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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!
Their second release continues with their BUZZCOCKS-like pop-punk sound, though not quite as explicitly derivative this time. They combine tough lyrics, pounding beats, teen vocals, and a slight bit of experimentation with pop rock’n’roll tunes. It works.
Out of the 15 mid-tempo punk songs here, most are made up of delicate guitar leads, simple drum beats, and droning vocals that lean toward the dark side. Maybe the songs are too long, maybe the band doesn’t live up to their name, but this slab just doesn’t stand out.
SCHLIESSMUSKEL tries a little of everything on their debut EP: “Klaus E.” is a blast of catchy thrash in the gritty tradition of HEIMAT-LOS; “Nachigedanken” has an almost RAMONES-y appeal; “Rita,” with its wonderful vocal choruses, qualifies as appealing pop-punk. A varied, and very good, EP.
A 24-song 7″ that’s as basic and homemade as you might expect. Musically, it’s rough—both in terms of playing and production, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the punk primitiveness within. Fun.
Gruff vocals accompany discordant, biting hardcore and thrash on this hard-rocking seven-track EP. A lack of variety in songwriting is about made up for with the grinding guitars and overall vocal intensity. A good follow-up to their excellent debut EP.
This is a nine-song 7″ of pretty raging thrash and hard-edged punk. The drumming is mixed kind of weird so it sounds a little tinny at times, but otherwise this band delivers short, fast blasts of anger with early DISCHARGE-like ferocity.
The A-side is driving melodic punk with cool guitar and neat singing, as well as some sound effects. It works. The flip is much more of a ballad with lots of choruses. OK, but it does drag on. Neat guitar, again.
Punk in an English ’78 style. Both funnypunk and serious punk lyrics set to above-average driving punk tunes. Hey, I think this is a punk record, and a totally enjoyable one at that.
Two fine German hardcore bands share this platter. HOA clock in with some pounding thrash, tight as hell and powerfully delivered. Ah, but then MANSON YOUTH take their turn, and for a band with such a lame name they are quite a revelation—tight, great guitar, and one of the most urgent female vocalists I’ve heard in a while—great lyrics, too! Hard to go wrong with either side.
The percussive edge of SPK and later EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN springs up on this 12″, which has less power and dementia than it really should. This is industrial noise filtered into several distorted rock compositions, making for some repetitious listening. Below the standard.
A four-song bone-crunching EP, heavy on power and guitar. In the mid-tempo range, they have a big sound without getting too clean or too metallic. It pounds.
Face it, if you haven’t heard the INSTIGATORS yet, you’re a worm. But here’s your chance to snatch up to 13-songs of their hard melodic sound captured in a live setting. A damn fun tape.
It’s easy to complain that the BABIES are too much like the BIRTHDAY PARTY, but after some classic singles, this LP isn’t bad. While no one song really stands out, the total record is quite enjoyable, adding Southern-style blues and pickin’ to psycho post-punk.
Some pretty hot stuff here. This is straight, urgent thrash with a good amount of musical variation. Lyrics seem to concentrate on torture. Good effort.
These guys write pop-punk songs so simple and catchy that you swear you’ve heard them before somewhere. Maybe you have, but the secret of great rock’n’roll is the ripped-off riff, reshuffled and redelivered in a new context. Both songs (one slow, one rocker) are top-notch. A special band.
At first listen, it seems like a wimpy pop record and the B-side mostly is. But after a few listens, the A-side seems like it must be a lost and forgotten AVENGERS song. Melodic and simple with a bite of its own.
Really fine, driving punk rock with that French inflection. Not thrash, but quite uptempo basic melodic punk with lots of zip and power. Cool choruses, too.
Very garagy production and basic mid-tempo late-’70s punk sound. Can’t say much about their musical competency, but it is an indie record and they sounded like they had fun doing it.
Great cover of the OTHER HALF’s ’60s classic on the A-side, while the flip sounds like a slightly cleaner early FALL tune. Great drive and spirit on both—a treat.
On the faster tunes here, I don’t think this latest version of Wattie and Co. do as well as before, but on the more adventurous tunes, they come off very well, with a fuller sound. They can still put out some good sounds, as hard as that is to admit.
A well-executed poster sleeve makes a nice introduction to ENOLA GAY’s highly committed brand of punk and thrash. The compositions vary in quality from song to song, but their best moments occur when their instrumental power conjoins with great hooks (as on “Wealthy Ones”).
Buzzsaw guitar thrash on all six quickie tunes here. A posthumous release, this band was influenced strongly by the US hardcore sound with stop-and-go arrangements, snarling vocals, and short punches.
A whole cassette LP of great punk with lots of hooks, melodies, and good rocking. Reminds me a bit of the DK’s with political lyrics and all. Hot.
The DEPRAVED do it again! While there aren’t as many standout numbers here as their debut LP, there’s crunch and lyric spite to spare on this one. Imagine British thrash with catchy riffing and memorable vocals choruses, and you get an idea how special this record (and band) is. Very strong!
Four ripping early blasts by the DAMNED are featured here, versions formerly only available on bootleg tapes and records. Several of the tracks, like “Sick of Being Sick,” are actually superior to the previously released versions. A must for fans of ’77 punk.
Political lyrics in both English and German accompany thrash with very tasteful speedcore influences. No guitar leads here—just fast hardcore, even though I would have preferred songs with more overall distinctiveness. D.B.F. put in a solid debut effort here.
Marc Riley and company break a bit out of their FALL-like beat mold (at the same time as the FALL do with their cover of “Mr. Pharmacist”—interesting) with a cover of BRIAN ENO’s “Baby’s on Fire”—a pretty exciting version. On the flip, they return to their usual rolling form with a jangly, driving tune.
Wow! 60 minutes of thunderous thrash with metal guitar action that blows away anything in its path. Good sound quality, tight, and “Final Fight” and In All This Shit” were real eye-openers.
Excellent classic punk, Oi, and thrash here. Not only do these guys play fine, tuneful stuff, but they deliver It with oomph and have fine lyrics to boot (no pun intended). Good stuff.
A seven-song raver in the early DISCHARGE vein. Glad to see this excellent Swedish band getting exposure elsewhere. Pick this up!
This Polish band recently toured Yugoslavia and while there, recorded this album which was then released in France—a truly international effort. Their style is generally thrash with good tunes and out-front guitar—a more melodic approach not unlike TOXIC REASONS or N.O.T.A. They are fine musicians, and on a dub tune you can really hear that well.
A mega-cool comp with EXCEL, NO FRAUD, ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, and thirteen more HC groups. Another great job from this promising and consistent new label.
This 15-band world compilation cassette features 37 songs and fantastic sound quality. So, if international HC is your fancy, get this. My faves include the STUPIDS, HERESY, and LUNATIC FRINGE.
A truly cool HC comp featuring the RAPED TEENAGERS, CANCEROUS GROWTH, LUDICHRIST, PSYCHO, and many more. Here the accent is on gruff thrash, but a few slower cuts break up the mayhem. Darn good.
A great compilation of eight Canadian and US bands varying from rocking garage punk to straight-ahead thrash. YOUTHQUAKE, PROBLEM CHILDREN, and SONS OF ISHMAEL are my favorites, but there’s something for any punk/HC fan out there.
Contains SCAB, ULTRAVIOLENCE, and KRAKDOWN from NY, and ZERO, VOMIT AND THE ZITS, and GASSENHAUER from Montreal. All the tracks are live, but of good quality. Lots of great noise, thrash, and energy. Recommended for those who enjoy live recordings.
Basically, a pretty good comp containing mostly smaller US outfits. Musical styles vary a bit, but LIFE SENTENCE, LEGION OF DOOM, and PUNKS FOR PROFIT really rock out.
A mixed bag of punk, ’60s folk, rockabilly, experimental, and pop with Volume 2 being a bit better than Volume 1. Features the likes of GRUESOMES, DEJA VOODOO, MY DOG POPPER, ENIGMAS, and lots more.
Jesus…a sheer noise museum here with previously unreleased tracks by BIG BLACK (sounding strangely like the FALL), HAPPY FLOWERS (very twisted noise), HOSE, KILLDOZER, SCRATCH ACID, and the BUTTHOLE SURFERS (with plenty of horns—jazz damage?). Horrible cover, but this is one comp I find myself returning to over and over.
This installment, The Wound Deepens, contains a few tracks each from an international line-up. Hot stuff from E.A.T.E.R, STRANGLEHOLD, HALF LIFE, CÁ”LERA, PANDEMONIUM, LEGION OF PARASITES, and others. Excellent selections and fun listening.
It’s hard to pin down what it is that makes this EP so appealing. It may be the well-honed HC songwriting, the elaborate power-chord tracks, the added edge of accessibility, or the powerful vocals. Whatever it is, I enjoyed the four tracks on this record thoroughly. Another great one from Florida.
For $1.50, this is the deal of the month. This tape rips! Ten songs of excellent sound quality very musically from HÜSKER DÜ-ish anthems to HC. In the same league as RAW POWER. Good lyrics. An exciting release!
From out of the ashes of late SIC KIDZ rises DAS YAHOOS, a CRAMPS-like “horror” quartet. Though it’s nothing new, their music is very well done, real pounding simplistic psychobilly stuff in five tracks, and one atmospheric, spoken-word track.
Still as great and still as diverse, this SUNS LP is almost as good as their first. It’s a mixed bag with half psycho rockers and half melodic country-type beats, which is OK but not as overwhelming as before. However, some of these songs are real standouts in terms of originality and intensity. Still worthwhile.
Known as a “musician’s band” in the Bay Area, this Santa Rosa trio plays tight, tight, tight and leaves the other local musicians in awe. Musically, they utilize jazz, metal, and HC in a manic combustion that breaks new ground, though traces of early MEAT PUPPETS seem evident. Lyrically progressive and musically intensive.
For the most part, a letdown from the band’s previous releases. The title track is laced with funk guitar and sing-alongs, and the remaining ones lean towards offbeat rock’n’roll. Musically, the material seems to be missing what the band was aiming for.
The nifty 3-D album cover (glasses provided) presages this band’s lyric compulsion with horror movie themes. The songs are all presented in a stripped-down, punkish format, with good melodies and arrangements, but very little in the way of power. A little dumb, and only a little better than average.
Both tracks are labeled with the same title, but I know for a fact that they’re two different songs. Good stuff more in the YARD TRAUMA/FUZZTONES style of hard-driving psych/punk with a good sense of melody, a nice use of the whammy bar on guitar.
This time around, the label responsible for the great Back from the Grave compilations has decided to release a whole album by one band, the SQUIRES, who aren’t so much a ’60s punk band as a ’60s garage pop band. While most of the material isn’t as inspired as that classic “Going All the Way,” most of it combines an appealing mixture of raw instrumentals and strong melodies.
On their second release, they have shed their gloomy post-punk shadow and their tendency for arty experimentation in favor of a harder two-guitar edge. There’s a delicate interweaving of rhythms that should excite guitar fans of TELEVISION and even the SOFT BOYS.
