issue #02 pdf - Razorcake

inal movie and consequently me purchasing
the soundtrack. I still have
that record. Bubblegum and cheesy
the way I like it. I love covers! The
only regret that I have is I wish they
did the whole soundtrack. I would
have loved to hear them do the
theme song. -Donofthedead (No
Idea)
LOST SOUNDS
Self-titled 7” EP
You say Empty, I say trashy, noisy
rock’n’roll. That said, side one of
this is a sludgy death rock-sounding
ditty. Side two, track one is a noisy,
gloomy affair and the last track is an
uptempo rocker. Not quite what I
expected from this label, but still not
that bad, considering. -Jimmy
Alvarado (Empty)
LUNACHICKS
“Babysitters on Acid” CD
I vaguely remember seeing this in
the record bins back in the ‘80s. I
could be wrong. Not having been a
fan or actively seeking out their
product, I think this is a re-release of
an early recording. I could be wrong.
Maybe their first album. I could be
wrong. The songs are raw and the
recording is very garage-y. I could
be wrong. The songs are rocking and
have a very club/live feel. I could be
wrong. I know there are more people
out there that can describe this allwomen
rock machine. I could be
wrong. -Donofthedead (Go-Kart)
LYLE SHERATON AND THE
DAYLIGHT LOVERS
Self-titled CD
Your friends Lyle Sheraton and The
Daylight Lovers from Canada present
a brand new way to do the old
fashioned. It’s not exactly gregariously
suave as Carl Perkins nor as
bad boy cool as Gene Vincent, but
the Daylight Lovers take their elementary
cues and run clear across
the 50-yard-line of your average
modern day cruisin’, bruisin’,
screwin’ garage slop. This is outlandishly
horrid with enough bravado
to make you want to cheer for
even “more abuse.” The Lovers’ version
of cult punk favorites The
Pack’s “Nobody Can Tell Us” is
chock full of that good ol’ brazen
spirit that transforms the idiot in all
of us into sophisticated boomboomers.
Lyle’s instinctive guitar
work through the album is a case
study in a new guitar movement I
would like to coin as, “The Awful,”
and adoringly so since every faux
pas lends some malevolent charm, a
la The Mummies of yore. It’s a little
bit of country, a Gino Washington
cover (is it mandatory for every friggin’
band that records at Jim
Diamond’s Ghetto Recorders to
cover a Gino Washington song?!
What’s up with the Detroit Power
bullshit?), a little bit of school yard
garage punkin’ as well as a dash of
the dirty boy blues. What more could
you want? This album has been pro-
duced by the only man closer to God
than God himself, Jack Oblivian,
who can turn my knobs anytime. -
Namella J. Kim (Sympathy for the
Record Industry)
MADCAP
“Stand Your Ground” CD
Not half bad. I thought I was going
to hate it. Sing-a-long, ‘77-styled
street punk that is melodic. The
lyrics aren’t what I would write
home about, but should improve as
the band progresses. -Donofthedead
(Side One Dummy)
MAN, THE
Self-titled 7”
Egads, this sucked. -Jimmy
Alvarado (The Man)
MARBLES, THE
“Seduction” CD
After the ‘80s came and went in a
drug-addled haze, I thought I’d
never think of Scandal, Patty Smythe
or even Pat Benatar again. Sadly, I
was wrong. -Jimmy Alvarado (Break
Up)
MAYFLIES USA, THE
“The Pity List” CD
Pleasant but familiar-sounding fourguys-two-guitars-bass-drums-loadsof-harmonies
pop-rock, basically a
lot like recent Teenage Fanclub.
Sugary but this shtick is just too old
to be very interesting without a few
twists. This thread of music has got-
ten far too watered down after getting
passed through the Beatles,
Byrds, Badfinger, Big Star, dBs
(whose Chris Stamey produced, all
the better for the Mayflies to lay
claim to the crown) et. al., ad nauseum.
Maybe you’d dig ‘em if they
were nearby but amongst the pack
they disappear without unique features
- like the last couple of Teenage
Fanclub albums. I sure liked that
band better when they rocked a bit in
the Crazy Horse vein. Now they just
follow the formula every time out.
Guess that spirit left the band without
original drummer Brendan
what’s-’is-face. Ah well. -Aaron J.
Poehler (Yep Roc)
ME FIRST AND THE
GIMME GIMMES
“Blow in the Wind” CD
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
are almost like a forbidden pleasure
for me. First off, I hate cover songs
anymore, primarily because it often
seems the people who usually do
them fail to put their own personal
stamp on the song, or, if they do, the
stamp is more akin to, “Look at us!
We’re so cool/funny! We really have
no business covering this song
because we suck worse than the
song/aren’t even in the same league
as the band we’re covering.” I hate
that. Next off, I pretty much hate pop
punk these days. Granted, there was
a time when my whole life revolved
around when the next Descendents