Drug Dogs- s/t EP review

Drug Dogs- s/t EP review

Sounds like S.S.D. and 86 Mentality getting into a street brawl in a reverb-drenched room- it’s burly, short burst hardcore punk with a heavy emphasis (for hardcore, at least) on the reverb for vocals, and a slightly quieted sound on the instruments, a la Pick Your King.  You could say it is a short, sharp, shockwave of simple sounds, serious yet sober and cynical.  This is yet another piece of a fantastic hardcore punk scene happening right now in Texas.  If this were recorded in a more professional way, it would either jet this band to be ten times better or ten times worse, depending on the engineer.  This debut has promise, and I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for Drug Dogs.

-Aunty Social

The Hysterics- self-titled EP review

The Hysterics- self-titled EP review

I can’t stop listening to this record.  It is that good.  As jaded as I feel and outwardly am sometimes, this is the most exciting band I’ve come across since I first happened upon Question, and I like both of those bands for similar reasons.  Regardless, I am absolutely in love with this record right now.

The lyrics are brilliantly written- every single song is insightful and makes me think.  ‘Arm Candy’ is about how women come along and makes guys in the scene look good… and rejecting it in favor of independence.  I never thought I’d hear such an insightful but positive message- now that I have, I can fully support it!  ‘Dow Jones’ is about the stock trade and how the pursuit of money takes the soul out of things- it’s too true (despite my being a college major of Business Administration, I do see the ultimate evil in the raw pursuit of money- it is a soul-trapping endeavor).  That, and the way the singer is able to rattle off the words is nothing short of amazing (reminds me a lot of how Mike Ratt sang in U.D.I.).  ‘Correct Me’ is the stand-out track, lyrically speaking- it’s inexplicable, but everything said here has rattled around my brain years.  I believe it has to do with having a very different (read:  accurate) viewpoint and outlook on life, and being “corrected” for it being considered wrong- absolutely brilliant.  ‘Sunk’ is another lyrical piece of gold, and the slower tempo of the song brings a sense of urgency to the words.  ‘Deformative Years’ is another lightning-fast blast, being both sonically and lyrically brutal.  And now the E.P. closes with ‘Hanging Out at the 512’, which is a lyrical mindfuck that still manages to be absolutely brilliant.  I never thought that a line about taking a shit at Wendy’s would qualify as brilliant, but The Hysterics proved me utterly wrong.

Sonically, the music is a blend of 80s hardcore and some garage-y punk and maybe some riot grrl, and they manage to take the best parts out of all of them and make one great sonic ball of ferociously awesome hardcore punk that is utterly addicting.  ‘Correct Me’ is one of the best songs to ever come out of any hardcore scene, anywhere.  Yes, it is THAT good.  The music makes me want to jump off tables and punch people in the face, and the lyrics are just amazing, in the way that I wish I could write like that.  The instrumentation is spot on, the mix is neat and even, and the package of the record itself is awesome.

I cannot possibly recommend this album and band more.  This is everything hardcore ever could have been and should be.  Excellent, brilliant, awesome, great… I’ll run out of adjectives to describe how positively I feel about this band and album before I get tired of it.  If you only buy one album this week/ month/ year/ the rest of your life, buy this.

-Aunty Social

Draize- s/t LP review

Draize- self-titled LP review

I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I feel like this deserves mentioning anyways.

Powerviolence meets hardcore meets a little doom metal- or better yet, early D.R.I. meets Cold as Life meets pretty much any doom metal band (let’s not kid ourselves, the sound difference between bands is minimal).  However, even this description is only general.  The drums are like galloping thunder here- pounding and utterly crushing, alternating between a jackhammer and a sledgehammer, without any compromise for intensity.  The guitars are downtuned to a hellish pitch, an unusual feature for powerviolence, but it sets them apart for the better.  The vocals are more of a hardcore tone, sometimes speeding up for a faster delivery, a la Lack of Interest.  Though pretty much every song on here is absolutely crushing, ‘Broken Teeth’ seems to stand out the most- sounds like Death in Custody on a 45.  It’s not easy to classify this band under any one genre, but they seem to fit well under the umbrella of heavily powerviolence-influenced hardcore, which has become much more popular as of late (this came out in January 2011, I believe)- still, even under this umbrella, the lower tuning Draize has makes their minute-long songs that much heavier and angrier.  This is not an LP to ever sleep on- I am really regretting doing that now (writer’s note:  I saw these guys in Grand Rapids in early 2011, and I wasn’t fully aware of how good they were at the time).  If you like heavy, fast, or angry, you’ll love this.

-Aunty Social

Public Sex- s/t CD review

Public Sex- s/t CD review

One part hardcore, one part street punk, and one part Oi!, these four downriver hoodlums and one pissed-off adult skinhead are a relatively new band to the Detroit punk scene, but have in that time built up a lot of potential.  If they can align that potential with opportunity, this band could be the forerunner of a new wave of Detroit punk and hardcore.  This first offering by Public Sex is the prime evidence for this- “Drinking Song” is the band’s tune setting them apart from the current trend of new jock positive hardcore, while “Nailed Against the Wall”, “Sex, Booze, Punks and Skins”, and “Scumbag” are their anthems of general debauchery and hooliganism, which the band does somewhat pride themselves on.  Some songs stretch further into this outlook on life- “Pyromaniac” and “Offroad Homicide” descend a bit more deeply into the nihilistic, negative view sympathetic to the hearts and minds of bleak-futured Detroiters.  This is undoubtedly a product of the Detroit background, plus a mix of Cold as Life, Rotting Out, the Casualties, and (dare I say it) the Ratfinks circa 2002-2003.  Good stuff, but not really any one song stands out.  This would be an even better release had it been split into two EPs and a little more time taken to record and mix it.  Still a quality punk rock record worth jamming.  Now that the solid foundation has been built, it’s time to see some expansion.  I look forward to it.

-Aunty Social

Ass- self-titled review-by Scum of Discrumt

Ass-S/T


(Ass Records)

7 out of 10

Ass comes to us from Minneapolis,MN. They have a little something for everyone with their eclectic sound. They would have fit right in with Filth, Butt Trumpet, or Blatz. Their message is a lot different from all three however. The singer belts out messages about everything from opposing wars, animal rights to keeping the scene open for the younger kids (which I fully agree with).

Positive Strike 's/t' CD review

Positive Strike- s/t CD
I had never known Germany could pump out so many punk bands (Slapendehonden, Funeral March, The Spermbirds are among some of them). I came across one such band the other day by means of a Pennsylvania band’s distro box and they suggested I give this band a listen, since I had a Minor Threat back patch on my jacket, and they thought that they sounded a lot like them. I would disagree a bit, but there definitely is a resemblance.
Positive Strike is a pummeling power chord hardcore band, with the speed of Minor Threat with a different, much cleaner guitar. This record goes by very quickly; fifteen tracks in twenty-two minutes is more than enough to give the band the time to say (or scream, in this case) what they want to say. The singer sounds almost exactly like the dude from Municipal Waste with his scream-babbling like an Amtrak chugging along in the middle of the night. The guitar is mostly power chords, but it’s so fast that it doesn’t really matter; the guitar is not the force of most of the songs, the lyrics and vocals are. The rhythm section punches out some pretty fucking serious fury, and in the middle of all of this, is Positive Strike’s self-titled CD. If you see it, buy it; it’s worth a listen for anyone who likes Municipal Waste or some second 7” Minor Threat. Definitely worth at least a few bucks to buy.
-Aunty Social

The Family 's/t' CD review

The Family ‘s/t’ CD review
A few select bands have crafted their own genre and crew of sorts here in Detroit. It is a group of guys from tattoo parlors and gyms (mostly, I can’t speak for all of them) who come together to play music. They all play similarly styled music, but it is a little different in each of its own ways. Bloody Knuckle Combat, H8 Inc., Dogz of War, and The Family are among this group. They are all family men with decent-paying jobs and still find the time to get together and create some very heavy, very angry music. Case in point: The Family’s self-titled ten-track CD that was recently released.
The music on this CD is pretty decent. Most of the time, the beat doesn’t exceed the 4/4 beat, and coming from someone who enjoys pulse-pounding 80s hardcore, this can be a bit of a drag. Still, the sound is very consistent, very clean, and the tempo does pick up at certain points. It does what it promises: It is loud, full of rage, and conveys these feelings to the listener in a very concise fashion. AS for the 4/4 criticisms, that’s what some people like. I myself enjoyed listening to the CD and it is worth the $10, but in the end, I’m a geek for fast, loud, and unintelligible. This band is worth checking out, however. Buy the CD, strike up a conversation, and maybe even go to a show! These guys were nice enough to sell me a CD before they even played after I was ejected from their CD release party for being underage, so they’ve got class, and they’ve got a 23-minute, ten track CD. Go out and support!
-Aunty Social

The A-Gang self-titled CD review

There are some who believe that all punk rock is violent and angry, despite the fact that a good portion of punk rock is happy or exhales frustration and not anger. However, there are bands that still exist that make you angry, make you burn with rage, make you want to just wake up and destroy everything. The A-Gang is one of these bands. Their first record will send you over the edge and kick you downwards into a sea of true fury that knows no depth.
“Your Best Interest” kicks off the album with some furious, clear yelling by singer Ben Wixson. The song truly unleashes the frustration and despair of being poor and how the powers that be conspire to keep things this way. “Live on Fire” is a straight-up energetic tune that just fucking rocks. No more needs to be said. “Shotgun” is a good track, keeping the flow of emotional distress going. “Kill the Routine” pushes the moving locomotive even faster, exhaling the hatred of sameness and predictability, a feeling that anyone, even non-punk fans can discern. “Gods and Bombs” is the sing-a-long track of this album, and rightfully so. It’s catchy and does not give up a pint of rage to achieve it. “Here’s To You” is a love letter of a song filled with the anger anyone should feel at the world. Finally, the track “That Sinking Feeling” is absolutely groundbreaking. This is one of very few songs the feeds the burning rage into you, makes you pick up a baseball bat and just unleash all the fucking fury the world deserves inflicted on it. A spectacular release, The A-Gang is a CD for everyone who has been angry at some point in their lifetime.
-Aunty Social

U.D.I. self-titled LP review

What if the Accused, instead of being born in Seattle, was born in a dirty Detroit trailer park? More than likely, someone like Unidentified Drunken Injury would form. While they both play amphetamine-fueled thrashing hardcore, the similarities between those two bands end there; I have never heard a band sound quite like U.D.I. does on this LP.
In many ways, U.D.I. is very unique. I have not heard a band play this fast and this efficiently in a very long time, and I have not heard a vocalist sound quite like Mike Ratt does, ever. He sounds like what a demonic, possessed child on cocaine would sound like. Most notably, I have never heard a band that made me want to drink, skateboard and consume massive quantities of speed simultaneously. U.D.I. does all of that in the short span of eighteen minutes.
Ratt’s nihilistic babbling is probably the most memorable part of this album, because it’s so fast, yet the message is so clear. The guitar is a sonic assault on the ears; it’s fast enough, loud enough, and I fuckin’ love it. The bass and drums are fueled only by anger and alcohol, yet they manage to rip like a bassist and drummer should. In any other city, the sheer ferocity of the album would likely be misplaced, but in a fucked-up metropolis like Detroit, U.D. I. is right at home. No one plays music like this; buy this album from Spider Cuddler Records and experience this septic thrash for yourself!
-Aunty Social