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Agnostic Front - My Life, My Way (2011)

2011-08-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01. City Street

02. More Than a Memory

03. Us Against the World

04. My Life My Way

05. That’s Life

06. Self Pride

07. Until the Day I Die

08. Now and Forever

09. The Sacrifice

10. A Mi Manera

11. Your Worst Enemy

12. Empty Dreams

13. Time Has Come

After nearly 30 years of recording, longtimers Vinnie Stigma and Roger Miret continue to run the show, along with return bassist Mike Gallo and new recruits Joseph James (guitar) and Pokey Mo (drums). Agnostic Front have survived various lineup changes and flirted with a few musical styles (namely metal) since their early days as New York hardcore pioneers. But from the third quarter of their career on, they have stayed consistent, blending thrash, metalcore, and Oi! styles. Madball/Cannibal Corpse producer Erik Rutan brings out the finer traits of all three styles for My Life My Way, while simultaneously making the band sound as big and heavy as sonically possible. Roger Miret's distinctive vocals -- which are delivered in more of a yowl than a growl -- are straining but remain powerful, and even (gasp!) melodic at times. Other than the occasional big hook, there are only a few departures from the usual steady riffing. “A Mi Manera” is sung entirely in Spanish, and the killer cut “That’s Life” revives the haphazard fury of the early years in under a minute-twenty, as Miret yells “Who fucking cares!?” Agnostic Front's devoted fan base, that's who. ~ Jason Lymangrover, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	Mar 22, 2011 Hardcore 34:09 Nuclear Blast Freddy Cricien

Bad Brains - Build a Nation (2007)

2011-08-31T00:40:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Give Thanks and Praises

2. Jah People Make the World Go Round

3. Pure Love

4. Natty Dreadlocks 'pon the Mountain Top

5. Build a Nation

6. Expand Your Soul

7. Jah Love

8. Let There Be Angels (Just Like You)

9. Universal Peace

10. Roll On

11. Until Kingdom Comes

12. In the Beginning

13. Send You No Flowers

14. Peace Be Unto Thee

Considering that the Beastie Boys were a fledgling punk group before they were rappers and MCA (Adam Yauch) was often seen slam-dancing front and center at Bad Brains' legendary early performances, he would seem the perfect candidate to produce and resurrect the newly reunited group. In truth, he does a fantastic job capturing Bad Brains on Build a Nation, and they rock nearly as hard as they did in their glory days before they switched to funk metal -- Yauch explained that his goal was to replicate the raw sound that he remembers from their live shows and the first self-titled Reach Out International Records tape. Although the group recalls some of its best hardcore roots with an added concrete-shattering low end not found in a lot of its early recordings, the problem is that frontman H.R. simply doesn't have the energy or larynx that he once did, and has to resort to a lower octave and sing in an Anthony Kiedis "Give It Away" vocal style. But who can blame him? It was over 25 years ago when he unleashed his furious shriek and wide array of spastic crooning voices, and it takes a young man's fire to spew microphone venom with that ferocity. Often, he moans his vocal lines in an imitation Lee Perry reggae voice (even on the punkier songs) and has to resort to a lot more studio trickery and delays to make up for his lack of dynamics.

This washy style of singing doesn't always feel completely appropriate, but it fits perfectly when the Brains flip the switch to their reggae grooves, which now sound more authentic than ever. This should be no surprise since their last album consisted of only dub music, and their yellow, red, and green album art looks remarkably like a Marley bootleg with a track listing that includes "Natty Dreadlocks 'Pon the Mountaintop" and "Jah People Make the World Go Round." Since the album was recorded at the B-Boys' Oscilloscope Laboratories, many of the reggae numbers have elements of the Beasties' instrumentals on The Mix Up; it sounds like keyboardist-for-hire Jamie Saft may have borrowed Money Mark's organ while Yauch added some of the percussive instruments laying around the room for a few numbers. Even when the washed-out dubby vocals coincide with thrashing guitars, the heavy songs work remarkably well, too. The combination of the two styles makes for an interesting result, especially in "Let There Be Angels (Just Like You)" and "Universal Peace." While Bad Brains never quite match the intensity of their early days, this is easily the best record they've released since Quickness, and maybe even since I Against I. Fans of H.R., Gary, Darryl, and Earl should be happy to hear that they're finally back on track and sounding relevant again. ~ Jason Lymangrover, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	June 26, 2007 Hardcore punk, reggae, punk metal 37:34 Megaforce Records Adam Yauch

Bad Brains - I & I Survived (2002)

2011-08-31T00:24:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Jah Love

2. Overdub

3. How Low Can a Punk Get?

4. I & I Survive

5. Cowboy

6. Gene Machine

7. Ghetto

8. Rally

9. September

10. Ragga Dub

11. Gene Machine (remix)

12. I & I Survived (Shiner Massive Mix)

It probably won't come as a huge surprise to fans of this hardcore band that they've released their first full-length dub recording. After all, Bad Brains have proven in the past to be adept at reggae as well as punk. Their relatively straightforward approach to dub isn't particularly otherworldly or eccentric, but this album is a solid effort even if it doesn't break a lot of new ground. The band sounds quite comfortable with this format (including Darryl Jenifer's melodica playing). Altoist Peter Pittner, tenor saxophonist David CasT, and trumpeter Greg Glassman effectively enhance the sound on tracks such as "Jah Love" and "Ghetto"; Ray Chinna lends some flavor to the mix with his vox guitar on "Ghetto" and "September"; and the other guest musicians are also in good form. You can entertain yourself by picking out traces of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in "Cowboys," the Indian influences on "Ragga Dub," the traces of hard guitar rock on the group's dub version of their punk classic "How Low Can a Punk Get," and the vocal samples on various tracks. Or you can just mellow out and enjoy the mostly relaxing groove. The enhanced CD includes a small amount of footage of the band and some brief comments of praise from musicians such as Perry Farrell (who describes his music as a cross between Duke Ellington and Bad Brains), Billy Corgan, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Flea. ~ Todd Kristel, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	November 26, 2002 Dub, reggae, punk rock, instrumental 53:54 Reggae Lounge Darryl Jenifer & Gary Miller

Bad Brains - God of Love (1995)

2011-08-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01. Cool Mountainneer

02. Justice Keepers

03. Long Time

04. Right Of A Child

05. God Of Love

06. Overs The Water

07. Tongue Tee Tie

08. Darling I Need You

09. To The Heavens

10. Thank Jah

11. Big Fun

12. How I Love Thee

For God of Love, Bad Brains' first album for Madonna's label Maverick, the original lineup of the group reunited. Presumably, this was for the reported multi-million dollar record contracted -- which was offered after the success of Green Day and the Beastie Boys -- and not because the band had any great love for each other; during the supporting tour, HR slugged their manager and left the group, only to return within a week. Ric Ocasek, the producer of their breakthrough Rock for Light, also returned to produce the record. However, just because all the original participants returned, it didn't mean the sound or the inspiration returned. God of Love was flat and unenergetic. It failed to have an impact and faded from view soon after its release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : : :	May 23, 1995 Alternative rock, reggae, heavy metal 47:50 Maverick Records Ric Ocasek

Bad Brains - Rise (1993)

2011-08-30T23:51:00.001-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Rise

2. Miss Freedom

3. Unidentified

4. Love Is The Answer

5. Free

6. Hair

7. Coming In Numbers

8. Yes Jah

9. Take Your Time

10. Peace Of Mind

11. Without You

12. Outro

Bad Brains took longer than most bands do to reach the majors (that is, among those that ever do), and by now they are very different from the group that made its debut with a self-titled cassette on ROIR in 1982. As heard on Rise, they are basically a thrash metal band with elements of rap and reggae. In other words, they're fairly trendy. Meanwhile, of course, they're now playing in a bigger league, and their competition includes everyone from Metallica to Public Enemy, against whom they come off as reasonable competition, but no more. Hope they got a big advance and didn't spend it all in one place. ~ William Ruhlmann, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Label Producer	: : : :	August 17, 1993 Hardcore punk Epic Records Beau Hill

Bad Brains - Quickness (1989)

2011-08-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01. Soul Craft

02. Voyage Into Infinity

03. The Messengers

04. With The Quickness

05. Gene Machine-Don't Bother Me

06. Don't Blow Bubbles

07. Sheba

08. Yout' Juice

09. No Conditions

10. Silent Tears

11. The Prophet's Eye

12. Endtro

This is an interesting, if not entirely successful detour into funk-metal for the band that pioneered Rastafarian hard-core punk. Everything is slowed down here, and the sonic textures have thickened considerably. Drummer Earl Hudson delivers both ponderous, stomping metal rhythms and funked-up grooves, while Dr. Know gets to show off his chops a bit more than he has in the past. The religious messages have, if anything, gotten more mystical and less coherent -- song titles like "Soul Craft," "Voyage into Infinity," and "Messengers" give you an idea of what to expect. "Don't Blow Bubbles" may or may not be a slightly homophobic cautionary tale for the age of AIDS, and "Sheba" appears to be a paean to King Solomon's wife (a perennial favorite subject for reggae musicians). As on I Against I, reggae is given short shrift on this album. In fact, the only reggae rhythm to be found at all is on "The Prophet's Eye," an awkward tune that feels tacked onto the album's end. Fans will defend it, and Quickness is by no means a failure, but it's also far from being Bad Brains' best work. ~Rick Anderson, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	September 14, 1989 Hardcore punk 33:52 Caroline Records

Bad Brains - I Against I (1986)

2011-08-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. I Against I

3. House of Suffering

4. Re-Ignition

5. Secret 77

6. Let Me Help

7. She's Calling You

8. Sacred Love

9. Hired Gun

10. Return to Heaven

I Against I was for Bad Brains what London Calling was for the Clash -- the band's first fully mature work, one which successfully brought together all of its diverse influences while at the same time showcasing a singular vision. Also like London Calling, it was to be the band's masterpiece, in the original sense of that term -- a creative pinnacle which they would not reach again. The album opens with the title track, a blistering and musically exhilarating deploration of violence, and then moves directly into "House of Suffering," easily the most complex and yet viscerally compelling song the band ever produced. Singer H.R. digs deep into his bag of voices and pulls them all out, one by one: the frightening nasal falsetto that was his signature in the band's hardcore days, an almost bel canto baritone, and a declamatory speed-rap chatter that spews lyrics with the mechanical precision of a machine gun. He positively croons on the surprisingly melodic "Secret 77" and "Let Me Help." But his voice isn't even the best thing happening here. It's the incredibly tight, funky, and tonally rich interplay between guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson that gives this album its deeply satisfying texture. The stop/start rhythms of "Secret 77" and "Sacred Love," the gorgeous guitar hook on "She's Calling You," Dr. Know's completely counterintuitive ability to meld the raw directness of hardcore punk with an almost supernatural virtuosity without sacrificing the power of either approach -- this is music-making of an order not usually seen in rock & roll. ~ Rick Anderson, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	November 1986 Hardcore punk 31:53 SST Records

Bad Brains - Rock for Light (1983)

2011-08-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Big Takeover

2. Attitude

3. Right Brigade

4. Joshua's Song

5. I and I Survive

6. Banned in D.C.

7. Supertouch

8. Destroy Babylon

9. F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers)

10. The Meek

11. I

12. Coptic Times

13. Sailin' On

14. Rock for Light

15. Rally Round Jah Throne

16. At the Movies

17. Riot Squad

18. How Low Can a Punk Get?

19. We Will Not

20. Jam

After the tinny sound quality of the band's debut, the second Bad Brains album came as a real blast of sonic fresh air. Producer Ric Ocasek is largely responsible, but the increased tightness and focus are also a function of maturation. This band was a weird bundle of contradictions from day one: black Rastafarian instrumental virtuosos playing hardcore punk, formerly the exclusive domain of white, aggressively atheist musical amateurs. That last contradiction would come to full musical flower on I Against I, but Rock for Light shows the band at the height of its punk energy. "P.M.A.," "Joshua's Song," and "Coptic Times" are typical examples of Bad Brains' unique blend of punk velocity and Rasta ideology. When they suddenly swing into mellow reggae (on "I and I Survive," "The Meek," "Rally 'Round Jah Throne," and the dubwise instrumental "Jam"), the effect is like some kind of pleasant musical whiplash. The 1990 CD reissue of this album was remixed by Ocasek and bassist Darryl Jenifer, and it includes several bonus tracks. ~ Rick Anderson, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	1983 Hardcore punk, reggae 38:18 PVC Records

Bad Brains - Self-titled (1982)

2011-08-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Sailin' On

2. Don't Need It

3. Attitude

4. The Regulator

5. Banned in D.C.

6. Jah Calling

7. Supertouch/Shitfit

8. Leaving Babylon

9. F.V.K. (Fearless Vampire Killers)

10. I

11. Big Take Over

12. Pay to Cum

13. Right Brigade

14. I Luv I Jah

15. Intro

For fans of hardcore, many would agree that the holy grail of the genre is Bad Brains' self-titled album, originally released back in 1982 as a cassette-only release on ROIR. The ensuing years after its initial release haven't dulled the album's fury and rage in the least, and it's still impressive how the band can switch gears from red-hot hardcore to cool reggae dubs in the blink of an eye. All the classics are here: "Sailin' On," "Banned in D.C.," "Pay to Cum," "Right Brigade," as well as one of their strongest reggae tunes, "I Luv I Jah." The back of the album boasts a quote from the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, which sums up the proceedings simply, "the best punk/hardcore album of all time." [Although Bad Brains was available on CD on the now-defunct In Effect label in the late '80s (then titled Attitude: The ROIR Sessions with a different album cover), it's since been remastered and re-released with its original cover, as well as an untitled bonus track added at the end.] ~ Greg Prato, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	Feb 1982 Hardcore punk 33:56 ROIR

Pulley - Matters (2004)

2011-08-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01 A Bad Reputation

02 Blindfold

03 Huber Breeze

04 Insects Destroy

05 Looking Back

06 Poltergeist

07 Immune

08 YSC

09 Stomach Aches

10 I Remember

11 Suitcase

12 Thanks

On its fifth album, Simi Valley's Pulley delivers its most impressive batch of tunes to date. Matters is one forceful melodic anthem after another, be it "Huber Breeze," which fuses the trademarks of SoCal skatepunk with Beach Boys-derived harmonies, or the charged, angsty "A Bad Reputation." Producer Matt Hyde may be credited for injecting new life into a band that was sounding trite as of 2001's Together Again for the First Time, but frontman Scott Radinsky and guitarist Mike Harder are the main creative culprits, building infectious, innovative material like "YSC," which puts a bluesy spin on nostalgic punk, and the memorable, appreciative ballad "Thanks." Still, "Insects Destroy," former major-label pitcher Radinsky's parting shot at the greedy sports world he left behind, has to be the fiery best of what is easily Pulley's most respectable release yet. ~ John D. Luerssen, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	April 6, 2004 Punk rock 33:35 Epitaph Records

Pulley - Together Again for the First Time (2001)

2011-08-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. In Search

2. Hooray For Me

3. History Repeats Itself

4. Fuel

5. Empty

6. Lost Trip

7. Touched

8. Runaway

9. The Ocean Song

10. Destiny

11. Leather Face

12. Same Sick Feeling

13. Silenced

From the opening riff, it's obvious the listener is in for one hell of a ride. It's been two years since Pulley's last album, and in the interim guitarist Jim has departed, thus the title Together Again for the First Time. But being reduced to a quartet has not diminished the band's sound in the least; in fact, Pulley sounds stronger and tighter than ever. The album is packed with a baker's dozen of tracks that crackle with energy, and the production (by Ryan Greene and the band itself) captures the excitement of its stageshow and pulls it directly into the studio. A non-stop barrage of blistering tracks, all clocking in at just over two minutes, this is Pulley at its most frenetic. However, that doesn't mean melodies and harmonies have been thrown to the wind; if anything the hooks are brighter, and the songs more anthemic. The themes remain diverse, but mostly personal, the lyrics sharp and conveying deep emotions in just a few words. "Long Lost Trip" is particularly notable, etching the futility of living one's life by others' values, "Sick Feeling" is a taut vignette of a dying relationship, "In Search" is about one in trouble, while the exuberant "Hooray for Me" is a celebration of bandhood with a bluegrass tinge. They're right, it is just like the first time, only better. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	October 9, 2001 Punk rock 29:56 Epitaph Records

Pulley - Self-titled (1999)

2011-08-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Working Class Whore

2. Soberbeah

3. Pie

4. Gone

5. Over It

6. Darkside

7. Nothing To Lose

8. Second Best

9 Just For Me

10. Dog's Life

11. Sick

12. Intro - Outro

The members of Pulley spent more time together in the studio crafting their third album than any of their previous records, and it shows -- Pulley is their tightest, hardest-hitting album yet. There is little of the jokey, throwaway humor that popped up on their debut; nearly all the lyrics deal with the sort of inward-looking angst that punk-influenced bands like Husker Du and Nirvana popularized. Even if there can be a certain sameness to some of the melodic progressions, Pulley overall is a workmanlike effort from seasoned veterans who have learned how to work together and have been making this sort of music for a long time. ~ Steve Huey, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	March 23, 1999 Punk rock 29:50 Epitaph Records

Pulley - 60 Cycle Hum (1997)

2011-08-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01. If

02. Locked Away

03. Havasu

04. Reality

05. Mandingo

06. Scab

07. Where Are You Now

08. Hold On

09. Padded Cell 4 Walls (Pt. 2)

10. Noddin' Off

11. Separated

12. What

13. Endless Journey

14. Outside Opinion

Pulley's second album, 60 Cycle Hum, continues in much the same vein as its predecessor, albeit with a bit more focus and consistency. Not every song hits the mark, but running through 14 in 28 minutes guarantees that any missteps are strictly short-duration. ~ Steve Huey, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	October 7, 1997 Punk rock 26:09 Epitaph

Pulley - Esteem Driven Engine (1996)

2011-08-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :

01 Cashed In
02 Crawl
03 Eyes Open Wide
04 Wok Inn
05 Four Walls
06 One Shot
07 Barf
08 She
09 Lifer
10 No Defense
11 Silver Tongue Devil
12 S.F.B.I.H.Y.D.
13 Seain' Different
14 All We Have

Like any supergroup project, Pulley's Esteem Driven Engine has its moments of excitement, particularly when the band locks together and delivers a surging post-hardcore punk rush. However, there are large stretches of Esteem Driven Engine where Pulley simply flail away, wallowing in the jokey adolescent humor of "Barf" and "Wok Inn" or make noise just for the sake of it. Unfortunately, the band's noise is neither cathartic or invigorating -- it's simply there, occasionally pulling you in with the accidental catchy hook. In other words, even sixth-generation punk rockers aren't immune from the perils of a supergroup. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	October 8, 1996 Punk rock 35:49 Epitaph Records

U.S Bombs - We Are the Problem (2006)

2011-08-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. We Are The Problem

2. Get Me Wrong

3. Do It Again

4. Revolution Weekend

5. Heartbreak Motel

6. 4th Of July

7. Destroy The Nation

8. Hammered Again

9. Last Dischord

10. Like You

11. Locked In My Skin

12. Guns Of The West

13. Back Inside

14. Tonight

15. Cheers

Fronted by skateboarding star Duane Peters, the U.S. Bombs have been keeping the punk spirit of 1977 alive since the early 1990s. This 2006 release finds them sticking close to their roots in a lively set of anthemic punk rock that recalls the ... Full Descriptionglory days of the Clash on "Guns of the West" and "Heartbreak Motel," early-'80s rabble-rousing Sham 69 on "Last Dischord," and the boozy camaraderie of the Pogues on "Tonight."

U.S. Bombs: Duane Peters (vocals); Kerry Martinez (guitar, harmonica, piano, bajon, bass guitar); Curl Stitch (guitar); Jamie Reidling (drums).

Additional personnel: Doug Summers (piano); Andy Dahill, Zander Schloss (bass guitar).

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Album Info Released Genre Label Producer	: : : :	April 4, 2006 Punk rock Disaster Records Duane Peters; Kerry Martinezs

U.S Bombs - Covert Actiont (2003)

2011-08-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01 Roll Around

02 Shot Down

03 Youth Goes

04 Croatia Breaks

05 Framed

06 John Gottie

07 The Gow

08 Art Kills

09 Lab Rats

10 Majestic Twelve

11 In & Out

12 Faith Of Marie

13 American Made

The punk nihilistic attitude is surely still evident on the U.S. Bombs' fourth release for Hellcat Records. What's more prevalent, however, is the political tone the album takes in reaction to the events of 9/11 and the sphere of influence involving the federal government. The tune "Framed" is surely a controversial song if there ever was one. In the song, the band suggests that the government was actually responsible for the crime and proceeded to frame Timothy McVeigh. This is followed up by "John Gottie," in which the band believes that the government might be better off run by the mob. Subject matter such as this will no doubt be tough for people to swallow, even some in the punk scene. Musically, though, the band hasn't strayed too far from the sound it has become known for: a dash of the Clash, some street-smart Boston punk (lead singer Duane Peters sounding vaguely similar to Dicky Barrett doesn't hurt the association), the Sex Pistols, and a good number of Hellcat and Fat Wreck bands. The U.S. Bombs certainly can't be faulted for being an engaging and challenging band. This style of punk, while seeming outdated at first listen, reveals itself to have more depth than the traditional '70s punk album possessed. The additional ska influences help spice things up, too. In the midst of its career, it's nice to see a band reinvent itself, whether musically or lyrically. The U.S. Bombs seem to be doing a fine job on both accounts. ~ Kurt Morris, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Label Producer	: : : :	Mar 11, 2003 Punk rock Epitaph Records U.S. Bombs; Darian Rundall

U.S Bombs - Back at the Laundromat (2001)

2011-08-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01. Tora Tora Tora!

02. Die Alone

03. The Rubber Room

04. Lunch in a Sack

05. Blood Rag

06. New Killer

07. Cirenda

08. The Contract

09. The Wig Out

10. Rumble Fishers

11. Yer Country

12. Good Night

Never was there a truer cliché than the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, something the U.S. Bombs have been confirming since the release of their debut single, "Scouts of America," back in 1995. Reduce the band's sound to its constituent pieces, and you're left with heaps of rifled old-school punk riffs, guitar leads, and rhythms littered across the floor. Glue them back together, and you'd have one killer British punk compilation, but what would be missing is the ephemeral modern sensibility that the group brings to all their tracks. So, in reality, you've heard all of Back at the Laundromat before, but never like this. Opening with a military tattoo ripped straight from the digits of Stiff Little Fingers, in quick order the Bombs splatter the tracks with note-perfect punk recreations, spurred by the same sense of nihilism that fired the original bands. What sets them apart from being generic old-school copyists is their predilection for slamming together riffs and rhythms from distinctly different sources. Take the anthemic "Die Alone," for example: a shotgun wedding between the Pistols' signature riff and a blushing Clash-esque lead guitar, it's sheer brilliance. Drummer Chip Hanna's SLF fixation makes for some equally unexpected but fabulous bedfellows, notably on "Cirenda," where the Ulstermen's beat bangs straight into a shoutalong Sham 69. And for the patriotic, America's own New York Dolls are an equally obvious influence. And so it goes, across a dozen melody-driven, high-energy anthems that are sure to set your pulse racing. Lyrically, too, the Bombs take their cue from the old school, as Duane Peters spits and growls his discontent. The music industry gets several good kickings, as does blind patriotism, fashion, and even disco. Yet unlike many of their new-school contemporaries, the band are not so much politicized as disgruntled; in their world, nihilism still rules with all the frenzied fun that inevitably entails. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Label Producer	: : : :	Mar 20, 2001 Punk rock Hellcat Records U.S. Bombs

U.S Bombs - The World (1999)

2011-08-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1 The World

2 Goin' Out

3 Yanks & Rebs

4 Bombs Not Food

5 Isolated Ones

6 Skater Dater

7 Hobroken Dreams

8 Don't Take It Back

9 New Approach

10 Billy Club

11 Checkpoint

12 76ixties

13 Nothin' On Us

14 Joe's Tune

15 So In Fuck With You

16 Salute The Dead

17 Madagascar

18 Not Enough

Righteously angry but not without humor, the U.S. Bombs offer up more retro British punk with The World, a crackling collection of anthems that bears so much resemblance to early Clash at times that it's a shock to hear Duane Peters' careful Joe Strummer imitation intoning "I'm proud to be an American" on "Yanks & Rebs," even if he is being sarcastic. Still, in spite of the formula, the cuts that ape the Clash's sense of political outrage are the strongest here; songs about skateboards, motorcycles, and sex just don't hit quite as hard when they sit next to passionate declamations against war and poverty (even if it's rather easy to be against both of those). And with the extended, gentle opening of "Hobroken Dreams," the band proves that it has a few tricks of its own. Overall, though, one can't help but detect a certain sameness to the proceedings the longer the album plays. ` Steve Huey, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Label Producer	: : : :	Jun 15, 1999 Punk rock Hellcat Records Fletcher Dragge

U.S Bombs - War Birth (1997)

2011-08-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01 That's Life

02 Orange Crunch

03 Jaks

04 Warstoryville

05 12/25

06 Outta Touch

07 U.s. Of Hate

08 War Birth

09 Hand Me The Downs

10 Rocks In Memphis

11 Beetle Boot

12 Her & Me

13 Don't Need You

14 No Company Town

Huntington Beach Punk

Personnel: Duane Peters (vocals); Chuck Briggs, Kerry Martinez (guitar, background vocals); Chip Hanna (drums, background vocals); Wade Walston (background vocals).

Recording information: Music Box Studios, Hollywood, CA.

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	September 1997 Punk rock 40:41 Hellcat Records

U.S Bombs - Never Mind the Opened Minds (1997)

2011-08-24T02:39:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

1. Sex Machine

2. Ballad of Sid

3. Slow Down

4. Neverland

5. Outside, The

6. Go Back Home - (EP version)

7. Retreads - (EP version)

8. U.S. Bombs

9. Call Box

10. Ballad of Sid - (reprise)

The title (and the "dedicated to the memory of Sid Vicious" inscription) aren't the only indicators that these guys hold the Sex Pistols in high regard. The music is anthemic guitar punk with vitriolic vocals and regular choruses, though it's not bound to make anyone forget the original article. ~ Richie Unterberger, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	Jan. 1997 Punk rock 27:12 Alive Records Patrick Boissel, U.S. Bombs

U.S Bombs - Garibaldi Guard! (1996)

2011-08-24T01:55:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:
01 Intro

02 All The Bodies

03 The Deadly Kiss

04 Rumble Beach

05 Spaghetti

06 Bon Voyage

07 Retreads

08 Monsters

09 Dont Wanna Go

10 Underdog

11 No Love

12 Go Back Home

13 Not Alright

14 Walking Dead

Their debut album for Alive Records.

Illustrator: Paul Mavrides.

Photographer: Patrick Boissel.

Personnel: Chuck Briggs, Kerry Martinez (vocals, guitar); Duane Peters (vocals); Alex Gomez (drums).

Recording information: Music Box Recording Studio, Hollywood, CA.

Alternative Press (1/97, p.85) - 4 (out of 5) - "...They scream their way through GARIBALDI GUARD like '77 never ended, determined to rebuild their faith, to make good on the promises Billy Idol, Joe Strummer and John Lydon couldn't keep....[authentic] because some of these guys are old enough to have been contemporaries of their own influences..."

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Album Info Released Genre Label Producer	: : : :	April 1996 Punk rock Alive Records Patrick Boissel; U.S. Bombs

U.S Bombs - Put Strength in the Final Blow (1995)

2011-08-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:
01 Time Is Loose (Intro)
02 World On The Run
03 The Way It Is
04 Holly Cost
05 Mob Family
06 Bubble Gum
07 Just A Mess
08 Dime Runner
09 Demolition Girl
10 Walking Blind
11 Rockets
12 All The Fun
13 Academy
14 Rumble Beach (Live)

This revisited version of Put Strength in the Final Blow: The Disaster Edition appears on Duane Peters' own Disaster imprint. It features updated artwork, a clutch of entertaining liner notes from Peters himself (including the history behind each song), remixed versions of nine tracks from the original release, as well as the U.S. Bombs' debut 7", which fell out of print after its original pressing of 1,000. All of this makes Put Strength essential for any U.S. Bombs supporter. But the record can also act as a primer for anyone wondering just what Peters and his band are all about. The reverb, overdubbing, and general 1990s malaise of the album's first go-round have been replaced with a newfound tautness -- "Mob Family" and "The Way It Is" snap to like a newly-shortened hangman's rope. In fact, the drier sound employed here makes the U.S. Bombs sound even more like their 1977 punk heroes. Peters' Johnny Rotten/Joe Strummer sneer is fine-tuned to the syllable. His leering of "baby boomer sluts" (from "Holly Cost") sails like a loogie over muscular backing vocals -- throw in the slashing guitar of Kerry Martinez, and all of a sudden it's London's Marquee Club setting up shop at the bottom of a California half-pipe. "Bubble Gum" genuflects faithfully to The Clash, while "All The Fun" and "Academy" (both from the 1994 debut) will make you hide the good china for fear of smashing it in an impromptu living room mosh-pit. The U.S. Bombs are derivative, sure. But their admiration/emulation of their heroes is admirable, especially when the results are this solid. Besides, you can't fault a guy as honest as Peters. Referring to "Rocket" in the liners, he gets close to defining what's great about the U.S. Bombs: "Same old s*** as later," he writes. "Cool as hell song, but you know/Worlds ending/Live now/Quit watching yer [sic] T.V.s/Blah blah, nobody cares, HAH! I dig it though!" ~ Johnny Loftus, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Label	: : :	1995 Punk rock Disaster Records

Hot Water Music - The New What Next (2004)

2011-08-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:
1. Poison
2. The End Of The Line
3. All Heads Down
4. My Little Monkey Wrench
5. Under Everything
6. There Are Already Roses
7. Keep It Together
8. The Ebb And Flow
9. Bottomless Seas
10. Ink And Lead
11. This Early Grave
12. Giver

New What Next's "Keep It Together" sounds like vintage Afghan Whigs, and maybe that's all you need to know about Hot Water Music's third Epitaph effort. The vets from the FLA have added a further postscript to their post-hardcore rumble, veering into a melodic yet slightly jaded maturity resembling that of Gentlemen-era Whigs. The Alkaline Trio's catchy, punky fatalism is another touchstone for what New What Next offers; Hot Water Music also provides a few satisfying holdovers from their early-2000s output. (The stinging double-time clap of "This Early Grave," for example.) But in the melodic meantime, "Under Every Thing" and "All Heads Down" back up "Together" with tense and cynical barbed wire meditations. Distant guitar sustain wrangles around a prickly ride cymbal as Chris Wollard and Chuck Ragan harmonize on the latter's lyrical venom. "All I ask is how we carry on/Tricked and blind, raped and robbed"; "...In the end, you're on your own" -- are they referring to government dirty tricks, or a more personally cynical world view? The latter seems truer given HWM's somewhat trying existence, band fragmentation and underappreciation being two big issues. "Poison"'s latent Fugazi-isms are softened by echoing Brian McTernan production and plaintive lead vocals, "End of the Line" is a rawer, seasoned-rocker version of the rager being written by every junior varsity Warped Tour hopeful, and "My Little Monkey Wrench" is as touching a love letter as the underground has in 2004. Veterans always endure adversity at some point; the pros put it back into their music, and Hot Water Music certainly has. What's come next is more controlled and sobering, and shows signs of the lives they've lived around the hard core. ~ Johnny Loftus, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	September 21, 2004 Punk rock 39:17 Epitaph Brian McTernan

Hot Water Music - A Flight and a Crash (2001)

2011-08-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:
01 A Flight and a Crash
02 Jack of All Trades
03 Paper Thin
04 Instrumental
05 Swinger
06 A Clear Line
07 Choked and Separated
08 Old Rules
09 Sons and Daughters
10 Sunday Suit
11 She Takes it So Well
12 One More Time
13 In the Gray
14 Call it Trashing
15 So Many Days
A Flight and a Crash doesn't represent a radical departure for Hot Water Music, but it is somewhat different from their past efforts. The group's sound, which reminds one of bands such as Leatherface and Avail, is still reasonably intact; one can still hear Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard's intense, gravelly vocals over their crisp, melodic guitars and the tight rhythm section of George Rebelo and Jason Black, and the lyrics still convey a sincere, confessional quality without succumbing to self-pity. This time, however, the singers sound a bit smoother and there is less interplay between them. Also, the band sounds more polished, the guitars sound warmer, the production sounds slicker, and the songs seem more intricate and varied (although they still flow together well). The songs don't have as much of a singalong anthemic quality as some of the band's previous material, but there are some well-placed shouts on "Jack of All Trades," for example. There are catchy numbers such as "Paper Thin" and even a ballad, "She Takes It," that manages to integrate Ragan and Wollard's scratchy singing with acoustic and steel guitar. Some fans may prefer an album that sounds faster, heavier, and rougher than this one, but others will enjoy this solid collection of songs from a band who continues to refine their craft. ~ Todd Kristel, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	June 5, 2001 Punk rock 39:17 Epitaph Brian McTernan

Hot Water Music - No Division (1999)

2011-08-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :
01 Alachua
02 Never Ender
03 Tradition
04 The Bitter End
05 You Can Take the Boy Out of Bradenton
06 Hate Mail Comes in August
07 Elektra
08 Things on a Dashboard
09 Powder
10 Us & Chuck
11 Loft
12 Sound For Language

The fourth full-length from this post-rock/hardcore/punk rock quartet is really just more of the same, but the same really isn't so bad. Those who love the band will certainly find it appealing, but those who were drawn in by earlier efforts will probably notice that the styles start to get a bit tired and that this record is at times a rehash of previous outings. With chugging guitars, plenty of energy, throaty screamed vocals, and no overwhelming hooks, the opening "Southeast First" is a pretty clear indication of what is to come. Amidst the usual crunchy noise, there are some interesting new guitar sounds the group experiments with on this record, and there are also some interesting new song structures given a preliminary run-through. From straight punk rock efforts to much more restrained and laid-back numbers, Hot Water Music made this record with no pretenses, and while it doesn't succeed in all aspects, they certainly couldn't be bothered. Triumphantly declaring their feelings on the endearing "Our Own Way," the band explains, "Who gives a f*ck what anybody says/We'll live and love until we're dead/Holding on to what we've come to know." HWM exist in a unique niche, and those who have grown to love it will certainly accept this album into loving arms. It isn't as strong as the records that preceded it, but, at the end of the day, anything this band has to offer is still a lot more honest and explosive than what most of their peers have. ~ Peter J. D'Angelo, AMG

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	August 10, 1999 Punk rock 34:50 Some Walter Schreifels/div>

Hot Water Music - Fuel for the Hate Game (1998)

2011-08-12T03:36:00.001-07:00

Tracklist:

01 220 Years

02 Turnstile

03 Black Jaw

04 Trademark

05 Freightliner

06 The Sleeping Fan

07 Fancing And Backing

08 Rock Singer

09 North And About

10 Difference Engine

11 Drunken Third

The second, and arguably best release from Gainsville's Hot Water Music, is this driving LP that opens with five of the best tracks the band has ever recorded. Swinging, complicated basslines and the throaty vocal screams of singers Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard punctuate pummeling tracks like the opening "220 Years" and the fantastic "Trademark." The crunching dual guitars never let up, and the drumming is strikingly hard and original, only adding to the overall power of the record. Fuel for the Hate Game is raw and unrelenting, but it is also a refreshing release of energy, and an infectious one at that. This is the record that saw the band rise to the top of the hardcore/punk scene, and, years after its release, it is still as deserving of credit as it ever was. The tail end of the album starts to drag off a bit, a slight move downhill that some might say continued on ever since this record, but it doesn't take away from the unyielding rock that makes up the majority of the 11 tracks included. Many have copied but none have really achieved the urgency and integrity of this record, making Fuel for the Hate Game a truly standout recording. ~ Allmusic, Peter J. D'Angelo

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	October 19, 1998 Punk rock, hard rock 41:02 Toybox/No Idea Hot Water Music

Hot Water Music - Forever and Counting (1997)

2011-08-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :

01 Translocation

02 Better Sense

03 Just Don't Say You Lost It

04 Position

05 Rest Assured

06 Manual

07 Minno

08 Three Summers Strong

09 Man the Change

10 Western Grace

Hot Water Music's third studio LP lacks some of the infectious energy and catchy songcrafting of previous releases, but at points still manages to impress. The opening track "Translocation" is definitely a high point, with soaring vocals and a spacious feel that allows the band to really exercise their emotional rock muscles. The familiar themes of righteousness and perseverance are all over Forever and Counting, and the entire effort seems a bit more nicely polished than the earlier records, but the downside is a bit less energy and there are fewer truly unforgettable songs. There's more of a focus on melodic singing this time around, but the screams are still there to balance it out, and musically the band is as heavy as ever. The rhythms may be more complicated than before, and while there are plenty of disjointed changes to keep things interesting, the band's knack for vibrant post-hardcore hooks falls to the wayside as this record wears on. Like Hot Water Music's previous recordings, this record starts to drift off by the halfway mark, something that's more than a little disappointing for a band of this musical caliber. Still, the strength of tracks like "Just Don't Say You Lost It" and "Better Sense" make for an enjoyable listening experience and an exuberant emotional release, and this record still sees the band at the top of their game before some of their slightly less appealing releases flooded the market. Peter J. D'Angelo, All Music Guide

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	October 28, 1997 Punk rock 37:54 Doghouse Hot Water Music

Hot Water Music - Finding the Rhythms (1996)

2011-07-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Scraping
2. The Passing
3. Floor
4. Counting Numbers
5. Liquid America
6. Bound
7. Arms Can't Stretch
8. Practice in Blue
9. Incisions
10. Recliner
11. Present
12. Eating the Filler

The lately disbanded HMW have had an odd previous moment, as their music careers run. Beginning during the first nineties using a veer of EPs, 7-inch singles, also scarce vinyl/split/collectors' piece releases, they in the end bought it collectively on two single times on the first half of 1995 on the way to record the songs that form up Finding The Rhythms, their primary official full length album. Later, they'd go on to launch more than a few other full length albums, a b-sides collection, an insane quantity of singles/EPs etc. and a number of other split recordings along with different bands, including a short break-up on the late 90's which prefaced the recording of their live album, after which finally, the latest break-up this year. Though, Finding The Rhythms is where their signature seem began to truly turn into obvious, and also the songwriting thoroughly started to gel.

HWM's sound has continually been something like a strong rhythm part, and that is clear just with the get-go. George Rebelo can be described as monster at the back of the equipment, together with his hard, strong beats being improved by various wild fills that fit in flawlessly along his mad bass pedal exertion (you will find unusual moments over the album where it nearly seems like he is utilizing double bass pedals, however I do know for the truth he by no means has utilized them, so that could present you with a thought along the skill mixed up right here!). Jason Black might be one of the most underrated bassists around the world of punk rock. Not at all satisfied just sit back and stay on the guitars, Black continuously peppers his playing with bass chords, extreme fretboard runs, high-pitched sequences of hammer-ons and pull-offs, and sometimes even harmonizes by the guitars, with his bass as a lead instrument as often a rhythm one. Though softly delivered, his basslines will always be audible and enhance the melodies and rhythms flawlessly.

One more crucial level of HMW's style still, may be the guitar beat of Chuck Ragan plus Chris Wollard. The guitarwork is often quite simplistic, with the powerchordy type of generally melodic punk, and also smooth harmonies, one/two note riffs, gently pulled out clear passages, and a few quantity of lead composition too. Fortunately, they do not often stay on the former ordinary of one doing rhythm and single doing lead. Chris and Chuck often trade roles, at times each doing lead, or in additional chaotic moments, together playing fully diverse guitar lines that be tied together, without it fairly being clear whether there's any rhythm guitar inside there at all... Everything makes for quite an authentic and rare sound, and is various enough that it does not turn into fusty or formulaic at any point.

The vocals are shared just about jointly between Chris and Chuck, as per regular, and each utilise the guttural, croaky, however someway melodic singing form they have used over the historical past of this band, through a few good vocal harmonies, and juxtaposed components where both sing something unique. The vocals are slightly rougher than presently works, however not by much. The true surprise, vocally, comes through the performance of bassist Jason Black giving some lines right here and there in The Passing and Bound, and truly taking over full lead vocal roles on Incisions. His vox is extremely not like another two vocalists, as he makes use of a cleaner, vaguely whiney form of singing. It matches effectively with the music, also to anybody who hasn't heard HWM previously, it wouldn't come like a surprise, however to me (somebody who was introduced to the band by way of their newer substance, running backwards), it got slightly getting used to, I must confess.

Though, together using the various material on the hazily individual lyrics, the sound as an entire truly comes as one, particularly in upbeat starter Scraping by its gentle verse to loud refrain dynamics, and also the juggernaut punk stylings of Floor by its enormous harmonious chorus. One other spotlight is Arms Can't Stretch, which begins out subdued and quiet, and steadily builds into an epic masterpiece, by the covered vocals spanning what is basically only one line of lyrics right into a full song. The especially bass-fuelled Practice In Blue may be a mid-paced part integrating the perfect elements of the tracks that predate it, and the next song, Incisions, can be an anthemic work of art, with the frequent chorus of "Keep digging deeper in myself" making to some crescendo on the end. Closer Eating The Filler addresses vacancy and weariness for a really attractive manner, over quite a few different tempos, switching between soft and loud seemlessly, with a fantastic refrain and vocal harmonies also, when the the whole thing however the vocals drop out, it provides an extra good small break for the song. It could go on for about 6 minutes (long enough for a HWM track), however it does not audible half long enough!

Finding The Rhythms is not an ideal record, there are several tracks that do not truly get you like the others, and some thoughts are reiterated a bit right here and there, however not sufficient to clearly annoy the album's flow. Though, single vast point that Hot Water Music have doing for them is that, pretty merely, they do not seem like ANYONE ELSE!

In case you've by no means heard HMW previously, this possibly is not the finest point to begin, however if you are an addict or have a momentary interest, and also you're inquiring regarding what their older substance is like, Finding The Rhythms is pretty much as good a spot to begin as any.

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label	: : : :	1996 Punk rock, hard rock 51:48 Toybox, No Idea

Hot Water Music - Caution (2002)

2011-02-21T05:45:00.000-08:00

Tracklist :
01 Remedy
02 Trusty Chords
03 I Was On A Mountain
04 One Step To Slip
05 It's All Related
06 The Sense
07 Not For Anyone
08 Sweet Disasters
09 Alright For Now
10 We'll Say Anything We Want
11 Wayfarer
12 The End

It's their 2nd album at the Epitaph label, following up last year’s 'A Flight And A Crash'. That record dissatisfied a few of Hot Water Music's huge fan base, which have been joyed through the experience of probation in the songs however unhappy that the Hot Water Music they'd loved was displaced by a band that tuned much less distinctive and fewer focused. People will likely be interested to find out that Hot Water Music have made an album a bit more alike to their former albums in the Doghouse label, although one who utters the creative evolution through 'A Flight And A Crash'. It's slightly just a shocking album which will amuse and unite hardcore kids everywhere.

It's slightly clear that Hot Water Music use a unique tune. The funky rhythms implemented through the drummer and bassist appear to squabble with all the violent riffs of the 2 guitar players, and the untutored vocals appear to quarrel with each instruments and each other. It’s an outcome which takes a few getting utilized but something that works outrageously well.

The band turns out to tour untiring. The years consumed performing in tiny clubs around the world have made them stringent and ingenious, one thing that all the time comes throughout if you play a brand new Hot Water Music record. They sound impressed through this set of songs, which each has an attractive melody and enchanting lyrical theme. The design on the wordplay is usually abstruse, however there's a true talent in integrating frightful imagery with real human senses as the vocalists act here. The singers at all times accomplish as a couple (a method which has spawned many copycats and a number of the world's absolute best bands-Rydell and Hunter Gatherer have each used this taste to nice impact on their first records) and this provides to the tune's effect.

In an album as constantly outstanding as this one it's too complex to pick personal top points, but I’ll try. 'It's All Related' makes use of guitar effects in a identical style to the great Fugazi, however explodes right into a fetching refrain and guitar solo. You'll find nods against to Bad Religion and also ska in this track. It’s the track that comes closest to the sound of the earlier album, cruising among kinds at an alarming rate, however similarly it is probably the most targeted and direct music they have carried out of their career. The next track starts by the two guitarists soloing in tandem, a nod to eighty's metal which is roughly efficient in a quick burst. For a band which are hip underground scenesters they certain do hear various tacky stuff, however they not at all had a way of “cool”, fortunately, so couldn’t probably lose it.

'We’ll Say Anything We Want' belongs to the album's most musically developed tracks, and remembers the 'Fate’s Got A Driver' age of Chamberlain, with its numerous alterations of rhythm and sluggish burning melody.

Some would possibly say that the 'Caution' on the title indicates the truth that Hot Water Music have played it secure in making a hardcore record, instead of making over the experimentations of last year. Most, then again, will amuse that Hot Water Music are nonetheless absolutely pushing hardcore music in new way on 'Caution'. It is an album that supposed to be an enormous profitable achievement, and also one that is a creative victory. It’s elevating, but not at all overweening, it's distinguishing but not at all impracticable and it accentuates nods to a wide variety of influences without ever copying anyone. A fantastic album.

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Album Info Released Genre Length Label Producer	: : : : :	October 8, 2002 Punk rock, hard rock 36:22 Epitaph Brian McTernan

Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man (2010)

2011-02-10T23:58:00.000-08:00

Tracklist :
01. The Day The Earth Stalled
02. Only Rain
03. The Resist Stance
04. Won’t Somebody
05. The Devil in Stitches
06. Pride and the Pallor
07. Wrong Way Kids
08. Meeting of the Minds
09. Someone to Believe
10. Avalon
11. Cyanide
12. Turn Your Back On Me
13. Ad Hominem
14. Where The Fun Is
15. I Won’t Say Anything

The Dissent of Man is Bad Religion’s 15th studio album, can you think it?! I can't imagine any other punk band that’s been producing concrete records for 28 years. That in itself is luxurious success, and the men on this band need to be lauded therefore. I’d obviously placed Bad Religion into the best 5 punk bands all time, perhaps even the best 3 (The Clash, the Ramones, who else?).

However with that long time career, there’s a few bad records. And it isn't that The Dissent of Man is terrible, because it is not, it is simply that Bad Religion records nearly at all times live or die depend only on the power in their individual traks. That may seem to be an apparent factor to convey, however lots of times albums (over by good artists, which Bad Religion is) have a few sort of cohesive solidarity, an explanation why that those songs are in combination on that album. Bad Religion records, even though, appear to be simply snapshots of regardless of the band used to be makingat that point in time (beside Bush- bashing Empire Strikes First). This is worsen through the indisputable fact that, let's face it, lots of Bad Religion musics sound sort of changeless. Their albums actually have to get a few stand-out songs to build an impression. Infrequently you will get a record similar to The Process of Belief where each song is amazing, and infrequently you don’t.

My greatest matter with The Dissent of Man is that no track really kicks my ass. It’s somewhat a mess of aggressive guitar picking, forty three minutes of coherence. The same downside plagued the band's last album, New Maps of Hell, where just one track—“|Honest Goodbye”—was truly a surprise, however there have been several different songs that gave the album a few points. I believe there’s just one really briliant track on Dissent of Man, “Only Rain.” It is the track I need Bad Religion to remain performing 10 years from now, when they're still touring. I really feel, be delegated to the back-catalog of similar-tuning Bad Religion songs.

If there's one affecting factor in this album, i think it’s the guitar artwork by Brett Gurewitz, Greg Hetson, and Brian Baker. There are several beautiful wild solos and riffs in this album (particularly among the first 3 tracks to the end) that I haven’t actually heard Bad Religion do so much with before. It is not sufficient to generate this record pop, still I'm sure it’s a delightful note nonetheless.

I guess philosophically, my greater downside with The Dissent of Man is this—Bad Religion continues to be making records since 1982. They have already got a bunch of tracks that sound like this. Why placed out this album? If Bad Religion's purpose is to remain exist on the punk scene and to provide them an argument to stay touring, i won’t grudge them for this. However as being a studio release, a part of their recorded catalog which each access will have to signify, Dissent simply doesn’t do sufficient to manifest why it should stand at all.

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The Clash - Sandinista! (1980)

2011-01-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Warm on the heels of their 3rd LP, the seriously praised and commercially booming London Calling, Joe Strummer (rhythm guitar and vocals), Mick Jones (lead guitar and vocals) and Topper Headon (drums) ensconced themselves inside Iroquois Hotel nearby Times Square on 44th Street in New York City. They had no songs in hand, but were going to make an LP that might baffle many people and amaze others, eventually pointing the way headed for the future of popular music. These three guys first booked a while at the Power Station studio, next moved toward the house that Hendrix built, Electric Lady Studios, to start work on a few new music.

Paul Simonon (bass and vocals), the fourth and last member of the Clash, was otherwise occupied as an actor at the beginning of recording the album, so the aforementioned three firstly forged ahead as a trio, which has a musical openness that might amaze sheer mortals. The hip-hop style of music was at present growing in NYC, and this vibrant, new city underground movement would instill and give energy to this new album. The result you can critic for yourselves, however in my view, this strikingly different, thoroughly inscrutable plus finally innovative 36-track LP stands alone, as a road sign of the times and showing the way for people who would go after in building the idea of world music.

This kaleidoscope of musical sounds is different due to mere variety of musical types represented in the album. The whole thing from hip-hop to rock to jazz to blues to gospel to calypso to roots to punk to reggae to dub is included on this enigmatic and inventive album. Enigmatic because some songs do not seem to have any similitude to songs at all and the reason could be that the band required stuffing to make the album stretch out to cover six complete album sides. And inventive because by combining a variety of musical styles on one record, through name-dropping places as far and wide as Asia, Africa, South and Central America, besides Europe and the U.S., the Clash handled to breathtakingly start to forge the truth that's world music today.

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The Clash - Combat Rock (1982)

2011-01-16T02:32:00.000-08:00

Tracklist

01 – Know Your Rights
02 – Car Jamming
03 – Should I Stay or Should I Go
04 – Rock The Casbah
05 – Red Angel Dragnet
06 – Straight to Hell
07 – Overpowered by funk
08 – Atom Tan
09 – Sean Flynn
10 – Ghetto Defendant
11 – Inoculated City
12 – Death is a Star

This was The Clash’s last album. And no, I haven’t forgotten that album launched by Strummer and Simonon backed by a cluster of scabs in 1985 named "Cut the Crap”. “We Are The Clash”, my ass. That was an amazing mistake, and so the band recognized as much – no tracks from it have been included on the otherwise profession-across “The Clash On Broadway” (1991).

“Combat Rock” was conceived as the straight sequel for the formidable “Sandinista!”, an album that numerous felt was weighed down by Strummer’s personal aspirations. He obviously wanted to move the band into diverse styles (with black music topping the list|), and Mick Jones desired to stay to rock & roll. These variations could not remain reconciled, and Jones was to leave the band once doing a tour of "Combat Rock” – an experience that included opening for The Who during their entire farewell tour, and playing to extremely disinterested audiences at that.

Initially, Combat Rock” was becoming a double album named “Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg”. Nevertheless, while skilled producer Glyn Johns was called in to supervise the recording he convinced the band to launch a single disc.

All people hated Combat Rock” on the time. Shareef did not like it, and neither did the punks and the press. The cost was that the band had “sold out”. That solely made sense when you looked at the singles that have been issued: “Know Your Rights”, Should I Stay Or Should I Go” and “Rock The Casbah”. The primary two were easy songs within the worst sense of the word, and the other was a cool quantity that became their greatest seller within the US. It was an extra respectable music than the other two, but the finger-popping melody made for immediate criticism through individuals who wanted the band to stay to their rebellious selves. They once had fought the (unsanctioned) release from the poppy “Complete Control". Now, they have been willingly releasing a radio-made track themselves.

In fact, “Rock The Casbah” was largely the task of drummer Topper Headon. He played the drums, bass and keyboards on that song. Based on the remainder of the band, The “Casbah” riff was one he was toying with for ages. While recording Combat Rock, he went into the studio one morning and lay all those instruments down. Strummer got here with the lyrics after reading how people could be lashed on Iran for having rock records. Much later down the line, he reportedly cried when he realized that US pilots used the expression “rock the casbah” as a euphemism for their bombing missions in Iraq.

The dispute that the band was selling out ended just no sense when one played the complete album. To start with, there was treasured little radio-friendly music there. The truth is, there was virtually no rock & roll to be discovered anywhere.

Don’t spin “Combat Rock” searching for variations of “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” because you are not getting that. You're getting reggae on "Car Jammin’”, the world beats of “Sean Flynn”, the pop of “Inoculated City", the funk of “Overpowered By Funk” (full with an pretense of Tarzan!) and even a collaboration with poet Allen Ginsberg.

The story goes that Ginsberg needed The Clash to back him on an album he was trying to place together, however he was to end help them on "Combat Rock”. He requested them for words plus phrases that were with related to punk, after which the beat luminary recited alongside as the band performed “Ghetto Defendant”.

And how often does a band record a sell out album with a track called “Straight To Hell”? A song dealing with US politics and also the dilemma of Amerasians around the wake of Vietnam, “Straight To Hell” will all the time stand as one of the band’s most powerful compositions. The almost childish support (with Strummer hitting the bass drum from the front with a lemonade bottle wrapped in a towel) causes you to decrease your guard, and before you realize} the good lyrics contain all landed lethally.

Finally, "Combat Rock” was undoubtedly the work of a band which was no longer capable of keep united. "Should I Stay Or Should I Go” (Mick Jones’ self-confessed try to come up with a basic and songs similar to “Straight To Hell” noticeable a perfect extent of separation. The frontmen of The Clash had been no longer able to find an equation that may allow them to preserve working together and carry out what all people expected from what was once known as "the only band that mattered”.

As soon as Jones left (or he was kicked by the others – it relies on which version you've got learn, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon tried to summon up the band’s passion and unsuccessful shamefully. The Clash city rockers ended right there. The death of Strummer in 2002 stopped the tale for good, at a time in which a reunion was closely-rumored. Their inspiring power, nevertheless, is one thing that may by no means die down. Led by Strummer, they democratized music. They moved from one style to the different without really dropping expressivity or implication. They known as out from London and reached the entire world. They fought the law. And they won a victory for just everybody.

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The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)

2010-09-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:
1. Safe European Home
2. English Civil War
3. Tommy Gun
4. Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad
5. Last Gang In Town
6. Guns On The Roof
7. Drug-Stabbing Time
8. Stay Free
9. Cheapskates
10. All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)

At this time, in England, the Clash are something of a myth: maybe the final band to promise that something aside from the destiny of their own career is on a brand new release. Give 'Em Enough Rope entered the U.K. charts at Number Two. Although a sniveling backlash has hit them within the British pop press, there is no question that lots of hopes, symbolic and in any other case, are driving on the group: If the album sells, does that imply the spirit is there to put up society change slightly faster? If the album great, does that imply life shall be a little bit richer? In the united states, the Clash stay no more than a potent rumor cautious of the Sex Pistols' destiny, but intrigued with the potential of turning what they see as a dying scene around.

Give 'Em Enough Rope is a assured part of music. The storm begins with the first notice and lets up only in snatches. The truth the Clash convey is that of a world upside down, a world where nobody can be certain of where they stay. Lines are drawn among oppressors and victims, killers and targets, however it is not meant to be clear who's who, and there is not a sign of self-righteousness, of political purity. What you hear within the jingle of guitars (the Yardbirds handed by Captain Beefheart, reggae and Mott the Hoople, all put in by a giant beat) is a reach for drama and fervour: the Clash are out to grab the most dangerous moods and fancies of their time, not to bet out a rank. Their subject of action on a rock & roll record, a fancy in itself is the world. The terrorists of "Guns on the Roof" might be, are, anyplace; the out-of-step march of "English Civil War" is based on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," a music from the American Civil War, and it is a prediction that has nothing to do with borders.

Give 'Em Enough Rope moves conspicuously from heroic fanfares ("Drug Stabbing Time") to an nearly melancholy look back on youth and the totally different paths buddies took ("Stay Free," with a beautiful Keith Richards-like vocal from Mick Jones) to natural fear ("Guns on the Roof") to an excellent slap back at an audience that will not permit a band a false step ("Cheapskate"). Amid all the power and momentum, melodies slide by, are buried, surface yet again. Lyrics soar out and fade away simply as you are sure you have made them out, as they did on "Brown Sugar" or any Stones 45. The tracks raise with every listening; after a week with the record, you only assume you understand

Whatever the Clash are after, it is not peace of mind. Give 'Em Enough Rope means to sound like adversity, not a meditation on it. The band's vision of a world stifling by itself contrariety hasn't changed, however their concept of their place in that world has. The sleeve of Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves showed cops and robbers in a snake dance, picking one another's pockets; the back cover of The Clash was a shot of London's riot squad rioting. The contrariety perceived right here was one a primeval insurgent would take: the authorities weren't simply bent, they were backwards. Give 'em enough rope, and so they'd hang themselves.

Nowadays, with the Sex Pistols gone, the punk movement divided and rebellion receding, the contrariety buried in 1977's ideology of righteousness have arised. Regardless of Bob Marley's seal of approval, an excellent reggae collection and an extended and noble from National Front, the Clash were brought up quick by those contradictions in Jamaica. No matter sympathy they may} really feel for terrorism is not going to do them any good when a bullet takes them out of a crowd. If the potential of a last crunch seems more actual than it ever did, the prospect of Blood running within the streets is no longer romantic: "You will be dead." Strummer mutters, if one could mutter a shout: "The war is won." Sure, "give 'em enough rope" remains partly a show off time is on our side, and all that. However there's an constant sensation of uncertainty on this record, an uncertainty that at times shades into freak out, and those feelings are so much truer than a brag is to the tales we've got to read within the papers, and read within the eves of our friends.

The punks did not stop power. However they did take create a dimension of freedom, the chance to make decisions that weren't even there before. Which means the punks too the Clash amongst them now have enough rope: they no longer stay in a world they never made.

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The Clash - The Clash (1977)

2010-09-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1 Janie Jones
2 Remote Control
3 I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.
4 White Riot
5 Hate & War
6 What's My Name
7 Deny
8 London's Burning
9 Career Opportunities
10 Cheat
11 Photex Blue
12 Police & Thieves Written By - Murvin/Perry
13 48 Hours
14 Garageland

Possibly the best of every punk albums--pure power, lean plus fierce. From Joe Strummer's tormented barks to the blazing growl and squall of Mick Jones' guitar, this album outlined punk rock eternally. Outraged, rebellious, youthful, socially conscious however not self-righteous, "The Clash" is a great declaration of intent. From the ripped & torn cover picture, Jones, Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon frown next to us grimly, bravely by a Union Jack starkly displayed on Simonon's shirt. Simple, efficient, to the point. Next there's the photograph of the Notting Hill riots on the back--complementing completely the music inside. The bored youth of "Janie Jones" might have been any kid in the UK at the time who never would have heard his story advised by Mick Jagger or Rod Stewart or Elton John.

The 4 songs which were unavailable in America for so long are quick sharp shocks: "Deny," "Cheat," "Protex Blue" and "48 Hours," describing the world of the young UK citizen of the time. Very robust, nihilistic, and very serious. But after all probably the most superb track here is "Police and Thieves," a sympathetic reggae hit of that year that The Clash made fully their own. Bands at this time are still attempting to nail the components that The Clash perfected here with this instance of how rock can mix with reggae. Keep trying is all I gotta say. There's such a way of drama and despair within the music it gives me goosebumps.

"The Clash" is much and away the one best punk album of any year. It's a textbook for future bands. It is vision of a world in flames, of oppression and self-willpower, of disaster and incensed rage. The Clash realized simply what a powerful tool rock'n'roll might be to voice the frustration and tedium of a lost generation and they did it like nobody else. The Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Dolls, Iggy, etc. etc., may have been the catalysts, however The Clash were the fellows who understood what punk meant on a worldwide scale, as every following album ventured further from the confines of the United Kingdom.

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The Clash - London Calling (1979)

2010-09-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. London Calling
2. Brand New Cadillac
3. Jimmy Jazz
4. Hateful
5. Rudie Can't Fail
6. Spanish Bombs
7. The Right Profile
8. Lost In The Supermarket
9. Clampdown
10. The Guns Of Brixton
11. Wrong 'Em Boyo
12. Death Or Glory
13. Koka Kola
14. The Card Cheat
15. Lover's Rock
16. Four Horsemen
17. I'm Not Down
18. Revolution Rock
19. Train In Vain

This is without doubt one of the few rock albums ever launched that's nearly inconceivable to over praise. One can stack on the superlatives, heap on a few more, and still have room for much more laurels. It's most likely by any standard one of the best albums launched within the rock period, indisputably the best album released by a band with its roots in punk, the best explicitly political album ever released by somebody who was not Bob Dylan, and a kind of scarce albums that does not appear to age at all. There isn't a weak cut on the album. The truth is, the songs aren't merely good but great.

Though The Clash started off as a punk band, they had been never enough outlined by that tendency. Though rooted within the attitudes and political sympathies of the punk movement (and over all else, English Punk, as opposed to the foregone American Punk, was extremely political; originator Malcolm McLaren was deeply influenced by Guy Debord and the Situationist International, and contained many political concepts in promoting the Sex Pistols and his punk styles), The Clash rapidly outgrew the punk aesthetic. The Clash almost instantly started conveniently and smoothly assimilating a number of musical influenced. They were the primary rock band, as an example, to use reggae rhythms and never make them sound like a gimmick (compare The Clash's fantastic "The Guns of Brixton" with Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Maker," which while good sounds a bit like a novelty music, while The Clash sound like they ripped the music off some Jamaicans). The songs are extraordinarily sophisticated and polished, even once they sound casually. For example, listen to the almost slap-bang way "Jimmy Jazz" begins, as if the band cannot determine whether to permit the opening riff improve right into a full fledged song. Even when it gets totally underway, there may be an easy looseness to the song that persists throughout the perfectly orchestrated song. It's a work of art of unflappable talent.

Most of the songs are so brilliantly authentic to seem nearly impossible. It is not simply that the songs are authentic; nothing else even remotely like lots of them had ever been completed before. Where is the ancestor of "Hateful"? Who cooked up "Lost in the Supermarket," with its superb mixing of political and social ideas? Before listening to "The Right Profile," may anyone have imagined it possible to write a classical about Montgomery Cliff's car wreck? Even songs that remind one unclearly of earlier songs handle to sound underivative. As an example, there's more than just a little Phil Spector's wall of sound in "The Card Cheat," but where do these horns come from?

A sign of the genius of this album could be seen in the truth that though it is likely one of the nice leftist albums of all time, essentially the most reactionary rock fan might still love each song. It's unquestionably great political rock, however greater than that it's simply flat out superior rock. It's nearly as if The Clash recreated on this album all of the rebelliousness contained within the first rockers of the 1950s.

Nowadays, when every different album seems to be getting particular extended versions, this one really may gain advantage from such behavior. The liner notes on the current U.S. version are nonexistent. Expectantly this will probably be corrected sooner or later within the comparatively close to future.

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Millencolin - Machine 15 (2008)

2010-09-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :
01. Machine 15
02. Done is Done
03. Detox
04. Vicious Circle
05. Broken World
06. Come On
07. Centerpiece
08. Who's Laughing Now
09. Brand New Game
10. Ducks & Drakes
11. Turnkey Paradise
12. Route One
13. Danger for Stranger
14. Saved By Hell
15. End Piece

It's been a three-year wait for Millencolin to finally drop the follow-up to their 2005 Kingwood album, and although the band remains the same, in the interim Millencolin's sound has undergone a sea change. Although the group's genesis dates back to the late '80s, Kingwood returned Millencolin to transformative years in the early '90s, when they latched onto the SoCal sound and began unleashing exhilarating punk discs that powered them to worldwide fame. Machine 15's title presumably celebrates the band's 15th year of recording, but finds the quartet looking forward to the future. And that future beholds a band now discovering the joys of pop music. Of course, Millencolin always had a strong melodic bent, but now they've lathered the set in harmony by double- and triple-tracking frontman/bassist Nikola Sarcevic's vocals. The set-opening title track is just about smothered in them, and is followed by the one-two punch of "Done Is Done" and "Detox." Amazingly, the hard-driving "Done" features a string quartet, which heightens the song's tension, while the latter number jumps straight into '60s-rinsed pop-punk. "Vicious Circle" is even more startling, and will leave fans torn between heading for the pit or raising their lighters in the air and swaying along with this anthemic number. More surprises are to come; "Broken World" adds a touch of '70s rock to the band's punk sound, while "Danger for Stranger" again returns to the past, but this time with a mind-blowing meld of Cheap Trick and the Clash. By now, some fans may be screaming for relief, and it's on the way, for by and large Millencolin fill the rest of the album with straight-ahead melodic punk. And melody is the key to this set, for rarely has the band so consistently hit these kinds of tuneful heights, leaving the set awash in infectious melodies and anthemic choruses. The sound, thanks to Lou Giordano's production, is absolutely electrifying, while Millencolin's exhilarating performances suggest that they're more than ready for another 15 years. With the album's themes ranging from the politically scathing to the autobiographical, the lyrics invariably resonate as well. Millencolin open an entirely new chapter in their career, and it is guaranteed to be a real page-turner. Jo-Ann Greene, AMG

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Millencolin - Kingwood (2005)

2010-09-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :
01. Farewell My Hell
02. Birdie
03. Cash Or Clash
04. Shut You Out
05. Biftek Supernova
06. My Name Is Golden
07. Ray
08. Novo
09. Simple Twist Of Hate
10. Stalemate
11. Mooseman’s Jukebox
12. Hard Times

When Nikola Sarcevic's first solo project, Lock-Sport-Krock, was released in 2004, fans were shocked by how different it was from his work as Millencolin's lead vocalist. Instead of embracing the sort of brash, stomping, boisterous punk that Millencolin is known for, Sarcevic the solo artist moved in a much calmer, more introspective folk-rock/adult alternative direction -- minus the rest of Millencolin, Sarcevic favored an approach that drew comparisons to John Mayer and Gin Blossoms rather than NOFX, the Clash or Cock Sparrer. But the Swedish singer didn't become a full-time solo artist, and Kingwood -- his first post-Lock-Sport-Krock album with Millencolin -- finds him hell-bent for punk once again. This 2005 release doesn't contain even the slightest hint of Lock-Sport-Krock's singer/songwriter aesthetic; Kingwood is punk all the way, and the Swedes spare no passion on melodic but in-your-face offerings like "Mooseman's Jukebox," "Farewell My Hell" and "Shut You Out." Guitarist Erik Ohlsson has claimed that Kingwood is, as of 2005, "our best, most focused record yet"; the 'best' part is questionable, and many longtime Millencolin fans will insist that Pennybridge Pioneers is still the band's crowning achievement. But Ohlsson certainly speaks the truth when he describes Kingwood as focused; Millencolin does bring a lot of conviction to this material, which thrives on the sort of simplicity and gut-level rawness that old-school punk was known for back in the late '70s and early '80s. Kingwood isn't as essential as Pennybridge Pioneers, but it's still an inspired, enjoyable addition to Millencolin's catalog -- and while Sarcevic has a lot of potential as a folk-rock singer/songwriter, it's good to know that he can still belt out punk with a lot of passion and fury. Alex Henderson, AMG

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Millencolin - Pennybridge Pioneers (2000)

2010-09-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :
01. No Cigar
02. Fox
03. Material Boy
04. Duck Pond
05. Right About Now
06. Penguins & Polarbears
07. Hellman
08. Devil Me
09. Stop To Think
10. The Mayfly
11. Highway Donkey
12. A-Ten
13. Pepper
14. The Ballad

Pennybridge Pioneers is one of Millencolin's most emotionally compelling works yet, largely dispensing with the ska-punk shadings of past releases in order to concentrate on a straight-ahead, melodic punk-revival format. Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph head honcho Brett Gurewitz produced the record, which features some of the band's best songcraft to date, and even dips into acoustic balladry (naturally enough, on "The Ballad"). Steve Huey, AMG

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Millencolin - For Monkeys (1997)

2010-09-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :
01. Puzzle
02. Lozin' Must
03. Random I Am
04. Boring Planet
05. Monkey Boogie
06. Twenty Two
07. Black Gold
08. Trendy Winds
09. Otis
10. Light's Out
11. Entrance At Rudebrook
12. Lowlife

So-Cal-styled skate punks from Scandinavia, Millencolin's sophomore effort For Monkeys absorbs the influences of Operation Ivy, Bad Religion and the like and spits it back out as taut, melodic hardcore with a decidedly European twist. Jason Ankeny, AMG

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Millencolin - Life on a Plate (1995)

2010-09-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
01. Bullion
02. Olympic
03. Move Your Car
04. Killercrush
05. Friends 'til The End
06. The Story Of My Life
07. Jellygoose
08. Replay
09. Vulcan Ears
10. Dr.Jackal & Mr.Hide
11. Softworld
12. Buzzer
13. Ace Frehley
14. Airhead

After Swedish skatepunkers Millencolin dropped their first full-length, Tiny Tunes, in 1994, the group quickly assembled their follow-up, Life on a Plate, the next year. Both discs were originally offered in Scandinavia only, but after Millencolin began achieving substantial chart success in their home country, the group signed with Epitaph Records and this sophomore effort made its way to American shores in 1996. Millencolin's evolution toward a more song-oriented pop-punk sound is most evident on standout tracks like "Killercrush" and "The Story of My Life." The melodies and guitar riffs are tight and catchy, and the band's unique Scandinavian take on the crowded, some might say stagnant American punk subgenre of the time is as refreshing as it is accomplished. Vincent Jeffries, AMG

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Millencolin - Same Old Tunes (1998)

2010-09-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

Tracklist :

01. Mr. Clean
02. Chiquita Chaser
03. Diznee Time
04. Domestic Subway
05. Fazil's Friend
06. Leona
07. House of Blend
08. Da Strike
09. Mystic Reptile
10. Dance Craze
11. Einstein Crew, The
12. Take It or Leave It

After Epitaph's re-release of Millencolin's sophomore outing, Life on a Plate, became an unqualified success, the label decided to offer the band's other Scandinavia-only full-length, Tiny Tunes, to American listeners. Warner Bros. had expressed some displeasure regarding the debut's artwork and title, so after Millencolin's Swedish label home, Burning Heart, changed the record's cover and title, it was shipped across the Atlantic in 1998. The aptly renamed Some Old Tunes features much faster, more traditional punk anthems than Life on a Plate. There are enough catchy choruses and dynamic arrangements to satisfy pop-punk listeners impressed with the Swedish outfit's first U.S. disc. Leading off with the well-crafted standout "Mr. Clean," Some Old Tunes is an unrelenting collection of raw, energetic songwriting that includes other highlights like "Diznee Time" and "Leona." Fans of Millencolin, and '90s pop-punk in general, are sure to enjoy Some Old Tunes, a disc that might not be quite as accomplished as the group's other American offerings, but one that still deserves a strong recommendation.

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The Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears EP (2009)

2010-09-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

Spit Shining Shit
The Slowest Drink at the Saddest Bar on the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City
Them Angels Been Talkin'
Demons
The Redness in the West

With Buttsweat and Tears -- surprisingly the group's first 7" in all its ten years -- the Lawrence Arms pick up right where they left off on 2006's very excellent Oh! Calcutta! At only four songs in length (a fifth song, "Demons," is only available via the digital release and worth checking out), you're left wishing it was a full-length album, since just as you're getting reacquainted with the band, it's all over. Such is the curse of the 7". Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan mostly split the lead during this set, and each track is full of the same grit-covered, rowdy proclamations they both do so well. There's a lot of personal reflection and desire to escape (both town and the past), but somehow the guys never seem surrendered to defeat. "The Slowest Drink at the Saddest Bar on the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City" is a spirited tale of loneliness with an awesome title, and "Them Angels Been Talkin'" has Kelly leading the punk rock charge with guitars blazing. The last song, the McCaughan-led "The Redness in the West," start outs with a modest country twang, featuring little more than vocals over barely heard guitar, before the rest of the band joins in to ensure that the EP finishes off on a high note of drunken punk camaraderie. The Larry Arms don't hold back at all, making Buttsweat and Tears solid from beginning to end and a worthy addition to their already strong arsenal. ~ Corey Apar, Rovi

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The Lawrence Arms - Oh! Calcutta! (2006)

2010-09-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

The Devil's Takin' Names
Cut it Up
Great Lakes / Great Escapes
Recovering the Opposable Thumb
Beyond the Embarrassing Style
Are You There Margaret? It's Me, God.
Jumping the Shark
Lose Your Illusion 1
Requiem Revisited
Key to the City
Old Dogs Never Die
Like a Record Player" / "Warped Summer Extravaganza (Major Excellent)

Oh! Calcutta! is the fifth studio album from some of Chicago's finest punk rockers, the Lawrence Arms. Always ones for consistency, the album falls easily into the ranks of other releases from the raucous trio; it's a blazing dose of gritty, energetic punk rock with enough attitude to spare through Chris and Brendan's trademark duel vocal assault, which actually trades off more within each song this time than each having their own tracks. Brash, desperate emotion spills over each song with the raw air of being on the verge of breakdown, but it's that same passion that manages to hold everything together seamlessly song after song. Though the album mostly contains these frenzied up-and-down rockers, each incendiary song distinguishes itself through rousing choruses and empowered lyrics that speak of leaving the past -- whether good or bad -- behind. The stylish "The Devil's Takin' Names" contains sweetly pathetic lines like "You've got those moves and those eyes/I've got these shakes and bad breath." And though one might cringe at the opening Dead or Alive-esque sentiments of "Like a Record Player" ("I'm like a record player/I keep going round"), the song soon launches into a sentimental ode to friendship and the road. Don't forget to also stick around for the folksy hidden track soon after the last song's end for a little insight into festivals like the Warped Tour via the Lawrence Arms. Plain and simple, Oh! Calcutta! is more of what fans of the group have come to expect from the guys. Every spin is like a freakin' party. On the one hand, it's good to see the Arms haven't lost any of the vigor that's made them so engaging over the years. On the flip side, however, the album unfortunately probably won't garner the guys any more attention than past efforts received, thus retaining their place as one of the most overlooked bands in today's punk scene. But hey, when the band and its fans seem most comfortable playing and drinking together in the sweaty dive bars across the world anyway, you can just look at it as everyone else's loss. Corey Apar, All Music Guide

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The Lawrence Arms - Cocktails & Dreams (2005)

2010-09-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

Intransit
Quincentuple Your Money
100 Resolution
There's No Place Like A Stranger's Floor
Hey, What Time Is 'Pensacola: Wings of Gold' On Anyway?
Presenting: The Dancing Machine (The Robot With The Monkey Head)
Overheated
Necrotism: Decanting The Insalubrious (Cyborg Midnight) Part 7
A Boring Story
Faintly Falling Ashes
A Toast
Nebraska
Another Boring Story
Joyce Carol Oates Is A Boring Old Biddy
The Old Timers 2x4
Turnstiles / Old Mexico Way / Purple Haze / Haven Help Me

A handy 19-track compilation of B-sides, stray contributions to compilations and split EPs, live recordings, and three re-recordings rounding things out, Cocktails & Dreams is both a boon for longtime fans and a perfectly fine introduction to the Chicago pop/rockers for the uninitiated. Unlike a lot of bands, the Lawrence Arms don't treat these stray tracks as an excuse to be half-assed, goofy (although one track is titled "Joyce Carol Oates Is a Boring Old Biddy," a sentiment to which a generation of English majors nods in assent), or needlessly experimental; silly title and all, "Hey, What Time Is 'Pensacola: Wings of Gold' on, Anyway?" is a powerful, punky rocker with a soaring chorus, a well-turned lyric, and a killer primary riff. The similarly impressive "Overheated" is quite possibly the band's best song yet. "Intransit," "Turnstiles," and "The Old Timer's 2x4," are equally fine (the latter two were first heard on Ghost Stories); they're catchy indie rock songs that don't sacrifice catchy melodies for punk rock power, featuring lead singers Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan's gruff but tuneful vocals and the whole trio's admirable musical muscle. Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

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The Lawrence Arms - The Greatest Story Ever Told (2003)

2010-09-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

Introduction: The Ramblin' Boys of Pleasure Sing the Hobo Clown Chorus
The Raw and Searing Flesh
On With the Show
Drunk Mouth Kitchen Smile
Alert the Audience!
Fireflies
The March of the Elephants
Chapter 13: The Hero Appears
Hesitation Station
The Revisionist
The Ramblin' Boys of Pleasure
A Wishful Puppeteer
The Disaster March
Outro: Hobo Reprise

Though the Lawrence Arms' The Greatest Story Ever Told can't be expected to live up to its tongue-in-cheek title, the album is a surprisingly strong set of fresh pop punk that avoids the trappings and clichés of the genre. The sputtering, old-time sounding introduction makes for a unique entryway to the sparkling and grandiose (Sunny Day Real Estate-esque) "The Raw and Searing Flesh." "On with the Show" sounds like the Germs crossed with X, and "The March of the Elephants" thunders with an off-kilter, post-punk edge. With lyrics like "the swirl of smoke looks like her slender body," "Fireflies" -- one of the record's best tracks -- could almost be the Weakerthans or Waxwing, and if the Lawrence Arms followed suit with those groups, and added just a touch of country-rock to their work, they'd be astounding. The Greatest Story Ever Told is an album that will grow on you -- it gets better and better with repeated listens, and like the Queens of the Stone Age, they use multiple vocalists to great effect, insuring that things never get repetitive or boring. Though it doesn't depart as much from its peers as something like Saves the Day's remarkable In Reverie, The Greatest Story spotlights the Lawrence Arms as one of the best power punk groups of 2003, and one that, with a little more genre-bending innovation, could create a real rock and roll masterpiece. Charles Spano, All Music Guide

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The Lawrence Arms - Apathy and Exhaustion (2002)

2010-09-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
01 - Porno And Snuff Films
02 - The First Eviction Notice
03 - Navigating The Windward Passage
04 - Your Gravest Words
05 - Boatless Boat Cruise (Part 1)
06 - Brick Wall Views
07 - The Corpse Of Our Motivations
08 - "I'll Take What's In The Box, Monty"
09 - Right As Rain (Part 2)
10 - 3 Am QVC Shopping Spree Hangover
11 - Abracadaver

Modern life is no picnic, and life on the road for a young band is oftentimes frustrating, tiring, and tiresome, brightened only by the occasional moments of glory and glee. So after a year of uninterrupted touring, it's no wonder that the Lawrence Arms felt little more than Apathy and Exhaustion. And why Fat Wreck Chords immediately signed the band and sent it straight into the studio, for Fat head Fat Mike has enough road experience to know that a band on the edge is sure to knock out a record of raw emotion and edgy exuberance bordering on total nihilism. Beyond the band's revved-up emotional state and got-my-second-wind exhilaration, the trio has another winning card up its sleeve -- two lead singers. Gruff bassist Clarence Darrow (aka Brendan), all raspy, too-many-cigs-and-shots gravel tones, handles the more frenetic songs, while guitarist Lehigh Acres (aka Chris) takes on the more introspective numbers, a pool of angst, vulnerability, and startled disbelief at the small cruelties the world offers up. Between them, the group covers all the emotional bases, and musical ones to boot. Crisp, clean, melodic punk that runs from punchy celebrations to moodier, steamy songs of sweet beauty. Apathy and Exhaustion may describe the trio's state, but the Lawrence Arms' debut album is sure to elicit anything but.

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The Lawrence Arms - Ghost Stories (2000)

2010-09-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Sixteen Hours
2. Chicago is Burning
3. Turnstyles
4. Asa Phelps is Dead
5. All the Week
6. The Old Timer's 2x4
7. Here Comes the Neighborhood
8. Light Breathing (Me and Martha Plimpton in a Fancy Elevator)
9. Ghost Stories
10. 106 South
11. Minute
12. The Last One

Ghost Stories came out less than half-a-year after the Lawrence Arms' debut, A Guided Tour of Chicago, but it's a top-to-bottom improvement over their monochromatic first album. It's not a return to singer/songwriters Brendan Kelly and Christopher "McCooch" McCaughan's earlier band, the Broadways, in terms of that group's pop-punk sound, but that group's attention to melodic detail, which had been largely absent from A Guided Tour of Chicago, returns in full here, making it a much more varied and interesting listen. Also, McMaughan steps up to the vocal mic a bit more often than before, further enriching the sound. Finally, the songwriting is simply much better this time out, with brief little post-hardcore gems like "Sixteen Hours" and the jangly, hypnotic "Minute" offsetting more expansive songs like the comic, star-struck story "Light Breathing (Me and Martha Plimpton in a Fancy Elevator)." Even better efforts were forthcoming, but Ghost Stories was a most encouraging improvement. Stewart Mason, All Music Guide

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The Lawrence Arms - A Guided Tour of Chicago (1999)

2010-09-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

Intro
An Evening of Extraordinary Circumsance
Kevin Costner's Casino
A Guided Tour Of Chicago
Take One Down and Pass It Around
Someday We're All Gonna Weigh 400 Lbs.
The Northside, The L&L And Any Number Of Crappy Apartments
Smokestacks
Detention
Uptown Free Radio
Eighteen Inches

The Lawrence Arms are basically a reconstituted version of mid-'90s Chicago pop-punks the Broadways, whose singer/songwriters Brendan Kelly and Chris McCaughan serve the same function here, backed by drummer Nick Hennessy. Unlike the Broadways, where Kelly and McCaughan shared vocal duties about evenly, Kelly takes the lion's share of the lead vocals on A Guided Tour of Chicago, spitting out his politically tinged lyrics in a harsh, sore-throat bark. Similarly, the Undertones-like melodic pop-punk of Broadways albums like Broken Star is here flattened into a more one-dimensional blast of speed and fury. The sharp, cogent lyrics of songs like "Someday We're All Gonna Weigh 400 Lbs." and the Chicago-specific "The North Side, the L&L and Any Number of Crappy Apartments" struggle against the monochromatic blur of melodies and riffs that don't change enough from song to song to keep A Guided Tour of Chicago from sounding like the band's just circling the block. -Stewart Mason, AMG

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Rancid - Rancid (1993)

2010-06-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Adina
2. Hyena
3. Detroit
4. Rats In The Hallway
5. Another Night
6. Animosity
7. Outta My Mind
8. Whirlwind
9. Rejected
10. Injury
11. The Bottle
12. Trenches
13. Holiday Sunrise
14. Unwritten Rules
15. Union Blood (hidden track)
16. Get Out Of My Way

This is where it all starts. Without any reminiscing about their former band, Operation Ivy, Matt Freeman (bass) and Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) blast through their debut without any hints of ska or blatant Clash plagiarizing. On the contrary, this album rips through 15 tracks of high-energy punk that's accompanied by heavy bass leads and Armstrong's permanently slurred vocals. And to top it all off, the lyrical content deals with urban blight and the lifestyle of being a public nuisance. With this trademark sound, Rancid provide the perfect soundtrack for any car chase that includes massive property damage; is it a wonder MTV wouldn't touch this? -Mike DaRonco

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Black Flag - Wasted...Again (1987)

2010-06-14T22:51:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1 Wasted
2 T.V. Party
3 Six Pack
4 I Don't Care
5 I've Had It
6 Jealous Again
7 Slip It In
8 Annihilate This Week
9 Loose Nut
10 Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
11 Louie, Louie
12 Drinking and Driving

Wasted...Again is a posthumous release that is an essential career summation. For those hearing the ear-searing sounds of early-'80s SoCal hardcore punk for the first time, Wasted...Again is an essential purchase.

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Black Flag - Who's Got the 10½? (1986)

2010-06-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Loose Nut
2. I'm the One
3. Annihilate
4. Wasted
5. Bastard in Love
6. Modern Man
7. This is Good
8. In My Head
9. Sinking
10. Jam
11. The Best One Yet
12. My War
13. Slip It In/Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
14. Drinking and Driving
15. Louie, Louie

Black Flag's second live album, recorded at a 1985 Portland show with the Kira/Anthony Martinez rhythm section, is about what you'd expect the late period of the band to sound like live. A couple of older songs crop up -- "Slip It In" and "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie" are transformed into a great 15-minute medley with Henry Rollins getting in some audience-baiting that explains the album title -- but mostly this is from Loose Nut, its songs sounding generally better here than on that release. Rollins is in typically fiery form throughout; whatever dissatisfactions with the band he spoke of in future years evidently didn't keep him from forgetting how to put on a show. It's interesting to realize how much of the vaunted Rollins attitude comes from singing lyrics written mostly by Greg Ginn, but the singer definitely makes those words his own regardless. Certainly his generally terse spoken word bits practically drip with the man's essence -- talking about "Annihilate": "This is a song about killing yourself to live." Ginn's blend of straight-ahead punk riffage and ponderous if still exciting open-ended sludge tones and soloing matches Rollins just fine, while Kira and Martinez do their job well enough. Kira adds some deadpan backing vocals at points as well. Strong numbers include "Bastard in Love," given a tight performance and an almost sweet touch of guitar jangle at points, and smoking takes on "The Best One Yet" and their inimitable version of "Louie, Louie." The CD version is the one to get, with a further half-hour of music from the show than on the vinyl version. -Ned Raggett, AMG

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Black Flag - In My Head (1985)

2010-06-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Paralyzed
2. Crazy Girl
3. Black Love
4. White Hot
5. In My Head
6. Out Of This World
7. I Can See You
8. Drinking And Driving
9. Retired At 21
10. Society's Tease
11. It's All Up To You
12. You Let Me Down

Hot on the heels of the live record came Loose Nut and In My Head, which showed significant improvement over My War and Slip It In. Henry Rollins and Greg Ginn were exploring by-now standard lyrical themes: hate, paranoia, loneliness, anomie, and violence, but framing them around music that was demanding, powerful, and exciting. In My Head is the slightly better of the two, primarily because it's a little edgier and uncontrolled, but at this juncture, Black Flag was making some of the best contemporary rock music extant.

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Black Flag - Loose Nut (1985)

2010-06-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Loose Nut
2. Bastard In Love
3. Annihilate This Week
4. Best One Yet
5. Modern Man
6. This Is Good
7. I'm The One
8. Sinking
9. Now She's Black

One of three LPs released by Black Flag in 1985, Loose Nut suffers from its creators' rampant profligacy. Too much of the record is under-rehearsed and under-ripe, yet when the group hits its stride, as on Henry Rollins' brutal "This Is Good," it's hard to deny the group's trademark, adrenaline-rush appeal. Other highlights include "Annihilate This Week" and "Bastard in Love."

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Black Flag - Live '84 (1984)

2010-06-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Process Of Weeding Out
2. Nervous Breakdown
3. I Can't Decide
4. Slip It In
5. My Ghetto
6. Black Coffee
7. I Won't Stick
8. Forever Time
9. Fix Me
10. Six Pack
11. My War
12. Jealous Again
13. I Love You
14. Swinging Man
15. Three Nights
16. Nothing Left Inside
17. Wound Up
18. Rat's Eyes
19. Bars

Keeping up with their furious pace came Live '84, a cassette-only release of a standard (for them anyway) Black Flag gig. Opening up with an eight-and-a-half-minute hardcore/punk/jazz instrumental, "The Process of Weeding Out" (which came from an earlier Black Flag instrumental EP of the same title), it was abundantly clear that Black Flag were no longer just another punk band; as much as they loved to kick out the jams, they also loved destroying the audience's preconceived notions of how punk bands were supposed to behave. Running at 70 minutes, this is a terrific live recording of Black Flag at their performing peak.

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Black Flag - Slip It In (1984)

2010-06-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Slip It In
2. Black Coffee
3. Wound Up
4. Rat's Eyes
5. Obliteration
6. Bars
7. My Ghetto
8. You're Not Evil

Slip It In followed My War almost immediately, and while a bit better (fewer mega-volume angst drones), the band still wanders a bit, experimenting with expanding the breadth of hardcore into a newer hard rock/punk sound. This is especially true of Greg Ginn's guitar playing, which was becoming increasingly avant-garde and exciting. Rather than simply coughing up one clichéd solo after another, he wandered harmolodically up and down the fretboard as a jazz player like Blood Ulmer would, making the material more interesting than what most Black Flag-influenced bands were playing. -John Dougan, AMG

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Black Flag - Family Man (1984)

2010-06-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Family Man
2. Salt On A Slug
3. Hollywood Diary
4. Let Your Fingers Do The Walking
5. Shed Reading (Rattus Norvegicus)
6. No Deposit No Return
7. Armageddon Man
8. Long Lost Dog Of It
9. I Won't Stick Any Of You Unless And Until I Can Stick All
10. Account For What
11. Pups Are Doggin' It

Black Flag's most experimental album, Family Man features one LP side of spoken word performances from Henry Rollins and another of instrumental music from the late-Flag lineup of Greg Ginn (guitar), Kira (bass), and Bill Stevenson (drums). Although occasionally chilling in its intensity, the spoken word material, much like the between-song recitations of fellow Californian Jim Morrison (with whom Rollins sometimes shares a vocal similarity here) on the live Doors albums, mostly sounds juvenile and dated after the fact. That said, Family Man's spoken word tracks, along with Jello Biafra's recordings with the Dead Kennedys, can largely be credited with bringing "alternative" spoken word to a larger audience who were either unaware of, or could not relate to, the Patti Smith/downtown New York scene. Unlike the solo Rollins tracks, the instrumental music is still challenging and vibrant. Although sounding at times like a high-school garage band attempting to perform Rush covers, Ginn and company play with a sense of desperation and punk rock fury that makes much of the music positively electrifying. Similar in spirit to the less poppy tracks on Hüsker Dü's contemporary Zen Arcade, side two of Family Man is characterized by its emotional purity. Ginn reveals himself as a refreshingly and brilliantly free improviser and his playing should serve as an inspiration and lesson to later "punk" bands who value technical proficiency over rockin' out. Overall, Family Man is an essential, if atypical, part of the Black Flag canon and should appeal to fans of Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, or the New York "noise" scene as well.

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Black Flag - My War (1984)

2010-06-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. My War
2. Can't Decide
3. Beat My Head Against the Wall
4. I Love You
5. Forever Time
6. The Swinging Man
7. Nothing Left Inside
8. Three Nights
9. Scream

After a rancorous three-year legal battle with their label Unicorn, which prevented them from releasing any new material, Black Flag binged in the mid-'80s, releasing a flurry of records that had even the most devoted fans scrambling to keep up. They did, however, start this period somewhat inauspiciously with My War, a pretentious mess of a record with a totally worthless second side. Featuring three tracks of slower-than-Black Sabbath muck with Henry Rollins howling like a caged animal, it was self-indulgence masquerading as inspiration and about as much fun as wading through a tar pit. Side one, however, was quite good, with the title tracks especially intimidating. -John Dougan, AMG

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Black Flag - The First Four Years (1983)

2010-06-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Nervous Breakdown
2. Fix Me
3. I've Had It
4. Wasted
5. Jealous Again
6. Revenge
7. White Minority
8. No Values
9. You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!
10. Clocked In
11. Six Pack
12. I've Heard It Before
13. American Waste
14. Machine
15. Louie Louie
16. Damaged I

The best collection of pre-Henry Rollins-era Black Flag. Much of The First Four Years finds the band in developmental mode, but the sonic anarchy and political vituperation met head-on more than once, creating a ferociously good time. Not simply for completists, this is an important recording of the then-burgeoning L.A. hardcore scene. -John Dougan, AMG

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Black Flag - Everything Went Black (1982)

2010-06-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
2. I Don't Care
3. White Minority
4. No Values
5. Revenge
6. Depression
7. Clocked In
8. Police Story
9. Wasted
10. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
11. Depression
12. Police Story
13. Clocked In
14. My Rules
15. Jealous Again
16. Police Story
17. Damaged I
18. Louie Louie
19. No More
20. Room 13
21. Depression
22. Damaged II
23. Padded Cell
24. Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
25. Crass Commercialism

When Everything Went Black was first released in 1983, Black Flag was in the middle of a backbreaking legal dispute with Unicorn Records. As a result of litigation, the band was prevented from using the Black Flag name on any records. Hence the original packaging for this album, which listed only the names of individual bandmembers on the cover (this was rectified on subsequent issues). It's a double-album (on vinyl) compilation of previously released material and outtakes -- though the European edition features a wholly different running order. The material, dating from 1978 to 1981, is excellent in places, average in others. However, only obsessives need track it down -- as signified by the inclusion of two versions of several songs (including stalwarts "Damaged" and "Police Story"). The fourth side of the original vinyl issue also included a sequence of radio spots discussing forthcoming Black Flag gigs, which is entertaining stuff, but it's more useful as a historical document than a listening experience. - Alex Ogg, AMG

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Black Flag - Damaged (1981)

2010-06-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

1. Rise above
2. Spray paint
3. Six pack
4. What I say
5. TV party
6. Thirsty and miserable
7. Police story
8. Gimmie gimmie gimmie
9. Depression
10. Room 13
11. Damaged 2
12. No more
13. Padded cell
14. Life of pain
15. Damaged 1

Perhaps the best album to emerge from the quagmire that was early-'80s California hardcore punk, the visceral, intensely physical presence of Damaged has yet to be equaled, although many bands have tried. Although Black Flag had been recording for three years prior to this release, the fact that Henry Rollins was now their lead singer made all the difference. His furious bellow and barely contained ferocity was the missing piece the band needed to become great. Also, guitarist/mastermind Greg Ginn wrote a slew of great songs for this record that, while suffused with the usual punk conceits (alienation, boredom, disenfranchisement), were capable of making one laugh out loud, especially the protoslacker satire "TV Party." Extremely controversial when it was released, Damaged endured the slings and arrows of outrageous criticism (some reacted as though this record alone would cause the fall of America's youth) to become and remain an important document of its time. -John Dougan, AMG

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Propagandhi - I'd Rather be Flag Burning (1995)

2010-06-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

1. Propagandhi - Mutual Friend
2. Propagandhi - ...Little Ditty
3. Propagandhi - And We Thought Nation States Were a Bad Idea
4. Propagandhi - Utter Crap Song
5. Propagandhi - Oka Everywhere
6. Noam Chomsky - Chomsky Being Smart
7. Propagandhi - Haille Does Hebron
8. I Spy - Remain
9. I Spy - Just Between Friends
10. I Spy - No Exchange
11. I Spy - T.I.Y. (Title It Yourself
12. I Spy - Digging a Grave
13. I Spy - Because They Can't Speak for Themselves, Fucker
14. I Spy - 60 Billion Served
15. I Spy - Appliances and Cars
16. I Spy - Last Man on Earth

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Propagandhi - Supporting Caste (2009)

2010-06-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

1. Night Letters
2. Supporting Caste
3. Tertium Non Datur
4. Dear Coach’s Corner
5. This is Your Life
6. Human(e) Meat (The Flensing of Sandor Katz)
7. Potemkin City Limits
8. The Funeral Procession
9. Without Love
10. Incalculable Effects
11. The Banger’s Embrace
12. Last Will and Testament

On their 2009 release Supporting Caste, Canadian natives Propagandhi seem more interested in the challenging prog metal laid down in the Great White North -- in the form of such genre giants as Rush and Voivod -- than continuing the group's earlier punk-emo leanings. Granted, there are still enough elements of their emo past that they won't be confused with Kamelot anytime soon, as well as having Black Flag/Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson on board as producer. But there's no denying that the members of Propagandhi are quite adept at their instruments compared to other emo bands -- especially on such tracks as the album opener, "Night Letters," and "Tertium Non Datur." Supporting Caste shows that Propagandhi are not afraid to expand their sound a bit, but the real question is, how far can they go without befuddling their early fans? -Greg Prato, All Music Guide.

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Propagandhi - Potemkin City Limits (2005)

2010-06-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

1. A Speculative Fiction
2. Fixed Frequencies
3. Fedallah’s Hearse
4. Cut Into The Earth
5. Bringer Of Greater Things
6. Die Jugend Marschiert
7. Rock For Sustainable Capitalism
8. Impending Halfhead
9. Life At Disconnect
10. Name And Address Withheld
11. Superbowl Patriot XXXVI
12. Iteration

Regardless of whether or not the state of the world would had improved since their 2000 record, it's almost certain that Propagandhi would have found something to rally against for their fourth studio album. But the mid-2000s were very far from perfect, and with all of the era's questionable politics and injustices, it's no wonder Potemkin City Limits finds Propagandhi as outraged as ever. Even the album title makes a statement, as politically a Potemkin village generally alludes to a false construct that hides an unattractive situation. References like this start with the title, continue into provocative quotes and commentary in the liner notes, and then absolutely overwhelm the lyrics. So unless you simply enjoy the sheer passion behind the band's delivery, you better be up to speed on turn of the millennium politics to really understand the fuel of each song. (Don't worry, though, the guys thoughtfully include a plethora of reading material inside to help you along.) And though Propagandhi's past humor seems to be completely gone and replaced with raw anger and bitterness, the band still has plenty to say. Nothing is safe from their outrage, from military recruitment ("America's Army (Die Jugend Marschiert)") to hypocritical musicians ("Rock for Sustainable Capitalism") to war profiteers finally being held responsible for their actions ("Iteration"). Sentiments concerning the war in Iraq can be heard on "Name and Address Withheld" and "Fedallah's Horse," while a cold war between the U.S. and Canada is hypothesized in the lead track, "A Speculative Fiction." The frustration and disillusionment that seemed to be settling in throughout their last effort, Today's Empire, Tomorrow's Ashes, develops further within the angry constructs of Potemkin City Limits. Their message, however, comes across as no less focused or urgent because of it. On the contrary, the songs seem all the more pressing as performed with the weary energy of a defiant band fighting the good fight for almost two decades. Do the band a favor -- read up on world events and take a stand. Propagandhi can't continue carrying the banner alone forever. -Corey Apar, All Music Guide.

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Propagandhi - Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes (2001)

2010-06-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

1. Mate Ka Moris Ukun Rasik An
2. Fuck the Border
3. Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes
4. Back to the Motor League
5. Natural Disasters
6. With Friends Like these, Who the Fuck Needs COINTELPRO?
7. Albright Monument, Baghdad
8. Ordinary People Do Fucked-up Things When Fucked-up Things Become Ordinary
9. Ladies’ Nite In Loserville
10. Ego Fum Papa [I Am the Pope]
11. New Homes For Idle Hands
12. Bullshit Politicians
13. March of the Crabs
14. The Purina Hall of Fame

It's been five long years since Propagandhi last released an album. In the interim, much to no one's surprise, the world has not become a better place; thus, the return of this trio to action comes as welcome relief for those in need of a shot of political rejuvenation. During Propagandhi's hiatus, bassist/vocalist John departed, replaced by the rather more verbosely monikered Tae-Bo Todd the Rod Kowalski. But what hasn't changed is the group's attitude: They're still raging...oops, one is tempted to say anarcho-punks, a tag the band members loudly disclaim, so let's say agit-rockers. Certainly rock is a sturdy enough genre to hold the trio's predilection for slamming hardcore into speed metal, then thrashing it to death with a good old punk rock beat. And while they may not be as melodic as many of their fellow Fat bands, they aren't beyond writing a damn catchy chorus. Beyond the high-energy, fists-in-the-air music, Today's Empire, Tomorrow's Ashes delivers up vituperative lyrics on a variety of hard-hitting subjects. Like most next door neighbors, the members of the Canadian trio are well aware of America's foibles, and are more than happy to make their opinions known. Previously, however, there was enough irony and wit to the lyrics to suggest that deep down, they'd forgive us, if only we'd straighten up and stop bringing the whole block into disrepute. But it's apparent that Propagandhi are losing faith in America's ability to change, and the battle is beginning to wear the band down. There's much less humor here than in the past, the frustration is obvious, the anger rawer, and a dispiriting depression seems to be setting in. Yet hope may still conquer all, and the group has enough faith in its fans to believe that the fight is not over yet.- Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide.

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Propagandhi - Where Quantity Is Job #1 (1998)

2010-06-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Mutual Friend
2. Instrumental
3. And We Thought Nation States Were a Bad Idea
4. Utter Crap Song
5. Oka Everywhere
6. Noam Chomsky
7. Hallie Does Hebron
8. Homophobes Are Just Mad Cuz They Can't Get Laid
9. True"
10. Todd's Incredibly Professional Station ID for 4ZZZ Brisbane
11. Contest Song
12. Firestorm, My Ass
13. Refusing to Be a Man
14. Resisting Tyrannical Government
15. Laplante Song (live)
16. Leg-Hold Trap (live)
17. Laplante/Smith Song (live)
18. White, Proud and Stupid
19. Fine Day
20. Stand Up and Be Counted
21. Pigs Will Pay (live)
22. Government Cartoons (live)
23. Anti-Manifesto (live)
24. Less Talk, More Rock (live)
25. Gamble (live)
26. Ska Sucks (live)
27. Bent (Sudden Impact cover)
28. Degrassi Junior High Drop-Outs
29. Hidden Curriculum
30. The Van Lament

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Propagandhi - Less Talk, More Rock (1996)

2010-06-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Apparently I’m A PC Fascist
2. Nailing Descartes to the Wall
3. Less Talk, More Rock
4. Anchorless
5. Rio de San Atlanta, Manitoba
6. A Public Dis-Service Announcement from Shell
7. And We Thought Nation States Were A Bad Idea
8. I Was A Pre-teen McCarthyist
9. Resisting Tyrannical Government
10. Gifts
11. The Only Good Fascist is A Very Dead Fascist
12. A People’s History of the World
13. The State Lottery
14. Refusing to Be A Man

Coming back for round two, Propaghandi continue to fight the good fight against "the man" and stir up a little trouble with Less Talk, More Rock. The music is as aggressive and fast as ever, but rather than completely focusing on their sound, the message is a hundred times more significant. And on this soap box, we can find songs that deal with homophobia ("Less Talk, More Rock"), animal liberation ("Nailing Descartes to the Wall/Liquid Meat Is Still Murder"), racism ("The Only Good Fascist Is a Dead Fascist") and every other "ism" out there that inflicts tragedy and oppression towards those who are just trying to make an honest living. A portion of the proceeds will go to Food Not Bombs, People Acting for Animal Liberation, AK Press and the Winnipeg Naturopthic Clinic. So not only will you learn something from this record, but the purchase alone of Less Talk, More Rock will help out some worthy causes. -Mike DaRonco, All Music Guide

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Propagandhi - How to Clean Everything (1993)

2010-06-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

Tracklist:

01 Anti-Manifesto
02 Head? Chest? Or Foot?
03 Hate, Myth, Muscle, Etiquette
04 Showdown (G.E./P.)
05 Ska Sucks
06 Middle Finger Response
07 Stick the Fucking Flag up Your Goddam Ass, You Sonofabitch
08 Haillie Sallasse, Up Your Ass
09 Fuck Machine
10 This Might Be Satire
11 Who Will Help Me Bake This Bread?
12 I Want U 2 Want Me

A bunch of hardcore anarchists on Fat Wreck Chords? You mean they've expanded beyond the realm of signing bands that sing primarily about girls, beer, and partying? Propagandhi have "smash the state" written all over them and they want to be taken seriously rather than branded as another generic NOFX-wannabe band. How to Clean Everything accomplishes more than escaping the carbon-copy labeling -- it also puts their message on a high pedestal so it can be heard loud and clear. And in the midst of all the "throwing the monkey wrench in the system" rants, they still have a little fun at the expense of all the bubble gum pop-punk bands that flood the market and even their own label. With How to Clean Everything representing Anarchy 101 to a mass audience, Propagandhi aren't afraid to show the world that a government coup can be fun and educational at the same time. - Mike DaRonco, All Music Guide

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Sick of it All - Based on a True Story (2010)

2010-06-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Death or Jail
2. The Divide
3. Dominated
4. A Month of Sundays
5. Braveheart
6. Bent Outta Shape
7. Lowest Common Denominator
8. Good Cop
9. Lifeline
10. Watch It Burn
11. Waiting for the Day
12. Long as She's Standing
13. Nobody Rules
14. Dirty Money

Let it never be said that Sick of It All lack dedication. After almost 25 years of recording and touring, the New York hardcore legends are still going strong on their ninth studio album, Based on a True Story. Despite time moving on, Sick of It All's dedication to their music finds them releasing an album that's as aggressive as anything they've done. Even from the opening moments of "Death or Jail," you can almost feel the heat of a sweat-soaked mosh pit, re-creating that feeling of fighting through the heat and violence to lend your voice to the gang chorus, with every fist-pumping word creating an instant brotherhood. It's not just the aggression that they've managed to keep up, but also the intensity. Songs like "Good Cop" and "Watch It Burn" are stuffed full of d-beat fury and cathartic breakdowns, all driven forward by Lou Koller's relentless vocal rasps. Based on a True Story has everything that fans will have come to expect from the band after a quarter-century, making this album a kind of old-school hardcore comfort food for punk rockers. While Sick of It All may not be reinventing the wheel, they are showing that they're still making the same high quality wheel they've always made, and if you're in a rush to get to the nearest circle pit, accept no substitutes. - Gregory Heaney, All Music Guide.

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Sick of it All - Death to Tyrants (2006)

2010-06-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Take the Night Off
2. Machete
3. Preamble
4. Uprising Nation
5. Always War
6. Die Alone
7. Evil Schemer
8. Leader
9. Make a Mark
10. Forked Tongue
11. Sodom
12. Faithless
13. Fred Army
14. Thin Skin
15. Maria White Trash

Two decades of NYC hardcore aggression are celebrated on DEATH TO TYRANTS, the ninth studio album by scene stalwarts Sick of It All. With three of the original members still in the group (brothers Lou and Pete Koller on vocals and guitar, respectively, and drummer Armand Majidi), the demons they have been chasing since the golden era of NYHC are wrestled down here with extreme brutality. Gang choruses, rock-solid guitar leads, and a chugging rhythm section, all staples of the group's musical stance, have fortunately not given way. Given the group's tenacity in holding down their own sound, comparisons to Motorhead, especially in terms of being able to work on a singular, forceful sonic theme for so many years, are becoming more and more relevant. With no signs of slowing down, DEATH TO TYRANTS shows that Sick of It All is still handing out glorious musical beatdowns to its fans.

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Sick of it All - Outtakes for the Outcast (2004)

2010-06-06T03:18:00.000-07:00

Tracklist

1. I Believe
2. Stood For Nothing
3. Borstal Breakout (Sham 69)
4. Straight Ahead (Straight Ahead)
5. All Hell Breaks Loose (Misfits)
6. My Little World
7. Soul Be Free
8. Blatty (Human Egg)
9. 86
10. Target (Hüsker Dü)
11. Rip Off (Sham 69)
12. Working Class Kids (Last Resort)
13. Never Measure Up
14. The Future Is Mine
15. Just Look Around" (House of Pain remix)

Outtakes for the Outcast is a collection of Sick of It All rarities culled from B-sides, soundtracks, and even an ancient bootleg tape. There's classicist New York City hardcore here, from the shoutalong vocals and crashing lead guitar line of "Soul Be Free," to the metal and hardcore hybridism of "86," which was recorded during the sessions for Built to Last. Opener "I Believe" is another highlight. But there are also Sick of It All'd versions of classic punk, Oi!, and hardcore material. There's a muscular take on Sham 69's "Borstal Breakout" dating from 1994; Hüsker Dü's "Target" gets the treatment, as does the Misfits' "All Hell Breaks Loose" and Last Resort's "Working Class Kids." It's nice of Fat Wreck to gather up these SOIA loose ends for all the completists out there. But what might make fans even more excited are the three previously unreleased tracks closing out Outtakes for the Outcast. "Never Measure Up" and "The Future Is Mine" are from a 2001 live set at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill, while the version of "Just Look Around" appearing here is a House of Pain remix from 1993 that was transferred to Outtakes from a bootleg cassette. With its telltale DJ Lethal production and, yes, vintage rap-rock sound, it's interesting, if somewhat dated stuff. But it's no match for Sick of It All's anthemic bash through Sham 69's "Rip Off." - Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide.

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Sick of it All - Life on the Ropes (2003)

2010-06-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

Tracklist
1. Relentless
2. All My Blessings
3. The Land Increases
4. Paper Tiger (Fakin' The Punk)
5. The Innocent
6. Silence
7. For Now
8. View From The Surface
9. Going All Out
10. Rewind
11. Shot Sandwich
12. Butting Heads
13. Take Control
14. Kept In Check
15. On The Brink
16. Trenches

Even after more than 15 years, Sick of It All's Life on the Ropes finds the band as heavy, fast, and fun as ever while still allowing plenty of room for some thoughtful lyrics. Throughout the entire length of the album, the band keeps switching back and forth between circle-pit anthems and singalong youth crew tunes. Thus, the band sounds like a good cross of old- and new-school hardcore mixed with good old punk rock. Street-tough vocals from Lou Koller spout out lyrics that seem to be predominately about philosophy and self-reflection, which may seem out of place among much of the hardcore scene, but Sick of It All makes it work and in an intelligent, respectable manner. Sixteen songs seems the perfect length, as the tunes are all pretty quick-paced and upbeat, and thus the album seems over before you know it. In the end, if nothing else, Sick of It All show that age and experience can help make a better hardcore album. Life on the Ropes is a fine album for both first-time listeners and fans alike. - Kurt Morris, All Music Guide.

2003 offering proves that SOIA are certainly not 'on the ropes'. The sixteen tracks were laid down at the infamous Atomic Recording Company in Brooklyn, NY. Fat Wreck Chords.

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