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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!
Rough-arsed ruckus of rambunctious chaos, ear piercing and boiling feverishly as it hammers bellicose grinding commotional attacks. If this is what VICE SQUAD does without Beki as a way to burn their mates, then flush Beki and continue with this explosive mayhem.
The BLOOD may not be geniuses, but their debut A-side rises from the morass of Oi-punk and delivers a breakneck attack on religious excesses, complete with classical piano intro and flailing guitar riffs. While it’s good, the two tracks on the B-side are completely unnotable aside from their fast tempo and hard guitar sound. Still, it’s quite recommendable.
If you’re put off by the glaring deficiencies of the latest DAMNED album (Strawberries), this 7″ might be closer to your liking. The two B-sides are unsatisfying, but “Generals” could be the best pop song this band has delivered in a couple of years; a good emphasis on piano and guitar, along with politically credible lyrics, combine to create an arresting, well conceived track.
Strong production highlights these melodic mid-tempo punk songs. At first, they sound pretty generic, but for some reason they grow on you with repeated listenings, especially the title cut and “British Summertime.” Decent effort.
“Neutron Bomb” and “Forces of Law” are both OK, the first being the stronger of the two. The mix is really weird—the vocals and snare drum are way up front, while the guitar is in the background. “Wild Thing” is… well, you’ve probably heard that song by now.
This one is heads up for ERAZERHEAD. When they’re hot, they’re hot. “Zombie” uses the same riff as the RAMONES’ “Rock and Roll High School,” which makes it great fun.
A one-sided neo-psychedelic record anchored by a basic rock ’n’ roll chord progression. What makes it interesting are some hot acid-damaged lead guitar parts and the harmonized background vocal chants Á la BEAU BRUMMELS. I’m not wild about the lead singing, but it’s still a pretty sharp record.
“Discipline” is a great post-punk cut with a riveting drumbeat, a buzzing, distorted guitar, an irresistible chorus, and lead vocals reminiscent of the FALL’s Mark Smith. A super song, which isn’t even approached by the lazy B-side. The best GOD’S GIFT release yet.
Good basic Britpunk. Nothing here is quite up to the high standard set by EXTERNAL MENACE on the Total Anarchy compilation, but “Don’t Conform” has exceptionally heartfelt lead singing, and there’s a great chorus in “Someday.” Worth several spins.
More mid-tempo political punk from FALLOUT. The lyrics are extremely perceptive, and the songs start to click after a couple of listens, but they don’t exactly make you jump up and take notice. The music could use a shot of adrenaline.
The unmistakable Max Splodge touch adds a dimension of class to this third funnypunk single by the GONADS. “Lager Top” and “Sandra” are the kind of rowdy songs, complete with an abrasive guitar sound and Oi choruses, that make for great beer-time fun, if very little else. Gary Bushell’s presence here may be this EP’s biggest drawback.
In the UK tradition of superb bands like the SUBHUMANS, ANTHRAX, and the DESTRUCTORS, the ICONS OF FILTH saturate the mold, storming forth with powerful clamorous drum blows amplified by brutal raucous vocals and outbursts of whiny guitar licks. Fast music highlighted by an artillery of anti-system lyrical content, which makes this quite an enjoyable debut.
This band has not relation to the great ’77 punk group that released “Johnny Won’t Get to Heaven.” It’s a newer pop group that’s very similar to dozens of bands from the pop-oriented ’78-’79 period. It is a bit enjoyable, but it would need a heavier guitar attack and less mundane vocals to really be recommendable.
After two serviceable singles, the MOB must be congratulated for compiling a subtle yet affecting album’s worth of political pop ditties. This record may be inconsistent melodically, but the fourteen songs here have strong lyrics component and a simple instrumental approach reminiscent of the early MEKONS. This may not be thrash, but it is the kind of material that definitely grows on you. Good stuff.
Better than their varied debut EP. Now, they have a denser, more rhythmic post-punk orientation. “Waiting” evokes Bauhaus in their early “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” period; the flip is equally powerful, and includes some eerie sound effects. Interesting.
A five-track 12″ of classic garage punk. You don’t find too much of this stuff around anymore. Retarded, melodic, and real raunchy. The cartoon cover is cool.
This is a concept album in which each song is a take-off on an ethnic musical style. All are artfully executed, and they vary in speed, energy, wildness, effects, etc. I find this LP extremely inventive, original, provocative, and listenable. Four stars to LA’s ATILA the hairdresser.
If BEAST were English, they’d undoubtedly be big hits among the “positive punk” set (see UK section for more). As it is, they’re American and will probably be subject to well-deserved ridicule. If you add sax and a glossy horror image to a basic post-punk approach, you’ve got BEAST.
Good-sounding record. One side is highly produced thrash; the other is post-punk, but with an edge. The female vocalist screeches out songs that mostly assert that life is ugly.
Excellent standard thrash from Jersey. The mischievous lyrics and ultra-dense guitar whoosh really set this EP apart. “Status Symbol” is all-around great, and “Trans Am” is a hilarious put-down of the spoiled rich brats who go cruisin’ in their shitty gas guzzlers. I’m definitely looking forward to their next barbeque.
There’s nothing exceptional musically here—just OK thrash. The lyrics, unless intended as satire, have a naive quality that evokes ’60s optimism. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting jaded.
Older-style punk, aggressively done with inflections of thrash, Oi, and metal to break the overall medium-tempo feel. The vocals are literally spit out, and the high quality production gives the power chording a PISTOLS quality.
If you’re one of those people who aren’t wildly enthusiastic about BLACK FLAG’s current metal orientation, this should be like a manna from heaven. It might even be the last BLACK FLAG record you’ll actually kill to buy. The records include all unreleased material and feature each of their first three vocalists. Keith’s (“Johnny’s”) vocals may be the most distinctive, and Greg’s guitar tone might attain the most piercing extremes in the Dez era, but I personally prefer the almost ideal balance achieved during Ron’s (“Chavo’s”) tenure as singer. Enough bullshit, this is a mandatory purchase that demonstrates why BLACK FLAG once headed the US punk pantheon, so buy it and pin your ears back.
A four-song demo from a young Berkeley band. It ranges from thrash to classical punk, all done with flair and originality. Great start.
This album features a lot of thrashers, but there are a few metallish and/or mood songs, and one bluesy thang. The lyrics are very provocative, covering nukes, parents, society, genocide, computers, and in-scene backstabbing. It’s even got gut-wrenching liner notes by Malcolm X (no relation to Geza). Go for it.
Garden-variety thrash from the Sacramento valley region. There are some sparks of originality, and “Tim’s in the Marines (And He Can’t Get Out)” is done in such a regimented, repetitive manner that you can fully understand his plight.
Pretty good fast thrash, with some funny songs like “No Swimming in this Pool” and “Smoke Pot and Die.”
Politicized garage punk from Vermont. The A-side has three good traditional garage punkers, while the flip contains seven much accelerated tracks that nevertheless retain an awkward garagy flavor. The lyrics are unusually thoughtful for this style of music. Recommended.
Another classic. A five-song thrasher that’s delivered like a one-two punch. The lyrics are good, whether political or just downright ridiculous. Check out “I Hate My Toes” because “they’re dirty, they stink… they’re ugly and pink.” Really hilarious.
Three slices of garage psychedelia from San Berdoo, all of them instrumentals. The songs themselves are too mellow and repetitive, but WINDOW PAIN showcase some nice textured guitar in “Mind Bender,” as well as a nifty fuzztone and mind-expanding energy lead in “Underworld.” They need Wheaties for extra energy, though.
A 15-song tape that isn’t for sale. At times, it reminds me of Fresno’s CAPITOL PUNISHMENT, with its extremely gruff vocals and all-out thrash attack. Unrelenting and excellent, so wait for future releases.
Like WHITE CROSS, YOUTH KORPS have that extra umph that thrash bands need to stand out in this day and age. Most of the tracks here are really intense thrashers, but there’s one anguished metallic cut that sounds a lot like BLACK FLAG’s “Damaged” (“Need a Fix”). This is real strong, so I hope they release it on vinyl.
Clever, medium-weight pop with occasional psychedelic effects and annoying vocals. Some of the songs are subtly appealing, some are driving and straightforward, some are innovative, and a few artsy numbers are best avoided. A little better than the BONGOS, not as strong as the SHOES.
Seven NYC bands cram cuts into this 7″er put out by Javi of Big City zine. All are either current, or recently split-up, and all thrash out to the max. The bands include XKI, the BETRAYED, ULTRA VIOLENCE, NO THANKS, the ARMED CITIZENS, FATHEAD SUBURBIA, and SAVAGE CIRCLE.
Columbus, Indiana, that is. There are four bands here, KILLING CHILDREN being the most proficient and thrashed-out. The others—the PATTERN, ANDROPOV’S ASSASSINS, and studio group COLBY—are definitely on the garage side of life. They have that unmistakable Midwest flair, best exemplified by the PATTERNS’ classic “Burger Palace of Death.”
A compilation of ’60s Texas punk and psychedelic bands. There’s lots of good stuff here, including some real obscurities like the GREAT BELIEVERS, A-440, the THINGS, etc. If by chance you’ve already picked up Mindrocker vol. 4, then pass this up because there’s only a four-song difference, and the sound quality isn’t as good on this.
A great collection of San Diego-area bands. Some are current, some are long gone, some are punk, some are thrash, all are raw. The bands include 5051, CATCH 22, BATTALION OF SAINTS, SACRED LIES, the MORAL MAJORITY, the INJECTIONS, the SKULLBUSTERS, etc.
Sorry, Mykel, but at best (worst) this record is so-so. G.G. ALLIN is good, the FUCK-UPS are the FUCK-UPS, ART is interesting, and the experimental and pop cuts could have been a lot worse. Even the liner notes didn’t incite me to slag. The best part may be the plastic barf on the cover. (Note: half of the material here has already been released.)
An excellent follow-up to the Life is Ugly… LP. I like all of the punk side, which begins with a great old BAGS cut, and continues with ANTI, SHATTERED FAITH, CHINA WHITE, M.I.A. (not the group on the Last Rites LP), ILL WILL, and a live GERMS track. The B-side contains some experimental stuff by Gary Kail, as well as the B PEOPLE, VOX POP, the MINUTEMEN, and POWERTRIP. Good variation.
This is an extraordinary album, a marvelous example of the politically oriented ranting poetry coming out of England today. ATTILA is sort of a cross between Lenny Bruce and John Cooper-Clarke, in that his incisive political views are wedded to biting satire and sung/spoken in a dense (though comprehensible) English accent. There is a bit of funnypunk music here, manifested in exemplary songs like “Away Day,” “Hands Off the Halibuts,” and “Russians in McDonalds.”
ANIMAL/ANARCHY, PEACE & FREEDOM BRIGADE from England give a diversified approach to the talent that exists in music and how to express it. Triumphant lyrical manifestos describe the actions and stupidity of mankind, its conquest for control towards idiotic destruction of the earth. 60 minutes of avant-garde, folk, and fast surges of variable musical styles.
UK grass-roots punk. Rumbling garagy sound onslaughts with cacophonous assailments of vocals, guitars, and abrasive cymbal shattering, detonating a very raw unrestrained echoing flavor. Featuring both male and female vocals, ASSASSINS OF HOPE boom out a rousting rigor of intense rhythms and savage lyrical exertions.
A very atypical eight-song 12″ with a garage feel. It sounds more like a cassette of a band’s first practice than the standard polished UK product. Medium-tempo punk is the ACCURSED’s stock-in-trade.
I love OMEGA TRIBE. It’s fast with that masterful Penny Rimbaud production, but this band also has a pop element. For example, the great “Profiteer” is the epitome of catchiness, with handclaps artfully added; and “Another Bloody Day” is a ballad that includes piano, but it retains power. The lyrics are predictably unrelenting, so don’t miss this one.
The first vinyl from these Northern Irish punky-popsters since One by One, their classic four-year old release on the Good Vibrations label. “Capital Letters” has a real heavy guitar sound, rawer singing than before, and very memorable melodies and choruses. Really great. The flip is slow and undistinguished, but I’m still looking forward to future RUEFREX releases.
The earliest studio recordings by the late Malcolm Owens’s RUTS, made way back in ’77. And hot damn, the title track is a totally classic chunky punk rock song that ranks right up there with “Babylon’s Burning.” It’s a marvelous cut that isn’t equalled by the two songs on the B-side. The latter suffer from vastly inferior production, but are also poorer compositions. A must for fans of original UK punk music.
The SATELLITES are sort of PISTOL-like, at best; at worst, they’ve got a weak post-punk sound. This EP isn’t as good as their first, the production by Rat Scabies being one of its few saving graces.
I’m surprised to see this mostly British band on a German label, but it’s great to have an album from them. This is strongly delivered thrash with perceptive lyrics and powerful production. Recommended without reservations.
Is a bit of success spoiling the TEST TUBE BABIES? They’re still sporting a wacky sense of humor, but they sound so much more restrained here. Maybe the overly clean production is to blame, but this EP could use some undisciplined spunk. Great cover, though.
Pleasantly buzzy guitars liven up this three-track EP of mid-tempo punk anthems from SOCIAL DISEASE. “World at Ransom” is a moderately catchy composition with an intriguing riff, but the other tunes don’t rise to that standard, despite some wonderfully garargy production values. Above average.
