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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!
This six song EP tends to show off musicianship more than anything — some really good bass playing. Most of the songs are slower and come closest to HONOR ROLE or the RHYTHM PIGS in performance. Not thrash, but very good punk.
A song for each of these personalities. One song is a driving, punky tune by this duo, while the other is a catchy but quiet ethereal ditty. Weird.
Energetic country punk: fast and furious with bouncy bass lines. Hot stuff here.
GENERIC mines a punk vein with an informal style not unlike a thrashy APOSTLES, with occasional lapses into poetry and folk. ELECTRO-HIPPIES, however, deliver an ultra-distorted HC/thrash variant that hits and misses. Two interesting bands, both highly credible from a lyric point of view.
A four-song lightweight pop rock’n’roll. Could be a lot more garage-y, considering the neo-’60s R’n’B trash material.
Back again, and funny as ever, these original Canadian punks deliver their melodic PISTOLS-type rock’n’roll. Only real complaint — production does away with any real grunge, which this type of punk needs.
This spirited EP features female vocals over a nicely fleshed-out set of mid-to-fast tempo punk and thrash tunes. The playing is excellent and songs are well-arranged; one track, “Eins-Eins-Null,” even uses the violin to interesting effect. An excellent release!
Modern power and late 60s/early 70s influenced music and lyrics. Sort of a modern NAZARETH or something.
Raging distracted punk and thrash with metallic tinges and straightforward intelligent topical lyrics. Explosive stuff here.
The Boston EDGE have moved back to Ohio, and somewhere along the way picked up a banjo to augment the band. “Just An Illusion” is a poppish ditty with a good melody and nifty banjo pickin’, while the flip is slower but still pretty good. Takes getting used to, but I recommend it.
This import collects all six of the early DROOGS singles which were impossible to find when they came out. The sound here is rougher and tougher than their last album, and a great collection of trashy LA garage punk by one of the best. Lotsa covers.
The cover sticker bills them now as “metal,” and there is a lot of thrash in that, but overall it’s still D.R.I. — lyrically and musically (though weighted down at times). While C.O.C. has soured on this “crossover” business, D.R.I. seems to be making a blatant marketing approach — just catch the cover art.
A cover of BTO’s “Takin’ Care of Business” might tell you something about the rock approach of this new DOA platter, as many of the songs have that same heavy rock sound. A couple rage, though, “To Hell and Back” being one, as does the revised classic “Nazi Training Camp.” Mostly strong, political lyrics, however ironic that is for this label.
The slow, deadpan vocals remind me a whole lot of late 60s SF psych groups, but musically it’s in the same ballpark as a lot of Aussie garage music. This is even more amazing since this band is from Germany, which has a history of blowing it so far as garage/psych music is concerned.
The original D.I. 12″ is re-released here, along with 3 current tracks. Despite the fact that I dearly love their music, I’ve never seen a band with so many re-appearing tracks on their “new” vinyl. Should be a whole new LP’s worth soon. Dudecore — totally.
This album sees the DESCENDENTS with somewhat longer songs than usual, a more power-pop compositional style, and the hooks we’ve come to expect from these popsters. The problem is that their emotion of ’82 is largely gone, but this is listenable for those who value melody over crunch.
Features Marlene Dietrich singing semi-industrial pop music. No?
Very political, very basic, and very speedy thrash with both male and female vocals. Actually some songs slow down and break into pretty eclectic stuff. Interesting and sincere.
I liked their earlier EP, but I didn’t fall over myself like some people who thought their brand of scruffy 70s rock was manna from heaven. Basically, this is just some pretty cool rock sounds with a surprisingly flat production.
The killer title track is an uptempo 60s punk cut with loud fuzz guitar, maracas, and snot-nosed vocals. The flip is a bit slower, but has the same tough qualities. A real ass-kickin’ gem.
Yahoo!! Energetic reggae/ska based material with insightful, creative lyrics by Dick (ex-SUBHUMANS). Totally great enjoyable stuff here. Watch for vinyl.
A hilarious, scathing parody of the positive outlook straight edge scene, with songs like “Positive Dental Outlook” and “Posi-Machine.” A total crackup.
This sucks! Wait, are you kidding? This is a live recording of C.O.C.’s metallic madness and NOTA’s HC barrage, with good production and comes with lyrics. Fuckin’ righteous shit, dude.
This follow-up to their fine debut album, despite some moments of power, shows a decline in songwriting and a notable increase in speedcore tendencies. This band would profit by increasing their influences rather than narrowing them.
While I wasn’t impressed by their debut single, this album is really something to crow about. Strip down to a hard-edged bluesy sound, all the songs have that really fervent sound similar to DMZ/LYRES. Very cool.
Both German bands here come right in your face with power crossover music like that of BLAST, C.O.C., and early BLACK FLAG. Lots of stop and go thrash, melodic raw vocals, and even some tedious speedcore riffs. Lyrically, both bands communicate a lot of energy and concern.
I’m not too keen on live recordings unless they’re amazingly electric, conveying a dynamic unavailable in a studio. As far as this one goes, it’s okay, giving you a good idea of the RIFLES’ hard-driving Australian rock meets early punk. But special? No.
More fun in the mud and sun from the anal outlaws. It’s kinda hard to do a review on these jokers; if you haven’t figured it out yet, then you never will. Loud, noisy, fuzzy, ugly, and wonderful.
Decent but relatively unexciting pop punk à la ’78 or so. Eight songs and all, with little variation from the mid-tempo beat.
This German garage band has three nice songs in more of a “jamming” style with some pretty good interplay between the electric organ and guitar. Limited to 750 copies.
Can’t read the lyrics sheet — it’s kind of black and red print, not synchronized. It does say “UKHC” in several places, does have a song called “Best of Both Worlds,” but after hearing it and seeing the cover, it should be called “UKHM” …and I understand why the lyrics don’t matter.
Eccentric as hell, BOMB go for varied song structures which go from soft to loud, sung to screamed, weird to punky. The experiment wore thin on me, but suckers for novelty might give this a listen.
On their debut LP, this band gathers together a very consistent clutch of pop-punk tunes, all of which meld Scottish vocal motifs, catchy power chord progressions, good melodies, and interesting lyrics. BLYTH POWER has a unique sound exploited well here. A solid LP.
Hot!! Blazing thrash with unique embellishments and male and female vocals. A dozen songs, good stuff!
Very powerful Swedish HC with “fuck you” lyrics and attitude. Words cover conformity, Freddy Krueger, and more. Good clean fun.
An Xmas record I just got a hold of, and excellent pop punk it is. Four songs, all with a characteristic French punk rhythm machine, fuzz guitars, good hooks, and even bagpipes. Cool.
Mid-tempo speed metal without the leads. Gruff-ola vocals, repetitive riffs, good production, and a song called “In My Eyes” that isn’t the song we all know. Oh, the band’s from Sweden.
This New Zealand band opts for a pop-punk approach with good guitar bite on their second EP. Of the three tracks, “Deja Vu” and “Friends” are especially strong, and aficionados of upbeat melodic punk will enjoy this one a lot. Very good.
I had all but given up on these lads when, “boom,” they surprised me. Besides some of the mellower stuff they’ve done recently, this LP includes folk, blues, spoken word, industrial, and a really decent portion of raw, well-done punk a la CRASS. Includes a great cover of one of punk’s all time classics, ATVs “How Much Longer?”
Highly intelligent and politicized anarcho-punk here, which delivers in packaging, lyrics, and music. Supporting this kind of indie effort is a pleasure.
These guys are as punk as their name! They play basic powerful slow-to-fast punk with angry vocals and hateful lyrics.
Shitty adolescent cover, great shitty rough production, and this six song “best of” 7″ is probably already rare. If you can’t get it — don’t sweat it — he’s got a tape coming out on ROIR as well as a full LP on Homestead soon. Jesus…
Okay, okay, so dumb lyrics aren’t just limited to the USA. Actually, less than half the tunes here have gore-related subject matter, while the rest are introspective and brooding, not so lame at all. Musically, mostly speedy thrash, but more musical than speedcore, as well as some slower tunes.
Recorded 3-½ years ago, I’m surprised this LP finally saw the light of day. If it had come out back then, the YOUNG LIONS would have been seen as the forerunners of today’s “HC gone eclectic” bands. One side maintains the HC edge while indulging in rock, metal, and other slight influences — powerful sound. The other side sounds like another band entirely — pop, country, etc. Good lyrics throughout, but schizo as hell.
DRI-ish thrash with a slight shade of personality. They’re competent and possess good lyrics, but need to develop their own style.
Punk attitude/lyrics meet post-punk almost wave music. Assets: great female vocals, sometimes haunting moods which remind me of several recent UK femme-vocal bands. Drawbacks: doesn’t quite pack the punch of their live set. Comes with free 70’s Top 40 schlock 7″.
All from Spain, most of the bands here favor a psychotic thrash sound, although a healthy dose of ska/reggae appears. Hottest tracks are from B.A.P., ANTI-DOGMATIKSS, and SUBTERRANEAN KIDS. Good job.
A metalcore sampler, featuring ANNIHILATED, CIVILIZED SOCIETY?, LORD CRUCIFIER, and DESECRATORS. Unless you’re really into speed metal, this is pretty hard to take, with guitar wanking all over the fucking place. Only CIVILISED SOCIETY?’s cut is listenable, but a better version appears on their LP. Some good lyrics, and a collective effort.
A good sampling of West German bands (CERESIT, CIRCLE OF SIGTIU, etc.), a few U.S. bands (SEIZURE, BURNT, etc.), and more. This is mostly forceful stuff, so pick this up.
Thrash or die, indeed! DEPRESSION, GASH, PERDITION, and five more Aussie acts blast out some rad shit, all with pretty good production. Booklet enclosed. Cool.
