SNOTTYNESS... Punk Rock Classic - World Contender - Worth A Listen - Average - Plastic - No Future
PUNK ROCKER
REVIEWS
RECORD REVIEW INDEX
PUNK ROCKER
REVIEWS
RECORD REVIEW INDEX
THE PITS
The Face Of England
(cd001) CD 2002
This is the follow up to 1999''s
impressive 'Introducing...The Pits'
debut! So they had a hard act to follow
and it's been a long time coming. The
band still have an American 45 in the
pipeline, but managerial apathy seen
em disappear out of view for way too
long before taking full advantage of
their first major foray into the punk
scene. So with the band gigging and
itching to release new product, they
were understandably in
the Pits of
despair (sorry lads couldn't resist that
one) and rightly so. If you wanna job
doing well, do it yerself so they say!
And they certainly have took matters
into their own hands and released this
slick 12 tracker on their own
Government Records label. 'The Face
Of England' is a very professional
package in ultra minimal sleeve
design, but comes with that much sort
after compressed production, that
gives it edge! This band has musical
pedigree in every department,
powerful drumming, booming bass
work and a guitarist with power chords
on tap! Although singer Jerome Dagg
don't seem to be in his usual snidey
top form this session, there ain't really
an obvious weak link amongst em! But
that really smooth sound or the fact
that the songs are a lot more polished
than the last output has it's moments.
The Pits have well and truly grown up
in sound and delivery on this album,
and for some this might be a bit too
tame? They kick off on a high though,
with the mid paced 'Nauseaville', that
comes complete with sickening
trimmings and enough rolling "R's"
from Mr Dagg to satisfy the rotters
crowd a treat. 'Belief In Ruins'
maintains the momentum as they swap
the swagger for a fully compressed riff,
and a big chorus. 'Future shock'
despite some clever guitar work from
Ian Jackson, relies way too much on a
phony sounding chanty chorus to
move the song along. Backing vocals
on this album either work great or
sound alarmingly fake!!! It's surprising
how such a suppossedly non-priority
sound such as back-ups can effect a
song. But believe me it does. Coz lets
face it the best yobbo chorus masters
like Cook 'n' Jones, who had the 'yob'
and swagger in equal amounts, give
the Pistols songs that extra
something when Rotten took a break
or got the push. Typically
the Pits
make me put my foot back in my mouth
as 'Marxman' follows up next which is
still as poppy as they come but straight
on target, with it's big beefy chorus,
that boasts some very decent backup
vocals this time. If this is a track that
signals the bands progression then it's
a very good sign! 'Human Beings'
slinks in with a great sinister guitar riff
straight outta Mr Jones repertoire. It
comes coated with those by now
familiar cryptic spitting Dagg'isms, and
probably his best snotty effort on here.
The rock 'n' roll rifferama of 'I'm A
Slum' is another great ballsy track that
was let down badly yet again by those
piss weak backing vocals. It's positively
criminal to make a word like 'Slum'
sound like a Thomas Cook holiday in
the Sun. 'Your Violence Is Sinister'
gives us a sneaky
Stranglers
influence on Jacko's cheeky, but well
timed 'Goodbye Toulouse' licks. A
song which made me search out
'Rattus' for the millionth time. 'It's Not
OK UK' goes off into new unexplored
territory for these Sunderland vets, as
it's heartfelt vocal intro that sounds like
a rhyming contest (snigger) ushers in
it's arrival. This song comes with a lot
of ideas put into practice which actually
work well and gives this band an edge
on their more mundane
comptemporaries hanging around
punks circle line. Talking of which their
anti-London track 'London Kills me'
brings us a grimy, gritty tale of street
life in the metropolis, and was one of
my faves with it's bleak realistic lyrics
like
"girl you just turned 15, and
you've never been kissed, you know
it's far from pleasant, and now your
just a peasant in the piss!"
And if
that ain't all, the addictive chorus
complete with (this time) very well used
backing vocals
"Yeah, yeah, yeah
London Kills Me!"
, has gotta be heard
as it drags yer down to the
underground, faster than the
pickpockets and drug dealers in Kings
Cross, during a Vine St. swoop! Finally
the epic title track 'The Face Of
England' brings the band into the
realm of soundtracks with it's big
atmospheric vibe. And it also contains
one of the best bass solos I've heard
in a long while from
Pits resident
barracuda, Tony Lindstedt. He plays
this track out accompanied with
chiming guitars and that even bigger
drum sound supplied by Craig Casson.
The Pits have recently completed a 15
date UK tour of these British isles to
promote this, and I hear they got a
good reception. So it's working in a live
context and this is definitely a good
follow up and well
WORTH A LISTEN!
But for me just not quite as memorable
as their highly recommended debut.
THE PITS (now defunct)
BRILLIANT SINS
'In My Bedroom'
(Mp3.com) CD May 2002
One the great unsung outfits based in
the current LA punk scene. The
Brilliant Sins made an impressive
impact last year with the animal rights
anthem, 'Fur Is Dead' on the
'Direct
Action Animal Rights' CD. And I'm sure
they won over some new fans with their
token putdown and a sound so
different to all the other bands on that
compilation. This band are fresh,
uncompromising and above
all...addictive to fuck! It's that lasting
impression which made me wanna
check em out further. However when
this 9 track CD arrived last month, and
I eagerly put it in the slot, first
impressions wasn't too good! Indeed
the knockout punch hadn't happened
so feeling let down, I thought maybe I'd
missed something? Glad I perservered
coz after a few more plays slowly but
surely this set of songs creeps up on
you like some ill gotten temptation you
know you shouldn't commit!!! Yeah it's
that bad maaaan! 'In My Bedroom' is
now on constant rotation for the
foreseeable future, or until I go to
confession. So once you do get into
this (and you will) you'll hear what I'm
on about ha! This debut thankfully
don't point to one hit wonders,
although a few tracks just don't have
the seductive feel of 'Fur Is Dead', but
this is a cleverly produced and very sly
piece of work. These West Hollywood
Sinners slowly seduce you with
creative songs and smart ideas. By the
13th roll of the dice you'll be sucked
into the sexy dynamic world of the
Brilliant Sins for sure, unless your
totally devout! The main moral
benders in this band are Kim Andrew,
the platinum blonde Welsh seductress,
who has enough poison in her vocal
delivery to keep any man on his toes.
She plots and schemes the downfall of
lovers, abusers and weirdo's with not
one ounce of mercy. Kim is backed to
the hilt by her co-conspirator and
fellow Welshman, Darren Edwards, the
guitar wizard. This geezer must've sold
his soul to the devil on numerous
occasions, coz he's one hell of a
musician. How many miscreants do you
know who play bass, drums and guitar
with ease without it sounding out of
step or clumsy? He provides the
sulphur burning in the veins of the
Brilliant Sins music (for live soirees
friends are drafted in). They state they
don't like computers or high tech toys
and deploy real sounds! They also
give off a snotty air of conceit for us
lesser mortals, which is OK by me coz
they put their money where their mouth
is by producing good punk rock. This
album is a great testament to Kim's
panache and Darren's dexterity, but I
somehow think it may hinder him for
future recordings, coz outside input
however minor is always good in a live
band. But who knows, this deadly
duo's done alright so far.
'Sucker'....
"My honeys dead two
minutes silence if you please!"
is a
mid paced attack on everything phony
and contrived that the media darlings
desire us to see or be. As Kim's vocals
reach a climax, she goes off into high
pitched vengeance as guitars crash
against each other, good opener. 'Fur
Is Dead' their 2001 classic comes next,
and I detect a slightly less powerful mix
this time around? But whatever raunch
it lacks from it's original, you still have
got to hear it, as it's the best animal
rights protest song I've heard since the
days of
Crass. And to eradicate
confusion, It's performed in a totally
different way to most of the Anarcho
set who spew rhetoric at us.
The Sins
clever use of observant, snotty lyrics
bite deep. I like the way the lyrics are
put over on this album. They're
extremely sarcy, sometimes cryptic, but
done with enough spite and black
humour to keep the most radical
punker enthralled. The next two tracks
were pretty average by the Sinners
standards, but still have a load more
going for em than yer average punk
rock combo on the streets today.
'Everyone's a Winner' is a rhythmic
stroll through the world of cryptic,
seedy relationships. Miss Andrews is
like a purring cat but with her claws
out, as the semi spoken intro opens up
and dismembers 'Headcase'. It's a
good song but some of those
melodramatic lyrics were a bit too
overblown for me...
"I'll steal your
heart and tear it asunder"
...but they
make up for it with lines like..
."I'm a
teenage desire and I smell like the
gutter"
...yeahhhh!. They return to
their rampant sinning ways with
another humorous stunner... 'Id Rather
Be A Porn Star', which was written
about Kim's friend...god help her
enemies!!! This slashing guitar based
tune that lists everything that's wrong
with the young Hollywood
manufactured babes and more is
good. So good it's been picked up for
the soundtrack of a new movie called
appropriately 'Nudity Acquired'. So
they're reaching a wider audience
already. 'She's A killer' boasts a
murderous chorus with crashing
guitars, and the atmosphere is
heightened as the riffs duck 'n' dive on
through. This is followed by my current
favourite track of the album the 4.45
minute epic of 'Wishing You Dead'. A
great slice of love 'n' hate 'n' revenge
'n' death!!! Kim's haunting rustic
vocals are at their best on this one as
it comes pistol packed by that great
guitar riff which builds up into a
massive crescendo that bores a hole
in your brain and will stick in your mind
till the priest or the police arrives. This
is the kinda track that keeps you
dangling right up till the very end, till
we get what we've all been waiting for,
yeah those highly addictive
vocal/guitar duels
'la la la...yeah
yeah'
. I just wish she'd have given us
one more run through before she
holds that lonnnnnggg last note. But
that's what's good about this band,
they leave you wanting more which can
only mean greater things. 'Wishing
You Dead' could be a James Bond
movie intro, it's another slow brooding
classic! Once we've recovered and
Kim's got her breath back we get 'Lets
Get Together' which gives us some of
the bands other influences, as we go
into dream sequence with more guitar
workouts. I couldn't see the iffy
Zeppelin or Who influences I read
about in the press release, just good
rock 'n' roll. Last track 'Weirdo' is the
longest song on here, and is a no
holds barred piss take of all the
pierced, tattooed, dressed in black
clowns who seem to make up the more
blacker part of the MTV scene.
"Think
I'm cool wearing black, but the truth
is I'm fat....I'm a weirdo"
..comes with
some scary vocal distortions too.
Morrisey fans won't be Amused.
Summing up...a fucking good debut
and highly recommended! If your punk
rock tastes require more than just
pedestrian 3 chord screams about
beer 'n' anarchy then check these out.
US CONTENDER!
BRILLIANT SINS
THE REVOLVERS
'A Tribute To Clichés'
(promo002-2) CD February 2002
The Revolvers are in keeping with
the current Deutschland penchant for
powerful, raw
Dollsy inspired punk
rock 'n' roll. And as the CD title says,
this is definitely a tribute to clichés.
Can't say I've heard these German
glamsters before, and this is their
second full length.
The Revolvers
have managed to harness a
compressed production here, which I
like a lot, and the sound is definitely
good quality. Although this posey,
'glam punk' thaang might tempt some
punks out the bar, I found it hard to
take without a smirk on my face. They
come across as a bit fake, you can tell
it's all an act if you know what I mean?
And bands in eyeliner with Dogs
D'Amour fixations just don't do it for
me. They do have ex-
Public Toy
members in the lineup which was my
only punk hint, so all is not lost. And
like the
Brilliant Sins, this 13 song
album needs further investigation to
really let the songs sink in. 'A Tribute
To Clichés' don't really kick off till the
second track, 'Yesterdays Fools'.
Which bears a distinctive
Ramonesque riff and complete with
those backing vocals that sound
hilarious.This is a band who use the
duel vocal swap over well, but they
ain't by any means
the Clash. One
singers butch 'n' average and the
other one has a distinctive quivering  
girlie vocal, that besides a snigger,
gives em a bit of character, like on
their catchy 'Realize' track. The guitars
on this album are up in the air and
kicking big style, just a pity the
structures ain't more memorable. I bet
they can create a good racket on the
live front though? I noticed a
Buzzcocks influence creeping in on
some of the guitar workouts, but with
added power gives em edge. 'A
Tribute To Clichés' has all the ammo to
shoot down an anthem in it's tracks,
but it just don't wanna happen till track
11 - 'Ain't Got No Sense'. This is one
of the few tunes that stands out. It's
got a happy go lucky feel, with those
snotty lyrics..."
a time to
communicate, a time to be shrewd,
a time to liberate, a time to be
rude"
, which really ups the anti
towards the end of the song. I was a bit
disappointed in the slow-mo intro of 'I
sent You A Rock star Postcard from
LA', which was branded on the promo
sheet as "one great adrenalised blast!"
which was definitely pushing it. Just
how any bunch of punks can brag
about meeting Marilyn Manson and
Slash is beyond me?!! However
despite it's wayward start it really did
turn into a good rowdy riff. They close
their makeup case with the acoustically
challenging, violin soaked, piano
tinged 'Rock N Roll Is Dead', which
really shows us their glammy boots are
well and truly entrenched in rock
ballads.
AVERAGE!
I Used To Fuck People Like You
In Prison Records
THE BIPS
'This Time For Real...'
45 March 2002
Now this is what you call Punk Rock in
the 21st century....passion, tunes,
atmosphere and above all songs that
are fresh and memorable.
The Bips
have risen from the ashes of Love Kills
and reformed from their earlier
existence back in the 80's/90s. Lead
singer and original member Jozzy says
the band never went away, but with
only sporadic appearances in their
Native Netherlands over the last
decade and unstable lineups left em
very quiet indeed! So for all our sakes
I'm glad they're back and this EP 'This
Time For Real' couldn't have been
better worded. With it's 4 energetic
realistic punk tunes that grab you by
the neck and chuck you round the
squat, this attractive punk package is
100% adrenaline soaked punk done
by a band that are hungry....you can
tell!!! Jozzy lead singer/guitar reminds
me of a dutch Big Al from the highly
underrated
Cult Maniax in his vocal
style. And anyone who's heard
Cult
Maniax
will know what I mean. Every
punk band needs a singer with style
and originality and Jozzy is definitely
the dynamo behind
the Bips new
lease of life. And that ain't all, coz he's
backed with a band who know their
stuff with just as much commitment
coming particularly from the great
young guitarist called Buz who's put
the fuzz back into punk. Jozzy's long
time girlfriend the outspoken Barbie
(read her columns) sure plays a mean
bass driven rhythm section
accompanied by the Nijmegen giant on
drums and original member of
the
Squats
, Bock. He's bought some of
the punk rock 'n' roll back into the
band which is dominant of their sound.
The Bips bring us that classic chant
inspired punk rock in all the right
places like on the passionate
"Your
Only Real, when you show what you
feel"
along with a juicy punk riff. I love
the production on this EP too, is got a
transistorized feel, but with enough
clarity to add that much needed power
to the tracks. It also gives us that
special atmosphere that only certain
bands manage to capture in a studio.
100 cans of beer and two days
recording show us exactly what this
dutch mob are capable of. They're
tight, they're smart and they give us
songs very cleverly constructed, that'll
leave you with the remnants running
through your head for days. An angry
yell of "Mother fuckers the Victory is
mine' hollers in the arrival of 'The
Victory is mine' which is slightly less
impressive than it's predecessor, but
more upbeat. All the lyrics are
delivered in English which makes life
so much easier for us lazy uncultured
cunts. Flip it over and 'Never
Understand' kicks off side two with it's
chugging guitar intro but the song
don't really kick in till that brilliantly
addictive chorus comes sailing through
the speakers and you get a tingle
down the back of your neck!!! Not
many songs do that these days!!!
They end proceedings with a cover of
fellow Dutch punk pioneers
The
Squats
, and their 1981 hit 'Chaos in
Nijmegen' which I'd personally never
heard before but it's a fucking great
introduction.You can see why bands
like
the Casualties etc. formed in the
first place with it's brilliant simplistic
chaotic gang chorus's that'll have
mass singing in the cellars at the gigs
in no time at all. This band take all the
best influences of the past 25 years of
punk and deliver it with their own brand
and score a hit, big time!!!!
The Bips
show us how punk should be played
and with the threat of tours I can't wait
to check these out in a live situation.
Comes in a great cover with a band
biog. America hold your breath coz
these are worth more than all the stale
regroupings and sideshow acts that
are currently trying fool ya!!!! Yeah
'this time for real'...real punk for the
real punks!!!!
NETHERLANDS CONTENDER!
THE BIPS
VARIOUS
'UNDERGROUND....'
CD Spring 2002
I got this at a gig in Brum during one of
my more drunken episodes? It comes
in a thick, glossy black 'n' white wrap
around sleeve poster. And features
info and lyrics on all of the 7
international noise merchants on show.
It's kindly bought to us via FCR
Records which is Steve of
Ripping
Thrash
fanzines label, and 2 more
local labels from the Stoke area,
namely Chincave and the amusingly
named Fek Records. First out the
furnace are
Eggraid, who are a 'Fek'
band and bring us that all too familiar
thrashy death knell. It arrives in the
form of raspy vocals above a pseudo
Discharge, stop/start guitar riff. They
sing about the 'New Deal' and
poisonous gas emissions on our
planet, which is applaudable, but
totally wasted by the moronic, bland
method in which they deploy it. Next up
is
Existench all the way from Halifax,
Nova Scotia in the Canadian wasteland
no doubt. So this crew don't need an
excuse to sound demented, as they
dish out much of the same, except this
time the guttural grunts are from a
lower decibel and secreted from the
bowls instead of intestine. They too
have some pretty good lyrics, but even
with a lyric sheet you need a satellite
tracking system to translate what's
being regurgitated.
Melee hail from
Boston, USA and are actually the first
band for 12 tracks to attempt a bit of
singing, all be it in a less exasperated
whooooaarrggh fashion. They even
have song structures too...shock
horror! Sadly they're the only band
who ain't got lyrics present, but they
got a good sound and can create
some big riffs when they wanna. As
they chant merrily 'Melee Thrash
Attack' my favourite had to be 'Our
Legacy Is A Load Of Crap' tee hee, I
love the song titles on here.
Kakistocracy are up next, and I've
heard nothing but majestic praise on
these crusties from the impressive Old
School Or No School webzine. Alas I
was disappointed big time with the
transistorized sound. They do provide
3 angry memorable songs with
'Slogans' being the best and they got
their fair share of notable riffs to cough
up, but a lot of these bands on here
lack power in the final production. This
THRASHY branch of punk needs
power badly to achieve that monster
sound, otherwise it sounds fuckin
lame.
Nabla reign in Serbia,
Yougolsavia. They sing in their native
Draconian tongue and luckily for us it
does have an English translation
sheet. Nabla are the only band on
here so far without a registered thrash
inc. equity card, which was a welcome
diversion. I've heard a lot better and a
lot worse, but being different didn't
hide the fact they were lightweight in
comparison and pretty bland.
Selkkaus from Finland were a big
surprise, they come across as a good
time punk outfit with the infectious
'Prole Power' sung in English as their
best number. They do have optimistic
feel and no overtly political axe to
grind, but I could be very wrong as
they sing the rest of their set in
Finnish. I like these best coz they've
got tunes and a bit more power in the
production than their more demonic
comptemporaries. They end with the
impressive 'Marx, Kristus, Saatana'
which has some great lead breaks that
needed more exposure. Lastly
Acao
Direta
who come all the way from Sao
Paola, Brazil. They tempt us with more
tunes, but are let down with another
tinny production and low guitar
volume.They cover
Doom's 'Phobia
For Change' which sounds impressive
in print and has a good riff on record.
Well this ain't the best collection but
turned out a lot better than I first
anticipated, still too hit or miss for my
poppy tastes though.
AVERAGE
Available for £2.00 from PO Box 152,
Burton On Trent, DE14 1XX, England
or e-mail: steve@rippingthrash.com or
visit
www.rippingthrash.com
ACTIVE SLAUGHTER
'Smash H.L.S.' (Advance)
CD-EP January 2002
The chilling intro of Animals screaming
in agony really rams home the debut
from this new Tottenham punk
band....it coldly straps you down as
their best song to date bounds out via
the ultra catchy 'Smash H.L.S.'. This is
the kinda song punks and A.L.F.
saboteurs alike will be chanting all
round the country no doubt. It's their
Animal Rights call to arms, and you
can understand their fury at the
Human Life Sciences establishment
that this song is aimed at, especially if
the previous heinous intro is anything
to by.
Active Slaughter certainly ain't
here to hold our sweaty hands or pet
the spotty dweebs on the head as they
go through another teenage crisis. No
way, this band is here strictly to show
you the devious sideshow of our
loverly corrupt government and shove
our faces in the shit that they create.
And what's so good about em is they
don't produce the usual ranty,
transistorized punk you'd expect from
their almost familiar band name. No,
these angry bastards have a lot of
influences in their non-cosmetic
make-up, which is good for all our
sakes and ultimately theirs. Their
brand of Street protest is activated via
a singer who sounds like he means
business in that classic pissed off
North London delivery. And he's
backed up with petrol bombs ablazing
by a powerfully competent rhythm
section who supply the rhythmic
sulphur, as Hans Solo our axe wielding
merchant lets rip a beefy (whoops a
daisy) sounding guitar riff that chucks
the profanities around the speaker.
And guess what...not one 'solo' in
sight!!! Next up is 'Phase' which has a
snifter of
Rancid in it's semi-spoken
opening as Princess Liar (the singer)
spits out the
"going down the punk
rock show..."
They then shine a
spotlight in the faces of the rich middle
class punks that only seem to
converge on the London scene these
days. The sneaky bass driven 'Big A
Little a' pastiche of
"too many
arseholes in the punk rock scene"
was a nice move too. 'Fuck Off M.O.D.'
is a
Clash City Rocker with a skanking
guitar attack on Britain's Ministry of
Defence which was good, but could've
been even better with a more
streamlined lyrical delivery. Coz if
anything,
Active Slaughters biggest
disadvantage to date is they got so
much to say, they lose it big time with
way too much dialogue in the songs.
Some clever edits in rehearsal would
make these songs so much more tight
and direct. Errr did someone say  
Direct Action?... 'Section 60' is a full
steam ahead jump around the police
barricades. It signals time for the 'Mets'
retribution squad to be put through the
gauntlet, but was probably the weakest
track on here, with just a predictable
typical yobbo attack. They finish off on
a high with their debut recording from
last year that is still one their best
songs...'My Foot in Your Mouth'. A
song written about last years Foot and
Mouth crisis which pokes holes
through the Governments fuck ups at
every given turn. On the whole 'Smash
H.L.S.' ain't quite the classic the band
led me to believe, but it's definitely a
good debut and from a band whose
grown up in the public eye shows they
can only get better at what they do so
well....attack!
WORTH A LISTEN.
The official release comes with a
generous foldout lyric poster, sticker,
badge and a fucking zine too!!! So say
no more guvnor....see Active Slaughter
ACTIVE SLAUGHTER
SAD SOCIETY
(Demo Tape January 2002)
Just had this 5-track demo tape in from
one of my favourite Scottish punk
bands of the 90's...
Sad Society. I
thought they'd hung up their tartan
sporrans for the duration, but
apparently not, and they're back with a
vengeance after a lengthy silence. A
handful of blistering punk jumps out
the speakers and straight away the
energy hits ya, this sounds their best
stuff to date. The 'Spacegun' fiasco is
first down the ramp and is a full throttle
attack on the senses, with an
obscenely clean production in the
'Bollocks' tradition. Whoever produced
this has done his job. The strong
anti-American theme continues with
"
Hello Mr Bush!!" and 'No More US
Laws', which is a mid paced anthemic
snidey attack on the USA war policy
and probably their most powerful track
amongst many. It's even got an
Exploited "Fuck the USA" chorus,
but done with a lot more style than
their near neighbours. How come
Edinburgh punks hate the USA so
much? Must be a Scottish thing???
Well bang goes the Epitaph contract!
So sentiments aside, this is a band
who leave the music to do the talking.
They've captured their unique big
sound with powerful slashing power
chords at the ready, a strong drummer
(ala Paul Cook style) and a bass
sound which adds that humming
prowling undercurrent that so many
bands miss in the final mix. Deek's
classically trained (as in punk rock)
vocals are still here, which wraps up
this bands sound perfectly. The
sinister 'Suits' is a sonic attack on the
"super human beings" who run big
business with a great addictive chorus.
As you'll have guessed by now, Deek
(the singer) is the only original member
I can identify for certain, as he sent the
demo with no band info. Pity, coz good
guitarists are hard to come by and this
band has one at their disposable. And
along with that wall of sound
production shows that classic punk
rock can be produced on a shoestring
budget if you got enough suss. 'Horror
show' comes at us with a chanting
chorus followed up with a great riff, but
loses it's way somewhat on the verse
which was the only minor glitch on this
demo session. If you like yer punk with
power and tunes and enough snot not
be become too aqainted for the easily
pleased, you'll fucking love this. Think
of
US Chaos rolled into the Pistols via
Edinburgh and you'll be close.
Suprisingly even
Sad Society are
partial to some yanks as the final track
and subject matter 'Ed Wood' is given
genius status by Deek, which I suspect
is a secret hero of the singer. One
thing this demo proves beyond doubt
that there's still potentially classic punk
rock lurking out there today, just
waiting to spit in your eye. Worthy of
your attention defnitely and a great
intro to the newer curious punks out
there who wanna taste good punk rock
like momma used make. Alas without
no label backing they're destined to lie
unheard of in their Clermiston ghettos
so c'mon labels do your fucking job
and get this out to a decent audience
now.
SCOTTISH CONTENDER.
SAD SOCIETY
THE WIFEBEATERS
'Mulletstation' EP
45 January 2002
In total contrast to Active Slaughter I
can really see this being on playlist
rotation for the Profane Existence
feminist collective. 'Child Mulletstation'
(snigger) has gotta be a massive
in-joke amongst the Redwood City, CA
shopping malls and local high school
punkeroos. Coz that's where the
anonymous
Wifebeaters reside. I was
looking forward to this EP, not coz I
brandish a baseball bat to my bitch of
a wife or black my girlfriends eye coz
she won't gimme beer money. No the
real draw is coz the whole photostated
package looks bad enough to be
good. And blood red vinyl is always an
alluring colour, although Black 'n' Blue
(geddit?) wax is also on offer, if your
that way inclined. Along with a blatantly
offensive (if you ain't gotta sensa
yuma) lyric insert and the humourous
artwork, you even get your very own
Wifebeaters temporary tattoo and
sticker ha! So ten outta ten for novelty
value boys. But all the clever innuendo
and marketing of these Wifebeating
misogynist's falls flat on it's rat arsed
face once the music staggers in.
Fackin 'ell the god damn music!!!!
The
Wifebeaters
make the kind of noize
that straights playing at being punk
would conjure up! It's that bad. Even
the piss taking song titles like 'Make
me a Sandwich' or 'Red Neck Militia'
weren't enough to save em from a slap
around the bar. As soon as the funny
intros are dispatched, all we are left
with is 4 tracks of really badly
recorded, ham fisted, transistorized
interpretations of what the local Sheriff
probably thinks is punk rock. I mean
even the drums 'n' bass are so
nonexistent in the mix it's like
someone's stuck a tape recorder in
front of two gorilla's with all of one
chord and an unconvincing gruff vocal
between em fighting for our attention,
and the volume control. However at a
push and by some massive divine
intervention they actually do manage
to play one song together on the last
track called 'Rent-A-C.O.P.S.' Which is
a skanking parody on some US TV cop
Show, but that was really giving em
credit!!! This is probably the sort of
record
MRR would warn us about in
their letters pages, but you know
what?,
MRR would be right for once,
coz the plodding, moronic music is the
only threat to our well being, not the
message. If only the obvious black
humour was matched by decent song
structures, then these women hating,
Schlitz drinking rednecks (which I
doubt they really are?) would've been
worth your attention, instead of their
select few Homo's and UK reviewers
like me. On final analysis this EP
seems such a waste, with other more
worthy bands out there like
Sad
Society,
who'd take these to the
cleaners. So maybe a Wifebeating
record label is your destiny lads? coz
your good at presenting a record...so
next time try and get some rehearsals
in before pressing the 'record' button.
Packaging:
WORTH A LOOK....
Product:
NO FUTURE.
$3.00 (US) $5.00 (Outside US)
The Wifebeaters, PO BOX 5192,
Redwood City, CA, 94063,USA.
HOTWIRED
(Advanced EP) CD March 2002
Having heard Hotwired's earlier
diabolical demo 'Friday Night' I was
expecting another joke. And to be
quite honest was wondering why Sado
the bassplayer keeps sending me stuff
to slag off? But against all the odds
they've actually got themselves into a
proper studio with a decent engineer
who ain't totally deaf or wasted on the
draw. And despite initial fears come up
with 4 newly recorded tracks for their
soon come EP. Although
Hotwired
have still gotta long way to go before
they come close to creating classic
punk rock, this advanced set is a major
leap forwards for this bunch of piss
heads. They at least manage to grab
some pride back for themselves in the
Norfuck punk quadrant with some
reasonable tunes to show their mates.
'It's Only Punk Rock' gets the ball
rolling with a mid paced guitar riff that
is sold to the natives by their elder
statesman of the local punk scene,
Smeg! Smeg definitely ain't the best
singer in the world, but if you've gotta
sensa yuma (and believe me with
these cunts you need one) you'll see
why they got him in the hot seat. The
bass driven 'Scum' is where
Hotwired
get all serious and caring as it attacks
nonces, lowlife and any other dirty cunt
who breaks the rules of the street. Not
exactly
Crass or Dead Kennedy's in
the venom stakes and delivery, but the
sentiments are admirable. There's still
that stench of 'demo' emanatting from
this offering, but they're at least having
a go and can only get better with more
studio time, rehearsals and gigs
instead of bar time, we hope! 'Friday
Night' gets another outing and is
actually listenable this time around,
even though Smegs monotone vocals
take some serious bribary to take on
board. We even get a guitar solo which
has a
Buzzcocks (circa Boredom)
feel.And last but by no means least
is?....oh so that's what the last track
'Thassa Rumun' is all about! They had
me scratching my Wolvo cranium for a
few seconds as I tried to figure out
what that title track actually meant?
Norfuck slang is nearly as cryptic as
Lower Gornal, and it's spoken
accoustic intro sounds like Worzel
Gummidge in the potting shed
knocking a round off Aunt
Sally...
"have you gotta light boy?"
This quaint track will no doubt delight
the Americans tourists amongst us
before speeding off into the police
cells where it truly belongs. On the
whole this was a lot more like it, so If
you like yer punk done in a typical
early 80's UK mould then you'll go for
these more than i would maybe? I
doubt very much Hotwired are all that
bothered who likes em, just as long as
they can still hit the bars. And even
though this is yer
AVERAGE!
punk, it's a massive improvement,
believe me.
HOTWIRED
MAD SIN
'Survival Of The Sickest'
(045-2/1) CD Summer 2002
This CD came as a complete surprise
to the Wolfs Lair, coz Punkabilly ain't
really my scene. The nearest I ever got
was with
the Cramps who are great
but a one off or so I thought.
Germanys
Mad Sin are here to prove
me wrong. They're good, in fact they're
very good indeed, and this collection
has been blasting out my speakers
since it arrived. This band break all the
rules in their genre, they play punk
rock fueled, bass slapping rockabilly,
that has power, suss, songs,
atmosphere and above all diversity in
their sound. I don't think one track of
the 17 on show has an identical feel?
They all have more individual quirks
and compulsive addictions, than a
ward in a state run detoxification clinic.
'Revenge' is a dish served cold so they
say and
Mad Sins dish is chilling as
"we are the things that were, and
shall be again"
comes clamoring from
six feet under. This song has glimmers
of the
Adam Ant 'Frontier', Hammer
horror atmospherics on the impressive
backing
"graves so cold
whoooaaghhs!"
The howling wolf of
'Sin Is Law' introduces a skanking 60's
spy movie beat, with
East Bay Ray
leads giving this debauched track
class.
Mad Sin would make great
movie soundtracks, coz they certainly
know how to structure interesting
songs despite the heavy Whiskey
sessions they're prone too. The clever
use of goffic horror sound bites keeps
us in the underworld as were
transformed to the intro of the demonic
'1,000 Eyes' where singer Big Koefte
Deville croons.
"Deluxe Man in
Space, complete with missile base,
with astronauts and satellites you
send them into flight...321"
...
'Conquer The World' reminds me of a
spaghetti space Western with it's wah
wahhh guitar intro. Big 'Koefte' has a
great style, one minutes he's over the
top and manic the next he's lovesick,
crooning and swearing all in one track.
Tex Morten and Stein on guitars do a
splendid job combining rockabilly and
psycho wah wahs with full on big juicy
punk riffs that some of the heavier
punk bands would be jealous of. The
bass slapping and drumming have a
very close partnership so close in fact I
sometimes can't separate the two? But
hey it works. 'Psycho Babylon' inspired
by the movie 'Freaks' has some great
hidden depths on show. The scary
smothering of 'Love Is Dead' is yet
another love/hate track with a flanged
guitar that leads into a jangling solo
amidst the torrid screams, great stuff.
It's songs like this that shows why this
band were signed up by Polydor
Records at one stage, coz
Mad Sins
sound is definitely destined for a wider
audience. Just a pity Polydor couldn't
handle the bands off stage noxious
behaviour. The madcap comedy of
'Senseless Generation' lets Tex
Morton excel in the guitar department
as a confused Kofke asks us "was it
this way, that way, right way, left way,
wrong way, my way?" Favourite for
many has to be the big epic sounding
'Dangerzone' that tells the story of the
bands early Berlin roots. It boasts the
best chorus on here, complete with the
creative whistling outro complete with
echoey footsteps. They change mood
once more with a great drinking song
on 'Delirium' and sound like men after
my own heart....
"Mr. bartender pass
me another brew"
.There's so many
to choose from on out the 17 tracks on
show, like the social commentary of
'Dance with the devil' (Littleton
massacre) and those great haunting
back up vocals "we calling you!". But
for me the best was left till last on the
glorious riffing monster of 'Class
Warpath' to seal this bands fate in the
accolades of punk rock. It kicks off on
a tantalizingly frisky mode before finally
regenerating into a massive sub sonic
riff and chorus that brings about
anthem like proportions, fucking
brilliant! First it was
Brilliants Sins
now Mad Sin from Germany, these
sinners sure know how to sin!

GERMAN CONTENDER
www.madsin.com/
I Used To Fuck People Like You
In Prison Records
THE SPITTS
'Cut The Circulation Off'
CD April 2002
This Swedish outfit turned out to be a
bit of a disappointment. Anyone who
spells Spit with two 'T's' is definitely
suspect! Sure they can play, they got
the controlled intensity down on tape
and can create big rockers. I'm very
partial to their punk 'rock 'n' roll'
production, so why the
disappointment?, you may well ask!
For starters 'Cut Off The Circulation'
was just a bit too clean and calculated
for me. Some bands have it naturally
and some bands pretend to have it. I
see
the Spitts in the latter category.
They got great songs like 'Idiot Boy'
which has a catchy as fuck chorus, but
they're missing something primitive,
something raw or that much sought
after sleaze, that should go hand in
hand in this kinda terrain. The cheesy
semi-strangled American vocals don't
help matters much, as they're nice,
safe but ten a penny. However this
bands biggest plus point is the guitars,
which come out to play big style in the
chugging 'That's my Girl'. Songs of this
ilk gives em that something extra
special to brag about. But of the 12 on
offer...not a lot more to write home
about. Another thing I noticed is they
sound uncannily just like label mates,
Church Of Confidence. Especially
on 'Perfect Home', which is no bad
thing. But is too damn incestuous for
this labels well being I reckon. Track 5
- 'I'm In Love' brings in some horns
which works well on the chorus, but
this kinda pop rock left me feeling
cheated unless I was a Newborn Rock
fan from Stockholm! Well hate to
disappoint ya but I ain't, I'm an old
punk from the gutters of
Wolverhampton! They produce clean,
neat, well played rock 'n' roll but are
missing genuine passion or subterfuge
that bands like felllow countrymen
Smooth & Greedy can create without
really trying.
The Spitts wanna make it
'big' and I wish em luck coz they smell
of bandwagon jumpers to me and on
this collection alone they failed to hit
the target.  
AVERAGE
www.thespitts.com/
I Used To Fuck People Like You
In Prison Records
BLOW JOBS
Demo CD 2002
My old mate Welshy (ex-External
Menace
) sent me this demo CD to
check out. He rates em very highly. So
being as he was the first to introduce
me to the legendary
Turbo Negro I
couldn't help but wonder???
The Blow
Jobs
ain't the new Turbo Negro and I
doubt they'd wanna be. They are a
brand new punk outfit from Aachen in
Germany, and this is their first studio
recordings, six in all. Considering this
is demo quality it's got that raw
claustrophobic 70's atmosphere,
sleaze and some memorable rough
songs spat out with style. This is the
snotty Punk Rock like momma used to
hate. I like it a lot and shows big
promise. Considering every other punk
band these days is singing about some
shit on the other side of the planet,
these fuckers sing about what's
happening to them in their own
backyard, which I always admire. They
do need a lot more gigs and
rehearsals to tighten up their noise,
but you can suss they've enough ideas
and attitude to progress to far greater
depths than this impressive demo
stage. The blitzing 'Latex Love' kicks
off with a lustful list of kinks to screw
too. Not quite as catchy as
Vice
Squads
song, but way more sleazy. I
somehow don't think this mob will be
playing with the PC brigade too much,
but it's PC's loss. Heads down, no
messing gutter punk is a lot more
honest played like this, instead of the
usual thrashy crappy two-faced
political bollocks. You get what you
hear. Talking of which...
"you son of a
bitch, you sleazy piece of shit, you
make me itch, I'm gonna kill you in
the pit"
introduces the riffy (in more
ways than one) 'Kill You'. A lyric which I
think says it all really. The tongue in
cheek 'Blow Job' staggers in as their
signature. The pissed off singer, Scholl
gets his lunch, while he gives em hell
for doing it ha! It's played against a
frantic guitar riff from axeman Diezel,
while bass player Alen has a vast
collection of rare punk to inspire his
rumblings. Stenten on drums is a
complete nutter by all accounts.
The
Blow jobs
sing about boredom, sex,
paranoia and things that just don't
seem to make the grade in the REAL
punk world today.... bahhh! It's so
refreshing to hear punks playing punk
without consulting the rule book. This
band is definitely all about having fun
at everyone's expense in a pissed off
kinda way. I suspect they're the real
thing and If you like snotty punk rock
and getting blow jobs you'll like these!
In fact those two requirements are
what every decent punk band should
be into these days.
WORTH A LISTEN  
Members of the BLOWJOBS can now
be found in
NAZI DOGS
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