Statement The Object of Life cassette
A one-man band, believe it or not. Reminds me a little of the UK SUBHUMANS, with an energetic sound and impassioned political lyrics. Small booklet enclosed, great effort.
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!
A one-man band, believe it or not. Reminds me a little of the UK SUBHUMANS, with an energetic sound and impassioned political lyrics. Small booklet enclosed, great effort.
Varied musical approaches for this (relatively) long-lasting Ohio band. Fraser Sims and company prove they can do thrash, hard-edged mood music, funk-influenced beats, etc., with equal ease and power. Hard-thumping Midwest stuff.
The STAR CLUB are at their best when playing their trademark ’78 sound, with good guitar hooks and catchy melodies. This album is not quite as consistent as their last two, but contains a few flashbacks of their former glory, albeit without the characteristic grunginess. Okay.
Live, these guys impress with their tunes, energy, and performance. Here, you get a well-crafted pop LP. I know the HÜSKER DÜ comparison is uncool, but it’s so obvious, along with a REPLACEMENTS touch, that I gotta do it. Power-pop.
New wavy power-pop with saxophones and some funky elements thrown in. I don’t like this.
This outfit has a power-pop approach very similar to GET SMART or early ANGST, though the hooks almost (but not quite) connect on this three track EP. “I Made Love to A Vulcan” is pretty funny. Good sleeve, too.
This is a tough upbeat debut by an accomplished young band. There’s lots of heavy guitar sounds with swaggering melodies. At different times, I heard elements of the DOORS, LOVE, and the first record by the FLAMING LIPS.
A bunch of great country bumpkins with a swell sense of humor. There’s a goofy garage quality that made FLAMING LIPS so cool. They have a slight tendency to slip into ZZ TOP guitar riffs but the spirit of these guys make it forgivable.
The long awaited follow-up to their first LP is here and takes off where the other left. Classic SNFU songs are filled with catchy riffs, breaks, hooks, beats, howls, and laughs. These twelve songs rip from start to finish, and the band has yet to compromise their sound and ideas, and hopefully never will.
A real homemade job, just 300 pressed of this one-sided, hand-painted cover LP. A cleaned up CHEMOTHERAPY? Perhaps, but this is still grungy Midwest punk. No frills from this now-defunct Pittsburgh band, just basic garage democracy.
More typically an “Amigo” band, there’s a “big” garage-type sound here, straightforward pounding rock’n’roll and snarled vocals. Both sides rock. Heard this is the NOMADS under an alias.
This album sees the genesis of a much cleaner and more defined RAZZIA sound, with synth even making an appearance. The best songs here are engaging and passionate, and contain a measure of accessibility to compensate for the loss of power. This band is still a force to be reckoned with. Very good.
I’m always suspicious of records that only have song titles of three or less words. All the “tunes” here (except the title song) have just two words, and the music is equally imaginative. For the speed metal genre, it is pretty well done, but ultimately dulls the senses.
One side is way too pop for my tastes (as are many of their releases), but the flip has much more of a rockin’ feel, with a sound reminiscent of many of the bands on this label (NOMADS, etc.)
Your standard but well done Euro-thrash release — meaning lots of guitar, gruff vocals, and light on melody. Four songs, no surprises, but tight and loud.
A searing performance from this overlooked Boston outfit. About thirty minutes of insane thrash and even a funny interview on side two.
Cleanly produced garage punk which occasionally ventures into surf, funk, etc. Lyrics seem to be quite sarcastic. A fun tape.
Like RED KROSS, this band draws from 70’s hard rock for influences, combining guitar power-pop with punk crunch for maximum effect. Well done.
Fast melodic punk from these Swedish crazies. Includes five originals and a cover of “I Saw Her Standing There.” Fun.
Five songs in a punkish vein here, with good female vocals to boot. The operative track is “Fuck SACEM,” a steamroller in the tradition of the ELECTRIC DEADS with blazing guitar and great wailing, though the other songs are adequate.
Thrash, jazz, and funk up the butt, dude. A total crackup, right down to them saying Oi stands for Oppressed Intelligence. Too funny for words.
Just a ranting poet and a guitarist — great lyrics, but the guitar has so many special effects that it doesn’t add to the rawness that would make the lyrics really come to life. Have seen them live and they had a lot more impact that way. Still, the words are worth hearing.
This British band specializes in committed mid-tempo punk in an ’82 formula, sounding somewhat like a rawer DIRT with their alternating male/female vocals. Good nostalgia value here, but the formula is fueled with contemporary energy.
OTH combines a punky power chord song structure with cool rock’n’roll breaks to create a familiar and engaging instrumental sound. The individual tunes don’t leave much of an impression, and this is proven by the fact that the best song on this LP is a wonderful cover of “California Sun” called “Le Soleil du Midi.” Basically okay.
When they really get rolling, O.H.M. are an instrumental powerhouse, with loads of guitar abetting their thrashy tunes. The sung vocals definitely detract from the overall power, but this Danish band wins points for a sound that should be the envy of many a thrash ensemble.
Political pop punk with mod traces and CLASH influences. Well done but not on the edge.
One excellent song from these troopers, just to prove they still exist. Max Volume and Buzzsaw Iron Bill have been at it for years (only previous vinyl was on MRR’s Not So Quiet comp of ’82) and though this song doesn’t contain the humor of most of their material, it still rips. A freebie to Thrasher subscribers. More Max!!!
A supposedly “fun” album by this New York band, one of many that play good music (punk—as opposed to thrash metal—in this case) but who make it difficult to enjoy because of their advertised ignorance (homophobia, among others). Accompanying press release actually lauded singer Jimmy Gestapo for his “Donohue” performance, as well as containing his self-description as a “macho goon.” Real fun.
A re-release of a great punk record for those who missed the first time around. This matches their early 1980 7″ release with some noisy but spirited live tracks from their last show.
Powerful hardcore with a searing dual guitar wall of sound pushes this tape ahead of the pack. Reminds me of BLAST, even down to the determined personal lyrics. Hot release!
Kind of what you’d expect from German punk bands. They’ve got a nice HÜSKER DÜ-ish distortion on the guitar, but everything else sounds kind of tired. Sometimes, it takes more than just guitarwork to make a great record.
This is one of those things that looks better on paper. Basically a jam between the MINUTEMEN and BLACK FLAG back in early 1985. The one song written by Boon manages to hold its own, mainly because of the structure there, but the rest end up like some late night jam fest with nothing getting accomplished.
More fun for the fuzz-heads. Here, MIKE RUNNELS overloads the guitar distortion with a really good, catchy melody and manages to get the JESUS AND MARY CHAIN sound without the wimpy melancholy — and though I don’t think I heard any drums, you don’t really miss it.
UK pop stuff in a FALL-ish mode — meaning sometimes driving music and incomprehensible lyrics. For the desperate looking for trends.
The best thing about all the MEATMEN recordings were the sharp, bullseye humor. Here, the MEN skimp on the humor in favor of the hard-fought macho-metal sound, and it just doesn’t sound like parody anymore. I’m sure if someone offered the spot between ACCEPT and TWISTED SISTER on the HM hierarchy, he’d jump. Me, I’m bailin’.
A groovy little neo-’60s psych band from Arizona that sports some great fuzz guitar. The A-side has a slight plodding feel to it but both tracks are redeemed by the anxious, crusty sound of their vocalist. Should be another 7″ out by this group.
Don’t know much about this except that it’s produced by Tom Lyle (GI), that it has the classic D.C. sound — driving punk with powerful guitarwork and clear, expressive vocals. Great.
Not sure what this band is about, but they’ve got sex stuff all over their graphics. Musically, both slow and fast hardcore, live and studio, well recorded and raw.
Half studio and half live material, this above average band rages, has fun and executes a powerful but non-generic thrash/punk style that hits the spot. Enjoyable.
Sort of a lighter version of the PISTOLS sound meets mediocre Oi! sound. Certainly not his most exciting material.
This posthumous live recording of the KELPIES, a Sydney punk/rock outfit, shows real songwriting quality and makes me hungry for more. The inventive guitarwork recalls CHELSEA, and the tunes are subtly crafted pop-punk. Sound quality is respectable; this one definitely grows on you. Recommended.
Three of the four tracks here adopt an upbeat pop-punky style with good energy, little discernible melody, and somewhat undisciplined vocals. The other song is a lilting reggae-tinged number that segues into ska. Adequate, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Six finely crafted pop-punk tunes. Sounds like ’78, but not in a nostalgic way—just powerful but tuneful material. Despite signing to a major, they remain political (title tune, plus “El Salvador”), though there is perhaps a bit of overproduction.
Thrash with very little in the way of melody but massive amounts of speed. As repetitive as this music might sound, this band seems to do it very straightforwardly.
Quirky punk here — the vocals being the most abrasive aspect, though the music is pretty uptempo at times, too. Older punk styles predominate, often varying towards obnoxious pop, but veering away at the last second.
HONOR ROLE has devolved since their highly distinctive debut. Time seems to have eroded the vocal uniqueness and punky tightness of the past; while there’s good, hard guitarwork and some interesting ideas, not one song really stands out from the pack.
One serious and one fun band share this slab, and will share an LP early next year. HEIMAT-LOS have a modern thrash sound that is powerful but relatively uneventful musically. KROMOZOM 4 employs more imagination musically, making this more palatable for non-French speakers. Sounds good.
COC-like hardcore from Belgium. At times, the drumming seems to lag a bit, but overall, you’ll find some pretty inspired and aggressive power thrash. There are more weird guitar bits thrown in than you’d find on most such records, and the production is top notch.
Despite the rough sound, there are two classic tunes here. The HARD-ONS style mixes 60’s punk with a great pop-punk ’77 sound, and especially on the second track, really hits home (a cover of the LEGENDS). Available on Livin’ End zine #6, a mag dedicated to 60’s Aussie bands.
A two-song, one-sided job, both tunes featuring driving rhythm and noisy guitar, though the overall effect is not too powerful.
