Totem Pole Wear Your Guts? cassette
Pretty cool melodic punk with a neat, rich guitar sound. Original tunes with unique twists and turns, gets a thumbs up from me.
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
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Pretty cool melodic punk with a neat, rich guitar sound. Original tunes with unique twists and turns, gets a thumbs up from me.
Spew number two for these…uh, Seattle “sound-sculptures.” Actually, this is some of the ugliest, noisiest, hairiest all-out garage wonk ever to see daylight. Three songs, but it might as well just be one. Along with the HELLCOWS and the U-MEN, these guys are making the great Northwest a pretty scary place. 600 pressed.
Pretty intense punk and thrash with varied lyrical topics ranging from “Blood Feast” to personal subjects. Good tunes, but the words seem pointless.
Quite a variety of sounds here, from classical keyboard to punk noises, all with sung female vocals. Very diverse, I enjoyed some of this, but not all.
The record is dated 1982, but it was just sent to us as a new release. Hmmm. Anyway, catchy basic pop punk, rapid-paced and fun. Sounds like ’82. Hmmm.
Two punky tunes with experimental tinges and a real smooth instrumental. Pretty good lyrics and an interesting sound.
This came out earlier this year, but we just now got wind of it. And I’m glad we did—this is raging US-type non-metallic thrashcore, dudes, and while not the tightest or best-produced record in the genre, it’s a totally enjoyable slab. Sparks of distinctiveness should develop with the next record.
Twenty grungy guitar fuzz thrashers here. Sound quality lags, but if early AOD, 7 SECONDS, and ILL REPUTE tickle your fancy, this might too.
Fairly enjoyable melodic pop punk from these French loonies. Contains live and studio material, a little stale in points, but pretty good otherwise.
A seven-song guitar/beat record. Slow tunes, lots of raw guitar, straight beat, psych feel, but not enough rage in the vocals (a touch of SUICIDE would’ve appealed) or feedback noise in the guitar. Otherwise, decent.
First heard from on the Seattle sludge-rock compilation Deep Six. This is a sound that’s growing in popularity every day—a big, full rock sound. Not slick enough to warrant major label attention but powerful enough to grab punkers. See also JANE’S ADDICTION, GREEN RIVER, and SKINYARD.
Twenty-seven “songs” here (most under ten seconds) of utterly tuneless hyper-fast chaotic thrash. Good novelty, little substance; NAPALM DEATH fans take note. All profits go to ALF Bust Fund of Toronto.
A bone-crushing hybrid of metal, thrash, and the BLACK FLAG sound. Lyrically, they dwell on the horrors of modern day living. Totally mind-blowing material.
Raw, jangly pop punk with fun garage-y sound and spirit. Catchy tunes, for sure.
Wonga. Six-song cassette from Melbourne by a young…uh…noise group. This is the sound, along with groups like THUG, LUBRICATED GOAT, and the god-like FEEDTIME, that will deliver the goods on a new Australian (or anywhere for that matter) music. Using the BUTTHOLE SURFERS/SONIC YOUTH sludge as a starting point this group slowly trudges into their own voice with a great sense of doom and humor. Shit—just get the goddamn thing as soon as possible.
The system robs us all of identity and power, and encourages us to fight amongst ourselves to maintain their grip. So, it’s always lovely to see working class people (oi, mate) take out their frustrations on people who are even more fucked over and vulnerable. What can you say about a singer who has his favorite footwear tattooed on his cheek?
Jesus…who are these guys? B-side sounds awful, like a bad BLUE ÖYSTER CULT pop song. But “Bikers,” sheesh…in-your-face hard crunch fuzz, almost like having IGGY POP’s grandson doing STEPPENWOLF covers in the garage. Ow!
I’m usually a sucker for a Midwestern group that blends ’60s psych with hard garage rock, but here they lean a little too heavy on the ’60s stuff. A bit too much CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND and BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD for my tastes.
Gruff sing-along vocals backed up with well-produced, melodic rocking hardcore, similar to early INSTIGATORS, NO ALLEGIANCE, etc. Thirteen songs, two being live, as for lyrics…if you speak Norwegian you’re in there! This month’s value special!
Slow-to-medium-paced basic ’77 garage, one side studio and the other live. Nothing electrifying, but a simple, catchy debut. Good lyrics.
A three-song release, all of which rage pretty good. Hard-driving thrash with tuneage, no let-up, pounding drums and lots of power. A good one.
Driving mid-tempo punk dominated by very raw guitar and intense male and female shouters. It’s faster than FLIPPER, but has the same level of grunge and abrasiveness. One side’s studio, and the live side seems faster-paced. Both sound good.
A powerful but very pop sound on Side A, one that should prove palatable to both punk and commercial audiences. The flip is a novelty number, a country-ish tune with vocals that sound like SLIM PICKENS on STP.
A barrage of programmed synthesizer hardcore post punk intensity, seven songs that pack quite an interesting punch. Not for the musically timid or narrow-minded.
This band has most of their shit together: a hot display of garage-y HC and punk with metallic guitar bits. Lyrics are in the personal/social view. Good effort.
Excellent three-song self-produced (and undistributed) EP. Two songs are hot melodic/full sound thrash, and one is a tape loop job that holds interest. Mysterious.
CRAMPS meets NOMADS meets VENTURES.
Varied sound quality and musical style, blues influenced folk rock to trashy punk. No less than 35 songs, not for the musically narrow minded.
Six fast live songs from their later period, the standouts being “Last Caress” and “All Hell Breaks Loose.” Good sound quality, nice package which includes a cool poster, make this a nice collector’s piece.
Four alternate versions of previously released songs, rumored to be alternates off the “best of” compact disc. Excellent sound quality, cool multi-colored vinyl, and limited of course, start hunting.
Very infectious pop punk, especially the A-side which is a raver. Memorable.
Pretty scorching, forceful HC with metallic tinges. Can’t comment on lyrics, but a couple titles (“My Bitch,” “Cops are Gay”) seem a little odd. Hmm…
With a name and title like this, I thought this would be humorcore, but this is garage-y punk and thrash with serious words covering apathy, ignorance, and exploitation. Pretty good.
Sort of a whiter BAD BRAINS (newer material), utilizing rock, metal and reggae influences. Most songs are slow-to-medium paced, with only one straightforward thrasher. This is somehow a skate band, whatever that means.
These cats can’t decide if they’re ’60s pop stars or country boppers. They do both genres (two tunes of each), though neither break any new ground. OK.
A new metallic HC trio with a BULIMIA BANQUET-eer on bass. Vicious, powerful musicianship and mostly personal words add up to a darn hot tape.
Tuneful punk and thrash with personal words. A little cleaner and more melodic than their last tape, but their drive remains. Good, enjoyable stuff.
Screaming thrash with shitloads of energy. With all their hyperness, things go a bit sloppy, but this blazes fairly well.
A collection of live radio broadcasts, featuring this organ-dominated garage/frat party neo-’60s band. Out of Boston and having roots in the early punk band DMZ, these guys do lots of covers as well as a few tasty originals. Basic rock’n’roll.
Great grunge, Batman! This sixteen-song tape features raving neo-’60s punk at its fuzzed-out best. Varied but good to great overall production, also check out their only single, “I Love You,” available from…
OK, what’s the deal? Lotsa rave about this band, but this sounds pretty so-so to me. A-side sounds like a Ringo song, and the flip is heavier on guitar but pretty average upbeat pop.
Very pop and dance oriented, definitely geared towards the upscale post-punk crowd. Their early material had an urgency to it, whether punk or semi-industrial, but this is just sad.
More fun from this bunch of East Bay bozos. Chunky garage tunes about stinky feet and their punk rock lifestyle. Funny stuff.
Because of its producer, roommate and all-around good guy Ian MacKaye, I expected a later period Dischord “sound” like DAG NASTY or RITES OF SPRING. But I was really surprised to hear a very modern blend of rock and blues and some real classy harmonica playing. Not thrash but it rocks like a mofo.
With the exception of one song, this record is comprised of five slow/medium tempo melodies and, when mixed with the sappy vocals, it becomes obvious that power was compromised for a very clean mainstream sound. It seems the riffs and emotions were made secondary to production. I can’t help but compare this band to a tame, underground version of the SMITHS. I would “reach out,” but there is simply nothing for my ears to hold on to.
Rock and roll with a hard edge, pounding beat, sometimes self-indulgent breaks, and too-full production that takes the grit out. They don’t wear make-up, but their ’70s rock roots are showing in any case.
An audiovisual introduction to El Sobrante and “Sobcore;” an hour’s worth of catchy spastic punk tunes with surprisingly serious lyrics, plus plenty of zaniness and personality. Includes a lyric booklet and miscellaneous objects from El Sobrante. You’ve heard the name, you’ve seen the pictures, now get the tape—all for the very low price of…
Extremely aggro thrash with slight metallic tinges. The guitars are fuzzed out, the lyrics are mainly social, the emphasis seems to be on the overwhelming power, which is a little squelched by the noisy production.
Pretty grunged out noise from this young act, who crank it out sloppy, loud, and aggressive. A pretty good start.
Better production and a little control and seasoning give more definition to this release than their debut. Fans of mid-tempo, smoldering HC will enjoy this a lot. In the vein of EMBRACE.
