With fourteen cuts from Canadian rockers POSITIVE ID, this thick set was originally broadcast on Montreal college radio. It’s lo-fi rock’n’roll that you can imagine blaring out of someone’s garage in the late ’70s. Fed through a noxious wall of distortion, this is first-wave punk getting the ’90s budget rock treatment to take you on a cheap, gnarly, and timelessly fun ride.
SHITBOTS from Winnipeg, Manitoba seem to have been putting out records since 2017, and after familiarizing myself a bit with their studio-recorded output, I am absolutely floored by how much more I like this live cassette. Let’s first dive into the “live” claim. It certainly sounds as if it was recorded live, but the crowd sounds between the songs are pretty clearly the band hooting and hollering at themselves until the next song begins. It all actually comes off incredibly entertaining. While I am sure that the previous albums released by this band are fine on their own, the eight songs on this cassette are debatably the way a band of this style should be heard. Super driving and stomping garage punk in a Back From the Grave-worship kinda way. Dementedly lo-fi recording, making any sloppiness sound endearing and intentional. I am a big fan, and if there is ever any vacancy at this Butt Can that the band members all seemingly live at, sign me up on that lease.
An absolutely outstanding international tape compilation. Seven bands, three of which double up on songs, making a grand total of ten stomping tracks, and it is legitimately difficult to pick a favorite here. Bands span being from Germany, Italy, and across Canada. The only band I came into this comp being familiar with was SHITTY LIFE from Italy, and their revved-up, fast hardcore punk tracks do not disappoint. Most of the tracks on this comp lean towards the rock’n’roll/garage punk realm of the punk spectrum. If I had to pick a singular standout on here, it would probably be the POISON SUCKERS track. So grimy and lo-fi and yet oddly very catchy and pretty. My only gripe with this killer tape comp is with the layout, and it isn’t even that it looks bad or anything like that, it’s just a little difficult to decipher what’s going on and feels like there’s a bit of a lack of information included. Were it not for the more comprehensive breakdown about the release on the label’s Bandcamp site, I think it would have felt a bit confusing and harder to follow along with the tracks. All in all, a minor gripe for a killer compilation—I can’t wait for the next volume!
