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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!
Sometimes sounding like BIRTHDAY PARTY, sometimes CRAMPS-ish, sometimes like early punk, sometimes all the above at one—they can be interesting and annoying. The vocals are too “clean” for me, and the band’s restraint is frustrating, but those into less crazed stuff may appreciate them. (Not to be confused with the UK MAU MAUS.)
Raspy larynx shouting with a demonic flavor rises with heavy bass lines mixed high in this exceptional Japanese speedcore release. GHOUL mix speed, power, and continuous drum wallops to give a sound reminiscent of GISM, yet with a different drive of aggression. One of the better of the new Japanese vinyl blasters. Get it while you can—they don’t last long.
Thrash your brains out with this exceptional Japanese speedcore release. Full of ultrasonic quickness and metallic whines, GASTUNK rivets out three heavy barrages of good rhythms that are powerful and exciting. Featuring ex-EXECUTE singer Baki, GASTUNK does resemble a sound close to the EXECUTE, yet more metal guitar pieces. Really good stuff.
Unrelenting fury lashes out some speedy Japanese speedcore with overly gruff vocals. Wild, intense, and full of moving rhythms, GAI pushes the limits of foreceful power in the VARUKERS or DISCHARGE vein, yet the vocalist growls the flesh right off his throat. Great stuff to brainbeat to.
Nice book-type sleeve full of beliefs, lyrics, and art. The musical direction is a weird criss-cross of early FLUX and CRASS sounds, combined with dance-type rhythms, all this shoved into a wild arrangement. Has so much going on, you miss some. Very crazy sound-wise, very intelligent lyric-wise. Overall, a unique release.
Another hot-sounding release from the EXPLOITED (most all their records have gotten good reviews in MRR—can’t say the same about Wattle’s mentality), with both thrash and slightly post-punk rhythmic tracks really ripping. Oh, and thanks, EXPLOITED, for the “fuck off” on the back cover; coming from you, it’s a real compliment.
Although the thrash here is not anything new (admittedly, it is quite good and powerful, though), the lyrics are outstanding. It’s great to see a band sing about battered wives, on sex and morality. Intelligent and angry! Good sound quality, too.
This is the one band you gotta keep your eye on. After their all-out noisefests, they’ve decided to hit back with their version of pop music. The title track here is a neat little marching Arabic tune very similar to early CAN, and it’s been remixed by Adrian Sherwood to give it this incredibly heavy-footed rhythm. The two songs on the other side are a creepy Exorcist-style tune and a straight version of LEE HAZELWOOD’s “Sand” that would make NICK CAVE proud.
A three-song job: one outright excellent thrasher, one slower Oi tune (also good), and a mid-tempo hardcore number. All are done well, though I can’t really comment on the lyrics. Good production, from Japan.
One studio and one live side, this tape is better than most all this English band’s recordings. Side one has some great covers, such as “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “Wild Thing,” “Sonic Reducer,” and “Lexicon Devil,” all done with some amazing power and clarity. Cool.
Finally, an LP’s worth of mayhem from this great Aussie band. 26 songs pack this platter full of straight driving power punches with shouting vocals and whining guitars. Political lyrics with raw furious music in the true hardcore attack. Some variety, but mostly medium-paced with some fast throbbers. A classic like the BGK LP.
The A-side is sort of like METAL URBAINE meets ’60s pop-punk. The flip is snappier, and both sides combine cool rhythmic, pulsating, noisy rants with neat pop guitar licks. Very good, from France.
DEATH SENTENCE provides us with one side of studio demos and another of live tracks on this cassette. The studio recordings demonstrate that this band can pummel out thrash in a high-velocity DRI style, though both sides suffer from a certain muddiness in the taping. Still, keep your ears unplugged for this band—they have real potential.
A lethal brainbomb. Pack the ferocious chaotic attack of CHAOS UK and DISORDER, and plunge it headlong into the grinding speedcore of GISM, and you have CONFUSE. Hungry havoc runs amok with fast drumming and raw grinding guitar action, helps this explode into an onslaught of rapid-fire blitzkriegs. A brutal hammering that is intense and great!
CONFLICT does it again. Not only is the music sheer energy, thrusting chaotic charges of havoc, fully evident in the B-side with the DISCHARGE-style whines and wails, but CONFLICT’s undeniable power. Check out the fold-out poster and the band’s sincere critical stance, read what they have to say and how they care. Support this. Cheers to CONFLICT.
Great stuff from the UK again. Potent riffs with power and might, featuring a great distorted guitar sound that grinds with an echoing feedback. Raunched-out vocals, with a strong bass and good drum hooks, brings this effort into a fast paced charge of exciting melodies in the vein of early GBH or newer ENGLISH DOGS. With this being a four-songer, hopefully vinyl will soon follow.
There’s some really hot-sounding material on this live recording—lots of excitement and energy. But the recording is such that it renders a lot of that power defused, not unlike many bootlegs. For fans.
A female-fronted, slow-mid tempo punk combo, featuring melodic tunes and echoey singing (as opposed to screaming). Reminds me a bit of PENETRATION.
A three-song noise-thrash bonanza. Completely retarded-sounding vocals combine with repetitive, relentless, pounding thrash of the most garage-y kind to give you a few precious moments of pleasure. Fun.
Mid- to fast-paced punk tunes. While not thrash, they are really driving with lots of hooks and guitar power. Excellent production as well.
Calgary’s BEYOND POSSESSION have a knack for tight stop-and-go thrash with near-virtuosic guitarwork. While this outfit is more adept at arranging than songwriting, numbers like “Where’s the Matter” and “No Religion” demonstrate a preciseness (and rebelliousness) that makes this record a well above-average effort.
Ranging from CRASS-type minimalist punk rants with male and female vocals, to out-and-out pro noise, this is one of those bands that makes the metal-punk argument of “we’re just trying to do something different” look like the weak statement it is.
Psych of a lighter variety—nice touches here and there—a bit of surf, tempting little riffs, but ultimately a tease and no real satisfaction.
There’s not a band on Australia’s Big Time label I haven’t found worthwhile. As they’re really bluesy and slow-paced, these guys are a little hard to get into. Still, this is some of the coolest garage rock-blues around, and even a bit psychedelic at times. Not as psycho as SHOCKABILLY or as rockin’ as PANTHER BURNS, but still good if you’re in the right mood.
This four-song Japanese release is in the mid-fast paced HC vein, and although it’s pretty heavy-handed at times, there’s plenty of hooks, too. At times, there are too many metal leads for me, but overall they’re pretty punchy.
Starts off slow and raunchy, but works its way up to a frenzy. Lots of controlled noise and feedback, but not “noise” at all. Excellent hardcore from Japan.
Full of speedy, noisy thrash. High-quality sound and recording make this highly listenable. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the band throws in nice little touches here and there, making them one of the better “unrecognized” bands around.
A garagy and nifty area collection of some of SoCal’s thrashing young outfits. There are tracks by FATAL ERROR, MAD PARADE, CHAOTIC NOISE, S.O.S., ARTISTIC DECLINE, BAD INFLUENCE, MOX NIX, BLACK LABEL, PLAIN WRAP, LOVE CANAL…22 groups in all. Put out by FFF fanzine, and comes with mag insert.
I’ll skip the one track each by EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTS (funky weirdness) and TIMI (reggae), and flip to side two, which contains a track each by RAT AT RAT R and LIVE SKULL. The former delivers a brutal blow of semi-noise music, NY art style. LIVE SKULL take that genre a bit further, less noisy but more depressing.
A 7″ sampler of the best of Mystic’s recent 7″ series. Features RKL, ILL REPUTE, SCARED STRAIGHT, FLOWER LEPERDS, MANIFEST DESTINY, FALSE CONFESSIONS, and DON’T NO.
A nifty little live compilation that features the musical side of a five-day art festival held last year in New York. Lotsa homeboys on this one, like LIVE SKULL, SONIC YOUTH, SWANS, and the BEASTIE BOYS. Also includes two tracks from the FALL.
An international compilation cassette put out by Brian Walsby. Such luminaries as C.O.C., NO POLICY, UGLY AMERICANS, SLUGGO, ACCÜSED, UNIFORM CHOICE, VICIOUS CIRCLE, SCARED STRAIGHT, UNACCEPTED, etc. present anywhere from one to seven songs each, and there’s lots of raving thrash.
The latest sampler LP from the most prolific sampler label, this one contains tracks from some previous records (GRIM, DR. KNOW, Nardcore, Slimey Valley, Party Animal, SUBTERFUGE, etc.) and some future releases (AGGRESSION, HOLLYWOOD NOISE, Let’s Die, Cop II, Return to Slimey Valley). Can anyone keep track of all this?
Some names on this comp you’ll immediately recognize as quality acts, like HOMO PICNIC, CHRONIC DISORDER, DEAD MILKMEN, DROOLING IDIOTS, CANCEROUS GROWTH, ASBESTOS ROCKPYLE, etc. And many others are relative newies, such as STATE OF THE UNION, PUBLIC ENEMA, etc. Lots of variety of punk sounds, and lots of intelligent lyrics.
A Chicago-area comp, this features CERTAIN DEATH, GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS, TORPEDOS, SPRAY PAINT, UNINVITED, RING 13, NO MORE WARS, BLATANT DISSENT, and GARAGE BODIES. Quite good sound quality, and varied but strong material. Good.
Neat idea, not-so-neat results. Cover songs are a tricky business—you either gotta change and update ’em (like the MEMBRANES’ “Super Freak”), or out-energize the original (SWA’s “100 Bottles of Beer”). But most of the others, turned in by the likes of SCARED STRAIGHT, RKL, FALSE CONFESSIONS, ILL REPUTE, SADO-NATION, DON’T NO, NOFX, VOA, PLAINWRAP, G.I., etc, etc., don’t make you forget the originals. They should.
Somehow omitting Vol. 14, this series of ’60s obscurities lurches on to Wisconsin, Part 2. While mainly on the softer, poppier folk-rock side, many of these tunes are pretty cool, with lots of vocal harmonies and an occasional freakout. Decent.
This is the second record by this trio, and it mixes acoustic guitars, bagpipes, mandolin, and sax with great spartan-style punk. These guys could even make it hip to listen to folk music again. Overall, their singing and playing has improved dramatically to showcase their mix of folk, Gaelic, punk, and psychedelic.
This album witnesses the fruition of the VOODOO IDOLS’ songwriting skills, and their admixture of rootsy rock and punk (with a hearty infusion of sax for good measure) makes a better impression with each listening. The vocals seem way too manic for the music, but VOODOO IDOLS get a definite thumbs-up for improvement and distinctiveness.
This band hits with both well-performed older style punk and with thrash, and hits hard. The band is tight and powerful, and while not extraordinary, they are better than most. The female singer, Helen, reminds me of De De Troit a bit, or maybe SIN 34 or LEGAL WEAPON (thanks Martin). Good sound.
The TELL-TALE HEARTS use an invigorating R’n’B-style as an inroad to their brand of psychedelia, replete with cheesy organ and harmonica. “Crawling Back to Me” employs a biting ’60s punk sound with good results, but I also enjoyed the moody “Dirty Liar” the most of their slower material. A very good effort.
Tried listening to this while depressed—I broke into hysterical laughter. Tried listening while in a good mood—I whipped off the needle. But it’s “hip” to like this kind of painfully slow, “wrenching” post-punk noise, right? Guess I’m uncool.
Although largely generic thrash, there are moments when STATE OF CONFUSION show that if they stick with it, they could develop their own sound. This is not to say that this tape isn’t tight or powerful (which it is), but it’ll take awhile for such a young band to develop their “personality.” (This applies to 90% of today’s new HC bands.) Overall, a good start.
This album represents the best of a great band—the SONICS, who boomed out the hottest garage punk of their day. Out of the Northwest, these guys cranked out classics like “Psycho,” “Strychnine,” “He’s Waiting,” and “Witch”—tunes that bands like the CRAMPS, NOMADS, etc. revere today. Awesome.
This album reminds me of a tug-of-war between ’60s psych and late-’70s power-pop, the latter victorious by a respectable margin. My favorite cuts, “Gotta Tell Me Why” and “Glendora,” were previously released in better versions, and the studied pop leanings on this album don’t succeed as often as on their last LP. Pleasant listening, but not the special effort I expected from the SLICKEE BOYS.
It’s tough to follow up their exceptional LP, but 7 SECONDS have done it again. These are the tracks recorded with Ian MacKaye in DC, and you can note the influence. All the pleasant harmonies and sing-alongs are present in full form, and the well thought-out lyrics that make this band what they are. A cover of “99 Red Balloons” ought to perk you up, but the other tracks are the real steadfast melodies. As usual, great stuff; get it while you can.
Mystic’s “Nardcore” series continues with this workmanlike EP of energetic thrash by SCARED STRAIGHT. This band suffers from a common problem: they have every bit of the requisite “power” but little of the distinctiveness modern thrash outfits need in order to avoid the morass of genericness. “Typical” is the best song on this nine-tracker, and ironically, the record itself is good, but typical.
This one’s kinda frustrating. Danzig and crew still manage to put that wonderful frantic MISFIT yelp on “All Hell” and “Hungry End.” But it seems like they’re too comfortable. I’d really like to see them hook up with a new producer who would give them more of a challenge in the studio. Still great, but the possibilities make you want more.
The A-side is a new-wavey cover of the EXCITERS’ hit of the early ’60s, and the B is a ska cover. Not really happening, unfortunately, as this band helps their local scene a lot.
A new Seattle outfit with Brad, an original member of the LEWD. Both songs here are fast punkers with a distorted guitar and some of the meanest vocals I’ve heard since those of Blaine from the FARTZ. An added bonus is this classic line from the A-side: “Shoot the Pope, shoot the Pope, just another Polish joke.” Pick it up today.
