V/A Treadmill to Oblivion cassette
60 minutes of wicked thrash noise from the likes of LAST OPTION, CIRCLE OF SIG-TIU, CONDEMNED ATTITUDE, and more. Rockin’ stuff here.
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
For review and radio play consideration:
Please send one copy of 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. We reserve the right to reject releases on the basis of content. Music without vocals or drums will not be considered. All music submitted for review must have been released (or reissued) within the last two years. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!
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.
Every time I see this band, they get tighter, but on this LP, too many weak songs just drive this record into the ground. Maybe it’s just a case of too little time to prepare for this album. In any case I’m still listening because I know just how good these guys can be.
Socio-political renting poetry by Norman Nawrocki backed by the Dem Stink Rebel Orchestra. Good sarcasm captured live, comes with a great rant-along booklet. Fun, fun, fun.
Mania this ain’t. Decent pop rock ‘n’ roll it is, with early pop-punk influences. The A-side is pretty light, but the flip reminds me of 79 UK anthemic mod/punk stuff. Wish it were crazy.
On their third 12″, the PRIMITIVES show a slight decline. The title check, despite a nice chorus and good guitars, lacks the catchiness of their past pop-punk efforts; “Laughing…” is too wimpy for words, though the rockabilly bounce of “Buzz Buzz Buzz” is pleasantly bouncy.
It’s great to see this white South African anti-apartheid band still expressing themselves in the face of extreme repression. Both songs here are mid to slow-tempo jobs, one with a one-sided anti-Russian attack, the other dealing with the nuclear fear. Sad to see Rubin Rose out of the band.
I heard the first song of this LP, and I said to myself: “Eric Hysteric.” He produced this, and the same distorted, trebly punk you remember from DER DURSTIGE MANN appears here, complete with the nice vocal choruses. Nothing on this quite equals their hilarious cover of NENA’s song, converted into a beer song — “99 Kasten Bier.”
Wow! Hard-ass punk and thrash with unique twists and turns thrown in. Lyrics cover this crazy fucked up stuff. Check this puppy out.
If you’ve been trying to locate their previous and impossible to find vinyl — relax. Finally, this incredibly hot combo comes up with something to almost equal their live shows. Well, not quite, but people who love the BUTTHOLES, NEOS and No Wave clamor will all find something here.
I guess it had to happen, but the NOMADS have toned it down. Both sides lack the raucous, free-swingin’, guitar crazed rock ‘n’ roll that I loved em for. Instead, we get two medium paced, thick sound production tunes that are decent but pale in comparison to their early rave-ups. Alas.
One of those modern rarities, a truly self-produced UK release. This three-song job is very straightforward, mid-tempo, non-dogmatic political material. Though nothing new or special, there’s a basic honesty here that is refreshing, sort of like early NEWTOWN NEUROTICS.
One thrash tune, the rest being rock/metal at varying tempos. Lots of squeaky guitar bits, which we ruin otherwise almost palatable songs. Promo sheet contains a quote “…we didn’t want anything to do with punkers”. Do you want anything to do with them?
This is their most polished record yet and will probably be the place that their fans of crusty, wild desert punk stop listening and where college radio goes apeshit. Some of this sounds like FLEETWOOD MAC. You decide.
This retrospective release contains tracks from this band which was around during the No Wave scene, but the music is still pretty influential. By their slow churning sounds, you can hear where PUSSY GALORE, LIVE SKULL, and SWANS might be considered their offspring.
