Woodstock ’99

Reviews

Woodstock ’99 Super Gremlin 12″

I’m 99% sure that WOODSTOCK ‘99 is former FRIED EGG-ers who pulled up stakes from Virginia to settle in Cleveland, where their style of ripping hardcore probably feels right at home. Opener “La Casa De Fuck You” was on a Tetryon Tape (the one with Fred Durst on the cover) that came out last year, and it deploys a great, nagging one-note piano hook like POISON IDEA wants to be your dog. Maybe it’s the CB radio vocals, but the first half of “$800 Lunch Meat” sounds like MULE of all bands, erupts for a brief flash, then comes back down into a weird alt-rock vibe that could pass as TOADIES (or SEASON TO RISK, if yr frisky). “Pickled Drunk Driver” walks a peculiar line between ignorant hardcore stomp and SOUL ASYLUM’s semi-psychedelic heartland thrash. The more straightforward moments are high-class POISON IDEA tributes and probably go over like gangbusters in an Ohio City basement. “Green Oyster Dick” jacks a Bay Area punk structure and could have been on a split 7” with GRIMPLE back in the day. “Budget Inn” is all wailing guitar leads like a SCREAMING TREES song, but instead of Mark Lanegan’s growl, you’ve got a French lady talking. The other vital piece of information that you need to be aware of regarding Super Gremlin is that every song ends with a gong strike, a creative choice which this listener can only respect. Rats off to ya.

Woodstock ’99 Woodstock ’99 cassette

This is a nice little package that includes this band’s debut EP plus a bonus tune from a future release, all on one cassette with a goofy skater pic on the cover. In case you don’t already know, WOODSTOCK ’99 is folks from Richmond, VA’s CEMENT SHOES, relocated to Cleveland to tear it up Midwest-style. If you were a fan of the previous combo, you won’t be disappointed, as this rotten apple don’t steer too far from the magnolia tree. You even get a reworked CEMENT SHOES tune here. It’s pure USHC with lovely slurry/screamy Darby-meets-Cookie Monster vocals. Maybe not the most essential release, but if you’re a lover of the plastic-spooled rectangular format, you’ll most likely be picking this up pronto.