V/A Head on Straight cassette
Don’t let the posi-punk title scare you, cuz this fucker rocks hard with acts like PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE, HALF OFF, and FALSE LIBERTY. This rocks your gizzard!
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
For review and radio play consideration:
Please send vinyl (preferred), CD, or cassette releases to MRR, PO Box 3852, Oakland, CA 94609, USA. Maximum Rocknroll wants to review everything that comes out in the world of underground punk rock, hardcore, garage, post-punk, thrash, etc.—no major labels or labels exclusively distributed by major-owned distributors, no reviews of test pressings or promo CDs without final artwork. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!
Don’t let the posi-punk title scare you, cuz this fucker rocks hard with acts like PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE, HALF OFF, and FALSE LIBERTY. This rocks your gizzard!
This flexi comes with the first issue of Future-Now! UK zine and features one song each by HERESY, STUPIDS, and DEPRAVED (now called VISIONS OF CHANGE). All three songs are great, each with its own style of thrash, all backed by high energy and good intentions.
A pretty hot comp heavy on the HC and speedmetal with acts like SUBVERSE, DEATH SENTENCE, FRATRICIDE, and a slew of Canadian bands. Worth checking into.
An all-Japanese release for those who can’t locate the stuff. Contains a track or two from DEADLESS MUSS, SO WHAT, DETROIT, and FUCK GEEZ. Decent thrash material, nothing lame but little awesome from the current crop.
Three songs, all good garage/’77 punk with good production. Pretty decent lyrics, too, highly caustic towards retardo-punk attitudes. Cool.
This is simple, three-chord punk with basic production and messy vocals — all played in a moderate tempo. The four songs here sound uninspired and rather monochromatic, though I did like the harmonica break in “Control U.”
This duo of Spanish bands demonstrate a remarkable similarity to Finnish bands from 82 or so. U.G., with their ultra-fast, messy thrash sound, is reminiscent of that first BASTARDS EP; R.D.R., with more extended song structures but the same general style, recalls the first EP by RIISTETYT. Altogether, rather like a blast from the past, and recommendable for the U.G. side.
Really powerful garage rock’n’roll with lyrics that are unpretentious but not dumb. Sounds like 76 era pub rock’n’roll with some 77 hindsight. Title track is an apt anthem.
TOTALITÄR, with a grinding HC guitar approach and a tasteful speedcore edge, pummel out five tracks on this one. The closest comparison I can think of is ANTI-CIMEX, and the vocals on this one manage to convey a real sense of urgency and power. Very strong release.
A noisy and confusing blast of electrical air that throbs and throbs like a bad toothache. The only thing I could come close to comparing it to would be CABARET VOLTAIRE’s “Nag Nag Nag” era. Great.
Crossover stuff which leans a little more to the metal side. Powerful, hoarse vocals, can’t decipher the words, but “Punk Virgin” sounds a bit suspicious…
Hot straight thrash with personal lyrics. Tight, competent stuff with a good sense of melody and clean production. Good tape.
Metal damage, leads, and metal structures overwhelm whatever non-cliche aspects remain. Pretty driving, but hard to take or sift through to get any fun out of.
Great creative punk with loans of innovation and unique twists and turns. Angry personal and political words topped with tight instrumentation. Not generic by any means.
Echoes of ASTA KASK and 6-10 REDLOS reverberate through the eight tracks on this fourth release from this Swedish band. Melodic, driving pop-punk is the order of the day, and it’s handled with style and verve. Nice choruses, powerful instrumentals—a good showing.
Insanity. 39 loony thrash tunes which would make the most serious hard-ass punker crack a smile, and at 5.1025641 cents a song, it’s a real bargain. Song title of the month: “Skinheads Move to Hungary.”
The rambunctious pop-punk on this record has a pleasantly tough power chord instrumental sound (abetted by sloppy, but good arrangements), and screamed vocals over the whole thing. The two songs on the A-side rock, while the one on the flip is less special.
More of their BUZZCOCKS imitations, though it’s not any more rockin’ on this live recording than their studio material. They do indulge in a cover of “Purple Haze,” which is HENDRIX on white bread.
Two years after the Hayseed Hardcore EP and some lineup changes, the Canadian SONS return. This is a great album of sociopolitical thrash and the lyrics are right on target. And yes, the cover of “Stairway to Heaven” is priceless.
Fast energetic tuneful punk from the Aloha State, reminds me a bit of the FREEZE. Not sure about the lyrics, includes a tune called “Pussywhipped.” Hmmm.
Three straight powerful thrashers and two pounding metalchord numbers with “jugga-jugga” guitars galore. Hot shit…and a great band name, too.
Kicking off with a rad cover of the Sesame Street theme, these guys blaze out some driving melodic punk with buckets of energy present. Rad shit.
These guys claim to be inspired by DRI, but this is mostly mid-tempo metalpunk with so-so lyrics and lotsa guitar tweedling. Yeah, it’s powerful, but they should stop listening to crossover and put on early DRI for some spark.
Terse, speedcore riffing energizes this fast, to-the-point trio of songs. The abrasive vocals are quite good, and the guitar work aims for original reworkings of the basic core figures we’ve come to expect from this genre. Verdict: a top-notch example of the style, though not exactly my cup of tea.
A four-song release, doing very bouncy and catchy 77 punk. Distinguishing features are a really fuzzed guitar and good snarly vocals. Cool.
A hilarious sleeve introduces four HC numbers along fairly predictable lines: mid-to-fast tempo, shouted vocals, messy guitars, mosh intros, and no melody whatsoever. The energy’s cool, but more originality is needed here. From South Africa.
This band’s sound here is rockin’, but their punk sound is pretty muted by smooth production, which limits the power and accents the pop. A bit too polished.
SM-70, hailing from W. Germany, opt for short, fast songs in a messy thrash mode. It’s a style that’s familiar, and you can bet there’s loads of aggro and a pummeling sound from track to track — it’s also, despite its effectiveness, a trifle too common to make a major impression. Still, it’s good.
Blistering innovative metal punk from San Jose. Includes a cover of a cover (“Psycho Chicken”) and I like it.
These New Yorkers sound like New Yorkers — a vicious, angry, aggressive powerful HC assault with “fed up” words. Some metallic bits but not overbearing, just forceful NYHC.
Their sound lurks somewhere near the STOOGES with a dash of early SAINTS to spice it up. Songs do go on and on, but I guess on the right drugs you can hang with it.
For the most part, this is mid-tempo English type punk, though every now and then a bit of thrash creeps in to remind you it’s not 1979. Decent, but not powerful or catchy enough to be really memorable.
RANCID DECAY plays tight, raging speedcore with power and complex structures, while MR. BUNGLE serves a buffet of sounds from reggae to metal to funk, etc., which totally rocks. Cool stuff here.
Here’s another Northern California act you should know about, cuz these jokers blast out a hot punk and thrash sound with honest positive lyrics and a lot of energy. Check this out.
Like their last EP, this one is not manic at all. One punk tune, one pop tune, and a disco tune. Maybe this is wacky in Sweden, but I don’t get it.
Primitive production and an almost terrifying rawness make the highly distorted thrash on this one actually connect in a distinctive way — much in the way that TERVEET KÄDET did it years ago. The more experimental tracks, with lyrics over drums, are less effective, this is one unusual, interesting record. I like it.
After releasing one of the neatest garage singles of last year, “Saw My Name Written on a Tombstone” (included here), the PRIMEVILS went to record this album which showcases both sides of their musical styles. You get some fantastic, catchy instant-garage-classic songs as well as some slower, dirge-y drone songs. Great record.
Some basic garage thrash with socially relevant lyrics here. Punk “musicians” won’t be blown away by the talent and originality, but this is very energetic and fun.
Very calm peace punk sounds, to the point of sounding like the CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE or 7 SECONDS (slight exaggeration, Kevin). A couple of tunes have some verve, but overall this is snooze material. From Scotland.
Full-on, straightforward power chord punk very similar to the RAMONES, who seem to be a big influence. Catchy and driving stuff, so pinheads (and Steve Spinali) should take note. [I did. It’s on my Top 15 — Ed.]
What a pleasant surprise! Instrumentally varied, kick-ass punk with personal lyrics, both tracks camping out in the same area as early material by the LEFT. What’s more, there are hooks, nifty guitar breaks, and more than a little arranging skill. Highly enjoyable, and recommended.
Clean powerful thrash from this new Bay Area band. Can’t comment on the lyrics (none provided) but they do rip, shred, and all that.
Not quite as hard and loud as their other releases but because they’ve shifted their gears a little the sound here is less Detroit-styled rock and more slower, moodier that resembles the best of the FLESH EATERS and the GUN CLUB.
Hey, if you absolutely hate tunes in your music and vocals you can’t understand at all, this album’s for you. Very fast, very metal-influenced, very gruff and very political. Sorta like old DISCHARGE meets every modern speedmetal band.
An anti-Christian rage here, sort of like the first CRASS 7″ but set to a more post-punk mood. Nevertheless, it’s as biting and pointed. Both male and female vocals, nice harmonies on the flipside, though the dance beat on one cut and the “prettiness” on another make them difficult to handle until the guitar and drums kick in.
Pop-punk with good drums and guitars, sappy vocals that detract quite a bit. Add a different vocal track and you’d have the strength of a good JESUS AND MARY CHAIN release.
50s and 60s influences here ranging from rockabilly and R’n’B, but with a 70s rock’n’roll delivery like LITTLE BOB STORY or something. Dated, but it raves.
Rather odd. If songs were sentences, these guys are spitting out fragments because their short electronic bursts come across as unfinished. Not bad, just out of the ordinary.
The best of the lot — the best name and the best music. The “Goat” manages to make a hideous, noisy rumble that can make you hum along. Really weird, very much inspired by the BUTTHOLE SURFERS and the RESIDENTS. They go from harsh and painful to strange and fun but it keeps you listening throughout.
A five pointed star on the front cover, costs ¥666, released June 6 — hey wait! — this must be satanic rock! This is one of those cases when I’m glad I don’t understand Japanese; one side is a god awful drone with some woman screaming, the other side has three tracks in HC, pop-punk, and post-punk styles respectively. Poo poo.
