Tear Off//Clean Up- demo tape review

Tear Off/Clean Up- demo tape review

This is blue collar melodic hardcore punk with a heavy sing-a-long vibe a la 7 Seconds, Frank White, early Descendents, and the like.  It’s well put together, but doesn’t perfectly match up with the rhythms of the song, which is part of what gives it the soul that it has.  It’s clear, but not clean- hell, you could give this to a crusty in between their shitty Contravene discography CD, Disclose bootleg tape that they paid $100 for and it still sounds like shit, and a still unwrapped LP of Mischief Brew’s latest record, and it would fit in just fine.  These are some cool catchy guitar driven punk rock songs.  Buy a pint of R&R and a pack of Native Spirits for the complete TO/CU experience.

-Aunty Social

Bad People- Pearls Before Swine EP review

Bad People- Pearls Before Swine EP review

Garage-y punk with a sneery tune and an unending drive of tuneless fidgety weirdness.  It’s organized, but only enough to stitch together the essential parts of a song and even then, it’s stretching it.  However spacey the idea of the song is, the energy to drive that forward is there- in the modern day, it seems like an art project, but in days past, this would have fit right next to Lydia Lunch, the Dead Boys, Cinecyde, or most of the bands on the New York Thrash compilation LP.  Very weird, very good.

-Aunty Social

The Plain Dealers- Terminal Darkness 45 review

The Plain Dealers- Terminal Darkness b/w Die With Me 45 review

I wasn’t a fan of this 45 at first, but I did come around to it eventually; the A-side is a decent first effort, although it takes a minute to kick into gear.  The narrative is interesting, though the B-side is a better musical expression of this.  The bleak, dark tone of the lyrics is contrasted by the simplistic driving chords of the guitar and the bouncing bass lines that ring of a punk rock sound from happier times- still, it manages to work.  “Die With Me” is a bit more fitting in terms of blending the sounds and the words- both are equally bleak, and more driving than the A-side.  For an initial effort, thumbs up.

-Aunty Social

The Plain Dealers- Get What You Get 12" review

The Plain Dealers- Get What You Get 12” review

With a careful mix of Jabbers-era G.G. Allin, the Dead Boys, and the Sex Pistols, the Plain Dealers play some of the catchiest music I’ve heard to date, and still manage to sound original without it seeming contrived.  This record had me singing along to the words in no time, and relating to them shortly thereafter.  The mix on this record is just fantastic- everything is audible, none of it overbearing; I don’t think there is one error in the audio mix here.  The nascent voice is a piercing sneer that rings in one’s ear for hours- classic.  The guitars, bass, and drums mesh together to create an impeccable rhythm that drives the vocals along as the singer croons about scum-city living- much as Detroit is known for that sort of thing, Cleveland is also an arbiter of dirty, depraved life, and I could not be more glad that it is, because it is cities like that which inspire people to create music like this.  One of the best classic-sounding punk records I’ve ever heard, and that includes the classics.

-Aunty Social

The Destructors/Ziplock- Pax Romanus split CD review

The Destructors/Ziplock- Pax Romanus split CD review

The Destructors side of this CD is modern-sounding Oi! with a left-leaning political stance.  The cover of Peter & the Test Tube Babies is notable, though it does seem to be a bit simplistic for the usually complex Destructors.  The vocals don’t do it much for me (it seems far too steeped in the sort of Dropkick Murphys style of Oi!), but the lyrics are intelligent, and the music, especially this time, is pretty good.  If the vocals could be a bit more gruff and grunty, I’d really dig this more than I do.  Still, a very worthy offering.  As for Ziplock, even though the name kind of annoys me, these songs too, are pretty good.  Gritty, heels-dug-in, ready to fight punk rock that could easily be hardcore or Oi!, but is neither.  These songs have some substance to them, no doubt.  I feel like their last song could have been a bit more urgent than it was, but no complaints otherwise.  Definitely the best thing I’ve received from the Destructors yet.

-Aunty Social

The Hangdowns- demo tape review

The Hangdowns- demo tape review

Fuzzy, low-fi, slightly snotty melodic punk rock that sounds like the Germs playing Screeching Weasel songs on a four-track tape recorder.  The vocals are not gruff, but rather clear, with that traditionally nascent Midwestern twang to them.  The guitar is distorted as can be, but more in a low EQ sort of way ,where it’s not heavy, and simply drives the songs forward.  The drums are a normal old-school punk rock beat and are somewhat lost in the mix, though they can be heard on the low end.  The bass is more lost in this mix, save for a few parts where it makes an appearance due to a break in beats.  No lyrics included with the tape, but judging by the titles and what I could discern, it is appropriately described with the word fusion, “It’saight”.  The less produced sound the band has is its saving grace, because the overproduced sound is what makes melodic and pop punk horrible most of the time.  Not my kind of jam, but middle of the pack for what it is.

-Aunty Social

The Destructors- Ragnarok 12.12.12 CD review

The Destructors- Ragnarok 12.12.12 CD review

Compared to the previous releases I’ve received from these guys, this stellar.  This has a mixed Oi!/UK 82 sound that surprised me quite a bit- they do a couple of pretty good covers of the Exploited “Dead Cities” and Discharge’s “The Final Bloodbath”, albeit with a clearer, less cacophonous singing style.  Though I am not into the singing style the band usually employs, this is a modernized version of UK 82 bands, and it’s done very well.  Even the slower songs are pretty good most of the time.  The topics are still very political, one thing that’s never changed about the band in my time of being aware of them (and one thing I have mad respect for them on).  No songs that were notably bad, and the best song was the “War of the Worlds” jam; definitely above average.  If nothing else, I have a few tracks I’d certainly recommend off this record.

-Aunty Social

Brain F≠- Empty Set sampler review

Brain F≠- Empty Set sampler review

These songs are brand spankin’ new tracks from the always fantastic Brain F≠.  There are two different sounds that the band has- both unique to the band, but very separate and heterogeneous from one another.  There is the sound that the band has on their EPs, a guitar-heavy sound with dual vocals  and less produced sort of sound (not that the band is an overproduced one, mind you) and a more urgent, youthful vibe.  The second of these sounds is the one that the band has on their “Sleep Rough” LP, and this sound is more professional, produced, adult, though no less captivating and intriguing than the former sound.  “Dry”, “Sicks”, and “Sailor Swim” all have the sound of the EPs, while “Don’t Tell Me” is the latter, more LP-esque sound.  So much goes on in a Brain F≠ song that it is akin to an attempted alien communication- it cannot be described or deciphered to a person who has not heard it, at least succinctly.  It must be heard for one’s self to understand it, appreciate it, feel it.  This upcoming Empty Set LP will be no different, if these songs are any indication to this vibe the band has going.  I’m never let down by this group.

-Aunty Social

Detroit 442/Funeral March split 7" review

Detroit 442/Funeral March- split 7” review

This record kicks into gear with local sons of bitches Detroit 442’s song “I Remember”- this is jarring, off-kilter hard punk that hits harder than a Dead Boy song but not as hard as a Black Flag song, at least sonically.  The lyrics are a whole different level, though; the lyrics written by singer Lacy (from his work with Son of Sam, to the Hillside Stranglers, to these lyrics here) are transcendental, parroting and echoing for what seems like forever- it’s almost akin to propaganda, but seems to come from a mouth of a patient fresh out of the loony bin.  Mumbled, repeated, deranged, frustrated, never lacking in the value so subtle to the words of the neglected and ignored, the words are what win one over here.  Though it is not a downright sane man’s thought process, one finds sympathy for the narrator easily.  Perhaps it is the voice of our collective conscious as sane people, though this voice is from a darker place, comprised of deeper desires than we know of or care to admit to.  The music is a jarring, driving version of the original wave of punk- imagine if Stiv Bators didn’t die, but was forced into an existence not unlike that of A Clockwork Orange, and was released to the custody of his old band The Dead Boys.  Angrier, faster, and out for revenge, but it is a punk rock sound, not a hardcore one.

Funeral March’s songs start out similarly, driving and weird, funky yet energetic- still, this is a punk band to its core.  It’s too catchy, and does not smell of the misdirected anger hardcore has; also, it’s a song that runs together as one entity (each individual song, that is).  They are not composed of parts, but run smoothly together as a single entity.  Whereas hardcore can be chopped up into pieces for songs, this runs together like a run-on sentence- not always fitting perfectly as it should, but always fitting in place nonetheless.  Energetic punk rock that the sons and daughters of OG 80s hardcore will appreciate, understand, and if all goes well, they’ll dance to it, too.  The mix on these songs (all four/both sides) is spectacular; balanced but loud enough to hit you in the face and not break a bone.  Giving these songs a second listen was one of the better decisions I’ve made this year.  Nab this slab of wax if you can.

-Aunty Social