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!
Respectable, hard-hitting, and melodic. Sort of an updated version of the early WHO sound (say, around Magic Bus). This clean recording helps out with the match-up of distorted guitar lines and good harmonica work. Flip is more melodic, Mersey-style. Pebbles No. 32 stuff.
More than adequate NY hardcore, with mostly fast songs. While not especially distinctive, it is punchy and tight. Good anti-authoritarian lyrics.
Quite a good six-song demo, they bring home important topics and intelligent perspectives with powerful melodic punk/thrash. Hope to hear more from and about this young band who, though a bit CLASH-like, aren’t too much so.
Kinda folk rock meets minimalist meets mid-’70s singer/songwriter twisted balladeer. Definite VELVETS influence, and some good rockers.
Ah yes, more of that seductive psych sound. While it’s usually on the quieter side of things, the jangly guitars and great tunes remind me a lot of the legendary BIG STAR. Some repeats from earlier releases, but a great album overall.
NIP DRIVERS are as fun, crazy, and rockin’ as ever. This new LP shows better compositions and recording than the last, and there’s a good variety of material that’s embellished with their traditional tidbits of vocal and musical comedy. “Bone Spider,” my fave, is a great neo-psychedelic number. Recommended.
This one is pretty simple. Boon and the boys cut loose in the studio with four covers recorded “live” in front of maybe 15 people. These are the songs that floated in and out of their set on their last tour. You get so-so versions of VAN HALEN and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, but real good versions of CCR’s “Green River” and the MEAT PUPPETS’ “Lost.”
Sometimes jazzy, sometimes experimental, sometimes straight-ahead, this punk band presents very intelligent lyrics out front so you can hear them. The music is almost secondary, but not quite, as the band does add some drama and is far from incompetent. Good debut.
Album number three from the PUPPIES has them pretty much mining the same territory as their second LP. This should alienate the shit out of the punk rockers and make college radio writhe in ecstasy. All of this doesn’t negate the fact that this is an outstanding record with great playing. Not real fast, but curling-up-on-the-porch-after-a-long-hard-day LP.
Brave, pissed-off souls from upstate NY come together and release some raving yet melodic hardcore garage material. Totally unpretentious, energetic, and enjoyable.
The second flexi put out by this group of challenging folks. This is a rap vocal accompanied by a funk rhythm and punk fuzz guitar. It comes with an informational book and lyrics—another excellent job from committed punks.
These two bands have almost the same line-up, and both boast a mid-speed punk style with compositions that verge on memorability. The track by NOONDAY UNDERGROUND, “Injun Joe,” wins the honors here by virtue of its enthusiastic vocal choruses. Solid all-around.
Fairy standard thrash fare for the most part, but occasional use of effects on the guitar add a distinctive touch. Should improve with age.
Excellent, powerful, and tight thrash. While this is just a four-track demo, it bodes well for future recordings. The material, while straight-ahead, is done with zest and excitement.
Very powerful thrash—lost of slow/fast changes, good noisy guitar chords, tight as hell playing, and excellent vocals. One of the best production jobs Mystic has done. Hot!
Children from hell, it must be. Please note: this ain’t music, per se. I can hear a guitar, etc., but it’s your basic noise/industrial freakout. A nasty business.
A totally excellent thrasharama. This band is tight as hell, delivers powerful music and lyrics, and seems really dedicated.
The singer has a definite Jello Biafra intonation, but that’s where the comparison ends. Both tunes are straight out of ’78, with very basic but produced punk. Non-inventive, and anachronistic.
A heavy dose of YARDBIRDS-style R’n’B fun almost works on “Waste Your Time,” which lacks in melody what it offers in rockin’ power. On the other hand, the flip is a down-and-dirty instrumental that recalls the “rave-up” spirit admirably. Not earthshaking, but altogether decent.
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.
