| SNOTTINESS... Punk Rock Classic - World Contender - Worth A Listen - Average - Plastic - No Future |
| VARIOUS 'Noise Annoys Volume 1' CD Winter 2000 26 track CD here that came free from last years prototype UK punk magazine Noise Pollution. It's been nearly a year since publication and still no sign of Volume 2 or issue 2? So it looks like the mag bit the dust and all that's left is this CD. 'Noise Annoys' is an eye opener for me coz it gives me chance to sample some of these 'hardcore' bands that the UK zine scene seems to go in a frenzy about. However a very familiar band kicks off the proceedings with Boston's Dropkick Murphy's who provide a cut off their recent 'Sing Loud, Sing Proud' album. 'The Gauntlet' is in keeping with their more powerful beefy side with loud guitars and strangled gang vocals. And you know what, not a folk tinged leprechaun in sight thank fuck! The Movie Life are totally new to me and produce a catchy anthemic track of hardcore in 'Once In A Row', with smart tuneful vocals. The NerveAgents have one of those excitable singers that's barks out his machine gunned anti American tirades on 'Fall Of The All American'. Not the most original outfit in the world but had some good rapid guitar bursts when you lose the singer. Next we get the new (to me) but highly recommended rusty, throaty sandblasting from the Distillers and their 'Red Carpet And Rebellion'. An angst filled track written and sung by Brody Armstrong the rubber lipped Aussie bird who's got a bee in her bonnet and can yer blame her married to Rancid's Tim Armstrong? They are followed closely by the hideously named Osker but this LA band are probably my favourite new find on here. They come at us with a snotty sounding vocalist backed by some fast well played attacking Punk Rock on the inspiring 'Life Sucks'. Yeah Punk Rock is alive 'n' kicking in the 21 st century hardcore community. Nerve live down to my frustration about the pop punk contingent with their whiny sounding singer who sounds like he's pretending to be angry and frustrated whilst cramming a university degree for a doctorate! Plastic! Southport from the UK I 'tink?, are another fucking horribly named band but approach us with some pretty good mid-paced guitar interplay on their 'Morning After' pill. But their emotionally flat vocals are so bland it's a pain, and any band who can write "April Showers" into a lyric has gotta be suspect! The Swingin 'Utters who once were the pride of the East Bay have really sunk into the bay without a trace lately. They now just manage to utter so so punk noises that just sound very laboured in a safe kinda way. Less Than Jake sum up for me that mid-American good, clean livin indie rock that's camouflaged as punk and haunts the high schools of the US like gun-toting pupils. This ain't punk kids, and don't let em fool ya with a bit of fuzz. I hate this kinda soulless crap with a vengeance. Gameface and 'The Warmest Heart Attack' are more of the same kinda drab nondescript T-shirt rock that makes me squirm. God those weak, clean vocals really give me an art attack of the nauseous kind! Mouthwash (snigger) were due for the same treatment but they manage to give us a new slant on semi jangling slow paced guitar territory. Old Canadian warhorses DOA sound like they just stepped outta 1980 with 'The Enemy' and although it's not one of their best numbers and the song sentiments sound cliched, it's still got enough spark to show a few of the younger spunkers a thing or two. Powder Monkeys (aaarrgghhhh) start up impressively with some good chugging guitar riffs but are spoilt by a pseudo heavy metal gruff vocals. The Bully's from New York are the snottiest and funniest band on this comp. Their hilarious 'I'm A Boy' is a simple but effective rocker. Check out this lyric "finger nails are full of dirt ,I peek up ladies skirts, I look at girlie mags, I use my brother as a punching bag" classic '77 inspired punk rock. On a serious note one of the Bully's was lost in the September 11th Twin Towers disaster, he was a fireman! They are followed by their female equivalent The Donnas. Now here's a bunch of birds who give us some great punk rock 'n' roller fuzzy guitar and seductive vocals on their addictive 'Hot Pants'. The impressively named Gazza Strippers own a powerful guitar sound and create a slick catchy chorus but I just can't get to grips with the whiney vocals, pity coz 'White Hotel' is a potentially commercial track. Dog Toffee from Manchester, England kick off with a great 'I wanna Be Your Dog' riff and quickly heads off into a powerful semi New Bomb Turks track. These have the power at their fingertips but the vocals just don't match the noise they create. The highly rated (in some circles) Electric Frankenstein from New York just don't live up to their hype. Way too much metallic cock rock for me, with irritable vocals and too much twiddling in the guitar department. Vision on the other hand blew me away with their polished but classic anthem 'Close Minded'. This is a band which has everything a punk rock outfit should strive for. Great riffs, catchy chorus and enough 'pop' to get em into the charts without compromising, one to look out for. Sick Of It All are another band who are a staple diet in some hardcore scenesters collections but I find this chugging, rappy, metallic bollocks a chore and a bore. The Hope Conspiracy continue in this STOP/START mode with more screaming angst by numbers. Veteran's StraitFaced should know better but give us even more heads down nonsense on 'Fuck Your Scene'. I was very disappointed and they're another 'name' band that ain't gonna make me wanna go out there and buy their anthology in a hurry. Drowningmen could be Straitfaced's younger brothers they're cloned I tell ya! The interestingly named Death By Stereo don't even get out the traps with even more stuttering rap and those angry duel vocals sound too rehearsed boys. Not From There are playing the sort of stuff that's more at home in a rave. Talk overs and radio inserts bring to mind crap like Fun Lovin Criminals god!!!!! Finally Trans Am are like a duck outta water on this collection. They slide in with a snail like Jesus And Mary Chain track called 'I'm Coming Down'. It's doom laden atmospheric vocals are abetted with a sombre distorted riff and drum machine beats. And showed more novelty appeal than the previous 6 bands could conjure up. Apart from 6 good bands this was very AVERAGE comp. Free with the now defunct Noise Pollution magazine. |
| INTENTION 'Positive' Demo Tape Picked this tape up at the recent Oppressed Logic gig in Birmingham thanks to singer Ian. So it was good to hear what they sound like in a studio after an improved energetic live performance. I gotta admit it shows the band off to be a far more interesting prospect than a bottom of the bill inclusion merits. Intention at long last seem to have got that big sound finely tuned. They play well constructed hardcore. With a crisp, clear production from Gavin in Wolves. 'Code Of Misconduct' their best track and most accomplished tune on here kicks off with some beefy guitars. I ain't a big fan of screaming entity vocals in my punk and Intention do display this but its a more controlled shriek and some of Ian's delivery are diverse enough to change styles with ease. Giving em extra mileage and saving me from a boring review thank god! It ends with a repeated quirky guitar signal showing they ain't scared to experiment. 'Here Goes Nothing' comes at us with some sinister guitar play and more strong riffs, which are always welcome in the Wolfs Lair. Topped with some clever vocal overdubs which is rare in this genre. It sounds like Ian's got a hidden agenda on life, pity the lyrics wasn't included. 'Talk is cheap' is more of the same mid paced duel guitar blasts that can actually change direction without sounding choppy pity some other hardcore bands don't take note. Still ain't gotta clue what's going on in the subject matter but I suspect they ain't a happy bunch of campers. 'When Will It End' was spoiled by an irritating skanking interlude which wasn't their best move. But Intention close with some serious intent and another of their more memorable live songs 'Positive' which is more traditional hardcore but adds a suprise riff similar to the opening chords from the UK Subs 'Keep On Runnin', which gives it an espionage feel. Good demo tape and a now entertaining live band, so one to watch out for. WORTH A LISTEN INTENTION c/o Inane PO BOX 7804 Birmingham, B13, 8AS, UK |
| VARIOUS 'Boston Punk 2000' (rpr-034) CD July 2000 Considering Toxic Narcotic ain't my ideal punk sound they have put together a well worthy CD release here. And they themselves kick off this 23 song release with the menacing 'War Song 2000'. That sounds good in very small doses. So full credit for giving other bands a sniff of the action as their label Rodent Popsicle seems to be pretty active lately. A lot of the bands appearing on this compilation promotes the raw new punk acts that emanate from the Boston landscape. And Global Threat show why they're the most widely known band on this comp. with their neat '3 Words Or Less' that brings together melody and angst! After these first 2 opening acts I was treading new ground so it was good to hear some of the novel acts residing in Boston. A Poor Excuse are one of the promising new contenders in the Boston punk scene with their charged chanting 'For All Those In Power'. Followed by The Profits who boast a powerful female vocal with a political outspoken overtone on 'Violent Fringe'. Razorwire are hilarious with an over the top loudmouth excitable streetpunk vocal in their 'Heroes' that has some good guitars running through the song too. Indignation have more dual vocals, this time with 2 punks giving it their all. They're another standout coz this band has more good guitaring and song structures. They don't quite scream so much as some of the other acts which give em a bit more scope. Best band on here for me had to be The Short Lived and their simplistic but addictive street anthem 'Blame It On The Punks' . This is made even more so by the fact a snotty little punkette is giving it the big one on the vocals. Entrophy come at us with some melodic styled vocals backed by a riffing guitar attack. The Nockers boast another girl singer but with not quite so much snot as The Short Lived. However 'Small Town boasts an out of tune guitar solo which reminds me why punk is such a great beast to be part of! The brilliantly named Dead Pedestrians and their hateful 'Full Of Shit' was a great, fast, blast of definance with a vocal that dripped with gob! The feed backing Shoot The Hostages end things with their atmospheric 'On Your Knees' which from a great start disappointingly turned into metallic punk, but was well worth an inclusion coz it ain't got too much guitar twiddling. So for a 23 band 23 song CD this was worth checking out just to see what resides in the former home of US Hardcore today. WORTH A LISTEN Rodent Popsicle Records |
| RABBLE ROUSERS 'Street Justice' (begcd016) CD 2000 This album kicks of with canned crowd noise from the Ramones 'Its Alive' album, and an instrumental called 'Anthem' . A nice try and not bad for a few bars but it soon deteriorates into an anticlimax as far as anthems goes. Well at least they're showing a bit of imagination which is rare amongst your typical Canadian Oi! exports that hug the street corners of this label. The album really gets started on the French sounding 'Mon Days' which seems to be a French/Canadian call to arms and is a good mid-paced track apart from that niggling high-hat sound which dogs it and gives the engineering on this album some serious thought. A good track none the less and one of their best. They then throw in some pretty basic punk/oi! numbers about scrapping, no Saturday nights etc. which is what lets em down. Sometimes the vocals of Can Canada their lead vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter are pretty restricted too. One minute they're pleading less fights, the next they're saying "get em boot boys get em!" as they batter some local arse bandits!!! Biggest surprise of the album was 'On The Run' which is a brooding instrumental which creeps in with a great guitar riff and has a touch of the James Bond spy film theme tune in their somewhere. Little touches like this really shows another side of this band that needs way more exposure than the oh so feeble street punk they seem to have to supply on demand to the boneheads. With hindsight they should've kicked off the album with this. That's what I like about 3 pieces, they all seem capable musicians. They then go and let themselves down again by giving us a few more dumb plodding numbers before the hilarious 'KKK Klansman' comes breezing in. This track is a fucking great rowdy pub song with some sarcy lyrics, that in actual fact is taking the piss something rotten out of the hooded sect. They end on a skanking track which is a good expose of the deadly 'Blatherskite' which seems to be a Canadian boot boy legend in those parts. 'Street Justice is worth a listen for 4 tracks but the rest was pretty fucking dire. AVERAGE BLIND BEGGAR RECORDS |
| THE GUITAR GANGSTERS 'Lord Of The Rings' (pp058) CD/45 2000 Just in time for the Euro 2000 Football Champion-ships next week...and I can't fucking wait! And neither can Southgate's Guitar Gangsters who cash in with 4 tracks of gangsterdom. They kick off with a powerful version of that old school hymn 'Lords Of The Dance' Although the thought of that sounds pretty preposterous, they pull it off with their great beefy guitar sound. As always the Pete Ley vocals give it that distinctive but sometimes pompous sounding flair. The title track was over-shadowed by it's (Euro 2000 Mix), which for me was the standout track of the EP, with the piss-taking lyrics. Followed closely by yet another cover this time 'The Great Escape' complete with that distinctive whistle which is terrace terrain no doubt about it. Their only self-penned track was 'Match Of The Day' , which recalled the after match activities and all of it's reminiscing... "scoring for England" with the local girls in the park, was a more melodic tune. A lot of punks seem to write this band off coz they don't fit any pigeonholes. But I think this is alright and makes a nice change to hear a punk band with tunes and anthemic choruses instead of some Top Twenty rubbish that will no doubt rear it's ugly head in the coming month. Comes with a crystal clear speaker vibrating production. WORTH A LISTEN GUITAR GANGSTERS |
| IN THE SHIT 'A Cancerous Society' (mass24) LP 2000 This was a big surprise. I'd only heard their previous single on this label which I didn't find that good at all, so when this came in I thought "oh no, not another load of growls from the Valleys!". But ain't it great to be proved wrong! This is a fucking ripping improvement on the previous In The Shit. Biggest highlight had to be the big sinister power-chord riffs and the suitably nasty anguished vocals. Power is a thing that has some obvious definitions but it comes crashing out the grooves of this LP, without a shadow of doubt. Maybe it's coz of vinyl? Whatever, this record definitely has an atmospheric which was originated by the blinding intro of 'Minds At War' . Which really set the aggro raging. Great production as well, which was notably missing from their earlier releases, but not on here! Crisp and clear makes all the difference. In The Shit are for want of a very big word PISSED OFF! And this album is one big wrath-filled statement of discontent and hate, that rages in the underbelly of Britain today. And ain't it always a pleasure to hear when it's captured and done with conviction! These punks ain't playing at it, they are it! And with that monstrous guitar in command, that drags you round the room like a rag doll you are at their mercy. The guitar riffs alone on this make for great punk. The strangled singing completes the rage, although some of the depressing lyrics can be hard o take for 12 tracks, but who needs em when the momentum keeps this monster on the rampage. They sustain this state till track 5 rolls in with a Subhumans type of skank that turns into the big ugly monster they call 'Disease'. Side two keeps this up with an untamed 'The Meek (Shall Inherit Nothing)', only letting slip once or twice with a screechy 'U Make Me Sick'. The paranoid 'CCTV' slows things right down with a another great intro but quickly heads into a stop/start mode that was fucking frustrating and probably ruined the makings of a really good track. They end things with the throwaway Screaming Beer' which was pretty average till the final chorus chant kicks in and come to a finale with a strange choice of cover...Conflict's 'Exploitation' , which although created a few new twists of their own didn't really do the original any favours. But not a bad record at all and comes with some good computer graphics on the sleeve. WORTH A LISTEN Mass Products Records |
| FAKE PATRIOTS 'No Nonsense' (fake01) CD 2000 Another new band here from Dundee in Scotland on a brand new British label Tenderloin Records. And this ain't a bad debut. I was expecting a much more Oi! style in sound from what I'd read about this band but these have some good powerful guitars kicking off amongst the early 80's style of songs, that remind me of an Exploited circa 'Dead Cities' , but far less manic. Especially on the first track Redundant'. Fake Patriots come across as a no messing bunch of street punk toughs who do actually know what's going on around em. Take songs like 'Force Fed' about the education system and 'This Is Now' cussing how things have took a turn for the worse. Having said that they also own a dry sensa yuma, although it's hard to spot without a read through their lyrics. Take the 'Tug, Tug, Tug' track which is a true story about a women's underwear kleptomaniac and of course 'Pervert' with the hilarious line of "I'm right behind you!" Other interesting topics covered were class struggle, trendies in the punk scene and GM food crops. Scotts gruff vocals can be a bit one dimensional at times and the MacGregor brothers musical outbursts can get pretty wooden here and there, but maybe they'll pick up a few more fluid tricks of the trade as they get more experience on the live front and on record? Their best songs are when they fire in the protest like on Diktators' with its "Jackboot law...Diktators, Broken Jaw...Diktators" chorus. Having said that I couldn't really pick out one outstanding track from this textbook 13-track set, so they could definitely do with some experimenting in the rehearsal room before their next full length, especially in their style and sound. If you like your punk as the title says...'No Nonsense' and are happy with 32 minutes of no thrills punk, then this is for you! AVERAGE FAKE PATRIOTS |
| BLOODY SODS 'Don't Give Up The Fight' (mad20005cd) CD' 2000. Now here's a totally different approach to punk with it's testosteroned twin buddy vocals and ultra- hardcore sweaty reveal! I'm afraid this album don't really move me one way or another. Yeah sure the duel vocals have differing styles like the higher snarly growl and lower guttural growl. But the noise they emit comes across as a couple of drunk ex-commando barks to me! They appear to be very poor Wattie Buchan imitators, and without the Scottish brogue and broken English, it just don't cut! The whole vocal approach to this record drags it down and totally fucks it right up! The lyrics ain't too bad on closer inspection, which is a shame, coz they don't get past the sleeve with two pit bulls as interpreters! Geezers like Roger from Agnostic Front can make it a threat, these make it a chore. The inclusion of the by now 'compulsory' comic sketches in between tracks are good and made light relief to the clumsy band stampede. In fact they steal the whole show from the very bland pedestrian music on offer. The guitar riffs just ain't inventive enough to carry this off. And for fucks sake they've got duel guitars as well!!! So why the fuck don't they take advantage of em, is anyone's guess? Where's the fucking power then lads? And what happened to the far better sound they conjured up on their previous 'Hate Of Mind' EP? Some bands just ain't ready yet for the big leap to album status and the Bloody Sods on this recording are one of em! There just ain't enough quality tracks to justify it! Having said that 'No Safety' was a one of the better tunes on display with a pretty good chorus, along with older favourites like 'Stoic Enemy' and Win Or Lose' retaining some dignity but that was little recompence. They also do a fair cover of Suicidal Tendencies 'War Inside My Head' which does make good use of the those duplicate grunts for a short while, but if you've got an albums worth of songs and the covers are one of the main highlights, I think you need to seriously consider where the hell do you go next from here? They are doing a Euro tour any minute now so I'll be able to see what the live situation brings up!!! But on this showing don't give up the fight yet and definitely don't give up the day job! PLASTIC Mad Skull Records |
| DECIPHER 'Latent Image' Tape 2000 Decipher are a new London combo straight out the bedroom. From the stark cover and the officially minimal sleeve layout, you get a distinct impression that this is gonna be pseudo-intellectualism on a grand scale. Well maybe not grand but they quote Rimbaud, Fromm and some other geezer called Pablo Perelman (who?) on the photocopied sleeve. Mr Perelman, whose film 'Latent Image', is apparently this 3-track demo's inspiration. So still none the wiser and armed with my thuggish council house outlook on life, lets see what tunes or should I say statements are on offer? First impressions are 3 abrasive, cold, low-fi dirges stripped back to basics with guitar, bass and drums, reminiscent of early Wire. But unlike Wire (who were great innovators in the first wave of punk) Decipher just ain't mastered the edge to create an effective noise. They're just too highbrow for their own good, and never keep your attention span for very long. The lyrics are like minor manifestos written by ex-public schoolboys and are delivered with the standard tortured vocal. Their only major saving grace was the slashing guitar that made a welcomed entrance now and again. Less lyrics would've helped the songs no end, and some rhythm wouldn't go a miss. Can't really see these making a big impact on a punk audience let alone an experimental one! PLASTIC J.D.Eagles@lse.ac.uk |
| PIGFISH 'The Reverend James' (dlpr2006) CD 2000 Happy go lucky melodic Brum punk here and it's a pretty small dose of action for an album nowadays, with only a measly 8-tracks to scrape em up from the indie pit that they seem destined for. Pigfish sure know how to arrange a song and are accomplished musicians, although Paul Jellybrain would dispute this fact! But like a lot of their other stuff it's lacking that bite, that all out yell of defiance that could make em a contender in the punk scene today. The vocals are either too low in the mix or Rod Frame (the singer) just ain't got the power to project em over our spikey heads. Apart from that hiccup the production on here is top notch with the guitars crisp 'n' clear. I much prefer em though when they go for a more sinister approach like on the addictive 'Get Out', that boasts a great riff chugging away. This is easily their best number. And this sort of style is what Pigfish should strive for, not that fucking weak-willed, diluted, bit of a twang nonsense that they seem so very happy and content with! Punk bands should never be happy. And show me a punk who's content and I'll show you a liar! It's followed by the only other highlight 'Shut Up', that has a much more abrasive sound than the rest of the album, which was pretty fucking dull by comparison. I fucking hate the horrible cover picture, it reminded me of some Bangra compilation and depicts the said Reverend who apparently done a bit of serial killing in his time! So I'll give you a snap of the lads in action instead. AVERAGE warthog@pigpen93.swinternet.co.uk |
| GRISLY GHOSTS OF GUY 'Deadhead'/'The Witch' (sns003) 45 2000 Fast, frantic, fiendish horror punk here from the wilds of bonny Scotland with a heavy cryptic gothic feel, especially amongst the song matter and B-Movie horror sleeve artwork. 'Deadhead' is over before you can say Boris Karloff and was a chanting blur. Flipped with a cover of The Sonics 'The Witch' and this for me just steals the credits with it's ineffective riff. The vocals on both songs are good but the screaming over excitable yelps dotted amidst the fog ain't really my chalice of blood. This band has a big garagey feel in the way the songs come over, but after a few listens you can see why Derek stuck em on his minor but enthusiastic punk roster. Definitely one for the ghouls out there! AVERAGE Soap And Spikes Records .AND Grisly Ghosts Of Guy are deceased. |
| OPAQUE 'Temporary Lifestyle' (opa006) CD/EP 2000 Anybody wanna good laff???? Well this won't be for you!!! This is basically a CD with two tracks (8 minutes and 9 minutes respectively) of some spaced out guru who's obviously smoked too much weed strumming away on his guitar. Takes me back to the good of old days of those experimental outfits that used to haunt the classified tape columns of Sounds, pleading with someone to buy their 'off the wall' racket produced on cheapo tape decks the length and breath of the land. Literally hundreds of em with weird arty names and titles like Opaque. In fact this could well be one of the last breed to strum the face of the earth. Fuck knows how they afford to duplicate em? (what's even more alarming is that these musician cooperatives have the nerve to let loose this stuff on society!!!) Maybe they get it on the National Health, but hey this is number 6 you'd think they'd have got the message by now!!! How the cottage industry of collectives has moved on these days is astonishing. Well this is a good space filler if nothing else. But £3.00 for this is fucking taking a liberty. I can listen to my baby nephew playing his plastic guitar for nothing!!! NO FUTURE £3.00 (snigger) Dental Records C/O Lancaster Music CO-Op 1 Lodge Street, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1QW, England. |