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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!
Slowing down the pace, five of the six tracks here are mid-tempo punk. While they maintain their overall California HC sound despite the change of pace, the FACTION do throw in bits of funk, etc., too. Personal-type lyrics.
If you’re missing those early KILLING JOKE days, then here’s a great record for you. Side one has that hard rhythm and intensity that KILLING JOKE used to play and don’t anymore. The flip, though, is a little spoiled with whiny vocals and electronics that are OK but not as interesting as most industrial bands and not hard enough to be dub style. Recommended for side one.
Interspersed between their wise-guy hardcore songs are wise-guy comments and witticisms. I’d assume this is a wise-guy intellectual punk band, somewhat reminiscent of the CRUCIFUCKS. Interesting.
One of the more animated and fun bands around, this EP captures both their ridiculous and serious side. The Leading Edge crew sings “They Rock.” Good production, too.
DIRT HEROES’ sound is best characterized by very hard-driving but simple drumming and rhythms. This puts them in a V.U. vein, with occasional ripping guitar solos and chanting vocals. Good rock with punk influences.
Personally, I think these two songs (culled from their upcoming album) have much more impact than the bulk of those on their debut 12″. The production is still murky, but here it accentuates a wall-of-sound style of thrash that almost sounds European. Both cuts also have memorable choruses and good lyrics, so I’m anxiously awaiting the long-player.
Scorching mayhem clobbers you cold with this sonic speed screamer out of the depths of the East Bay. Featuring ex-members of TEENAGE WARNING and TREASON, the new union combines fast thrash with intense lyrical assertions that haul a lightning pace without being of the norm mold. Twin guitar flailings beef up the sound with a good, tight drum assault as Barrie’s scrawling vocals blast it all into an uproarious excitement. New and hot.
Demented rock underscores a lyric barrage having something to do with religion on this flexi; the music’s original, but also rather unpleasant. CLAUDE COMA has had better moments.
Basically, this is just a one-man band that features an ex-member of Chicago’s STRIKE UNDER. But because the sound here is so dense and cohesive, it sounds like a full band. With this release, they are a full group now with the addition of two former members of MAN SIZED ACTION. Some of the thick sound recalls the din of MISSION OF BURMA coupled with a light, dreamy pop atmosphere, but even so, there really is a definite and distinct sound here.
This post-mortem (?) LP recorded in August ’84 is a potpourri of the many directions this band was heading. Sometimes, the record seems incohesive, but there’s great talent here. They do some killer raps, a HÜSKER DÜ-type pop song, partying-style wildness, great punk anthems, and dissonant jazzy stuff. Not their best as a concept, but still not to be missed.
I love BIG BLACK for their heavy rhythms, crystal-clear production, and storybook lyrics. This new record is no different. But as much as I love any abuse I can get from these guys, and as much as I love some of their songs here—their material is getting slightly tired. Their new stuff keeps reminding me of their other past classics. Same riffs! This may be too harsh a criticism, though, as I’d recommend this record above most others. So, I still highly recommend it.
Another diverse effort from this odd group. All of the tracks—whether garage punk, Oi, or experimental—are extremely primitive and, even better, full of scathing lyrical barbs directed against the likes of John Lydon and macho idiots. Check out this sadly appropriate couplet from “Skinhead Glory”: “Give me a reason to pick a fight / Let me prove that I ain’t bright.” Original through and through.
A much-improved and thrashed-out line-up of AGENT 86 here. Mike Briggs and Co. maintain their dedication to rebellion and the scene, delivering eight ripping tunes. Thin production does detract a bit, but it’s still worth it.
Two to five songs each by ten intense hardcore bands. ACTIVE INGREDIENTS, UNEXPECTED, PSYCHO, RED BERET, U.S. DISTRESS, URBICIDE, WHITE PIGS, KNOCKABOUTS, HOMO PICNIC, and DEFORMED (the only non-US band, being from the UK). Excellent.
All the tracks here contain one Frank Kogan, whether singing with his guitar, or in accompaniment by bands (that include former Cleveland weirdos associated with X BLANK X and PRESSLER/MORGAN). Results: singer/songwriter goes VELVETS meets JAMES BROWN in the garage singing those “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”
Many well-knowns and lesser-knowns of various punk styles are combined for stimulating listening. CHRONIC DISORDER, HOMO PICNIC, ASBESTOS ROCKPYLE, DEAD MILKMEN, DROOLING IDIOTS, and tons more appear on this one. Worth checking out.
The cassette equivalent of Voxx’s Battle of the Garages, this collection put together by Goldmine magazine lures such contemporary garage groups as the VIPERS, GRAVEDIGGERS V, TELL-TALE HEARTS, PANDORAS, FUZZTONES, CHEEPSKATES, UNCLAIMED, and more. Can’t really go wrong there. Gnarly.
Put out by Metrozine, this compilation contains mostly DC area bands like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, JET BOYS, GRAY MATTER, GREY MARCH, ASYLUM, B.M.O., UNITED MUTATION, G.I., REPTILE HOUSE, VELVET MONKEYS, NIKE CHIX, PUDWAK, and one one-of-a-kind group, CERTAIN DEATH of Illinois. A tunefully varied musical earful. Solid effort.
Opening this cassette package is like Christmas! I got a Q-Tip, two slides, a plastic fruit-fly, one cellophane “mystery fish,” a bunch of neat booklets… I, for one, am excited. There’s also a cassette, which features some OK “sensitive” pop by TERRIBLE PARADE, and a lot of arty compositions, mostly in a very, very slow mode. Great packaging, but the music’s not too enthralling.
The second volume in Fight Back’s We Don’t Want…, and like the first, the ensemble of bands is a good earful. Featuring new and released tracks by 16 UK and German bands, the music is much softer than the first, yet still potent and powerful. The line-up includes the APOSTLES, INSANE, PARTISANS, RUBELLA BALLET, VORKRIEGSJUGEND, UPRIGHT CITIZENS, WARDANCE, POSITIVE IMPACT, and more. A good sampler and a nice effort.
This over-the-edge zine presents one side of garage weirdness (ERIC HYSTERIC, SNOIDS, and BROKEN LIMBZ); and a more accessible side (SAVAGE REPUBLIC and RUGGEDY ANNES). Varied and interesting, it’s worth it for RUGGEDY ANNES’ pop/punk track alone.
Aha, the first of hopefully many exciting flexis containing some of the up-and-coming bands around the world. Dig and Kalv have initiated this project with CIVIL DISSIDENT from Australia, SEPTIC DEATH from the US (both hot!), and several tracks by the STUPIDS from England, who bring GANG GREEN-type attack to the Isles. Snap it up!
An international thrasher with VORKRIEGSPHASE, SP CAOS, HEIMLAT LOS. EU’S ARSE, SIEGE, WRETCHED, RAZOR BLADES, STRESS DA, and much more; 15 bands, 48 tracks. Good sound quality overall, and intense material.
Nine bands and 29 tracks, including some hot bands like MURDER INC. III, INDIREKT, GEPÁ˜PEL, M.O.G., the FILTH. Most of it is live, though, and not the best way to hear these Dutch groups.
An excellent compilation, featuring six Greek punk bands in a variety of sub-styles. Not only are the bands more that competent, but the recording quality is surprisingly good, too. Besides EX-HUMANS, PANX ROMANA, and STRESS, there’s no other information in English as to who the other bands might be. As you might guess, it’s all Greek to me.
I think it was a prerequisite for all twelve bands on this Melbourne comp to have two words in their titles, like CORPSE GRINDERS, CRUSHED BUZZARDS, TOMBSTONE HANDS, HAREM SCAREM, etc. It’s a mixed bag of neo-’60s, neo-blues, neo new wave, neo-billy, etc., etc., etc. My fave though is a catchy pop/punk song, “Mohawk Baby” by PAINTERS & DOCKERS.
These 55 bands (one track each) all hail from the Low Countries: Belgium and Holland. And needless to say, this compilation brings home with force just how widespread hardcore has spread in this region. Both live and studio tracks, mostly well-produced, and comes with a zine.
The XPOZEZ have been around for quite a while and still do not get the exposure they need. This four-song EP should do the job. It is well-recorded, -written, and -performed. Straightforward punk in the YOUTH BRIGADE/GBH category, but with a unique vocal styling that keeps your ears on the song. Good lyrics, good music, good record—what you expect from C.O.R.
After releasing one of 1984’s top ten hardcore releases, it’d be difficult for any band to match the same exalted standard on an entire album’s worth of material, and VORKRIEGSJUGEND don’t quite manage it. But they do reappear with the same killer combination of blistering thrashers (like Schöne neue Welt” and “Die Bombe”) and slower bone-crunchers (like “Die letzte Schlacht”), many of which showcase their distinctive sing-along choruses. Not all of the songs are as great as those mentioned above, and the muddy recording amputates their twin-guitar attack, but this LP is still excellent.
Varied in sound, from classic VICE SQUAD to SUZIE QUATRO to punk lounge music to PAULINE MURRAY-esque material. Some songs are totally great, with neat choruses and subtle touches upon pounding rhythms, and others are doggie-doo. Better than not, overall, and sometimes it’s pretty funny.
Both sides contain that old VARUKERS power, although a bit tighter but more restrained before. A good comparison of past and present comes by playing the B-side back-to-back with “Never Again” from their 1981 EP. Something’s gained, something’s lost.
A Swedish release from this German band could prove to be their best yet. Well thought-out English lyrics, and the song “Future Dreams” features crafty acoustic guitar work as the structure is close to that of the ALARM. The other four tunes all rage with clean riffs and rapid aggression. This is such an exceptional release, you should be demanding this in your stores all across the globe. UPRIGHT CITIZENS to tour the US this summer, this could be a band not to miss.
Quite a good-sounding recording for a live show tape, and this band takes advantage of it to deliver some very tight and powerful thrash. Tuneful, too.
Three powerful young Swedish thrashers share this tape. While I’ve heard MOB 47 sound more powerful than this before, they are still a plus here. And so are CRUDITY (more fast thrash) and AGONI, who are along the lines of DISORDER.
This studio group is made up of people from the synthesizer band MOEV. This project, unlike MOEV, has a gritty, harsh edge to it. Very similar to early CABARET VOLTAIRE and METAL URBAIN. There are pounding rhythms fighting against the vocalist who sounds like he’s choking to death. A dance record.
This neo-? record from Sweden has an OK A-side, but “I Tell No Lies” is buoyed by a delightful pop sensibility, layered vocal harmonies, and good instrumentals. This combines the accessibility of modern rock with the stylistic elements of ’60s punk. A strong release.
Both sides of this 45 contain slowish but powerful poppy punk, with solid rhythm, jangly guitars, and somewhat menacing vocals. There’s a ’60s feel to it, but it’s not overwhelmingly so. Haunting.
Tapes #3 and 4 in what may turn out to be an endless series of cassettes from SECOND AUSCHWITZ. The Agent Orange tape, like the rest in the series, contains zillions of songs, while Zyklon, Belgium seems to be a live recording with even more zillions of songs. Well, this band certainly gives you volume.
For such outrageous-looking guys (mohawks and spike city) and such a sharp-looking cover, their music is relatively tame. For the most part, it’s uneventful poppy punk. Only on one song, “No Man’s Land,” do they exhibit any real creativity or zip. Too little too late? Let ya know next record. From Japan.
Definitely on the experimental side. After listening to this, you’ll know what it’d be like to be stuck overnight inside a Japanese robot factory with CHROME or something. Lemme out!
Rigorous energy pushing the limits of power with knocking flurry and extreme excitement. One of the best Canadian releases in a long time, this album carries a weight of potent hardcore rhythms with some metallic riffs and overall variety of punk harmonies. Dynamic sing-alongs all combined with forceful vocals and an ensemble delivering well-produced goods. This is a scorcher.
This limited edition bootleg (200 copies) showcases the live performing talents of this early English punk band through a variety of vintage performances. The sound quality ranges from poor to pretty good, but only about one-third of this album captures the excitement of this band. I suppose one’s desire to find this disc depends on how much of a RUTS fan you really are…
The trouble with reviewing all-girl groups is that people tend to separate them as if their simple existence is an act of feminism. Yes, rock is male-dominated, but it’s not going to change by making a spectacle of these groups. This Canadian group makes no excuses, and delivers with an individual, uncompromised sound. Just about all of the songs have hard-edged rhythms and good playing. Excellent start.
Incredible Swedish thrash mercenary action at it again, this time from Jerker and RÖVSVETT. Split-second bursts to lightning-fast turbulence with raw, gruff vocals make this an exceptional platter. Eight manic quakes of mayhem and speed to stir some braincells. Interesting and uplifting.
A powerful punk band here! They deal in mid-tempo punk with some post-punk overtones, but always maintaining their power and rawness. Quite professional and tight, but not “slick.” Excellent recording.
PROBLEMIST are a San Francisco group that quietly makes tapes and communicates with experimental bands around the world. Organized religion is the target here, not only as a big business, but also on its subtle effect on people’s fears and behaviors. But this isn’t a noise band; it’s a mixture of electronic and rock that is aggressive, eerie, and not too arty.
Four very primitive and basic slow punk songs by this all-female aggregation. Sort of interesting, but not really as stimulating as I had hoped. They’re in-between the thrash of the early SLITS and the catchiness of GIRLS AT OUR BEST. I’d rather see one or the other. From Japan.
Weird. These are lyrically “sensitive” songs about animal torture or human ignorance, and then a “skinheads rule” song. Perhaps it’s a satire of that mentality, but if not, this Oi/thrash band is quite schizophrenic.
This thrasher contains some great songs, good hooks, cool harmonies, and excellent lyrics. In many ways, they remind me of 7 SECONDS, which is nothing but a compliment. Give ’em a listen.
Don’t ask me what language the titles are supposed to be in, but this band hails from Japan. The A-side is a quirky, slightly ambient number that sounds like Jello somehow got his ass down to Asia. The B-side sounds like BIRTHDAY PARTY got their butts there.
