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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 defunct post-punk band had a knack for the slow, somber songs recalling the best from bands like the SLEEPERS and TOILING MIDGETS. This album relies on the plight of cattle, check the title, but still manages to keep things fresh and interesting throughout.
These guys are very diverse with their influences and styles, varying from song to song: rock’n’roll, blues, funk, ballads… But regional similarities are too obvious to ignore. They have that distinctive Twin Cities sound (somewhere between HÜSKERS and SOUL ASYLUM). Vocal and guitar harmonies abound. Catchy and recommended. Each cover is handmade.
Plenty of good stuff from the state of Washington these days, and count this one in there. Great, fun punk/thrash with really nice touches throughout. Check it out.
The A-side will bring a smile to your face—a great, ripping punk song, more melodic than their previous material yet still powerful. The flip builds from power crunch to absolutely raging thrash. Great.
The second release by this band is not an easy one to peg. It’s god that heavy rock-fuck-you-we-do-it-this-way sound that you hear in bands like BLACK FLAG and DAS DAMEN, but some of the vocals really remind me of SACCHARINE TRUST with their strange poetry. I like this… but I still like BLACK FLAG.
Both songs on this single are fun but not really substantial. They feel more like outtakes in the studio than full-fledged songs. Fact is, with any other band, they would have sounded terrible, but the SUNS could play the phone book and make it sound cool. Hope the LP has more for it than this.
A heavy 10 on the psych/mind fuck meter. A swirling twist of real aural mind-fuck. All this done by one person, Marc Casey, formerly of the New York REACTIONS. Try to imagine GEZA X if he had a real problem with LSD.
Good, tough but melodic garage music from the Midwest. It’s really weird but at times this record sounds like some of the cool, hard rock music coming out of Australia.
A way-out comp with one German band, INFERNO, and a handful of smaller LA-area outfits. All the acts are impressive, but EXCEL and FINAL CONFLICT really get the ball rolling.
Four bands offer one song each on this nifty sampler. We get an intense, original HC offering from RUIN (with great lyrics); hook-filled pop punk by ELECTRIC LOVE MUFFIN; SCRAM performs an okay reggae-tinged number; and F.O.D. go completely crazy on their trashed out live track. Cool record; buy it.
The likes of TUPELO CHAIN SEX, SCREAM, and several other artists offer largely mediocre tunes on this comp, which covers punk/rap, HC, pop, C&W, and even spoken word on the various tracks. Only MCSHRED connects with two high-velocity thrashers; I daresay it would be impossible to skateboard to the rest of this.
A couple of live tracks from Canadian punk bands like NG3, DEATH SENTENCE, and MY THREE SONS as well as darker, art damaged like RHYTHM MISSION, RED HERRING, and NERVE TUBES. This is a good mixture and a nice way to hear how the bands come off live.
Here’s one where I liked the idea better than the final outcome. Take the best East Coast and Midwest garage bands and showcase a couple of their tunes—should be a great collection, right? Well, they started off right by getting the right bands—from Chicago, DWARVES, CUNTS, GREEN, from PA, the CYNICS and the ENDORPHINS, and also tracks from the LIBERTINES and others. But the whole is mixed horribly and just ends up a limp mess. What a disappointment.
Way rockin’ stuff here from two dozen Northern California bands displaying one or two songs each. Includes VICTIMS FAMILY, ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, SHORT DOGS GROW, and more, contributing to 90 minutes of sheer insanity.
Great, raging hardcore—tight as hell and power production to spare. Glad to see another new outfit not pandering to metal clichés or influences, delivering the straight goods, musically and lyrically. Contains Dewey (ex-WHITE CROSS) on lead guitar.
Taking obvious cues musically, philosophically, vocally, lyrically, and even graphically from MINOR THREAT (and to a much lesser degree, MDC) might lead these guys in for criticism for being unoriginal, but what they do is so powerful and convincing that it’s easy to overlook these charges. Good lyrics, though a bit unspecific, hopefully to broaden with age and growth. Keep the commitment!
New wave delivered with punk energy, as many “wave” bands were doing in “the early days.” But the female “singer” and keyboards put me off, as well as the rock/wave arrangements and slick production.
Sort of MEAT PUPPETS-ish in their 70s rock gone amuck approach to modern music. Should be popular with SST fans with their tight, jazzy eccentric approach. Most tunes are pretty fast-paced.
This is your basic rock’n’roll punk a la ’76. Okay guitar-strong garage punk that rocks okay and only occasionally gets embarrassing. Reminds me of the RAMONES or HEARTBREAKERS. It’s the lyrics, though, that are really embarrassing—definitely “sweetheart” stuff.
One side of this LP is your basic funnypunk a la thrash with a taste of MISFITS among others. The flip is indeed a flip, foregoing the thrash for early punk, rockabilly, country, etc. Interesting approach.
These songs chug along at a decent pace but they don’t really hook like the ones on their LP. This is more of a holding pattern until their next album. I guess I’m still with em… for now.
Fun, jangly melodic punk with common-sense political lyrics. This is also available as the NEW VULGARIANS with different words… all about rock climbing. A blast either way.
Containing members of GONE, REGRESSIVE AID, and other bands, this Jersey outfit is into noise, FLIPPER obviously comes to mind, though there is a funk aspect to some of their grunge as well. By now you know if you’ll go for this or not. A live recording.
The five hardcore numbers on this EP boast screaming vocals over the basic slow/fast arrangements, none particularly notable. “All By Myself” has a certain vocal power to it, but this record doesn’t excite or surprise as it should.
Wimpy folk-rocky trendy A-side but a decently rockin’ surf/garage “Frenzied” on the flip with lots of noise and guitar pounding. A 12″ is on the way soon.
“Terrorist Attack” and “Drunk Driving,” of the five songs here, show an approach to punkish thrash that’s anything but general. Tense vocals and energetic guitar work fuel these songs well above the standard for the rest of this EP, making RANDOM KILLING a potential powerhouse. I’d like to hear more.
The music on this disc is definitive RANCID VAT—loose punk rock, infused with a gritty guitar sound and often hysterical lyrics. The individual tunes lack distinctiveness by and large, but the fart choruses in “Low Blow” and the goofy cover art help make up for it. Spirited, and basically okay.
So many bands pretend to have something to say, but the PROLETARIAT have always had articulate and pointed lyrics to match their sharp, precise music. The addition of two vocalists is kind of cool and makes things a little more interesting.
High energy here, with a slightly metallic HC flavor, not unlike RAW POWER. Nine songs, “positive” lyrics, and intense music add up to an impressive release.
This band does at times have a bit of a mid-period BLACK FLAG sound to them, but I can also hear some groovy part of REDD KROSS and CIRCLE JERKS in there. They got a pretty rippin’ version of “Little Red Book,” too.
Hard to believe this is the same band as on their pair of EPs (but it largely is). They began as a garage thrash band, moved to a more melodic style of the same genre by their second release, but on the two tunes here they’ve gone way poppier. The A-side is pretty straight pop, while the flip has a bit more garage to it. Can’t say I fully appreciate these changes.
The NOT have captured their exciting upbeat melodic energy well in a live setting, recorded late last year. Seven originals plus two covers add up to nine fun foot-tapping tunes. Shame they broke up.
Loud guitars and occasional vocal choruses are a good starting point, but they only do so much to enliven this album, which contains largely undistinctive mid-tempo hardcore. Even the lyrics, covering a range of punk rockfish themes, also seem to lack the extra punch to push this one over the top.
A 17-song demo quality cassette consisting of five originals and covers from such faves as MDC, BLACK FLAG, DOA, etc. I prefer the originals—good, raw punk rock with sarcastic social lyrics.
The growled vocals and rebellious lyrics on this LP are definitely punk, but the music is poppish in almost a PATRIK FITZGERALD style. The result is credible without being especially powerful, and frankly I wasn’t exactly bowled over by the tunes, either. An interesting idea marred by lackluster execution.
Eccentric garage punk with very clever lyrics—sort of like early DEVO meets Gulcher Midwest bands, with Doc Dart meets Allen Ginsburg on vocals.
KATATONIX display a knack for catchy, inoffensive neo-psych on this one. The A-side contains synth and poppish vocal harmonies in a ballad form, while the flip is even slower, but has some good, hard guitars. Basically okay for what it is.
This trio of songs uses a punkish power chord style to address fairly nondescript lyrical themes. “Nowhere” has varied guitar work melded into an energetic, bouncy rocker, and it rates way above the two other simpler and less interesting tunes. Recommended for the good song.
Well, they sorta are. Two of the five tracks are bluesy rock, one more punked out than the other. The other tracks are thrashed out, but still with a slight country/blues inflection. Definitely a Texas band.
Ten crankin’ songs reflect the classic FREEZE sound with catchy fuzz guitar and a strong steady fast beat. The lyrics still maintain that warped quality as do the vocals, although a little bit of experimentation does come through. A very enjoyable LP from a band that seems will never lose its raw edge.
Hot dog! These weenies play driving punk of all speeds, fueled by Kool-Aid. Six originals and fun covers of “I Got a Right” and “Good Guys Don’t Wear White.” Totally wacko.
This Welsh punk outfit presents four songs here, all in a plodding, mid-tempo Britpunk vein. The hooks are unconvincing and the power variable, though there seems to be a partially redeeming element of sincerity on this disappointing release.
Imagine Kevin Seconds singing over a high-velocity thrash backdrop, with periodic lead breaks interrupting the proceedings, and you have a rough approximation of FANOUS CHEEZCAKE. Production is very basic, the songs fairly typical of the genre.
A ringing, thrashy, riffy guitar attack sets the pace for this set of dynamic, distinctive numbers. This has it all—intensity, spirited vocals, and (from what I can gather) committed lyrics. Terrific!
Two bands from the Canary Islands (Spain) share this tape. ESCORBUTO CRONICO favors a hard driving mid-tempo punk sound not unlike early DOA, and GUERRILLA URBANA is more thrashed out. Pretty neat.
In the LIME SPIDERS school of rockin’ Aussie punk, EASTERN DARK shows an added element of accessibility and real consistency in songwriting on this one. “I Don’t Need the Reasons” has especially memorable hooks and strong guitars. Top notch!
Speed metal with all its excesses and pretentiousness. Four songs, all heavy.
This classic protopunk band existed back in ’76 or so (when this was recorded) and starred Jeff “Mono Mann” Conolly, now in LYRES. They released a great 7″ on Bomp and a couple of LPs, none of which had these two rockers. B-side is a great FLAMIN’ GROOVIES cover.
DISPER-AZIONE kick up a nasty dust-cloud of dark, energetic chord progressions in their mid-tempo HC, add some powerful vocals, and also opt for lots of self-indulgent lead guitar breaks. When disciplined, as on the superb title track, this band is stunning; otherwise, this album is still rather impressive, but flawed.
Too horrible for words, this aggregation of the once-great DISCHARGE goes full-on metal sounding like LED ZEP (15 minute songs to boot!). No traces of punk at all, even to the point that the drummer Gary has covered over his CRASS tattoo with some metallish tattoo. Last DISCHARGE release we’ll be reviewing. (Unless we decide to ridicule them further. —Ed.)
