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!
Genuine garage punk from north of the US border. Most of it is basic, raunchy, and medium in terms of tempo, though there are also spurts of thrash (in “How High?” and “Gleaning Ground”) and some rather disjointed pieces (“Q”). The lyrics are critical, and you can even hear a famous religious retard’s voice at the beginning of “That Number Again, Folks.”
Another release from South Africa! Like their fellow citizens RIOT SQUAD, POWER AGE plays mid-tempo older-style punk rock. They have a real chunky, bass-heavy attack and snarling vocals, but the most unusual thing about them is their appearance in the land controlled by the super-secret neo-fascist Broederbond.
Eleven more great songs from this Canadian unit. With their wicked delivery and tight, imaginative arrangements, these guys constitute one of the more talented young bands around today. Most of the songs are thrashers, but there’s some real weirdness in the vocals.
A weird juxtaposition of thrash and post-punk styles can be found within individual songs here. Sometimes it works well; at other times, it seems a bit awkward, especially when they lapse into an almost folk-rock style. Still, SILENT MAJORITY comes up with a new angle, and that’s what makes them interesting.
An excellent skatepunk band from Sweden. SLAM delivers solidly produced medium/fast thrash with bone-crunching guitars. Real cool.
The mid-to-fast-tempo punks on this, SLIME’s third album to date, range from melodic ’77ish material with catchy choruses to hardcore thrash. Most of it is quite good, but I particularly enjoyed the title track and “Junge Junge” (a cover of BUDDY HOLLY’s “Oh Boy”). As you might have expected, it’s another superior release from SLIME.
I don’t understand why reputed anti-Nazis would adopt a name with SS in it, but TAMPERE SS’s EP lives up to the high expectations generated by their choice cuts on the Propaganda ’83 compilation album. The band members have DISORDER and CHAOS UK logos on their jackets, so you can easily surmise that they produce raging thrash in the respected Finnish tradition, except for an occasional slow number like “Taisteluhymai.”
This is the most contemporary sounding release that we received from Spain. ULTIMO RESORTE blast out raw thrash with a garage-y sensibility and rough female vocals, along with an occasional post-punky number (“Johnny Mofeta”). “Cementerio Caliente,” with its irresistible “Hey, Ho” chorus, is especially hot. Recommended.
Standard ’77 punk. Spain’s LA UVI offer unexciting yet listenable material. Some of the lead breaks are cool, but overall this band needs a lot more energy to make in impression in 1983.
A fine example of raw ’77 stuff with dense, growling guitars and female vocals. The A-side is a take-off on the STOOGES’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” and it’s modified title—”I Wanna Be a Prostitute”—and iconoclastic lyrics apparently cause quite a stir among conservative Catholics in Spain. Musically speaking, I find the original composition on the flipside even more appealing.
Another compilation tape from Italy. This one includes material by I REFUSE IT, the CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS, PUTRID FEVER, INDIGESTI, CHELSEA HOTEL, PSA, NABAT, and RAW POWER. Tape compilations seem to be the rage over there, presumably due to the high price of pressing records. Not surprisingly, the quality varies considerably.
This tape has some wicked shit from seven hot Italian bands, including PRAVDA, SOGLIA DEL DOLORE, I REFUSE IT, WARFARE, IMPACT, OBSESSIONE, and the WRONG BOYS. Truly excellent.
A live recording of what must have been an incredible show. The bands that appeared were the WRETCHED, TOXICAL WARFARE, PLASTIC SURGERY, UPSET NOISE, EU’S ARSE, ISOLATION, 5° BRACCIO, and IMPACT. The sound quality is predictably spotty, but the excitement comes through.
39 ferocious tracks of initiative and unlimited distinction. A delicious meal that needs no silverware to swallow this spectacular cranium-crunching ensemble of unrestrained activity. Featuring bands the globe over… Australia, South Africa, Italy, France, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Germany, UK, USA, and more with batter-ram assaults by POISON IDEA, RAZAR BLADES, UPRIGHT CITIZENS, POWERAGE, DESTRUCTORS, 5° BRACCIO, and the intensity continues. Pick this one up quick.
Side 1 of this compilation EP features RIVOLTA DELL’ODIO, who are sort of a sparser version of CRASS; the flip presents CRACKED HIRN, who have a fuller sound which is nevertheless extremely raw. Both bands share an anarchist/pacifist outlook, as have all the other bands on this label’s two earlier releases.
Four thrash bands at various levels of proficiency, recorded live at Ljubljana’s first-ever hardcore gig (see the Yugoslav report for more details). STRES D.A. are particularly awesome. A collector’s item, to say the least.
Though released by an American label, this tape features some of Italy’s most awesome bands. There are plenty of cuts each by 5° BRACCIO, RAW POWER, the WRETCHED, INDIGESTI, STAZIONE SUICIDA, RAPPRESAGLIA, and CRASH BOX. A great introduction to a lot of hard-to-get material at a cheap price.
A Spanish compilation album that mainly features the better-known, commercially oriented punk bands, according to our sources. Old-fashioned ’77 punk rules supreme here; the best examples of this genre are songs by KGB (“Maroto”—dig that ROTTEN-esque sneer!), URGENTE (the first half of “Dispuestos a Matar”), NO (“Chalado”), and the ESPASMODICOS (“1943″), whose singer sounds rather like Biafra. N.634’s thrashers provide the only evidence of a transition to musical modernity. Still, it’s a good sampler from another corner of the world.
Another Italian compilation on vinyl. It contains a few great thrash tracks by the WOPS, RAW POWER, UART PUNK, and the WRONG BOYS; DRULL, the U.D.S., PETROLIO, and LAST CALL provide some less interesting older-style punk. All in all, it’s pretty good, and it’s worth buying just for RAW POWER’s songs.
Fourteen different bands demonstrate that Sweden has become one of the most intense centers for hardcore music in Europe, along with Finland, Holland, and Italy. There’s some killer thrash here from the likes of HUVUDTVÄTT (the HEADCLEANERS), DNA, MISSBRUKARNA, ANTI-CIMEX, and others. It’s also got a neat folding sleeve, so order it today.
The title is stupid, but the music is definitely worthwhile. This album demonstrates that Germany has several ripe thrash bands, though it’s not quite up to the standard of Waterkant Hits. Here the NORMAHL offer slower, less distinctive songs; the HERBÄRDS do some funny Oi tunes; and INFERNO, CHAOS Z, and BLUTTAT produce some ripping thrash. A good value.
Three bands and a garagy production here. UPSIDE are so-so, NO JAP somewhat better, but the WRONG BOYS really come on with an aggressive thrash attack which I like a lot. 32 songs in all.
A historical curiosity more than a musical necessity. This band went on to become CODE OF HONOR with the addition of a new singer, and evolved out of the TOOLS and X-ILES. SICK PLEASURE’s vocalist is now in VERBAL ABUSE. The music here is metallic thrash punk that sings the praises of shooting speed, killing parents, and mental breakdowns; the dark side of the SF scene.
Two Richmond bands share this tape—HONOR ROLE and GRAVEN IMAGE. The former is a bit better recorded, but it matters little since both produce great manic blasts of hardcore hysteria. (Uh oh, I’m starting to sound like Pushead.) Send away.
A Chicago-area compilation with lots of styles represented. There’s plenty of thrash, some experimental stuff, and some punky pop. The sound quality isn’t the best, which tends to hurt the impact of some of these groups, but garage outfits like EVIL EYE benefit thereby. The other bands are BLOODY NAILS, NEGATIVE ELEMENT (now defunct), END RESULT, POLITICAL JUSTICE, VERBOTEN, the SEISMIC WAVES, KGB, GROAN BOX, ROTA, AOF, the ANTI-BODIES, BLOODY MURDER, NO RELATION, and ONO.
The third in the Life Is series. This one’s got two live GERMS classics to its credit, plus neat stuff by the MINUTEMEN, MODERN WARFARE, ANTI, MOOD OF DEFIANCE, HARI KARI, SIN 34, ARTISTIC DECLINE, and MODERN TORTURE. REDD KROSS disappoint with their “metal” number, and SHATTERED FAITH is so-so. Then there are nine more bands that get into electronics, folk, jazz, etc., for the adventurous.
The A-side has feedback and a bit more spunk than their last offering, but its catchy riff could benefit from even more oomph. “Rock” vocals and banal themes mar the measured flip. This band never quite lived up to their potential.
An insistent, demanding political thrash attack that seems to come from the heart. Releases like this remind me that high-quality stuff can still emerge from England. Get it today!
This record is better than a lot of the LPs being produced by the most recent generations of British punk bands. The guitar-enhancing production here is up to the usual UK standard, but these guys have more energy than most of their plodding contemporaries. On the other hand, the lyrics aren’t too interesting.
An absolutely stunning EP by the BARRACUDAS, wherein they finally live up to the enormous potential hinted at in “Somebody,” a classic track from their first album. This is brilliant mid-’60s garage rock with elements of ’60s punk (the vocals and fuzz guitar) and folk-rock (the chords and jangly guitar). A must for aficionados of that era’s music.
These guys may be youths, but I certainly wouldn’t describe them as chaotic. The music here is predictable mid-tempo Britpunk with no real edge; its only saving graces are the presence of some catchy choruses and good lead vocals.
Enough is enough! Entertaining scams soon run out of mileage when people see through them and the perpetrators make no effort to compensate by producing something of real value. Such is the case with CHAOTIC DISCHORD, who’d dearly love to get rich off satirizing thrash. The music is hot but unoriginal, and the themes are in the idiotic ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE vein. I say stuff these jokers along with Beki.
Catchy power-chord progressions, tasteful lead breaks, and extremely clever lyrics set this debut four-track apart from most current British hardcore. “Kent’s Theme” integrates snippets of cigarette jingles with a sharp anti-smoking attack, while “Let’s Get Married” adopts a loose, good-humored quality. An exceedingly winning release from a relatively unknown band. Bravo!
This is more of a novelty record than a punk record per se. The song gets to the core of British life, both thematically and structurally, since it’s in the form of a rousing pub sing-along, but it’s also about looking at ourselves as being responsible for the officials we elect, not just pointing the finger at them later. CRASS may be serious, but here they display their anger in a humorous format. Americans may find it a bit inaccessible, but if you know that “#10″ is the residence of the Prime Minister and the “Birds” is akin to Jello, you should get the point and have a laugh besides.
“Toleration Street” is barely tolerable pop/punk/rock; the B-side isn’t at all tolerable. Enough said.
Both sides have a slight HEARTBREAKERS rock ’n’ roll feel, with punkier drumming and some sharp guitar work. Unfortunately, the lyrics would make Johnny Thunders look like a paragon of enlightenment.
This is the third INSTANT AGONY single, and they’re slowly degenerating into mediocrity. I like the lyrics and the general approach, but I find the specifics very ordinary. Generic English punk.
Melodic mid-tempo Britpunk. Some of it’s all too typical, but the INSTIGATORS have a nice dense guitar attack and a few notable tunes. “Monkey Man” is a sharp critique of the macho goons who go out looking for trouble at someone else’s expense.
A four-songer, much harder and more thrashed-out than their first excellent release. Once again, it’s well done, but also somewhat on the metal side of punk. My favorite cut is “Genius as Thief,” a real bone-cruncher.
Three songs in the old Texas ’60s psychedelic vein. This could be either a reissue or boot of a vintage group, or a new band with a great sense of history, but it sounds really cool. Musically, it isn’t the frantic punky stuff; it’s more of a DOORS-type sound, organ and all.
Now this is more like it! After a great debut 45 and a disappointing 12″, the LYRES have returned to top form with “Help You, Ann.” It’s a great ’60s punk-type number with an ultra-cool tremelo guitar; the flip is another nasty cut with one of those endlessly recycled ’60s guitar riffs.
This band is based in Florida, but they sound exactly like a British “skunk” group. Normally, that wouldn’t be a cause for celebration, but these guys manage to pull it off by virtue of a fast tempo and an extremely raw, unprofessional sound. Although marred by phony English accents, this is actually better than the standard UK release.
This new political punk band from Southern California is sort of like a cross between MDC and the HATED. Perceptive lyrics and primitive production add strength to these gruff thrash and punk ditties, but they could use a bit more originality. Still, these are the kind of patriots we need more of.
The “No” side contains two maniacally intense blasts in the KILLING JOKE vein; they have a whiny, abrasive guitars, a heavy bass/drum sound, and layers of crazed vocals. The “Trend” side has a musically uninteresting ballad with exceptionally clever and perceptive lyrics. You’ll either love them or hate them; we love them.
Snarly vocals over slower, nasty punk. There’s a tinge of “horror” rock here, mostly satirical, as well as some fine, intelligent lyrics. Once again, a nice change of pace from Toxic Shock.
REAL ENEMY combines fairly unusual thrash structures with a distinctive treatment of subject matter, and the result is a very worthwhile debut. Although the music is engaging, the really unique thing about this tape is the thoughtful explanation of some of the songs, an approach other bands could benefit from.
This group is akin to other Independent Projects bands, in that they’re rhythmic, stylized, moody, and very hard to pin down. Side two is a little too sweet for my taste, but side one has a great rendition of “Lawrence of Arabia.” Wonderful soundtrack music.
Wicked! A totally ferocious thrash attack, enhanced here by the poor sound quality. Sometimes that special garage quality is a plus, as with SUBURBAN MUTILATION. The lyrics here are also delivered with commitment and intelligence, making this an all-around treat.
More psychedelic exotica from SAVAGE REPUBLIC. “O Adonis” is a Mediterranean-influenced instrumental which lies somewhere between Greek bazouki music and the KALEIDOSCOPE. “Film Noir” is slower and more atmospheric, and combines haunting vocals with similar “oriental” guitar sounds. Unique.
You’ve got to know by now what SOCIAL DISTORTION sound like—those distinctive vocals, the harmonies, the rockin’ guitars, and melodic hooks galore. Their album is filled with more of the same. Nothing here is too frantic except “The Creeps,” which really blazes forth. There’s precious little exciting punky-pop around these days, but this is one of the rare examples of it.
