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Record Reviews
- October, 2000 Automatics "Walking With The Radio On" CD
Candy Pants "S/T" CD/LP Candy
Pants!! Oh God, what was Sympathy thinking! Maybe they want to jump on
the whole Brittany Spears bandwagon because that's what this little waif
sounds like! Who’s gonna take this bitch seriously? Yeah, I guess
if you like girlie brat pop that gets right under your skin and makes
you wanna shred your ears to pieces you will just have to pick
this record up! Oh fuck Toni Basil and fuck you! (JD) Clusterfux "S/T" LP This
record is definitely for someone with a social conscience. The Clusterfux,
now that’s punk, are a hardcore crust punk band with dueling "vokillz"
and fantastically tight drumming. These overly aggressive rockers are
on the battlefield and waging war with all who oppose ‘em! So take
some initiative and check them out. There’re 11 songs including,
"Everyone Dies", "Charlie Don’t Surf", and "Dot.Com."
(JD) Datsons "See!" CD This
Montreal band really screams nostalgia. The Datsons stand and deliver
a trashy, soulful mixture of brit mod-punk, 60’s garage, soul, and
power pop. In listening to this, I hear hints of The Who’s early
R&B-stomp, The (early) Clash and The Jam’s late 70’s mod-punk,
the stones-esque crank of Chocolate Watchband and the prettiness of the
Velvet Underground all wrapped up into one really great album. It clocks
in pretty long (13 songs in just over 45 minutes), but it never dulls
one step along the way. Easily one of the most original and interesting
records I’ve heard in a long, long time. Might not tickle the fancy
of all the Blank Generation readers out there, but it’s surely shaping
up to be a top 5 album this year. (SA) "Demons" "…Come Burst!ng Out!" CD/LP The
"Demons", that’s how they spell their name, are a loud,
brazen, and punk à rock ‘n’ roll group. Anybody willing to skip
work to catch the ‘Snatchers show should look these boys up. They’ve
got a hard-on for guitar solos so be prepared to wank out! This record
is a bit pricey for only 6 tracks, but if you’re heading to hell
you might as well enjoy the ride. (JD) Diodes "Tired Of Walking Up Tired" CD One
of the best re-issues of the last few years (I think it came out in 98).
The Diodes were a punk/power pop/new wave band from Toronto that spanned
from 1976 to some point in the early 80’s. These guys did the whole
Undertones/Buzzcocks/Rezillos brit-pop thing. But get this; they actually
pre-date all of those bands in recorded material. It kinda makes you wonder
who really influenced whom… OK, granted The Diodes do not approach
the same levels of "amazingness" that the aforementioned bands
reached at their peek, but they are certainly one of the many forgotten
greats of their era and fans of those bands will definitely need to have
this disc. TW, it has 25 songs and spans from 1977 to 1979. Good Rockin’
Shit! (SA) Dontcares "Keep ‘Em Rolling" 7" Get
your hotrod gassed up cause this hunk of vinyl is gonna leave you in the
dust! The Dontcares are an extremely fast rock ‘n’ roll group
and this 4-song 7" clocks in at about 7 minutes. With a little more
time and a lot more heroin the Dontcares may even be able challenge the
almighty ZEKE to their throne. (JD) Dumbell "Skinned" 7" There
certainly has been a lot of people in this band, six total. Basically
these boys sound exactly like the Candy Snatchers, exactly. Dumbell plays
punk rock ‘n’ roll with boisterous and inexhaustible guitar
strummin’ merged with violent screams of damnation. So yeah, it’s
pretty rockin’ shit. There are four songs including, "TV Set"
and "Evil." (JD) Evolutions "Hail Fucked Up R&B!" 7"
Exploders "Electric Power" 7" Fuckin’
Rip Off Records has another potential hit on their hands. The Exploders
are an amazing punk outfit with a Damned and Stallions (NYC) direction.
They keep it short and sweet with kick ass guitars and heavy hitting bass
lines. Who knew Canada could rock this much! An apparent keeper! (JD) Firestarter "S/T" CD/LP
Forgotten "Keep The Corpses Quiet" CD/LP I
haven’t been interested in these dudes since the 1st 7".
What the fuck could they possibly do that's better than their TKO single?
Well, listening to this record it appears nothing. Again the Forgotten
continue to disappoint me with their pallid performance and lack of enthusiasm
toward punk rock. It’s as if they said, "let’s drop this
Rancid thing that was doing so well for us before and be like every other
’82 UK punk band." Fuck this shit, the kids will resist, they
will! (JD) Hellride "Shitfaced and Pissed Off" 7" Anyone
who just can’t get enough of that Glucifer/ZEKE sound-age will want
to check out this rock/punk/metal group. This is the type of band that
I would love to see in a dingy bar with an ice-cold beer. I don’t
know about this 2 songer, but an album would be good. (JD) Kamikazes "All-Night Cram Session" 7" It
came out last year, but I thought I’d review it anyway since their
new 7 incher on Alien Snatch is getting good feedback… When this
originally came out, I sorta dismissed it as your typical Montreal 70’s
rock n’ roll revival disc (there are quite a few bands from around
here doing this sorta stuff, like Tricky Woo, Demolition and Smash Up
Derby to name a few), but to be honest with you, this is a whole lot better
than I originally thought it was. They borrow heavily from the Devil Dogs
on here (as opposed to their recent, more power-pop influenced stuff),
but mix it up with the overdrive buzz-saw guitar sound and snotty vocals
of The Brides and come out sounding a whole lot better than most bands
in the genre today. 4 cool songs on red vinyl, so check it out. (SA) Les Viperes/Sux Evulsors "Split" 7" Parle
vous francais? Oui! Les Viperes are akin to the likes of the TV Killers
and Killer Klown. They like the guitars cranked up really high for maximum
excitement. Les Viperes are a garage punk band that appreciates a good
party! Now Sux Evulsors are another story all together. This cantankerous
lot has all the energy and hate of a well-known Texas band called the
Motards. Yeah, if the Motards ever had a little brat this is what they’d
sound like. There are only 500 of these bad boys so act now, and don’t
whine to me about finding a copy later, cause you ain’t getting mine!
Go to undergroundmedicine.com and maybe, just maybe Jim'll get you a copy.
(JD) Lightning Beat-Man "Apartment Wrestling" 7" The
One Man Band! Wow, the first thing I really liked about this record is
the fabulous packaging! It’s a fuckin’ pop-out 7" sleeve
for cryin’ out loud! That is very cool, however, musically this record
is nothing more than a novelty. There’re 8 songs including, "Fuck
You" and "Let Me Fuck Your Butt." (JD) Maggots "Apeman 2000" 7" Hell
Yeah! Thanks to Bad Afro I’ve caught wind of this magnificent band!
Like I said before, anyone into the Makers will totally adore this group!
The Maggots are just fuckin’ outstanding garage punk! I command you
to get all of their records! (JD) Mud City Manglers "Heart Full of Hate" CD More
Zeke Rock. Yeah, the heavy punk ‘n’ roll can be a bit tiresome
at times. The MCM’s don’t really do anything wrong, but I can’t
hear anything that sets them apart from the rest of those Sweds; wait
a minute, they’re from Pittsburgh! Yeah, that’ll do. (JD) Onyas "Admission of a Lifestyle" 7" The
Onyas are a hard punk ‘n’ roll oufit that never really thrilled
my ears. I don’t know, this record ain’t too bad. It’s
got a lot of grit and spirit, but I can’t interpret what they are
trying to say to me. You’ll have to give it a listen to see if they
make you bounce. (JD) Peeps "Talk of the Neighborhood" 7" The
Peeps are a total Bobbyteens rip off! Now that’s not exactly a bad
thing. Anyone into girlie garage with tons of attitude and boys on the
brain will have to check these kittens out. (JD) Psychotic Reaction "S/T" CD
Rabby Feeder "Disposable Zeros of Rock" CD I
had my doubts about this band with the bizarre cover art for their CD,
but fuck if I ain’t an asshole. These boys fuckin’ rock! I might
be going out on a limb here but just bear with me alright? Do you like
the Zero Boys? I should hope so. Ok, now think of their more poppy tunes
like, "Civilizations Dying" and "Trying Harder." Ok,
combine those snot-nosed punk songs with the fantastic song writing ability
of those Boston rockers the Johnnies! It’s an odd combo I know, but
lend an ear to these rock ‘n’ rollers for sweet satisfaction.
(JD) Red Planet "Revolution 33" CD/LP One
of the main qualities I look for in a pop record is, does it interest
me? Red Planet give it their all on this record, that I know. There is
a heavy drawing from bands like the Cars and the Real Kids. However, after
all of Red Planets effort, they still can’t… enliven me with
most of their songs. This modern version of power pop doesn’t win
me over with its ultra slick production and computer enhanced sounds.
If you are a follower of sappy pop like the Yum Yums you’ll probably
like this shit, wussy. (JD) Secrets "Teenage Rampage" CD/LP A
total waste of space on the re-release rack. The Secrets were a Toronto
based punk side-project of Diodes and Viletones members in the late 70s,
early 80s. Believe me when I say that the Secrets fucking sucked, because
this is a very tempting album to buy. The really, really, really cool
cover art of this thing makes it look like the band is gonna be a hybrid
of The Dead Boys and The Devil Dogs or something… I figure the folks
at Other People’s Music already tapped the re-release well pretty
dry with their amazing Teenage Head and Forgotten Rebels re-issues, so
they slapped some basement demos, live recordings and shitty piss-takes
on rock classics together at the last minute and tried to sell it on the
merits of its album cover. We saw the same thing earlier this year with
that Frustrators 10" on Adeline and we’re bound to see it plenty
more in the future, so the moral of this review is NEVER FUCKING EVER
TRUST AN ALBUM TO BE GOOD BASED ON ITS COVER ART. (SA) Sellouts "Black Eye" 7"
Short Fuses "Beneath the City of the Guitar Vixens" 7" Does
the term ass-kickin’ mean anything to you? The Short Fuses are one
fired up rock ‘n’ roll group. There are heavy guitars rockin’,
really good vocals, and catchy fuckin’ tunes flyin' all over this
45! The blown-out female vox are what do it for me. She sounds like Larry
May, but as a chick! (JD) Trash Brats "Rocket To Heaven" 7"
V/A "Gearfest!" CD Says
here, "100% LIVE SCANDINAVIAN ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!" Fuck
Yeeah! This Gearhead comp serves up an unhealthy dose of 60’s r’n’r
and punk rock ‘n’ roll, all of which were very well recorded
in Sweden two years ago. Some of the better rock acts are as follows:
The Strollers, Turpentines, Backyard Babies, Nomads, and the Hellacopters.
There’re 16 tracks in all, with one or two songs from each group.
If you wanted to know more about the Eastern Europe Rock that's sweeping
the nation, look no further. (JD) V/A "Nightmares From The Underworld" 2xCD This
is a double CD re-issue of the original "Nightmares From The Underworld"
comps volumes 1 and 2, a collection of Canadian 60’s garage songs
that was put out some time in the late 80’s. The first CD starts
off scorching. The first 10 or 11 songs in a row (among the batch, songs
by M.G. & The Escorts, The Power Of Beckett, The Munks, The Bohemians
and The King Beez) fucking rock. Very good sneering guitar stuff that
wouldn’t look outta place on one of Crypt’s many 60’s comps.
However, with the exception of 3 or 4 tunes, the remaining tracks out
of the 20 in total are boring snoozer 60’s pop songs that sound out
of place. The sound quality is varying, but overall, pretty decent. The
second CD has the same problem as the first, just over half of the songs
are great (though not quite as great as the first CD) and the other half
suck. The only difference here is that the good tracks are spread out
among the duds and the sound quality is much worse (comparable to a later
Pebbles comp in terms of sound quality). Overall, it ranks pretty well
in comparison to most of the 60’s garage comps available today &
you do get a whole lot of great songs, but it’s expensive and you’d
be better off buying a "Back From The Grave" or "Teenage
Shutdown" comp if your just getting into the stuff. (SA) V/A "Punch Drunk II" CD Act
2 in the TKO comps. You see this is what I like about TKO. They release
an awfully cheap comp that’s chalk full of new street punk and oi
bands. While some of these groups are a little too tough for me, the good
out shines the bad with bands like the Reducers SF, Dropkick Murphys,
Beltones, Those Unknown, Thug Murder, and Cock Sparrer. A lot of the songs
on this CD have yet to be released, so get going. (JD) Vice Principals "After School With…" CD/LP Another
spin-off band that doesn’t cut the mustard. The Vice Principals are
the new band of ex-Humpers Scott "Deluxe" Drake and Billy Burks.
As expected, they sound a lot like the Humpers, but unlike the great aforementioned
punk rock ‘n’ roll band, the Vice Principals lack the bite and
the soul to pull off anything good. Basically, this is your average "two
ex-band mates getting together and recording a bunch of tunes in the studio
in an attempt to revive the glory days of their old band" type deal
and a mediocre one at that. It’s not that the songs suck; they sound
like songs that were probably on the cutting-room floor of the last Humpers
record. But when these songs are played so effortlessly with no emotion
whatsoever, it spoils any chance of it being a successful record. And
the cover of the Dave Clark Five’s "Glad All Over" (yeah,
the one the Rezillos covered) is just fucking godawful. Oh well, at least
the Devil Dogs and Teengenerate spin-offs have been cool. (SA) Andre Williams "Whip the Booty" 7" How
could you not love this record with a title like "Whip the Booty"?
Andre Williams and his band, the Countdowns (hint, hint), play
garage in the truest sense of the word. These boys get down with their
bad selves. For a collector of great rock ‘n’ roll this is a
must! (JD) |
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©
blankgeneration.com 2003 |
The
Automatics were a punk/pop band in England around 1977. This, to the best
of my knowledge, is the album that was never released. It was recorded
in London circa 1978 but it sounds just as fresh and vital as today's
recordings. The Automatics sound like a mix of the Newtown Neurotics and
the Ramones. With the exception of a few maturer tunes, this is classic
70's punk and worthy of a release. There are 14 tracks including, "When
The Tanks Roll Over Poland Again", "Stab It Back", and
"British Beat." This CD won't be easy to find since it was put
out on a subsidiary of Mangrove, but try www.theautomatics.com. (JD)
Anybody
who is fuckin’ cool knows about the Evolutions! These cats are ornery
little bastards with souls as black as coal. This time the Evolutions
get the royal treatment by Yakisakana Records in France. I hope the smooth
mat finish and colored paper doesn’t go to their heads. If you think
you know a thing or two about garage punk get this 7" and prepare
to be schooled! Ok Roy, enough with the 45s, I wanna hear a long player!
(JD)
The
Firestarter album has just been released in Japan and I already have copy!
Arigato Masao, for all your help! Now, most of you should know by now
that Firestarter features Fink, Fifi, and Sammy of Teengenerate and Jimbo
of the Titans. Firestarter performs radiant power pop with a shot of late
70’s punk. The beats are very infectious and revved up for rock ‘n’
roll! If you listen to a lot of Big Star and The Beat you will fall in
love with Firestarter. There are 14 tracks including, "You’re
Too Late", "Bop All Away", and "Majors Are Lesser."
This should be easier to find than the now out of print "S/T"
7" on Target Earth; it has all of Firestater’s songs off of
that record anyway. Happy hunting! (JD)
These
boys are an accelerated, rude, good old 80’s styled punk rock band.
Think early Nobodys, but with more balls. I am especially fond of the
DIY recording and pressing for this CDR. Psychotic Reaction is an angst-ridden
group for the media generation. There are 12 tracks including, "I
Hate You", "Secret Sam", and "I Shot Bambi’s
Mom." (JD)
Why
aren’t these guys on Rip Off Records yet?! They are twice as snotty
and three times as loud. These Brazilian kids rock ‘n’ roll
harder than 90% of the "punk bands" out there these days! You
people should know the score by now, if the Infections were on coke this
is how they’d sound. Man Greg is a tool! Sign 'em already! (JD)
I
have to say this is the nicest looking sleeve art I’ve ever seen.
King VelVeeda must have spent a lot of time working on this design, and
it shows. Now beauty is only skin deep, and these dolls are gonna show
you they’re more than just a pretty face. Thee Trash Brats are a
rock ‘n’ roll scourge that’ll blowout your eardrum. This
high-powered rock ‘n’ roll with glitzy pianos and over the top
vocals will shimmy & shake the dead. If you’re looking for class
you’ve walked down the wrong alley, honey. If you’re looking
for a cheap thrill, pay the man, and take her home for a spin. (JD)