Todos Tus Muertos - s/t

Name:Todod Tus Muertos
Album: s/t
Year: 1997
Style: Punk, Hardcore, Reggae
Similar Bands: Misfits, Bad Brains, Rage Against the Machine, The Clash
"One-Word" Review: Dark Angry Dub-Core
Based Out Of: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Label: Universal, DBN

Cover, Liner Notes, Pics

Lyrics, CD Back, CD

Todos Tus Muertos (1997)

1. El Feretro 2:20
2. Demasiados Revueltos 3:38
3. Diez Segundos De Masacre 1:53
4. Turbulentas Tinieblas 1:41
5. !A Combatir! 2:25
6. Dieciocho Horas 4:51
7. Dias De Escuela 2:38
8. Gente Que No 2:38 (single)
9. Armas (Para La Paz) 5:01
10. No Mas Apartheid 3:21
11. Viejos De Mierda 1:23
12. Mas Bajo Que Tu Status 3:19
13. Tango Traidor 3:35

Album Rating (1-10): 7.5

Members & Other Bands:

• Cristian Ruiz - Bateria [drums] (Linda Valori, Malrecetado)
• Felixx Gutierrez - Bajo, Coros, Collage Sobre Interno [bass & vox] (Los Laxantes, Los Muertos, Fermin Muguruza, Las Plantas De Shiva, El Fuego Del Amor)
• Fidel Nadal - Voz, Kalimba, Foto Sobre Interno [vox] (Lumumba, Los Intocables, Tijuana No, Negu Gorriak, Mano Negra, Anouk, Fermin Muguruza, Desorden Publico, Alerta, Mancha de Rolando, Joxe Ripiau)
• Horacio "Gamexane" Villafane - Guitarra, Vox, [guitar & vox]Produccion Artistica, Teclados, Tipografia (Los Laxantes, Los Muertos, Los 7 Delfines, Sobrecarga, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Cienfuegos, Fermin Muguruza, El Fuego Del Amor, Los Sedantes)
• David Wrocklavsky - Teclados [Keys] (Sobrecarga)
• Sergio Rotman - Saxo Alto (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Cienfuegos, Mimi Maura, El Fuego Del Amor, El Siempreterno, Los Sedantes, Pez, Leon Gieco, A77aque, Fidel, Los Telepatas, Futbol, El Mundo, Los Cafres, Santana, Lulu Lewis, Diente Perro, Los Pepiniyoz)
• Naco Goldfinger Saxo Tenor (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Leon Gieco)
• Dany Lozano - Trompeta (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Leon Gieco, A77aque, The Tories, Federico Aubele, Santana Los Cafres)
• David Gomez - Percision
• Mundy Epifanio - Produccion Ejecutiva
• Poppy Manzanedo - Coordinacion General
• Walter Chacon - Tecnico de Grabacion
• Andy Cherniavsky - Foto de Tapa

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band, but came across this CD in a box of leftover CDs from someone's move. I have a strong idea that, based on the dark & death artwork, not to mention a cover that reminds me of the Misfits, i'm guessing this is punk with a dark subject matter. Based on the address and lyrics, the Argentinian band performs in Spanish, but i'm really excited to see how the horns are used, if the sheer speed of the songs pushed them into Ska territory, or they just play HC punk with horns.

Album Review: They definitely have a darker edge with their punk rock, very similar to the Misfits. It is not pop punk on the surface, although some of the songs do use a catchy three chord structure (and their "single Gente Que No does reach ska-pop status), it is a deeper, dark tone with fast, driving guitars at times. They also mix it up with some reggae influence, which still carries a dark, unsettling tone...as the listens progress, the reggae style shares equal stage with the Hardcore Punk.

This copy is a reissue of their sophomore 1988 album, that sings about political oppression, racism, immigration abuse, and land reform. The name translates to All Your Dead, and is a reference to the people killed in Argentina during the "Dirty War" under the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla in the late 70's. "Gamexane" passed away in 2011, but they have done occasional reunion shows

Stand Out Track: Gente Que No

Links:
Wiki

Discogs

Allmusic

Spotify

LA Times 1996

Rate Your Music

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Bulgogi - Juan Dissed the Cyclops Baby

Name: Bulgogi
Album: Juan Dissed the Cyclops Baby
Year:2016
Style: Emo, Metal, Prog, Hardcore
Similar Bands: Mr. Bungle, Mr. Big, Gwar, Dillinger Escape Plan, Majin Buu (the DBZ character), Braniac, Blink 182
"One-Word" Review: Terrified Chamber Prog Punk 
Based Out Of: Asheville, NC
Label: none

Insert Cover & Back, Sleeve Cover & Back

CD & Lyrics / Liner Notes

Juan Dissed the Cyclops Baby (2016)

1. School 4:46
2. Hymn 5:30
3. The Drill 6:51
4. Rotten 7:10

Album Rating (1-10): 8.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Nick Jones - Producer, Mixing
• Drew Hall - Artwork
• Tim Tsurutani - Guitar, Vox, Lyrics (Forks of Ivy, Tam Tsu, CAW! CAW!)
• Galen Dotson - Bass (Antique Firearms)
• Ryan Comer - Guitar
• Hugh Huffstutler - Drums

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band, and from first appearance, i wouldn't have thought they were american until i saw the back of the insert that said Asheville NC. The artwork and color scheme is gothic creepy & earthy, but they seem like a real band with media/arty backgrounds at their live shows from the inner picts. I'm going to guess it's a brand of sludgy dark metal / prog.

Album Review: Overall, there is more falsetto shrieky hair metal sounding vocals that sore over the sometimes prog, chamber or sometimes driving pop-punk. But often, the tone switches to dark, deep hard core grunting...a nice juxtaposition of styles, drawing comparison to the frantic work from Mike Patton and Dillinger Escape Plan. It is very arty and intriguing as the range of vocal pitch is vast. I kinda really like it, but would not be quick/proud to share it with others

This is their third album, but first as a four piece who set out to write a rock opera. With this 4 song ep, they nailed the operatic part of opera, and it is quite theatrical, so it qualifies as a Rock Opera Short. They've quoted influences from Queen, Ween, System of a Down...no surprises there. But Tim moved to Chicago in 2017, so the idea of the band making more music is at least on hiatus as of now.

Stand Out Track: School

Links:

Bandcamp

Broadway World

DMME let it Rock

Spotify
Keys and Chord

Rock Times
Musicguy 247
Music Street Journal

Midwest Record

Galen on Reverbnation
Reverb Nation
Asheville Punk Scene

Wasted Youth (LA's) - Get Out of My Yard!

Name: LA's Wasted Youth
Album: Get Out of My Yard
Year: 1990
Style: Hard Core, Punk, Metal
Similar Bands: NOFX, Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Adolescents, Suicidal Tendencies
"One-Word" Review: Juvenile Tendencies
Based Out Of: Los Angeles, CA
Label: Medusa Records

Cover, Record

Back, Record

Get Out of My Yard (1990)

1. Young & Board 2:18
2. Blind Nuns 2:38
3. Ethiopian Nightmare 3:56 /
4. Happy Birthday 2:49
5. Missionary Imposition 2:08
6. Tormented 2:48

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Chett Lehrer - Music, Guitar Glue Gun
• Paolo Rossi - Lyrics, Vox
• Joey Castillo - Drums (Danzig, Queens of the Stone Age, Bl'ast, Bloodclot!, California Breed, Eagles of Death Metal, General Fucking Principle, Goatsnake, Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts, Sugartooth, The Bronx, The Desert Sessions, Zakk Sabbath, Zilch, Mass Mental?, Son of Sam, Youjeen, Mark Lanegan Band, Boots Electric, The Bosshoss, Blackbird Days, Hifiklub & Alain Johannes, Love Zombies, Nick Oliveri, Sun trash, Last Internationale, Landfill Crew, The Hives, Patron, WC & the Madd Circle, Roberto Zenteno)
• Bryen - Bass
• Darin Scheff - Producer
• "Woody" - Engineer
• Barri Conley - Asst. Engineer, Mixing
• David O - Mixing
• Bobby Duron - Photography, Layout, Design
• David Arquette "Kingz" - Logos
• Lee Ellington - Car Drawing

Unknown-ness: I may have heard of this band, but don't much about them, if anything. I think they are a hard core, crust punk-ish band, and the band photo on the cover bring attacked by children in a kiddie pool paints them to be a punk band at the very least. Interesting, Patricia Arquette is thanked in the liner notes (wikipedia says she dated Rossi, and they had a child Enzo right around the time this came out), and David Arquette designed the logo.

Album Review: We're talking about a 79-80's hard core punk band that turned into thrash metal in the mid-late 80's as the personnel changed. The playing is fast, heavy and abrasive, but it maintains driving melody, and does not comes off as threatening as perhaps it was for the time & culture (or meant to be). Lyrically, the messages cover religion and consumerism.

Wasted Youth added the "LA's" to their name since there was also a British band of the same name. This version is a rerelease of the 1986 EP. This album was written by the previous (and second) front man, who quit while recording. So the version that finally came out was re-recorded by Paolo & team. Lehrer is the only remaining member of the original line up.

Stand Out Track: Tormented

Links:
Wiki

Discogs

Allmusic

Facebook
Metal Archives
Something Hard In There
Altopedia
Metal Music Archives
Rate Your Music
Berkeley B-Side
Spirit of Metal
Tour Dates

Shotmaker - Mouse Ear (Forget-Me-Not)

Name: Shotmaker
Album: Mouse Ear (Forget-Me-Not)
Year: 1996
Style: Hard Core, Scream-o, Math Rock
Similar Bands: Drive Like Jehu, Shellac, Helmet, Dillinger Escape Plan
"One-Word" Review: Melodic Driving Shout-Core
Based Out Of: Ottowa & Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Label: Troubleman Unlimited

Record - A-side

Cover, Back Lyrics (taken from Perte & Fracas)

Record Side B

Mouse Ear (Forget-Me-Not) (1996)

1. Sky 3:09
2. Short Wave Radio 4:54
3. Uninhibited 5:25
4. Untitled 2:41
5. Bailer 4:17 /
6. Now and Then 4:14
7. Failure 6:22
8. Reconstructing Barriers 3:04
9. Controller.Controler 3:52
10. Driver 3:17

Album Rating (1-10): 8.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Matt Deline - Drums (30 Second Motion Picture, Dark Plains, The Grey, Three Penny Opera, Herbal Scream, )
• Nick Pye - Bass, Vox (2 Line Filler)
• Tim McKeough - Guitar, Vox, Design (Herbal Scream, Fiction Dog)
• Rachel - Artwork
• Daryl Smith - Recording

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band. In fact, all i found of it was the record, without a cover or sleeve. So all the info i cobble together will be from the internets. From the record label that lacks the actual label's name, just comes the band name in lowercase, an illustration of a fencer, and the side determinate: prime & seconde. Not much to go on, but i gather the album is from the 1990's or 2000's

Album Review: The album is fool of melodic hardcore, sometimes driving, sometimes grooving with a math rock precision. The vocals pick and choose their battles becoming shouty or scream-o as the music gets heavier and more intense, and then relax into casual speech patterns to match musically. It is quite calculated, complex and purposeful, reminding me of the Patton./Dillinger Escape Plan recordings at times (I don't have a huge knowledge of this genre). Other than drummer Deline, the members have not previously, or gone on to do many other things, at least as recorded by the interwebs, but they did release a retrospective with all album, single, and compilation tracks records (minus their demos, apparently) back in 2000 as a double CD.

Stand Out Track: Driver 

Links:

Youtube full album
Wiki

Discogs

Allmusic

open mind saturated brain

Sophie's floorboard

Rate Your Music

Perte & Fracas

Lets Grow - Jaibo split

Name: *Lets Grow / ~Jaibo! - split
Album: Lets Grow / Jaibo!
Year: 2010
Style: *Hard Core, Punk, ~Metal
Similar Bands: *Dead Cross , Ceremony, Bad Brains, Black Flag ~Jerry's Kids, Dillinger Escape Plan, Black Sabbath, King Diamond
"One-Word" Review: *Shouty Hardcore , ~Classic Metal Guitar Noodling
Based Out Of: *,~Belgrade Serbia 
Label: Thrashbastard, Escal-Vigor, Doomtown Rec., Insulin Addicted

Cover, Liner Notes, Record

Back, Liner Notes, Record

Lets Grow side (2010)

1. Tired 1:47
2. Huge and Silent 0:50
3. Gone 2:26
4. Left Alone 1:24
5. Cant 3:11
6. Cage 0:32
7. Judge and Jury 2:20
8. Darker Place 2:11

Jaibo! side (2010)

1. Numskull 1:52
2. Video Days 2:28 (instrumental)
3. Socialize 1:20
4. Mirracle 3:13
5. Aggah Tzar 2:41
6. Giura 2:39 (instrumental)
7. J! 2:11
8. Anna Y Latte 2:27

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:

• Ray Ahn - Cover Art
• Milovan Milenkovic - Photo
• Dan Randall - Mastering

*Lets Grow

• Ljuba Slavkovic - Guitar (Chresus Jist, FxPxOx, Modern Delusion)
• Vladimir Bizic - Guitar (Tongue)
• Marko Ilic (Lilly Didol) - Bass, Album Engineer & Producer 
• Srdjan Kuzmanovic - Drums (36 Daggers, Hands in Ashes, Saht, Stand Point, XunisonX, Charlie Don't Surf, Waxt, Deboto)
• Dario Fleitz - Vox

~Jaibo!

• Bruno Bozic - Bass, Vox (36 Daggers, Halftones, Mob Law, Charlie Don't Surf, Boris Milic)
• Stevan Cirovic - Drums (Lets Grow, Plus Life, Roza, VVhile, Boris Milic)
• Bosko Mijuskovic - Guitar (Dol, Lollobrigida, Plus Life, Seine, Skrtice, Straight Mickey & the Boyz, Stray Dogg, Turisti, Tongue. Partibrejkers. Artan Lili, Seine)
• Marko Jelisavcic - Guitar 

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band, or what it seems like, two bands splitting sides to this LP. The cover art is interesting with lines and shapes forming layers, and somewhat abstract events going on around a sloth. From this and the back cover (is this one band or two bands?) can only imagine its going to be something between alternative math rock and hard core metal. All the elements are there for any of those directions.

Album Review: So it is a split record for two Serbian bands: Lets Grow & Jaibo!, both on the same Doomtown records label based in Zagreb Croatia. Lets Grow have been around since 2001, and they play fast, hardcore shouty punk. And Jaibo! is a younger band playing more calculated metal and hardcore with a bit of a classic rock feel.

Stand Out Track: * Cant 
~ Socialize

Links:

bandcamp

discogs

Label facebook

label instagram

label website

Jaibo! FB

Lets grow FB

Lets Grow bandcamp

Wives - Ask Me How

Name: Wives

Album: Ask Me How

Year:1995

Style: Punk, Alternative, Hardcore

Similar Bands: L7, Bikini Kill, Red Five, Jennifer Trynin

One Word Review: Brooding Commuter Traffic Punk

Based Out Of: NYC

Label(s): Go Kart Records, Reservoir

Ask Me How: Cover, Liner Photo, Record

Ask Me How: Back, Liner Notes, Record

Ask Me How (1995)

1. Let Em Go 1:57
2. Half 2:45
3. Deserve 1:35
4. Radiator 1:45
5. 100 Sorries 2:20
6. Smooth Stone 2:34/
7. Rich 4:19
8. Roam 2:50
9. Lipstick 3:02
10. Away 2:12
11. 8ball 3:32

Album Rating (1-10): 6.0

Members & Other Bands:

Susan Horwitz - Guitar, Vox

Mary Dunham - Bass, Backing Vox (Crystallize My Penis)

Tracy Almazan - Drums, Backing Vox (Transisters)

Danio Saratak - Digital Editing

Victor Luke - Engineer

Erika Noize - Asst Engineer

Tony Dawsey - Mastering

Dean Ripsler - Producer

Unknowness: Never heard of them, but from the cover and back band image, I can only assume this is an all group dirty grunge band. I expect lots of fuzz and droning guitars. But will it border on pop punk or straight gritty rock or something else, we'll see!

Album Review: Not much is out there about this band of three women, apparently hailing from NYC, and part of the hard stop hardcore scene there. It must have been quite the gimmick for three women in that scene, and I imagine it was not easy, but what do I know. Perhaps they shared a basement show with Life of Agony. I really wish it was a better album. Music and vocals just don’t go together all that well, and I think it was trying to appeal to too vast of an audience.

“Let Em Go” starts off the album with some pulse pounding, driving chords and drums. It is heavy and bombarding. The vocals don’t offer much  in terms of adding to the aggression. They feel lighter and although not very melodic, other than the chorus of Oh-Oh’s, they seem a little whiny.

“Half” is more power-rock, with a catchy riff. The vocals remind me of Jennifer Trynin, and are kind of layered over without much energy. The chorus brings the energy, with speed and tempo pick up, and the vocals also match the energy, rolling along, with the chorus echoing the title. The song delves back into the set-up verse, and stops and pivots again into the onslaught of the chorus…again not more than a pop-punk song.

“Deserve” takes off with a speedy bass and drum driven song. Tempo pauses are punctuated with lyrics in the chorus. By the third verse, fuzzy guitars playing in the foreground.

“Radiator” could be the same song, just another driving tempo with spoken word vocals layered over. The paces is more like commuter traffic, driving at one moment, then slowing down, then aggressively picking back up, trying to pick up lost ground.

“100 Sorries” has a three chord, dark tone, but is played fast, and comes off angry, even if the vocals don’t match the music’s pace. The tempo again has a wave form of speed. The chorus is more of a stomp, while the verse and bridges are all driving. The instrumental finds balance between the two styles.

“Smooth Stone” begins with a guitar riff. This song has a bit of a driving tempo, but would fall into much more of an alternative-rock genre, not as hardcore as the other tracks. There is a bit of Sleater-Kinney shared chorus vocals here and a little more energy, aside from the whiny vocal tone.

“Rich” borders on surf-punk, and the vocals tremble over the music. The bridge is driving, and builds up to the chorus, a staggering stomp, broken up by the vocal phrases. The instrumental is pushed along with the two chord bass line and is covered over with a ringing guitar. The lead vocals are low in the verse and give it a sinister, evil tone.

“Roam” is started with shattering, grinding guitar chords and a playful bass line. The pace of the song is quite jarring once the vocals begin. It feels like it can never quite get going, but that’s on purpose. Like its namesake, the melody roams all over the place, meandering here and there, driving ahead and pulling back at random intervals.

“Lipstick” has a lot of feedback and a tempo that tried to get started. The bass rounds things out, and slows the melody into a steady pace. Feedback still persists, but the song is far from hardcore, and one in their alternative arsenal.

“Away” begins to drive from the start and never lets up. Good for a circle pit, there is only a short full-stop, and restart as the chorus hits. After the instrumental, the music slinks down, but gets ready to blast off…and does. Not a big fan of the vocals in the chorus…just sounds half-hearted, and not right for the tone or pace.

“8ball” is a slower, building and brooding track. But it finds a steady pace, and at parts, reminds me a little of PJ Harvey. The melody and changing style makes it very hard to hold onto a purpose, and the album ends in a whimper.

Stand Out Track: Half

Links:

Discogs

Allmusic

Rateyourmusic

Amazon

LastFM

Kisses and Hugs - Positive Youth 1994!!!

Name: Kisses and Hugs

Album: Positive Youth 1994!!! (or) Nothing Has Changed

Year: 1994, 2002

Style: Scream-o, Hardcore, Death Metal

Similar Bands: Die Kreuzen, Bleed

"One-Word" Review: Attention Deficit Screaming Death.

Based Out Of: Allentown area, PA

Label: Raw Sugar, N=K Record Conglomerate

 Positive Youth 1994!!! - Cover & Record

 Positive Youth 1994!!! - Back & Record

Positive Youth 1994!!! (2002)

1. CIV Lied 0:34
2. Genital Ban 0:29
3. Bad Blood Is Not What It's Cracked Up To Be 0:42
4. Under the Rug 2:33
5. Holy Shit 0:19
6. Old Hag 0:29 /
7. Fuck You Speclogics 1:25
8. Misplaced Suicide Notes 1:35
9. Giveaway 2:54
10. Upper Half Skin Pride 3:01
11. Kiss Me, Kill Me 1:26
12. Why Do You Insist I Need College to Validate My Life, Fucker? 0:16

Album Rating (1-10): 4.5

Members & Other Bands:

Bob - Bass,Vox, Kazoo 

Dug Polgardy - Guitar, Vox, Mandolin, Sax (Burning Ambitions)

Chris Strunk- Drums (Burning Ambitions, Fate of Icarus, Crucial Unit, Heathen Shame)

Gina - Engineer

Matthew Berland - Cover Help

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of this band. At least, I don’t remember hearing of this band, although I might have heard or even seen them at some point in my high school years. But probably not. It turns out that at least two of the members, were senior to my freshman in high school, and would have recorded this material a short time after their graduation. Funny thing is, I did not pick this record up at our local Q-Mart or other (non-existent) record store; I had to travel all the way down to New Orleans on vacation to find this in a dollar bin. It makes sense, because a quick read of the liner notes on the back explains how this was put out by a NOLA based label. Also explained on the label is that this is scream-o style music before that style was ever created to differentiate types of hardcore. So, sorry if you are reading this school mates, but I don’t predict that I’ll like it much, nor do I have a strong musical basis to compare and review this. So consider this a shoddy, naïve review to the genre and album at best.

Album Review: Let me just start out that this entire albums clocks in at right around 16 minutes. With many of the songs just screaming the lyrics you see written as the title, there is not much room to embellish this live listening review. I will cover most of the review here by saying it is loud, fuzzed out guitar and bass played under fast, sometimes unintelligible somewhat high pitched screaming. Anything different will be noted.

“CIV Lied” machine gun drums.
“Genital Ban” lyrics screamed in short burst segments.
“Bad Blood Is Not What It's Cracked Up To Be” two sets of vocals, second is deeper. This song is darker than straight scream-core.
“Under the Rug” has time breaks where, for 3 second pauses there is just bass playing a slow plodding melody. The pauses are longer toward the end, and a marching drum beat accompanies them. This is followed by a scream solo, and ends chaotically.
“Holy Shit” starts off with a nice build, and stops before it can even get started.
“Old Hag”

“Fuck You Speclogics” actually has the lyrics screamed in repetition in actual intelligibility. This is more death metal than scream-core.
“Misplaced Suicide Notes” has a slowed down stomping mid-section that is still full of energy, but is not as speedy as the start and end. This might have the most diversity per song length on the album.
“Giveaway” starts with a nice build and is a blend of screaming and growling. Intermixed with the screams are spoken word lyrics that punctuate the music with feedback pauses.
“Upper Half Skin Pride” is the longest track on the record, right around 3 minutes. The song is disjointed, made of sections and different time signatures, and it showcases more heavy hard core playing than the screaming vocals. Toward the end, there are electric waves of feedback that sound like light sabers.
“Kiss Me, Kill Me” is just relentless speed for about a minute and a half, with vocals that seem to tire themselves out. Then suddenly it breaks into a short mandolin section before throttling head first back into the speed.
“Why Do You Insist I Need College to Validate My Life, Fucker?” is a short, heavy stomp of just the title. The music does not even last as long as the lyrics.

Stand Out Track: Misplaced Suicide Notes
Why Do You Insist I Need College to Validate My Life, Fucker?

Links:

Interpunk

The Tartan

Zoom Info - Chris

Ride the Snake Records

Discogs

Melodig

Lehigh Valley Bands

Youtube: First 5 tracks

Adrenalin O.D. - Humungousfungusamongus

Name: Adrenalin O.D.
Album: Humungousfungusamongus
Year: 1986
Style: Punk / Hard Core
Similar Bands: Dead Milkmen, Descendents, Rage Against the Machine, Black Flag
"One-Word" Review: Youth-Aggression-Hard-Punk
Based Out Of: Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Label: Buy Our Records

Humungousfungusamongus - Cover & Sleeve

Humungousfungusamongus - Back & Sleeve

Humungousfungusamongus - Record

Humungousfungusamongus(1986)

1. Adrenalin O.C. vs. Son of Godzilla 1:39
2. Office Building 1:12
3. Yuppie 2:23
4. The Answer 1:52
5. Pope On a Rope 2:01
6. Fishin' Musician 1:59
7. Pizza-N-Beer 1:32
8. Bugs 2:50
9. Youth Blimp 2:20
10. Commercial Cuts 2:00 /
11. Survive 1:37
12. Studio Banter 0:27
13. Masterpiece 1:38
14. Crowd Control 2:38
15. Velvet Elvis 2:07
16. Fuck the Neighbors 1:00
17. Surfin' Jew 1:13
18. Bruce's Lament 2:40
19. The Nice Song in the Key of D 1:14

Album Rating (1-10): 8.0

Members & Other Bands:
Paul Richard - Guitar, Vocals (Kowalskis, SUX)
Bruce Wingate - Guitar (Bruce Wayne, International Brunch Mummies, Shyster Shyster & Flywheel, New Reagans, The Earls Of Sandwich, the TXT PSTLZ, Total Dick, District Allstarz)
Jack Steeples - Bass (Mental Decay, Kowalskis, SUX)
Dave Scott - Drums (Scrooge, Grimelord, Lucy's Trance, The Hybrids, November Charlie, The F-Pipes, The Rondos)
Chris Gerhinger - Mastering
Danny Grigsby - Engineering
Ron Akryama - Cover Photo
Angel Izquiero - Back Cover
AVR Composition - Art Direction
Jeffo - Poster & 7" photos

Unknownness: I believe I've heard of this band before, but I cannot say I've heard them. From the cover, and the screaming and fashion mish-mosh clad members, I'd imagine right off the bat that it is going to be silly punk music. Perhaps a bit pretentious too, not too sure. From the song titles, I imagine they were a bunch of development-raised kids with lots of free time on their hands. But I still expect the record to be pretty good!

Album Review: “Adrenalin O.C. vs. Son of Godzilla” Instrumental that sounds haunting at times and buzzing with all the force of a monster attack film, such as the title suggests. Full frontal hard core.
“Office Building” is a typical hard core song, with siren like guitars and shouting, rhythmic lyrics. The music reminds me the little I know about Rage Against the Machine.
“Yuppie” is like stepping off the ledge to a pit of sound and fury. The bursts of vocals break up the droning guitars and pounding drums as they direct the song.
“The Answer” has a wall of fuzz and distortion with a catchy guitar line underneath (like something Blink 182 copied and ruined). I like the time signature changed between the instrumental verses and the singing back up.
“Pope On a Rope” starts off with a start/stop new wave guitar sound, then it explodes and takes off into full sprint. But they come back to little sections of fun melodic guitar to balance the throttling.
“Fishin' Musician” is very heavy melodic, chord changing hard core. I can really see how much fun these songs would be to hear and see live.
“Pizza-N-Beer” is ridiculously annoying and juvenile beat-poetry, half sung to a faint bongo beat.
“Bugs” this, the longest song on the record is a fun speed-stomping and shouting exercise. A great song for a circle pit, with the fist pumping chorus of shouting BUGS BUGS! Halfway through the tempo slows down a bit for a general stomp march, which as expected, picks up for a sprint to the end with a return of the shouting chorus.
“Youth Blimp” is a fun punk song, a great and simple melody, reminds me a bit of the Descendents. It possesses a very empowering spirit.
“Commercial Cuts” continues with the simple and melodic melody, embedded in a group shout chorus that you must sing along with and cannot ignore. The commercial changes into a sillier, chaotic, unhinged promo about ice cream.

“Survive” is an all out hard core battle.
“Studio Banter” fuzz, noise, and as the title suggests, banter about setting up to record.
“Masterpiece” is an instrumental punk take on the popular classic “Masterpiece Theater” ballad.
“Crowd Control” shows how well the band can keep heavy thunderous guitar sound in check with melodic electric guitar to create something that is neither straight forward hard core nor punk; even if the singing lends itself toward hard core.
“Velvet Elvis” is downright monotone compared to the rest of the album, but this stays low in key and dark, yet it still as rapid-fire as everything else.
“Fuck the Neighbors” begins with feed back and a metal guitar solo that sets the tone for the anger and speed that follow
“Surfin' Jew” is nearly self explanatory: a surf-punk version of “Hava Nagila.”
“Bruce's Lament” is not all that slow, sad and depressing as laments go. It is, however, something I’d classify as speed-prog.
“The Nice Song in the Key of D” has a nice melody, and feels like a typical young punk song where the writer has too much free time, and nothing to do on his hands, so anarchy is the answer. This is the basic inspiration for the lyrics.

Stand Out Track: Youth Blimp

Links:Wiki
website
last fm
discogs
trouser press
KFTH fan page
Lord AGZ fan blog
allmusic

La Muerte - Death Race 2000

Name: La Muerte
Album: Death Race 2000
Year: 1989
Style: HardCore, ScreamCore, Metal.
Similar Bands: Kukl, Megadeath, Helmet, Fantomas (musically), Melvins, Sepultura
"One-Word" Review: "Kill Your Melodic Face"
Based Out Of: Brussels, Belgium & Spain
Label: Play It Again Sam Records USA, Waxtrax,

Death Race 2000 - Cover, Sleeve Photo

Death Race 2000 - Back, Sleeve Info

Death Race 2000 - Record

Death Race 2000 (1989)

1. I Would Die Faster 4:07
2. Black God White Devil 4:41
3. Ecoute Cette Priere 3:26
4. Make it Easy 3:21
5. Shoot You In the Back 4:52/
6. Death Race 2000 5:19
7. Burst My Soul 4:04
8. Killing Is My Business 3:59
9. Scared Flame 7:14

Album Rating (1-10): 5.5

Members & Other Bands:
Paul Delnoy - Producer (Qui)
Marc Borgers - Cover Computer Painting, Pictures
Marie Beaunom - Tech Assistance
Hugues Wurstenberger - Photo Assistant
Marc du Marais - Screams

Dee-J. - Distortion (Ether, 3 Angry Poles)
Paul "Dunlop" Delnoy - Vibrobass
Michel De Greef - Drums

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of these guys before, but I like the cover art of a T-Rex caught at what I believe to be the extinction of the dinosaurs. The pictures of the back make me think that the band will be some kind of industrial punk music, and the motivation behind the album title could back that up.

Album Review: “I Would Die Faster” begins with a driving dark drum and bass beat, and low growl-singing, which reminds me of Bjork’s older band Kukl. The power guitar riffs and growls all over the place add accent to the lyrics. The singing has advanced to higher pitched scream-talking. The song keeps up the driving rhythm with the unchanging bass and drum beat and power single chord of the rhythm guitar.
“Black God White Devil” sounds like it might actually be a heavy pop number. The vocals are angry spoken words with a slight growl. This reminds me a little of Megadeath. The song is very steady and does not stray from the formula that you encounter at the get go. There is a power guitar instrumental section, but it returns to the predictable guitar hook driven verse. Even the chorus does not change too much from the main song structure, although it does incorporate a different dual tone shouting vocal for the chorus. “Ecoute Cette Priere” has howling guitars and vibrating weirdness to start off. Then growling angry vocals shout, but do not follow the driving music melody. Like spoken work poetry set to unrelated music. It is dark and has a lot of built up aggression. Musically, it reminds me of a nice combination of Faith No More and Helmet.“Make it Easy” starts off with a sleazy metal guitar hook, but has barely audible deep growling vocals. The song has a very bold presence. The chorus is a yelling of the title over and over again in rhythm with the melody“Shoot You In the Back” begins with a country western influenced slow guitar. Like a western showdown, it drags on slowly with determination. The vocals are grueling and grating. This song, musically, reminds me of Tomahawk. But the vocals detract from the potency of the song. It should be mellow and focused, but the shouts seem careless.

“Death Race 2000” has a head down, stomp progression. The start and stopping of the music, while carried along by the bass line reminds me of the song “War Pigs.” The vocals are barely more than a hushed whispering, but there is still tension in the hisses and syllables of the whispers. The song breaks form and releases an aggressive rush of vocals and music before adding what sound like heavy orchestral strings to accent the underlying melody.“Burst My Soul” is fast paced from the get go. It drives and rumbles on. The vocals are barely there, which let the catchy melody take the main stage. There is a breakdown after 2:20 where the music stops and metallic guitar string screeches echo. Then 20 sec later, the song picks back up with the driving chorus.“Killing Is My Business” starts with cop cars and some kind of hot pursuit audio sample. Then repetitive driving music begins and shouting lyrics with no music basis begins. The chorus is a nice change up with depth and a nice hook but the vocals just scream. The song ends with the music fading out and the hot pursuit sound clips finish up the song in dramatic fashion.“Scared Flame” begins with a dark off-timed bass line and cowboy electric, echoing steel guitar and a steady drum beat are added. The rough vocals are filled with aggression, and shout at the listener. The music rolls on, unaffected, as if it’s playing to its own audience, and the vocals are just layered overtop. The vocal and music do actually overlap in the middle of the song, and remind me of the limited stuff I’ve heard from Sepultura. The song relaxes in the end and calms down to a single tone echoing for a few seconds.

Stand Out Track: "Burst My Soul"

Links:
Myspace

Website
Facebook
Not Sweating Yet - blog
Belgium Pop/Rock Archives
Trouser Press
Insound
Last FM

Marco Laguna
Ether
3 Angry Poles

Discogs

Lack Of Interest - Never Back Down (Take Another Step)

Name: Lack of Interest
Album: Never Back Down (Take Another Step)
Year: 2004
Style: Hardcore, Punk
Similar Bands: non-melodic Life of Agony sections.
"One Word" Review: Power Violence
Based Out Of: Southern California
Label: Deep Six

Never Back Down: Cover & Lyrics
Never Back Down: Back & Record

Lack of Interest (2004)

1. Never Back Down 0:42
2. Unintended 1:07
3. Obstructed View 0:38
4. Not Deserved 0:16
5. Remember Us 0:37
6. Two Parts... 1:01
7. Nan Desuka 0:16
8. Dedicated 0:34
9. Conscience 0:24
10. Mentor 1:13/
11. Deprived 0:51
12. Forgotten Youth 0:47
13. Another Step 0:43
14. Empty Words 0:32
15. Deceit 0:38
16. Glutton 0:48
17. No Values 0:54
18. What's Right 0:29
19. American Psycho 1:30

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands:
Mike R - Vocals
Rick - Vocals

Isaac - Guitar
Chris - Bass

Bob - Drums
Case - Artwork

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of this band. From the angry looking drawing on the front, to the eyeball drawing on the back, I honestly can’t tell what to expect. The only conclusion is that all the songs must be very short (19 tracks, and the record is at 45 rpm speed) so it is probably some kind of thrash-punk stuff, maybe like Die Kreuzen. There is no year on it, so I don’t know how to judge it by influential time period. If it is quick hardcore songs like I am guessing it might be, then I will not have much to compare it to, as that is not a genre I know much about.

Album Review: This is an album of songs that are seconds long, so I cannot really write a song per song real time recap. I will write as I listen to it, and describe the whole feel of the records, and pick out the song titles with stand out traits.

Fuzzed guitars start the album, then which change into start/stopping guitars and drums to match the urgency. The vocals remind me of the non-Keith Caputo vocals from LoA. They are deep, angry, and barely there at the same time, buried down slightly below the volume of the instruments. In fact, a lot of the combined sound reminds me of the less melodic Life of Agony sections. And that is nearly the limit of my comparison ability. At some points the pulsing, piercing onslaught will simmer down to a stomp. I guess those are the welcomed breaks in the pit. “Mentor” has a little more driving melodic-ness than the rest of the stop start anger.The second side picks up as if nothing has happened. The songs feel like they are unfinished middles of songs to my uninformed-hard-core ears. The songs definitely know how to harness that inner turmoil and frustration (even creating it where it is not) and bring it out in musical form. The urgency and mental release that these songs bring/create are definitely an art form that can tap into a conflicted teenager’s soul. “Glutton” has a very heavy melodic start that it gives up on only to revisit at the end, like a set of bookends. The last and longest song has what feels like a long instrumental section that is repetitive and as always, heavy on the personal burden.

I can truly see value in this music, but that is not to say that I would pick it up to listen to. It would get me pumped before some kind of sporting contest, and I would have even thought about applying this before a first date. But it does nothing special or ear catching for me, and I would not be able to pick this band out of a line-up of similar bands. So it comes across as average to my untrained ear.

Stand Out Track: "Glutton"

Links:

Myspace
Last FM
allmusic

Discogs
Deep Six Bands
downloadable Blog
Midheaven
Music Stacks

Ground Zero - Pink

Name: Ground Zero
Album: Pink
Year: 1985
Style: Hard-Core, Punk
Similar Bands: Dead Milkmen, King Missle, Early Dismemberment Plan, Early NOFX
"One-Word" Review: Silly-Proto-Alternative/Grunge
Based Out Of: Minneapolis, MN
Label: Reflex Records, Dutch East India Trading, L.S.R. Records

Pink - Cover & Promo sheet
Pink - Back & Record

Pink (1985)

1. Will You Please 1:24
2. South 2:27
3. Just a Criminal 1:59
4. Company 3:47
5. The 11th Hour of the Skippy Peanut Cluster 1:31
6. Revenge of the Blimp 2:14/
7. Pink 2:54
8. Patriot 3:46
9. One Half Hour / The Legendary Rose 5:26

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:

Bob Mould - Producer, Engineer (Husker Du)

Steve Fjelstad - Producer, Engineer

Taras Ostroushko - Guitar Vox (Henry, Terry Eason)

Jamie Ronnei - Bass

Dave Evenhouse - Drums (Million Megaton Explosion, Wahinis)

Val Sutpher - Cover Art & graphic Design

Unknown-ness: I’ve never heard of this band, and I don’t know exactly why I got it. The cover art is a bit juvenile, with rats working at construction. The image, name and album title don’t seem to be connected at all except that the font is pink. But I am familiar with Dutch East India Trading co a little, and that is something familiar I can take assurance from. Also I like how the back is set up, it is very indie, with the band images in the middle and the lyrics right there too. The back says Bob Mould produced and engineered it, so that lends it self, along with the recording year of 1985, to being a competent record.

Album Review: “Will You Please” has a metal guitar pulsate in the beginning that after a couple of measures is picked up with the driving bass and drum beat. The vocals are basically spoken, and fast at that, and it reminds me very much of the Dead Milkmen. It is about riding a skateboard, and it places the singer’s identity of a mo-hawked punk into the song.
“South” again, has the vocals that are more spoken than sung over the music that comes in little sections that are split by tempo changes. It is fast in general, but it is fun and upbeat, rather than angry and aggressive. The guitar is nearly prog in its cruising up and down the musical scales.
“Just a Criminal” is a story song about a person put in jail, who should only be thought of as a criminal. And the storyline is dripping with sarcasm. It ends quite abruptly, but it follows the whole heavy punk/metal edge.
“Company” begins with a metal guitar base, but then quickly switched to a bouncy pop number, reminiscent of the Violent Femmes in the music. But it quickly changes to Screaming Trees or Dinosaur Jr when the guitars enter back on.
“The 11th Hour of the Skippy Peanut Cluster” is a fast thrash song with vocals spoken over it like slam poetry. It is like free-form jazz with beat poetry...but the jazz is speed metal, and the poetry is nonsense silliness. They clash with each other perfectly, creating more art than song.
“Revenge of the Blimp” takes off after bit of silence. It speeds through fast so the kids can slam and mosh together. But the vocals are laid over top, sounding a bit like Weird Al / early Dismemberment Plan. Yes. Early Dis. Plan is a good comparison. But it is not nearly as good. At the end of the song, the singer has a bit of mouth foaming ranting, but he settles down for the ending.

“Pink” finds the singer using a higher end singing style. The complexly crafted song changes behind the vocals, begging them to change with it, alas, no vocals are layered over the most complex changes. But where they do meet up, the vocals still seem teetering off key. They are wimpy and trembling, probably exactly how the band designed them. This is the most song of the songs, and it really pre-dates but would fit in perfectly with what was to come from Seattle 4-5 a few years later.
“Patriot” is a country folk-metal song. It is designed with simple chord changes, and the thumping bass and drum beats drive it on faster, leaving the true folk aesthetic behind. I could see the kids at the show doing a tongue-in-cheek square dancing hoe-down that would quickly transition into spinning their “partners” around and letting go into the crowd, thanks to centrifugal force.
“One Half Hour / The Legendary Rose” begins with a competent drum beat and electric guitar wailing, but overlapped, they throw each other off, and they seem very off beat. But they soon sync up around 45 seconds and continue to grow faster through out the musical intro. Around 1:15 they gain musical harmony and play out the rest of the intro, occasionally falling into a chaotic spiral, but it digs itself out with meandering scales and a solid drum beat. The bass helps out, but is really covered over by the drums. Around 2:45, the vocals, a story reading really, begins as the music pauses. The reading continues as the music pounds and pulses through the background. At 3:45, the vocals stop and the song changes direction to a silly speed punk/metal song. The vocals strip any hard core image that they might have by sounding like a zany Weird Al. The song ends with sound effects from the guitars and sporadic notes played without any real cohesion. And somewhere, for seemingly no good reason the album ends.

Stand Out Track: Will You Please

Links:

Kill From The Heart

Flex!
Andrew Earles

Discogs

Die Kreuzen - s/t

Name: Die Kreuzen
Album: s/t
Year: 1984
Style: Speed Punk
Similar Bands: (i don't know, but from the interweb:) Husker Du, Minor Threat
"One-Word" Review: Intense-Yell-Core
Based Out Of: Milwaukee, Wisc.
Label: Touch And Go

Die Kreuzen - Cover, Insert & Record
Die Kreuzen - Back, Insert & Record

Die Kreuzen (1984)

1. Rumors 1:51
2. This Hope 1:10
3. In School 1:24
4. I'm Tired 0:54
5. On The Street 1:33
6. Enemies 0:59
7. Get 'Em 0:59
8. Fighting 0:36
9. No Time 1:19
10. All White 3:39/
11. Pain 1:06
12. Sick People 2:18
13. Hate Me 0:48
14. Live Wire 1:48
15. Not Anymore 1:01
16. Mannequin 1:15
17. Fuckups 1:12
18. Think For Me 1:42
19. Dirt & Decay 1:15
20. Don't Say Please 1:04
21. No Name 1:32

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands:Dan Kubinski - Vox
Keith Brammer - Bass (Crime & Judy, Wreck)
Herman Egeness - Guitar
Erik Tunison - Drums
Corey Rusk - Produced
Rick Canzano - Engineered
Richard Kohl - Cover Art, Artwork & Management

Unknown-ness: I've almost certainly heard of Die Kreuzen before, but I did not know what they sounded like at all. I assumed they were Hard Core or Punk, just from the circles of “friends” I think I heard their name mentioned from, but all of this could be imaginary. Anyway, the imagery on the cover is awesome. It is very monstrous and industrial. The glowing skeletal creations attached to tank rudders under power lines are beautiful. The simple yellow black and white color scheme screams apocalypse. But the pictures on the insert kinda give it away that they will be a high energy hard core punk band. But seeing as it is from 1984, it should be fantastic and very listenable.

Album Review: “Rumors” starts off the record with fast bass and yelling lyrics. Not quite screaming, but almost. The guitar wails from behind. A slight pause in the music, and the musical onslaught comes back full force. “This Hope” is the next fast punk musical song. “In School” mixes the pace up with some different rhythms and tempos, but still comes full on. “I'm Tired” is an even quicker bass attack, with squealing guitars and the same shouting vocals. “On The Street” is a more marching song in pace, which switches to the same ridiculous fast melody after 40 seconds. “Enemies,” “Get 'Em,” and “Fighting” are less than a minute songs, with all the musical energy and yelling vocals of a machine gun. “No Time” is more musical than before, with guitar sections standing out , and choppy rhythms, which almost sound like a skipping record. The album finishes off the first side with the lengthy 3.39 minute “All White.” It starts with a threatening yet mysterious bass and guitar intro, the song staggers along with the screeching vocals overlapping the stomp groove, as it slows down to the a false ending, like someone switched off the power to the record. It then starts back up for the last 30 seconds and picks up pace and speed until it explodes with a fury of vocals and fast guitars.

This is really tough to review! As these songs all sound very similar upon first listen, they fly by in such short time spans that they are over as I have a second to write about them. And I run out of adjetives pretty quickly when the guitars, bass and vocals all sound similar…I’d probably have better luck reviewing the album as a whole, after repeat listens, as opposed to my usual track by track review. “Pain” begins with shrieking guitars, the literal musical interpretation of pain. The guitars bass and drums kick in along with the yell-singing. Pain blends right into “Sick People” with slow melodic guitar plucking. Then the shredding picks up, and drives through the end of the song. These songs must have been amazing live, as there is so much energy here, I could only imagine a performance. “Hate me” is introduced with the bass and the three note tempo never changes through out. “Live Wire” feels a little like Helmet’s big hit “Unsung” in one small section. “Not Anymore” is counted off by drum stick clicks, and is, well, more of the same. “Mannequin” starts off musically, with chord changes and noticeable musical structure, different from what has come before it. “Fuckups” has a rattling bass intro, and launches into the volatile musical combo, carried mainly by the drums here. “Think For Me” starts out as a slow, angry march but after 35 seconds, it is abandoned for the more familiar restless aggression. “Dirt & Decay” features a very fast section of percussion and guitars teaming up. Oh, its all very angry. After three notes, “Don't Say Please” rushes, like blood to the surface after a skin puncture to a major artery…but that could be said about all these tracks. “No Name” unceremoniously ends the album with three heavy chord changing and un-rhythmic yelling. The final ending is just a drop off of sound.

Stand Out Track:

In School

Mannequin

Links:

Allmusic

Wikipedia

Amazon MP3 downloads

Myspace

Touch & Go Records

Trouser Press

Almost Official Fan Page

Keith Brammer Interview 2001

Kill From The Heart Page

Discogs Wreck page

Famous Tea - Too Fat To Run

Name: Famous Tea
Album: Too Fat To Run
Year: 1992
Style: Hard-Core Punk
Similar Bands: Butt Trumpet, Early NOFX, Green Jelly
"One-Word" Review: filth-speed-punk
Based Out Of: Huntington Beach, Ca
Label: Juicy Butt Records

Too Fat To Run - Cover & Lyric Sheet
Too Fat To Run - Back & Lyric Sheet
Too Fat To Run - Record

Too Fat To Run (1992)

1. Too Fat To Run 2:01
2. Guacamole 2:47
3. No Go 2:16
4. Just Don't Know Any Better 2:08
5. Kill the Mole 2:07
6. Sick 3:21
7. Famous Tea 2:12
8. Pin Ho Chun 2:55
9. Converned Citizens 3:38
10. Offensive 2:50
11. Far Too Polite 1:50
12. Blatently Friendly 4:00
13. Frantic 1:52

Album Rating (1-10): 1.0

Members & Other Bands:
Ken Norman - Vox
Alan "Shortstack" Dominquez - Drums
Ernie Grimm - Bass
Ken Auto Hayler - Guitar
Eric Meyer - Guitar (live)
Donnell Cameron - Engineer
Joe Peccerillo - Asst. Engineer
Cathi Miller C.K. - Artwork

Unknown-ness: Never heard of these guys. A friend found the record at a thrift store, and bought it because of its pretty red vinyl and potential for wacki-ness. After hearing it, she thought it was terrible and just left it at my place. It looks like sick and raunchy DIY punk, but perhaps it is somewhat silly and/or redeeming.

Album Review: The album starts off with its namesake track “Too Fat To Run.” A mistake/start over on the drums, and the song takes off with fast driving drums, heavy guitars, bass and cursing and angry lyrics. The vocals are not good at all, less melodic than Butt Trumpet, who they seem to be like, but not anywhere close as good. “Guacamole” reminds me of NoFx’s STD song from Ribbed. The music is heavy and fast, but the vocals feel like they are indifferent, spoken too silly to feel connected to the song. The dirtyness of living styles presented in these songs also mimic’s the atmosphere NoFX that creates. “No Go” is a sexually frustrated song, but again, the vocals lack the interest or really any musical credibility. “Just Don’t Know Any Better” less musical than Dead Milkmen and Henry Rollins, these songs don’t even come off as humorous. The worst part is that the way he ends his lyrical stanzas, they just don’t fit. “Kill The Moll” feels rushed. It falls in line in the masculine, misogynistic, filthy (actual anti-cleanliness, as well as cursing) and just a bad piece of work. It doesn’t feel funny or ironic or sarcastic, but I can only home it is. “Sick” is just that, about being sick, and it is about sick that is vomited up. The music is fast, driving, as it is on every track, but that’s the spirit of dirty-punk music. There are occasional metal-guitar solos too. “Famous Tea” it a very quick/fast punk song. And of course it includes fecal jokes and gross humor. There is a slower breakdown, with sing-shanty cartoon melodies before it comes back to finish off the barrage of noise and filth. “Pin Ho Chun” is a poop term parade. Nothing new here. “Concerned Citizens” starts with a melodic guitar section, then the vocals begin and the punk song begins. It is a sarcastic list of parental guidance concerns. They even name drop themselves as something to be avoided, sarcastically, of course. Offensive has a little more singing that the rest of the album yet...very very little. They trying to be offensive to every person they could think of, which is limited to women, gays and fat people. “Far Too Polite” is an “idiot’s guide” to be less of a pushover. “Blatantly Friendly” contains more sexually frustrated lyrics. And more driving metal punk. “Frantic” is the last song, and it begins slow, and somewhat westernish. Then explodes into “just f-n’ play/we’re frantic” over & over again. Finally, it is over.

This album really sucks, and if it is trying to be offensive or sarcastic, everything falls short. It feels like the work of an 8th grader who just discovered a dirty internet porn website, and they don’t quite understand it, but giggle at all the words and terms. Somewhat pathetic even.

Stand-Out Track:

Links:
Famous Tea - Myspace
Famous Tea - Blog thread
Famous Tea - Live Video
Famous Tea - Podcast Directory
Famous Tea - Sampler Review
Famous Tea - Review Read Junk

Bunchofuckingoofs - Carnival of Chaos + Carnage

Name: Bunchofuckingoofs
Album: Carnival of Chaos + Carnage
Year: 1992
Style:Overaggresive Speed Punk
Similar Bands: Butt Trumpet, Gwar
"One-Word" Review: SillyellingHardcorepunk
Based Out of: Toronto, Canada
Label: Fringe Product

CoC+C cover
CoC+C inside
CoC+C CD + back

Carnival of Chaos + Carnage (1992)

1. Da Bfg Cee 1:51
2. Hogs of War 1:28
3. In Dog We Trust 2:33
4. Conflict 1:53
5. Cmd 3:07
6. Thanx But No Thanx 2:47
7. Coke (The Real Thing For Assholes) 2:27
8. Left Nut, Side Pocket 1:22
9. Molded 1:15
10. Aidsphobia 1:33
11. Once Upon An Empire 4:02
12. Profit Margin 2:31
13. Destroy All Automobiles 3:21
14. Alcoholiday Turned Alcoholocaust 2:43
15. Businesscum 1:47
16. Later 2:01

Album Rating (1-10):
5.0

Band Members & Other Bands:
Crazy Steve B.A.-B.F.G - 7:06-212- Vocals & Lyrics
Stompin Al Miller - Guitar
Baron Wasteland - Guitar
Maddog - Drums
Merrick - Bass
Thor - All Artwork & Layout (Armed & Hammered)
Chris Buck - Photo
James Stanley & Jeff Beardall - Produced, Recorded, Mixed, Tamed @ Umbrella Sound

Unknown-ness: I had never heard of them. From the cover artwork, they would like us to believe they are a post-apocalyptic dirty punk/hardcore band. From the name, they seem somewhat humorous. I was into Butt Trumpet around the time that I picked this up, perhaps in spirit that the cover seemed to display. The vulgarity and silly titles of the songs could be either well done, or ridiculously stupid.

Album Review: All the tracks are virtually the same. They contain self-proclaiming propaganda, that their beliefs are the end-all definitive answer to every discussion, without having to discuss anything. The instrumentation is metal/hardcore, with loud shout/chanting vocals with minor pitch changes to mimic musical hooks. At first I found the music + vocal combination to seem fake, like they had their idea that Joke-Core music would be fun to play and they adapted the personas to fit the created ideas. But after reading a bit about them, I believe it is authentic, against authority, beliefs and punk ideals. They struggled in their scene and they helped their musical community. This is to say, they have "cred."

Musically, "DA BFG CEE" is different, where it has segments of the music slow down from the driving, whaling guitars to a deeper shout stomp. And then, the song picks up again. This combination of slow and fast section makes it stand out as a more complicated song than the rest of the album. "Cmd" is a little more devilish and mysterious in its tone, as it is a slower driving grove. "Thanx" is a rejection notice to drug use song. The lyrics downgrade drugs, and paint a pathetic picture, showing just how glamorous drug use is. "Destroy All Automobiles" has a full minute of uninterrupted musical intro, and the message is very good, even though it is delivered in a silly, irrational ways. Uniquely, the song fades out. "Alcoholiday...' relives the struggling slide from casual, fun drinking into alcoholism. Musically the song staggers and wavers as the lyrics present a worsening addict. And the end speeds up, like the alcoholic found one final fix before ending suddenly and crashing.

Stand-Out Track:
Da BFG Cee

Links:
BFG Allmusic (really nothing here)
BFG Myspace
BFG Page(much detail!)