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 very hot performance from their US tour of last year, but unfortunately the sound quality makes you feel like you’re in the bathroom at the On Broadway instead of up front. Actually, it’s not quite that bad, but it isn’t good enough to do this band justice.
Decent but unspectacular ’77 UK-style punk. I’ve come to expect specialness from Japanese releases, but there’s no imagination here.
Putting off their venture into haiku til the next release, this eight-song job is more like their slower previous material, but more sparse and less powerful. There are even funk rhythms mixed in here, and overall, I’d have to say that the “magic” seems to be gone from this particular outing. (Comes with a flexi that sounds better than the album.)
With a side “Shit” and a side “Fuck,” it isn’t too hard to figure out the gist of their style; as the run-off groove says, “The SPORES are a bunch of fun guys!” Here, they’ve managed to take the better elements of English funnypunk and fuse it with a raw Canadian sound. On the title track, they sound something like Dave MDC singing with ISM.
There’s a decided ’50s rockabilly meets ’60s punk meets ’70s punk here; the hottest track is a cover of the BEACHNUTS’ (early REED and CALE) “Drivin’ Me Insane.”
A very hot little tape, showcasing this Mexican HC outfit in a live show. The sound quality is just OK, but good enough to give you an idea of how tight and powerful they can be. People who’ve seen them live certainly concur.
Imagine, if you will, a bass guitar, drums, and sax fighting with sick vocals in a messy thrash format. Imagine 19 songs, some as short as ten seconds, delivered in under four minutes. The lyrics are viciously anti-religious and pro-vegetarian, but this is still a very unusual package.
Mod to the max. OK, but nothing new (surprise!). Do I have to go on?
Sparse punk, done at slow-to-medium pace, verging on atmospheric post-punk. Sounds a bit like early SIOUXSIE and many successive imitators. I imagine the lyrics are all-important here, knowing the label, but I’ve got no inkling as to their meaning.
Containing a good many of the songs from their under-produced Italian LP, these new recordings are a whole lot better done, and should help these lads out a lot when they return to tour North America this summer. There’s an increasingly heavy metal guitar influence, but the pounding thrash still predominates.
Three pretty uninspiring skunk tunes. “Danse” is the catchiest of the lot, but overall it’s pretty limp stuff.
PÖBEL MÖBEL is a very gruff-vocaled thrash band—sort of a less-metal GISM. AHM are similar in approach, though less nasty vocally, and a bit more melodic—but still quite on the powerful HC side of things—and also sounding a bit German to me. Both groups are tight!
A new EP’s worth of chunky thrash from one of Brazil’s premier hardcore outfits. There’s one studio side featuring both their excellent “theme” song, with its distinctive guitar riff, and another piledriver; the flip contains three less-appealing, roughly recorded live cuts. But since the studio material is killer stuff that satisfies all expectations, you should look for this one.
This is great! These two releases are both from Germany and both attempt a fun sort of pop/psychedelic sound. It isn’t until you look really close at their pictures that you can figure out that they’re the same band. The DEVILS’ record is more fun in the area of LILIPUT or the REVILLOS, while the VAMPIRES give a heartfelt, humorous nod to early VENTURES-inspired spaghetti-Western themes; the flip is like the LYRES and DMZ.
One side has three excellently produced and delivered, driving thrash numbers with a hot female vocalist. The B-side, “Wounded Knee,” is a more percussive, slower, but tough song with some really gruff male vocals. A good one. (N.J.F. stands for NEGRO JAZZ FUNERAL, not NEW JERSEY’S FINEST.)
Most of the nine songs are very long, garage-production, older-style punk. I can’t understand German, but if the accompanying letter was any indication of the intelligence of lyrics, then they’re quite well thought out.
A tough-sounding rhythm-box punk record, harkening back to a more diverse era. In fact, these guys do date back to ’79 (though they admit they didn’t learn to play till ’81). Interesting. (Usually, this is a code-word for “bad, but they tried to be different.” In this case, it’s genuinely cool.)
Dig sends me this gem. I expected something completely different, instead I get this power thrash attack with a UK punk sound. Solid, driving drums smack with kerranging guitar changes and interesting vocals. Really something good in a different vein, has similarities to a lot of the new Japanese bands. “Rubber Dolls” is a great blistering barrage of mayhem. Fun!
I haven’t been real thrilled by most of the recent Finnish hardcore releases, since they’ve tended to be sloppy and/or overly generic. And even though MELLAKKA don’t offer too much that’s new in the thrash sweepstakes, they do it well. Tight and well-recorded for a D.I.Y. project.
Gritting Finnish hardcore with a raw edge. More heavy power than thrash, with whining background guitars and lots of crackly distortion. More of an English sound, but the prominent Finnish vocals are the high of the mix, with pounding drums and cranked guitars in the distance. Good stuff; a good recording could help this one. Still, the effort has the possible thrust needed.
Winnipeg’s MANIC DEPRESSORS churn out a thick, high-velocity style of thrash with lyrics that address major issues head-on. A good band; the sound quality of this tape, however, has a great deal to be desired—it’s extremely fuzzy.
Fuckin A (pardon my German), these guys shred! All four songs are rip-snortin’ and nasty-ass. A cut above.
A brawny type of German punk that switches easily from German to English lyrics. Some of the rhythms remind me a bit of the PROLETARIAT, but they still show a lot of diversity in their sound. All in all, a good ’79-style punk record.
Mod revival time (?). Even a cover of “I Fought the Law.” Why not cover the fucking JOLT?? Aaagh!
A four-song, all-female release. The songs are in a snappy pop/punk mode with hyper vocals (the COMES vocalist is soon to join the band). When I say pop/punk, I don’t mean in a light sense like, say, TOY DOLLS; these songs are more complex and jazzy, yet maintain a pop structure.
Raw, heavy guitar dominates this seven-incher with stern, powerful riffs. Not thrash, more of a hard, grinding sound as this Finnish band bites down four meaty melodies with RIISTETYT-type vocals. Turn this up and the distortion zooms out of the speakers. Wild and frenzied, this is a different type of punk release that still holds that sharp edge.
Quite an unusual record. While it’s definitely got its punk and hardcore aspects, there’s a lot of originality in rhythms and structure. Apparently, these guys shun the local scene, and it shows in their lack of imitation—the best Japanese record I’ve heard in awhile.
Self-examination and resulting rebellion are the lyrical themes of this Down Under band, delivered in a punk/Oi style that’s simple but effective. Then, suddenly they leap into a thrasher with a female screamer. Then back to older, traditional punk sounds. I liked the exception the best, but maybe they need the slow curves to set up the fastball.
Simply one of the finest efforts I’ve heard in ages, a five-star rating for those of you who rate. The INSTIGATORS combine such a harmonious charisma in the music they create that the rhythms stay with you, bouncing through your head. Well-structured musical slices utilize crafty guitar work, pulsating bass boomage, drum smashings at the right moments, and a very unique vocalist whose voice travels with the music. Strong lyrical melodies have you humming along in no time. With each play, you’ll discover more magic and be totally hooked. The INSTIGATORS are a band to notice.
These songs are in a very fast jazz-meets-hardcore vein: quite an unusual combo, and one that probably requires an appreciation of both genres. Musically adept and quirky as all get out. For the adventurous.
This odd release features French post-punk in a sporadically interesting vein. The A-side’s brisk tempo and catchy, spare guitar riffing makes for pleasant listening, though the flip moves into a more freeform mode with disappointing results. An original effort, but this band needs much more discipline.
Hey, Tesco, heard any good “industrial” stuff lately? Well, you’re missing out on this one! HIJOKAIDAN (ESCAPE EXIT) is absolutely bizarre, distortion gone mad. Wild little noises playing havoc with your ears as sometimes frenzied vocals splurt out psycho noise. Has the makings of a great soundtrack recording. You know, this went into Tim’s trade pile, so you better call fast; it’s from Japan to boot!
GAS is sort of a Japanese SIOUXSIE-in-more-pain-than-usual, with an accompanying hard post-punk backup. But watch out for those rock guitar solos and wah-wah pedals! NIKU-DAN (MEAT HUNTER) is heavy on complex structures, high production, and atmospheric hard post-punk. All you “hardcore is passé” BIRTHDAY PARTY freaks will like it. I don’t.
Some pretty neat, catchy punk from England. It’s medium-tempo stuff, though snappily and uniquely done. The A-side is particularly grabbing, with the rhythms really having a big effect on the toes. I like it.
Could be CHAOTIC DISCHORD doing a scam of some kind. The cover says “Recorded in 1976,” and sounds like an outtake from the PISTOLS’ movie. Who knows? Who cares? It blows.
Liner notes say these three lasses are backed instrumentally by the MILKSHAKES, though on their Vol. 2 EP (nearly the same front cover as Vol. 1), it shows them posing with their instruments. Anyway, both 7″ers are chock full of great girl-group trash…without sounding self-conscious or too pop. A delight!
This is like tons of early ’60s bands that re-discovered ’50s rock ’n’ roll. And like the majority of that era’s bands, this one is pretty blah—rehearsed rockabilly riffs, with REB flavoring—but not hot. From France.
Some records are pretty unmemorable. In fact, I just played this one and can’t remember shit about it. No, actually there were a few pretty rockin’ moments for this ’60s-influenced-yet-more-’77-style band. Pretty poppy though, with the accent on rhythm guitar.
Could any band intentionally be this, bad? On first listening, I thought it was unintentional—that they’re just plain bad. But now I don’t know. It’s so offbeat, even on the simplest of punk beats, that they’ve got to be trying to be this bad. Does anybody out there know the answer? Good lyrics, though.
One live and one studio side are revealed by this band of four years age. And quite good, powerful thrash they display. I wonder how many thousands of little-known bands this good exist across the globe. It’s a shame.
There’s a bit too much CLASH in this band for my taste. Two songs are straight-ahead early-CLASH pop/punk numbers, one is a ska-oriented tune, and another is a punk/dub trip. Remember that stuff?
One side sounds like METAL URBAIN gone beatnik with bongos. The flip is an unidentified live recording that’s really primitively done and recorded. French weirdness.
Super-gnarly growling and rapid thrash make for a more Japanese-sounding band than a Swedish one. There’s even special effects on the guitars, as well as leads. Noisecore.
The fact that I viciously slagged the ASEXUALS for their lyrics to “Contra Rebels” in a recent review helps to disguise that I’ve always really liked their music, both on the EP and in the offending song. And now that I’ve learned that I’ve unjustifiably criticized them for said lyrics, which were apparently meant satirically, I have no qualms about admitting that this is an impressive album combining ’77 punk structures, fast tempos, and strong choruses. I apologize for the mistaken interpretation, but the lesson to be learned from it is that poorly composed satire can easily be misconstrued as dead seriousness.
Two Finnish bands of very different styles share this one. ABORTTI 13 is a slower, grinding guitar band, although they do play one faster punk song here. PYHAKOULU, on the other hand, is a manic thrash outfit, heavy on shredding vocals. They will be one to watch.
Yet another eclectic punk band signs on to Mutha Records. This one has an older style US garage/punk sound, but with elements of metal, pop, etc., weaving their way in. Sometimes it works, sometimes not (especially the electronic keyboards). Different.
The IDOLS are from Florida and have had a couple of singles out before, most notably “We All Dig Nixon.” With this new LP, they blend a disjointed MINUTEMEN-like thrash with a nasty swamp punk sound. They also have a nice way of using a saxophone over the din to create a full-bodied sound.
VOA addresses a basic thrash style with loads of spunk, though their songs structures are highly reminiscent of early ILL REPUTE. With added songwriting finesse, these guys could really develop into contenders; that’s why I can recommend this tape, and look forward to future releases.
While this is undoubtedly ’60s punk revival time, this particular approach leaves me somewhat unexcited. It’s on the pop/folk-rock side of the genre, with a little too much cuteness and too many “girl” songs. There are some rough edges (good!), but they’re few and far between.
