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!
Here is GG ALLIN with 45 minutes of raw, intense debauchery. Some may call him sexist, violent, or stupid, but some of these tunes are catchy! Not for the easily offended or “politically correct.”
Four songs that range from slow to mid-tempo and grind out simple, harsh, melodies. The female vocals add nice harmonies but are done in such a way that most of the songs gain a strong gothic feel to them. The message is a serious, political, pro-awareness theme both in the lyrics and booklet.
Not sure where the “Memphis” part comes in, though at times there’s a slight CRAMPS influence. Otherwise, this is raunchy rock’n’roll meets early punk with screeching female vocals. Real rhythm, basic stuff with ultra-trebly production.
These New Yorkers have finally released a record that does them justice. A collection of clean, powerful hardcore with committed positive lyrics. Not as fun as their live show and a little short on innovation, but this is still a good LP.
Fans of Japanese metalthrash will suck this baby up, though the lyrics here are highly intelligent. Growling, slashing, metallish noise — well, you know.
Neo-Mersey R’n’B, but nothing too wild. Would have been cool in ’65, though…
This LP doesn’t really have the zip, or even the overwhelming angst of many of Greg Sage’s previous efforts. Maybe it’ll grow on me, but I wanted to be taken to a stranger different place…and got half way there.
WILMER X has a good rep in Switzerland as a great live band on par with the NOMADS, with maybe a bit more of a rock influence. This new studio has a much more swinging R’n’B feel to it with some real neat harp playing.
“Next summer” is a pretty pop tune with really quirky lyrics, but the flip is a cool pop punk tune with femme vocals, a more rocking B-52s. A giveaway single.
This self-declared skinhead band hails from NYC and puts forth seven raw, demo-tape quality hardcore anthems which are similar to early AGNOSTIC FRONT, lyrically and in mentality. However, WARZONE takes the straightedge path. Patriotic graphics leave me skeptical.
A more punky PIL meets early MEKONS with a GANG OF FOUR lyrical bent. Excellent five-song debut that exudes intelligence, drive, and what’s so good about punk. Get it.
Here’s a good mid-tempo punk band that reminds me of the melodic sing—song French punk, and I hate French punk, but this is okay. The flip is kind of like MADNESS! Strange record, but a good group.
Relative unknowns like SCHLIESSMUSKEL, CRETIN HOPPERS, TARNFARBE, A.N.A.L., and others play punk, thrash, and post-punk. All bands are from Germany, and this is a fun, non-commercial effort.
60 minutes of wicked thrash noise from the likes of LAST OPTION, CIRCLE OF SIG-TIU, CONDEMNED ATTITUDE, and more. Rockin’ stuff here.
Another excellent 60s punk series but this one deals strictly with garage trash from all over the world. Unfortunately, no liner notes, but the raucous sounds from Europe and Canada make up for it. Hot, hot, hot.
Kind of a companion to Garage Punk Unknowns. Here you get 58 instrumentals spread out all over three records, all from 1957 to 1965, and all really lean to-the-point rockers. There’s very little filler as you go from surf to punk and rhythm and blues.
Thrash to the max from a number of Swedish acts, including MOB 47, RAPED TEENAGERS, AVSKUM, and many more. Lots of brutal stuff here.
Ninety minutes of good stuff featuring many of the “Comp Tape Faves”: HALF OFF, FALSE LIBERTY, INSTED, and many more. Pick up this swell tape.
A four-band, one track each regional comp from Hagen. Hottest tracks are by CZERNY SMIERTELNY (sounds Polish to me) and SJORBUT, but WICKIE and HEMMUNGSCLOSE EROTIK are both enjoyable. Good indie punk effort.
Mucho good stuff here by bands like INSTED, FALSE LIBERTY, CORRUPTED MORALS, and more. Just basically a consistently great tape.
BCT bounces back with a hot EP featuring Italy’s WRETCHED and RAW POWER, Sweden’s MOB 47, QUOD MASSACRE from Yugoslavia, SATANIC MALFUNCTIONS from the UK, FUNERAL ORATION from Holland, and PSYCHO from the US. Get this one!
Pretty darn good stuff here from nine US acts, including NO FRAUD, CORRUPTED MORALS, SEWER TROUT, and more. Good song selection plus clean production add up to a good comp.
One of the best of the 60’s garage punk series, maybe second only to the Back from the Grave set. Some really incredible finds throughout each volume, complete with hilarious and insightful liner notes. RECOMMENDED.
An all-Welsh comp featuring one song each by CLASSIFIED PROTEST, I MOBSTER, BUGS, YR ANHREFN, ELFYN PRESLI, and HERETICS. Faves: BUGS (sounds like DESPERATE BICYCLES), ELFYN PRESLI (great pop punk), and HERETICS (charge old punk).
Hey, yet another indie UK release, this one featuring the DISTURBED, LIVING DEAD, LEFT FOR DEAD, and SILENT COMMUNITY. One track each isn’t enough to drive any real conclusions, but these bands all convey a basic, unglamorized punk appeal. Honest.
An international comp with HOMO PICNIC (U.S.), KAZJUROL (Sweden), QUOD MASSACRE (Yugoslavia), and INSTIGATORS (England). Four bands, four styles (pop-thrash, speedmetal, pop-punk and thrash). Good selection, good production, a worthy effort.
Another Filipino sampler — this has 16 love songs from the DEAD ENDS, BETRAYED, PRIVATE STOCK, and others. Fair to good punk musicianship, good sound quality.
An 11 band comp from Toulouse, some bands being PIN PRICK, BLA BLA SHMURZ GROUP, and GREMLINS AFFAIR. Good 4-track recording, a good pop-punk sampler.
A 180-minutes benefit comp for the opening of an anarchist center in SoCal. Acts include DIATRIBE, APPLE, GUERILLA URBANA, and more. Well worth buying. Booklet included.
Hot punk and thrash with slight metal influences, but not too much. Lyrics are in the personal/political view. Great stuff guys, keep it up! Lyric book enclosed.
The A-side is okay melodic neo-psych with Farfisa and lead guitar soloing coolly along, while the flip is more jangly. Adequate, but not particularly exciting.
Good Swedish pop-punk/thrash on most cuts, with one folk fool-around track and one rock number.
It’s the first time that Moe Tucker has recorded since her solo LP and she managed to snap VELVETS fan Jad Fair of HALF JAPANESE to help out and produce. Out of the five songs here, three are VU covers, including a very respectable version of “Guess I’m Falling in Love.”
This domestic release is a bit different than the recent UK job. It contains three songs not on the UK version (two of which disappeared on their last 7″) but one song that’s on the UK version doesn’t appear here. Rockin’ improvement.
What is this? It’s hard enough to figure out the name of the band from all the stuff on the record and sleeve, and things go downhill from there once on the turntable. Actually, three of the five tracks are pretty decent older style pop punk, while two are goofy as shit. The jokes lost on us non-Swedes.
Predictably, this album combines the instrumental excesses of BLACK FLAG with certain rockish tendencies, resulting in a nicely produced but self-indulgent effort rife with lead breaks. A nice melodic element creeps in via the vocals; still, it’s not quite enough. Not good.
Totally brutal!! This is the most savage, ferocious thrash I’ve heard since SIEGE. Full on confrontational power thrash back with intelligent words. Keep this away from small children.
These guys seem to be able to handle any speed of melodic punk and hardcore, delivering all with power and zest. Very well produced record to boot, making this a definite cut above. Rocks.
A difficult band to pigeonhole, SPOT 1019 veers into pop-punk, C&W, lite funk, and pseudo-surf on this LP, with good and consistent results. The material is almost always funny and catchy, and their best songs (“Surf Machine,” “16 Wheels”) very enjoyable indeed. Poppish, but very strong.
Their second LP should dispel any doubts about SPECIAL FORCES and generic thrash. This Berkeley band hits hard and with variety, though Bill Collins’ excellent guitar work is now history for this band. Orlando was always a more interesting performer than good singer, but on this LP even that aspect seems very improved. Very hot!
Funny, mid-tempo melodic punk not unlike early DESCENDENTS. Lyrics have a unique personal angle also similar to the DESCENDENTS. Great stuff here.
SHOUTLESS combines 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s into one, adds big production, and the end product sometimes cuts it, sometimes not. The grunge is maxed out and I think that hurts their impact. Needs a bit more madness.
This is supposedly a “giveaway” single, but is on sale in some places. The A-side is an overly long mid-tempo ballady thing, but the LITTLE RICHARD cover wails!
Dated 1986, this one slipped by us but I’m glad I found a copy. BAD BRAINS type vocals and pop-thrash music combined with stuff like “Too Fat To Flirt” make this bizarre. Album coming soon.
This record marks a low point in the career of this influential Reno band. The style of this record has been described as reminiscent of U2, but I found the tunes here unpassionate and the sung vocals unsuited for the mid-tempo material. Come on guys wake up!!!
A collection from ’82 — ’85, this is a fine example of their garage, grunge, sixties, noise approach. A good sampler for those without.
Some intense, powerful speedmetal from this young Bay Area outfit. The big influence here seems to be SLAYER, judging from the fast straightforward approach and lyrics about ghouls and goblins. Could’ve been a bit more original, but this still blows down the walls.
Some neo-’60s stuff here, early rockin’ R&B to be more precise. I hear hints of the YARDBIRDS, early STONES, PRETTY THINGS, etc. This is great — half demos, half live. Nice package, too.
Hailing from West Germany, this thrash band shows off a highly energetic approach to thrash rather like the better German outfits from 82 and 83. Abrasive vocals and a hard guitar sound push this one over the top — a strong and spirited debut album. (Great sleeve, too.)
All originals this time, and way toned down from all previous releases. I guess the kids are growing up, and production and fancy arrangements take over. Too bad.
