Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Classic Crime - The Silver Cord...I Promise Not To Use That Word That Starts with "E" and Ends in "O"!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Good Riddance - Operation Phoenix
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Rocket From The Crypt - Circa Now 1993 Review
From 1993. OK, so I am really keen on finding out more about San Diego bands and that might influence my opinion. But in this review, I will be completely objective. RFTC are the greatest thing since sliced bread, the wheel, the light bulb, party balls! They are the savior of music itself! those of you who think I am serious can stop reading. What this band really is, is a fantastic ensemble of musicians who have released an independent album that knocked me off my feet. "Circa Now" is a powerful, at times noisy, collection of songs, each of which could easily be hummed after just the first listen. "Killy Kill", "Ditch Digger" and "Don't Darlene" are but 3 examples of this bands refreshing ability to pen both song and lyric. I've heard that this is doing well for an independent release. Having found out about RFTC late in the game, I can't say that I have been a fan for years, but they certainly have impressed me. the power pop songs on this release should convert any alternative music listener to an instant fan. If not, I'll continue to voice my thoughts about an album that pleases this listener.
Jump to today, gotta love a review with the words "party ball" in it! For you youngsters, a party ball was a short lived late 80's mini version of a pony keg that you and your buds could drink. It's main downfall was that you couldn't shotgun it!!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Civet - Hell Hath No Fury
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Leatherface - Mush
Monday, September 22, 2008
Terror - The Damned, The Shamed
Saturday, September 20, 2008
No Use For A Name - Have We Really Heard That Before?
Friday, September 19, 2008
No Fun At All - The Big Knockover
Next up, it's Sweden's own No Fun At All. Is this a hidden gem? You bet it is! It's got it all. Influences for today's post-hardcore, prominent guitar, background harmonies, loads of tempo changes and anthemic punk tunes. Anthemic and punk in the same sentence, OK I said it, try it out, you'll hear. Sure, peers of No Fun At All were putting out more critically acclaimed records in 1997... Sick Of It All, Pennywise, Lagwagon, AFI, etc. but this release trumps them all. Those were good records, this one is better because it had no expectations (ah, if only they could all be that way). "The Other Side" represents the album in its entirety, but by no means is it a formula, it's just a track that shows that NFAA play music, are musicians, can sing, energize, drive rhythms, energize listeners and encourage repeating. Burning Heart Records unearthed some great European punk bands and with some of their licensing deals in the US, were able to expose (or the bands pushed for the exposure) these bands to a larger audience in the 90's and early 00's.
You groovin' out to Sufferer and the Witness, Decemberunderground, Reason To Believe...how about a little IPOD augmentation with some NFAA. You can comfortably shuffle with others in your mp3 player playlists of melodic punk and in fact it will make those playlists better.
Go Grab It At iTunes
Thursday, September 18, 2008
No Trigger - Canyoneer
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Pennywise - Pennywise
Enjoy!
1992 Review: This is the debut from Los Angeles based hardcore outfit Pennywise. This album is nothing short of impressive! the band offers up a simplistic brand of harcore that is a rare treat these days. Tunes like "Fun & Games" and the title track "Pennywise" are blasts of speed and power with the added benefit of crisp production. Don not let the fact that this album sounds really clean, turn you off. Pennywise lack the grunge but make up for it with sheer emotion. the straining vocals by Jim are fantastic and evoke a pseudo Kevin Seconds sensation. Any time a band can come close to the achievements of 7 Seconds, they have indeed achieved greatness! I have yet to be disappointed by anything on Epitaph Records and look forward to many years of good, clean punk music.
Sure enough, since then Epitaph has put out some fine work and as has Pennywise!
Pennywise - Reason to Believe
Go Grab It At iTunes
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Bronx - Did U Hear This?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
X - The Unheard Music
X was the complete package. Talented song-writing, aggressive style, haunting harmonies and social awareness.
A Wilhelm Scream - Career Suicide
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Leatherface - Pride of Sunderland
Me: How did the band start?
Frankie: We started...I don't know! We were all drinking companions who were use to making noise. We got together and set up our stuff in the guitar players house and make noise...that was August of 1998.
Me: Was it easy to find places to play?
Frankie: We were really lucky. It's not that easy. It's very hard in England, but we managed to get a couple of tours in Germany and in Holland and that was before a proper tour here in the U.K.
Me: Is there a receptive local music scene?
Frankie: (chuckle) In Sunderland? No. It's never been the most receptive place to play but it is getting better?
Me: Tell us about "Mush"?
Frankie: We recorded it in the Greenhouse in London. the Greenhouse is owned by Pat Collier (Vibrators) and it took about 7 days to do. There was lots of shouting and that's the way it was. I am very happy with it.
Me: This isn't your first release?
Frankie: No, the first came in 1989. That was an LP on MainLine Records. But the album kept getting deleted by the label.
Me: Did you enjoy spending time in the studio?
Frankie: That was really the first time of working in a professional studio. It's a real difference from working in the Northeast. London was really nice. We recorded, could watch MTV and watch football.
Me: Does "Mush" capture the bands live spirit?
Frankie: A lot of people have said that this is actually what we sound like. I don't really know what we sound like when we are up on stage and this record kind of lets us know.
Me: What are you touring plans?
Frankie: We are touring Britain, Ireland and Scotland. It starts in the end of February and goes through June. Senseless Things is headlining and we'll be supporting them. China Drum will be opening some of the shows.
Me: Any talk of the States?
Frankie: There are plans for the U.S. , but right now it's just talk.
Me: anyone in particular that you would like to tour with?
Frankie: Poison Idea would be good!
Me:The bands sound, has it evolved or did you start out with a particular sound mind?
Frankie: It has just evolved. It just was that way from the start, I guess that evolves is the wrong word...when the four of us started playing, that's the way it was!
Me: Is there any kind of philosophy to the band?
Frankie: Songs! Songs are our motivation. My main goal is to write a classic song. The kind of song where nobody remembers who sung it, but everybody remembers it!
Far to under appreciated was Leatherface! This is one of the best punk releases of the 90's, but I suspect not many people heard it as Seed Records came and went in the blink of an eye. At some point I suspect I'll put a list of the 20 punk records from the 90's that you may not have heard and really ought to. This one will be in the top 3!
Highly recommended that you search out this gem as you are in for a real treat of working class British punk that's rich with melodies and hooks and clearly achieves Frankie's goal of remembrance.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Jawbox - Novelty 1991 Review
Why not begin where it all began...I've been writing about punk for a long time in a variety of my own publications, magazines, fanzines, etc. The first issue of one of the publications came out in 1991 and in that issue, I published a list of top music releases for that time period. That publication focused on all kinds of stuff...metal, punk, alternative, indie, etc., so on my list of top 25 albums were things ranging from Pavement to Type-O Negative, Pixies, Righteous Pigs, Three Mile Pilot, Skrew, Pale Saints, Carcass, Danzig and Lemonheads. Lot's of punk in that issue too and making it onto the top 25 were releases from Rocket From The Crypt, Leatherface, Helmet, Seaweed and Pennywise...don't worry I'll dust off those reviews shortly as there will be a lot of content on "stuff you may not have heard or haven't heard in a long time". Leatherface comes to mind in that regard, far too unappreciated, but their "Mush" release is solid from beginning to end! Anyway, back to the issue, coming in at number one on "Scotty's Hotties" was Jawbox "Novelty". To date, this record contains one of the best songs, any genre, out there that being "Dreamless".
This is an outstanding release! It's very heavy, in some aspects it's dark, but loaded with rich punk melodies. It's a bit of a midpoint in J. Robbins career as he did release some epic music with Government Issue and has since gone on to more good stuff with Burning Airlines. So, what better way to start the Punk Mecca website than with unearthing the review from 1991. Enjoy!
Jawbox - Novelty (Dischord Records)
Jump to present day...pretty heady stuff..."anthem to the undying will to catch up to ones ambition". Man, that's the stuff of legend! Now that I am a bit older and wiser I might just say "hey, this is a great album!". There are a lot of post-hardcore bands that clearly respect the work of Jawbox; Rise Against jumps to mind.
That's a good way to end this first blog...Respect! This site will be a lot about respecting punk, it's roots, heritage, highs and lows and all that is going on in the genre today. I hope you learn about some bands that you might not have heard of before or perhaps were curious about and certainly I hope to highlight some of the great stuff that is going on today. Don't worry, this won't be too serious. How can you even use the word serious and punk in the same sentence? This site will be for fans, written by someone who loves to listen the music, see the concerts, read about it, write about it and watch documentaries about it. Isn't that a bit of the foundation of punk? It's about the music, just play and hang with people that appreciate the effort. That's respect.
More to come, enjoy the ride! Thanks, Scott