first track building into the following song “Going Postal.” With its flittering double-bass and piercing metal squeals, Hellbastard shows little resemblance to their anarcho-crust upbringing while describing the forces that push people to the brink of homicidal insanity. “Anthropological Angst I” is a strange 20-second hillbilly-sounding interlude that leads into the thrashy “Stop Your Wh

Review: Absinthe Rose - "Digging Ditches and Escaping Holes"

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The moniker Absinthe Rose is held by current Bostonian/former Oregonian folk songwriter Kimbo Rose, who blends acoustic traditions with punk ideals and political undertones on Screech Owl Records' debut release Digging Ditches & Escaping Holes. While generally accompanied only by her acoustic guitar here, Rose is joined by session stalwarts Bill Damon and Rich DellaRocca of Mouth Sewn Shut on bass and drums, respectively, for the album’s final track, “Dotted Line.” It’s worth mentioning first as it’s one of the better songs on the record, and stands out from the majority of the other cuts for obvious reasons. While songs on solo acoustic records often have a tendency to run together and linger idly, Rose keeps her compositions fairly succinct and generally at a pretty swift pace for acoustic strumming. The lyrics on Digging Ditches & Escaping Holes are extremely vernacular, but still effective for the style and aesthetic. On “I Believe,” Rose sings, “We can achieve a real p