Aryan Disgrace Faggot in the Family / Teenage S&M 7″
Some old-fashioned ’77-style garage punk with dumb lyrics and everything. Totally ridiculous and enjoyable.
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
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!
Some old-fashioned ’77-style garage punk with dumb lyrics and everything. Totally ridiculous and enjoyable.
The tracks on this album exemplify the BAD BRAINS’ unique blend of reggae and metal-embellished hardcore. Ric Ocasek’s excellent production works especially well on the thrashers by underlining some of their complex arrangements and superb musicianship, and even though a fair proportion of this material has been released previously, it’s difficult to ignore memorable blasts like “Fearless Vampire Killers” and “How Low Can a Punk Get?” Solid and powerful.
Clever modern rock with some post-punk elements. Tasteful and distinctive twin guitars combine with a fluid bass and tight percussion to form engaging, tuneful material. CIRCLE SEVEN certainly won’t appeal to the hardest core, but anyone who appreciates groups like the EMBARRASSMENT should enjoy this.
Extremely raw and intense thrash from a new New York-area outfit. Unfortunately, the lyrics are on the Quincy-punk level, as in “Slam Dance”: “You fake fuckin’ punker… Get on the floor and take a chance. Just slam, slam, slam, slam dance.” Yeah, right. If the ideas expressed here were even half as appealing as the raging music, these guys might be serious contenders.
Another tenth-generation punk band from America’s suburban wasteland. The DEAD VIRGINS produce good “classical” punk with a garagey sensibility on the A-side; “Rape Capitol Hill” is particularly appealing. Side AA has slower, rockier cuts, but “Emotional Strain” has a nifty mid-’60s melody line.
The debut release by DETOX showcases older-style mid-tempo punk. “Beer Gods” has some unusual embellishments and interesting lyrics, but overall this 45 needs a bit more spark, and doesn’t quite convey their live humor. Geza X helped with the recording.
An excellent guitar-driven post-punk attack. “Dressed” borrows a riff from the STOOGES’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and places it in a distinctive new context; “Hardcore” is alternately quirky and forceful. The lyrics in the former are also extremely good. This debut deserves your attention.
To quote Pushead, the music here “storms out detonating gusts of energetic exertion, wild euphoria flailing in rapid determination waiting to explode.” The lyrics, on the other hand, tread a fine line between obnoxious satire and mindless reaction, and after conducting an interview with them in which they stated “America rules” in all seriousness, adding that immigrants entered the US because they were “too dumb to run their own governments,” it’s all too apparent that theirs is a regressive mentality better suited to fraternity jocks than so-called punks.
The FLESHTONES have enormous potential, but they’ve rarely lived up to it since the release of their debut single over five years ago. They either put their great ’60s punk-influenced material aside in favor of R&B and more poppy stuff, or take the raw sneer out of it by settling for a wimpy production. Hexbreaker suffers especially from the latter problem; great tunes like “New Scene” and “Screamin’ Skull” are emasculated by a slick, squeaky-clean sound. C’mon, guys! Kick the IRS lackeys out of the recording studio and do it right next time, or you’ll never break the hex.
This six-songer varies from great to exceptional thrash. Well, maybe one cut drags a bit (“Society”), but the rest really rip. Unconditionally recommended.
Heavy bass- and drum-oriented post-punk with rich guitar frills. “Quiet” inexorably advances like a slow-moving freight train, whereas the flip is more up-tempo and guitar-heavy. Though not as abrasive or reminiscent of KILLING JOKE as their live show, this record is quite good.
GG apparently has a new band this time around, and I can’t say I’m particularly crazy about them. Instead of his earlier ’60s garage punk sound, he now has more of a late ’60s metal sound, solos and all. Idiotic and poorly recorded.
I like this new GI EP a lot better than their recent 12″. “Teenager in a Box” is a particularly brilliant track combining power, hooks galore, and good lyrics; “Sheer Terror” has some psychedelic effects; the others are supercharged thrashers in the DC tradition. Highly recommended.
Except for one great thrasher, HOSE still ply that unmistakable FLIPPER sound. It’s slow and grinding, with lost of feedback and silliness. The sleeve packaging is novel, and the record itself is hand-etched. A good release.
A variety of influences and moods infuse this unusual effort from KOMMUNITY FK. The mainly slow-to-mid-tempo compositions here feature some experimental intros, BAUHAUS-oriented song structures (though these Angelenos are better), and very stylish vocals. I especially admired the rich, abrasive guitar sound. Fans of the eclectic should find favor with this offbeat release.
Jeff was blasting this from his room the other day while I was trying to sleep. Next day I asked him what that was, cause it sounded great, even though I should have been pissed. He felt it was pretty generic, so I went back and listened to it. Generic or not, this fucking wails! Guess he needed the sleep!
Just when you thought they had been sold off as bacon, the PORK DUKES make their grand return to vinyl after a five-year hiatus. Admittedly, their new album suffers from inconsistency, but the DUKES seem to have recovered slightly from their calculated trashiness to connect with some real pop-punk delights here. Rumor has it that this band is actually STEELEYE SPAN incognito, and Jeff Bale detects elements of the SPAN sound in a couple of songs.
I hate to admit it, but the SLADE cover song on the A-side is a surprisingly effective merger of punk and metal-glitter styles, with its wall-of-noise guitar and catchy background vocals. The B-side is an excellent fast Britpunk number which already appeared on the ONE WAY SYSTEM album. Much better than anticipated.
The NEWTOWN NEUROTICS’ command of melodic ’77-style punk is reconfirmed with this single. They cover the RAMONES’ classic, but add explicitly anti-war lyrics in an effort to increase its salience as ’80s political punk; the change works, though the vocals aren’t as affecting as Joey Ramone’s. On the flipside, they reprise the splendid song from their debut single, “Hypocrite.”
The new RIOT SQUAD release features mostly faster songs. The super raw guitars are the best part; unfortunately, the drumming seems to hold back their momentum a bit. Not bad.
A very hard-to-find English debut. POTENTIAL THREAT are one of a new generation of British thrash bands that get ridiculed or overlooked by the “established” critics over there. Too bad! Though they’re not as intense as DISORDER or CHAOS UK, this EP contains some solid material and features a female vocalist.
Like their first 7″, this new SERIOUS DRINKING release contains a mixture of cool sing-along funnypunk (the title song) and silly quasi-ska ditties. The former is what makes this a worthwhile investment. Eye-catching cover, too.
“Let’s Be Free” leads in with a modified guitar riff from CRISIS’s classic “UK ’79,” and stands out for that very reason. The other tracks are tasteful, mid-tempo punk songs with political lyrics and good melodies. I particularly like their critique of the Special Air Service (S.A.S.), Britain’s rough equivalent of our Green Berets.
Melodic Britpunk at its contemporary best. The UNDERDOGS combine a rich, powerful guitar sound with strong tunes and come up with a winner on their debut EP. “Dachau” is a timely reminder that medium-tempo punk songs can grab you when they’re infused with imagination and a slight poppish sensibility; “Dead Soldier” is fast and eminently hummable.
Fast punk and thrash that’s well-produced and snappy. The guitars sound great here (as they do on most English recordings), and the songs have that little extra something that makes them memorable. A pretty good album from the UK.
Reasonably fast Britskunk that sounds a bit too much like GBH for my taste. Still, the title song is particularly hot, with its great sing-along choruses and classy guitar frills; “No War No More” is almost as good. Likable, but not groundbreaking.
Eighteen previously unrecorded young bands that range from ’77-style punk to thrash to current Britpunk to Oi. The quality of the material and sound varies, but most of it is absurdly predictable. I like SOLVENT ABUSE, the ABORTED, and DEVOID the most, but there certainly aren’t any classics here.
A lot different than their post-punky LP. This 7″ features quite decent English-sounding punk with some great hooks and an engaging style. They also do a couple of thrashers.
Mono-dimensional but well-produced German punk. BLITZKRIEG favors a basic mid-tempo attack with some join-in background vocals and a female lead singer, but the amateurish drumming puts a bit of a damper on the proceedings. “Auschwitz” has well-taken lyrics criticizing popular inertia in the face of genocidal horrors.
An extremely likable thrash album from Germany that’s well-produced, powerful, and full of great hooks. At times, the wall-of-guitar sound reminds me of DISCHARGE or CHAOS UK. There are some slow songs, but most of them really rip.
Well, hardcore thrash it’s not! KOSILI play older-style punk that’s quirky and sort of funny-sounding. The lyrics are probably funny too, but they’re in German and Italian so I don’t know for sure. That’s probably to be expected though, because these guys hail from the rarified atmosphere of the Swiss Alps.
1000-mph lightning darts. Rapidly flailing unbelievable lashings of tremendous thrash. But wait, bring that all to a screeching halt. The label states 45 RPM, which would make this the wildest vinyl in existence, but it’s actually 33. The music is still manic, uncontrolled fury busting out of the asylum, but the vocals become the rawest, severest case of throat growls and harsh havoc ever. At either speed, this four-song EP leaps forward with hammering rage and ecstatic swiftness, the caged beast unleashed.
CANALTERROR produce diverse hardcore material on their debut album, including full-tilt thrash (“Multis,” the title cut, etc.), Oi-influenced stuff (“Bonn-Duell”), ’77 punk with melodic guitars (“100 Mann”), reggae-punk mixtures (“Mallorca”), some cool rock n’ roll (“Hey”), and even a funnypunk version of “My Bonnie.” The guitars should have been emphasized more in the mix, but this record is still entertaining as hell.
Two bands share this 7″ slab. EU’S ARSE, who have a previous release, combine breakneck DISCHARGE-like repetitive riffs with unlikely-sounding vocals that suggest a poet gone berserk. IMPACT add a bit more variety, including fuzzier guitars and raspy vocals that mesh better.
HALSABSCHNEIDER remind me of a sloppier German version of the NEOS. They play 78-rpm garage thrash which stutters along incoherently and with considerable humor (except on the slow “Unser Lied”). NACHDRUCK, on the other hand, have a more controlled ’77-style punk attack with engaging choruses, more serious lyrics, and a occasional post-punk flourish. A good contrast.
Having lambasted Nazis and neo-fascists on their first two albums, OHL now turn their venom against the Soviet Union. I have no objection whatsoever to anyone attacking documented Soviet repression, but they’ve adopted an extreme right-wing approach worthy of Bavarian minister Strauss by including a sleeve cartoon suggesting that independent peace demonstrators are under Russian control. The remixed punk and thrash songs here sound great, but such ignorance doesn’t deserve support.
Medium-to-fast-tempo punk, with a bit of thrash thrown in for good measure. This live record is well recorded, and the band displays good musicianship, some neat guitar work, and strong vocals. On this record NO TAG succeeds in shedding their previous Oi approach, a change for the better.
Copycat Oi from New Zealand. That wouldn’t necessarily be bad, except that NO TAG end up with a glossy, overproduced sound like the 4-SKINS rather than the down-and-dirty growl favored by the likes of IRON CROSS and NABAT. The two cuts on side two far overshadow the band’s theme song.
Hard-driving melodic rock meets punk. The NILS remind me a bit of the WIPERS, in terms of the vocal qualities, the heavy guitar orientation, and the hooklines. A nice change of pace.
God, how many hot hardcore bands can there be in Italy? Here’s another ten-song power release, mostly in an American-style stop-and-go thrash mode. The lyrics are overtly political.
Highly political hardcore with a raw edge. The sound quality on this tape is pretty mediocre, so it’s not the best opportunity to judge this band, but they sound pretty repetitive here.
RIISTETYT continues to produce insistent cranks of compelling aggression, an invasion of rapid-fire artillery frenzied in a blizzard of thrash. This time, they come out more musical, glowing with a metal appeal, strong leads, and creative arrangements, but still with the velocity of a speeding train bombarding the tracks in quick pursuit. Another overwhelming blitz of amplified mayhem that shatters the senses and leaves the body spasmodic.
Ten songs of a political nature, most of which are pretty long (perhaps too long). The music is eclectic and rockish, incorporating funk, pop, jazz, etc.
A really unique German record. SOILET GRÜN employ a disconcerting combination of chaotic drive, shrieking vocals, raw production, and an undistorted guitar tone. The songs vary a lot, and the overall effect is vaguely reminiscent of the MEAT PUPPETS.
England’s SKEPTIX and one of Germany’s premier thrashers share this four-track EP. While SKEPTIX’s “Got No Choice” boasts a scorching delivery and good, trebly production, OHL’s “Spionage” ranks as the best song on the record, with its catchy guitar progressions and clever stop-and-go arrangements. The mid-to-fast-tempo hardcore on this release earns a strong recommendation.
The A-side here consists of crude straight-on thrash-and-bash, whereas the flip contains two raw Oi-influenced numbers. STOSSTRUPP have really improved since their appearance on the Die Deutschen Kommen compilation LP, and the screaming guitar mix on this record should be the envy of every hardcore band.
This is a good basic album. Most of the songs are fast punkers with catchy choruses and a buzzing guitar wall, though there are also thrashers (“Teenage Frust”), songs with slow breaks (“Traumer”), and slower numbers (“Führer”). “Vakuum” sets the musical tone for the remainder of the record, and the lyrics range from broader subject like police states to more immediate, personal topics like teenage frustration. Recommended.
Wild blistering insanity. A whirlwind of pile-driving quickness blasting explosive vocals at a sonic split-second rate; crazed grinding and drum crashing rapidly storms this band into an invading blizzard of frizzling thrash extraordinaire like DRI. Brutal non-hesitant lyrics (especially “Misfits Are Innocent”) keep the nervous system running amuck. This tape is a must.
One of Germany’s better bands follows their 12″er with another mixture of thrash and punk. All of it is competent, and some of it is especially moving. I love the cut entitled “The End,” which is moody and scary until all hell breaks loose. As the UPRIGHT CITIZENS say, “fuck their wars.”
Eight bands from Ottawa and possibly Quebec. Some are thrash (OUTBREAK, HERGS CORPS), some are punk (RANDY PETERS, MODERNES PICKLES), one is garage (the LAST PRAYERS), and the rest are experimental or HALF JAPANESE-type noise bands. Another eclectic regional compilation for the archives.
