Reviews

Screaming Urge Buy LP reissue

HoZac brings us the first reissue of this Columbus, OH act’s 1980 LP. Folks are probably familiar with these oddballs from their debut 7”, particularly the dum-dum power pop punker “Homework,” which appeared on Killed By Death #6 and the inaugural entry of the beloved Hyped to Death compilation series that’s named for the track. It’s for sure one of punk’s greatest shits! And the business-savvy folks over at HoZac clearly agree, as the two tracks from that 7” kick off this expanded, remastered edition of the LP. So, that alone probably warrants a look-in. But you should definitely stick around for the rest of the LP. The remaining nine tracks on the record should definitely appeal to anybody who digs the more celebrated stuff that was coming out of the Midwest around that time, like the GIZMOS or the BIZARROS, when punk wasn’t really a template you could follow but something that was actively being defined by a bunch of weirdos who wanted to rile folks up by writing and playing original songs. Highlights include the DEVO send-up/ode “Mono,” or the ultra-dumb protest number “War”. Real cool stuff!