For review and radio play consideration:
Please send one copy of 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. We reserve the right to reject releases on the basis of content. Music without vocals or drums will not be considered. All music submitted for review must have been released (or reissued) within the last two years. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!
Two girls and two guys playing poppy punk. The A-side is lighter but with good psych atmosphere, while the B is punkier with a KINGSMEN/Northwest sound, raunchy and rockin’.
SPUNK BUBBLES come through with eight very catchy and driving punk songs with ’77 appeal and girl-boy lyrics. KING PIG couldn’t be further from that spirit, presenting five moody, psych post-punk guitar-effected songs (also well-done). Top-notch production on both.
The A-side is a kick-ass fast punk tune with pounding drumming, cool singing, and though some of the structure is self-consciously broken up, it still clicks. The flip is more like a better produced PISTOLS-type sing-along. Pretty cool.
A three-song job, one track of which is a rhythmic, driving, raw song with a dash of early CRASS or the EX. The other two are raving, noisy thrashers. Lyrics are of a political nature, and all in all, this is a band to watch for. Confusing note: their flyer says seven songs are on a 20-minute tape for $3.50 ppd.
Classic European punk with great late-’70s English punk influences. The music is somewhat poppy, but has a raw edge and is backed with high power melodies. The vocals switch between male and female—a nice combination. Good stuff.
A slightly toned-down REVILLOS meets early-’60s garage/surf. Pretty garage in approach (though the recording isn’t) and the flip is a zany freakout. Loonsville.
Awesome. The fourteen songs crammed in here are up to the quality and style of Boston HC from 3-4 years ago. Just rippin’ from start to finish. And good production sound to boot. Get it.
An excellent blend of tongue-in-cheek humor and youthful positive thrash from this band. They sing in both English and German and show a lot of diversity in their music. Good swipe at both John Peel and jaded punkers on “John Peel Said.” Good record.
Their second release, this one is more CRAMPS-like than their debut. A-side is a pretty typically raunch’n’roll fuzzer, while the flip is a cover of the NOVAS’ classic, also covered by the CRAMPS. OK.
Good rockin’ punk with a slight RAMONES inflection and more serious lyrics. Not a lot of power, but the melody and catchy delivery make up for that. Decent.
A good rockin’ pop-punk song with ’60s influences on the A-side, a more contemporary, ultra-fast-paced pop-punk tune on the flip. The latter is pop only in form, as the delivery propels it well into the ’80s.
Discordant, psychotic, psychedelic, and painful. Simple, stark, and crazed. OH! DEV plays twisted jazz meets the most painful blues. Definitely arty, but not wimpy. Nick Cave and Lux Interior take heed.
Playing ripping hardcore at many speeds, this mostly female combo (a fact they don’t accentuate) attacks with power, confidence, intelligence, and proficiency. Six songs that make me think this is what the AVENGERS and UXA would’ve sounded like today. Great!
MUSHROOM PLANET performs Aussie rock’n’roll in the usual fashion, and here a distinctive guitar sound provides the interest. “The Chair” is the operative track, with its psych guitar riffing and sneering vocal attack—a wonderful song. The flip fares less well.
This Japanese punk ensemble has done a bit of changing since the last release. Toned down, but musically better, MOBS have added a creeping, harmonious flavor to the distinct sound, yet still keeping the pace active and alive. A cult release, but heading towards Japanese positive punk. Interesting.
The A-side is about as hard a rocking pop song as one can find—powerful, with pop structure. The flip starts out slow, but picks up considerably. Superior playing that reminds me of the EASYBEATS or a less psych CREATION. Cool ravers.
LIBERTY has the benefit of political commitment abetted by an original approach to mid-tempo British punk. Great guitar riffs abound on two of the four numbers here, and the overall sound is rough, gruff, powerful, and uncompromising. Good solid release.
Jazzy punk with rock influences. I find this too distracting overall, but I think the more adventurous among you might like the variety of influences. Decent power, odd thrash.
For such a young bunch of kids (15-17 years old) this is a pretty good debut. Mid/fast-paced punk and thrash, with decent hooks and fairly tight playing, lacking only a bit in the drumming. Keep it up.
Their debut single made me look forward to listening to this LP, but I was disappointed in KALASHNIKOV’s lackluster pop and pop-punk compositions, despite the plaintive female vocals. Some adventurous musical changes of pace—and sadly very little in the way of hooks or power.
One of the earliest still-existing German punk bands have regrouped (with a few replacements) and kick out a really good pop-punk/thrash four-song EP. A band that deals with political subjects humorously, these four tunes are catchy, well-produced, and up.
I can understand why these guys are anti-labels, coz their music somewhat defies categorization. There are elements of punk, ’60s, metal, and rock thrown into the blender and out comes a heavy beat with big production. They rock, but both tracks are somewhat hard to settle into. Jello says he likes this a lot.
Eclectic and offbeat hard-driving punk. The Italian BUTTHOLE SURFERS? Definitely outside stuff without losing the power.
A very silly, enjoyable, and decidedly low-tech effort from Germany. This is high-energy pop-punk, heavy on the RAMONES riffs, with excellent lead trumpet on many of the cuts that adds to the levity. They even do a rave-up version of the Waltons TV theme-song. Put these guys on vinyl soon!
More cool crusty psych from Australia. This time around it’s a band that has listened to a few RAMONES albums. But instead of the RAMONES/Spector sound, it’s more like the RAMONES meets RADIO BIRDMAN or the SAINTS. They do a pretty cool job of “Pipeline.”
This impressive Norway band expresses their musical influences through catchy melodies and raw vocals, and then turn right around and kick out some crazed power thrash in the very next song. Both live and studio tracks prove the band’s unpredictability and talent to create enjoyable music.
Put members of ADRENALIN O.D. and STUPIDS in a studio together for 14 minutes, and you get no less than 22 songs full of wacky confusion, sure craziness, intense energy, and an overabundance of good humor. Very spontaneous and rough, but funny as shit.
Despite the fact that me and Pus both listed this on our Top 15’s months ago, we failed to review this killer three-song EP. Sharp, audible vocals that attack hard drugs (among other things) are driven by raw, powerful, but somehow melodic raging hardcore. Lots of anger and frustration here, but tempered by intelligence. Excellent, and a shame they split.
Their name translates as “Creative Chicken Fuckers,” and if that isn’t enough to get you to buy this, then the music will be. Awesomely fast and powerful thrash that’s both non-metallic and creative. Contains songs both in Dutch and English, and from the latter one can discern their radical political bent. 20 songs.
Bizarre mayhem from France with a wild combination of guitar and total distortion bass plucks, as a drum paces forth with shrilling vocals. A unique blend of hardcore staying away from the traditional approach, capturing a very disordered rumbling of bass frequency as the highlight. Very creative, interesting tunes.
Despite the sometimes rough sound quality, there’s a lot to check out here. Intermixing news reports and music, there’s a compelling reality at work here—almost an industrial nature to their approach—which pervades their punk and thrash, an accent on atmosphere and meaning, not slickness.
Their sound is a raw, crunching guitar-based one with post-punky effects, and it really works. Lots of power, edge, drive, and diversity within the medium-tempo genre. Good.
Mid-tempo punk that’s in a Brit-punk style. Not especially inspiring musically, although there is post-punk moodiness, which might suit the lyrics well (except I don’t know what the subject matter is). OK for the style.
This record captures the Aussies’ rock sound, but without the overwhelming power you’ll find in the LIME SPIDERS or CELIBATE RIFLES. The songs are pleasant and quite listenable; I just felt that an added punch was needed to push it over the top. Adequate.
ANTISECT has gone through a few changes, member-wise and musically. Yet, the strong beliefs are still there. The wall of power still exists, but throw in a SABBATH/METALLICA sound influence, and ANTISECT is hitting hard with metallic grinds and vicious growls. Forceful noise that speaks no riddles.
Very fast and snappy punk that’s got a fairly distinct and clear sound (especially with the drumming). Gnarly singing, hot but simple guitar, and excellent production. Enjoyable political punk, in German.
A Detroit comp of mainly neo-’60s sounding bands. The Motor City has long been a holdout for this heritage, and some hot tracks are delivered by 3-D INVISIBLES, CINECYDE (still around!), and the BONERS. Other bands in a lighter vein include HYSTERIC NARCOTIC, FRAMES, SLEEP, VERTICAL PILLOWS, and BOOTSEY X AND THE LOVEMASTERS.
A split EP by LUNCH MEAT and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, two up-and-coming DC-area bands. Both outfits create and exhibit three high-energy melodic thrashers backed by interesting lyrics. Neither outfit falls into the DC stereotype of musical direction but really do break the ice for a lot of the underdog bands from that area. Worth looking into.
Not exactly a perfect overview of the SF scene, but a good sampler of the more shaggy-type bands like the CATHEADS and XTAL and some psycho-funk from FAITH NO MORE and THREE MOUSE GUITARS. Not earthshattering, but fun.
This follow-up to the previous Godfodder comp covers new ground with the exposure of more experimental bands and ones that are closely related. Some of the talents include: GLORIOUS DIN, BRAIN RUST, MORK LANE, SARCASTIC ORGASM, and the list goes on. Pretty good production and as a whole, a nice package.
A non-geographical comp, this one is a cut above some of the previous multitude. The OTHERS, ROGUES, BRIMSTONES, and STYX come across with some cool ditties in punk and folk rock veins. Good comp job by Lee Joseph of YARD TRAUMA.
Sadly, the two biggest names score very low overall. MENTAL ABUSE for being too long and metal, and the tracks by AGNOSTIC FRONT for being too dumb. Younger hands like SEIZURE, VIOLENT IMAGE, and SUBURBAN FLASHBACK come out with some real cool songs, though, for the real surprise of the album.
Some great Connecticut punk and HC can be heard on this seven-song EP which comes free with the third issue of Run It fanzine. VATICAN COMMANDOS, YOUTH OF TODAY, CHRONIC DISORDER, and SEIZURE appear—a well-rounded bunch, to say the least. Music varies from intense thrash to funnypunk. Sound quality’s a bit on the bad side, but it’s worth getting your hands on.
A furious-paced comp from bands all over the US, most of which are pretty good sounding. Some groups are STEVIE STILETTO & SWITCHBLADES, REALITY OF TRAIL, MAGGOT SANDWICH, SHELL SHOCK, GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS, LEGION OF DECENCY, PSYCHODRAMA, and several more. Lots of music, lots of energy.
The bulk of the bands here hail from Ontario (ANGRY RAISINS, AFHAKKEN, PORCELAIN FOREHEAD, MADHOUSE, APB, TERMINALS, and more), while the remainder are from scattered US locations (BLATANT DISSENT, 1/2 JAPANESE, PSYCHOTIC NORMAN, etc.). Mostly punk, with some thrash and experimentation. Good sound quality.
More two-chord rants about unresponsive gurls. I keep waiting for the quality in this series to decline so that I won’t have to bore everyone by reiterating how great these reissues are. But I guess I’ll have to wait longer, for this volume has mind-numbing ’60s punk gems by the SHAMES, SAVOYS, BARRACUDAS, etc. One of the few series which can honestly be described as “all killer, no friller.”
OK, this is a “rock” album, meaning the accent is on tunes, power, and production. What it’s missing is the excitement and spark of this band’s earlier releases. Punk background music?
This band has always done great pop and post-punk but I have never been able to dig out those essential hooks. I guess they transcend them, because this is a fine recording full of melody and great rockin’ moments. They seem to have split it into a rockin’ and melodic side, but whichever way you splice it, these guys deserve attention.
The CRAMPS meet the old FLAMIN’ GROOVIES? Raunchy R’n’B meets countryish rock’n’roll meets surf. Nothing new, not quite psychobilly, but OK fun stuff.
With a name like SISTER RAY, I expected a real pronounced VELVET UNDERGROUND sound, but not so. There are some ’60s influences (punk, Batman-theme-type guitar), as well as early US ’70s punk sound. All four tunes cook, with the guitar being the driving force. Nothing flashy, but they rock.
