issue #02 pdf - Razorcake

get through them. Finally, though,
Zac Damon from Zoinks and a couple
of the guys from the Gain have
gotten together to show the world
what Elvis Costello should’ve been.
Big In Japan take on those early
eighties pop sensibilities and Damon
almost steals Costello’s vocals and
tempo changes, but there’s a real
edge to the lyrics. “Destroy the New
Rock” is a catchy snarl. It’s a bunch
of songs that could be three-and-ahalf
minute radio hits if they hadn’t
been condensed to two-minute punk
songs and if the lyrics weren’t about
killing your boyfriend or ragging
your worthless life. I like this a lot.
And, for the record, they don’t cover
any Elvis Costello songs on this
album. -Sean Carswell
(Honest Don’s)
BILLYCLUB
“FUVM” CD EP
Fuckin’-A, Billyclub rampageously
clobbered my ears with a fullthrottle
unruly attack of ragin’ punkrock profanity
that’s all-at-once decadent,
defiant, and morally corrupt! Hell
yeah, just what the devil ordered!
This is insurgent audial anarchy at its
decibel-blastin’ best that’ll kick the
complacent asses of crybaby PC
prettyboy “punk” poseurs everywhere
(causin’ them to fearfully
shudder and girlishly whimper like
the lil’ tree-huggin’ expresso-sippin’
pansies they uninspiringly are!).
Billyclub proudly wave the red and
black anarchic banner of pure
punkrock nonconformity while sonically
layin’ waste to everything
socially acceptable that’s unwittingly
caught in their wake... in the
process, they indelibly inspire a
snarlin’-and-leerin’ legion of
mohawked mutant insurrectionists to
pogo ‘til their hearts plop outta their
rectums. Damn, I’ve been aurally
assaulted, and my six senses will
never be the same... -Roger Moser,
Jr. (Hello, Billyclub)
BLOODHAG
“8-Song Demo” CD EP
I can understand nary a syllable of a
single song on this short, sweet piece
of ear candy, but DAMN if it don’t
get my blood pumpin’. The songs
are musically to-the-point shards of
molten punk-hewn metal that prove
that you don’t need to be fast as hell
or bicep-advantaged to sound like
hard muthas. Being the proud owner
of some of their other releases, I
can’t wait for this to be properly
released so I can find out exactly
which of my favorite sci-fi writers
are taking the lyrical center stage this
time around. -Jimmy Alvarado
BLOW UP, THE
“Dead Stars” 7”
Raunchy, thrashy rock’n’roll mixed
with a punk attitude with a heavy
attention to the rock part. -
Donofthedead (Empty)
BLUE BALLS, THE
“Stretch Marks”
turquoise-blue vinyl 7”
The Blue Balls belligerently bust my
balls, boy! They rock and roar with
raw primitive blastings of raging
bowerypunk fury and a concussive
dose of “old school” attitude on this
here trio of tit-twistin’ tunes, I shit
you not! It’s sonically sick audial
dementia at its ballbustin’ best, and
I’m thunderously thrilled that my
ears have made the aggravated (as in
assault!) acquaintance of these
unruly rockers who aggressively
give Electric Frankenstein a rambunctious
run for the money. Nastier,
scarier, and more unholy than anything
I’ve ever heard! -Roger Moser,
Jr. (Destroy All Records, The Blue
Balls)
BLUE COLLAR SPECIAL
“Had Enough...” 7”
Almost did not want to listen to this.
Nothing in the packaging made me
want to put this on. A pleasant surprise
on my part. This band has elements
of street punk mixed with
early Face to Face. The recording is
a little thin, but the song writing
truly jumps out. I would like to hear
how they sound down the road with
a little better recording. -
Donofthedead (Destroy All Records)
BOMBSHELL ROCKS
“Cityrats and Alleycats” CD
You ever have to go to a wedding or
something and have to wear a suit
and the closest thing to dress shoes
you have are Docs? It’s happened to
me a couple of times. I polish up my
Docs and put on my suit and look
down at my feet and it’s weird. The
shoes look good. Almost new even
though I’ve been wearing them for
years. And they’re cool shoes. No
doubt about that. So maybe it’s me.
Maybe I’m just so used to being
scuffed and worn that polishing anything
bothers me. Anyway, that’s
how I feel about the Bombshell
Rocks-they’re like polished Docs.
Musically, they’re immaculate. The
songs are well textured, everyone is
perfectly in beat, the singer is in key
and has just the right amount of gruff
in his voice-like an early Mike Nessand
they have a perfect blend of
influences. I hear a little Cocksparrer
(from when they were good), a little
Business (see Cocksparrer), a little
Social Distortion, and a lot of Stiff
Little Fingers. All great bands. And
I’m not saying this album is contrived.
Not at all. I like it a lot. It’s
just like polished Docs, if that makes
any sense. -Sean Carswell (Burning
Heart)
BORIS THE SPRINKLER
“...Is Gay!” CD
If you’ve heard ‘em before, you
already know what to expect: pop
punk gems with sly, intelligently stuuupid
lyrics. Norb has always
reminded me of Tesco Vee, albeit
sans Tesco’s preoccupations with his
penis, Abba and homosexuals
(which isn’t to say that Norb doesn’t
often touch upon [no pun intended]
these subjects [cf. any one of his
columns in Hit List or MRR (the latter
[that’s “latter,” not “ladder”] of
which no longer carries his columns
[which is their loss, I guess])]), and
this particular opinion of mine is further
bolstered by the fact that the
opening track, “Motherfucker Are
You Ready to Rock?” sounds like a
Meatmen outtake. -Jimmy Alvarado
(Go Kart)
BREAKDOWN
“Battle Hymns For An Angry
Planet” CD
Ok, I was given a stack of CDs for a
fellow reviewer and myself to
review. On my drive to work I threw
in each one, gave it a 10 second scan
of each song and came up with two
out of ten that I could actually
review. Now... Breakdown is not a
band whose album I would go looking
for, nor would I actually buy it.
It’s one of those CDs I would borrow
indefinitely from someone. I need a
reason to listen to this band, i.e. bad
day at work, fight with the ol’ man,
etc... This band has playing ability,
and they probably have something to
say, but I can’t find the booklet to
read the lyrics. The best thing about
this band is the unmistakable late
eighties/ early nineties sound they
have. Think Billy Milano-ish vocals,
the SOD/ MOD “moshing” interludes
that flow right into a double
time chorus that stops, fades, then
whips you right back into the mosh
pit. I hear a little Slayer action in the
guitar leads, and those big shouting
back up vocals, usually consisting of
the words like, “WAR,” “HATE,” or
“KILL.” If you were a Fender’s
Ballroom local and remember the
“cross over” era fondly, you’ll probably
like this too. -Julia Smut (I
Scream)
BRIEFS, THE
“Hit After Hit” LP
Mark my words. I’ll say this once
every a year, if that. This is it, the
perfect album. This is the punk
album you’ve been looking for.
Snot, attitude, swagger, rhythm,
lyrics, fidelity. It’s all here. It can be
used to fuck along to. It can be used
to drive your bike through a tollbooth,
foot hooked over the license
plate, so you don’t have to pay. It
could be used as a commercial in fifteen
years when they’re older, fatter,
and jaded (The first track, “Poor and
Weird,” an instant anthem, could
easily be appropriated to sound like,
“Pull over here, baby, I want some
Taco Bell.” Listen with half an ear
and it’s there. Fuck you, Sean, for
pointing that out.). It could be used
at a baseball game like Gary Glitter,
with the crowd chanting, “she’s got a
knife to my head.” It could be used
as a soundtrack to a 61