issue #02 pdf - Razorcake

siast co-conspirators whose efforts
culminate masterfully with this
offering of the old and new peering
through a delightful aural looking
glass. I generally tend to think compilations
are hard to sit through. Oh
those countless tribute comps and
“comedy” comps just make me wish
I could just grab for a shotgun and
use it like a 15-year-old high school
kid, but this one exhibits fresh
makeovers by latter day artists
putting their own signature touch on
these timeless rock gems. The
Jigsaw Seen’s take on The American
Four’s “Luci Baines” is pure, hazy,
happy drug-addled joy (I swear your
body tingles when you listen to this).
Deke Dickerson’s Dekes of Hazzard
(fuck, how many bands is this guy in
anyways?) puts Deke’s dexterous
fingers to use on that famous double
neck Mosrite of his with their rendition
of “The World’s Greatest
Sinner” by Baby Ray & The Ferns -
Frank Zappa (gasp!) The Negro
Problem sound very “Randy
Neuman” doing “Magic Touch” by
The Bobby Fuller Four. Speaking of
The Bobby Fuller Four, you know
someone HAS to cover “I Fought
The Law” on this comp. Who would
be more appropriate to execute this
deed than our own anti-Christs of
rock, The Brian Jonestown
Massacre? Drone power, baby, fullon
John’s Children psyche dervish.
Pass the fucking drugs, I think I’m
Anton. Alrightee, this review is getting
too long. Let me wrap it up:
Davie Allen And The Arrows, The
Liquor Giants (doin’ Chan Romero’s
“Hippy Hippy Shake” - straight up,
yeah!), Man or Astroman?, Neil
Mooney, The Wondermints, Mello
Cads, Los Straightjacket and a
plethora of others make this an
enjoyable and even comfortable
audio experience. Trust me, it’s got
something for everyone. -Miss
Namella J. Kim (Del-Fi)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“Fat Music Volume IV - Live Fat,
Die Young” CD
I will steal this format from the infamous
Jimmy Alvarado to give credit
where credit is due. This is the first
Fat comp that I can think of that
finally has unreleased tracks: Zero
Down: Pennywise meets Strung Out,
my wife loves the track. No Use for
A Name: Soft Pop. Anti Flag: The
chorus didn’t add up for me with the
rest of the lyrics at first but my
peanut-sized brain finally comprehended.
Great song that I hum the
chorus for hours on end after listening.
Good Riddance: Nothing has
come close to the sheer fury of the
“Operation Phoenix” album but this
is still a good track. Fabulous
Disaster: Still haven’t gotten the CD
to see what the songs are titled. Did
see them locally and they absolutely
ripped. Many missed out due to an
early time slot. Another great song.
Sick of It All: Powerful and brilliant.
Mad Caddies: Didn’t do anything for
me. Consumed: Consistently a winner.
Strung Out: Zero Down was
much better. Bracket: I passed.
Frezal Rhomb: Passed again. NOFX:
Like the guy and the label but not the
band. Rise Against: Just as powerful
as the SOIA track and many points
for singing straight through 98 percent
of the song. I couldn’t breath
listening to it. Lagwagon: Once
again I passed. Wizo: Their songs
that are sung in German seem to be
the best and this confirms my
beliefs. Propagandhi: I like some of
their stuff but this track did nothing
for me. Tilt: They are a grow on me
type of band but I always like it at
the end. The same with this track.
Snuff: What can I say, other than
they are musical geniuses. Me First
& the Gimme Gimmes: A ‘60s
theme this time around and a chuckle
from the tummy is always guaranteed.
Swingin Utters: This is how
Social Distortion should sound now.
-Donofthedead (Fat)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“Hangin’ from the Devil’s Tree” CD
This is a benefit for Your Flesh
Magazine, who seem to be in some
sort of unnamed financial trouble.
The tracks here, wildly varied in
style and mostly good, come courtesy
of Monster Magnet, New Bomb
Turks, Bellrays (live!), Rocket From
the Crypt, Sun City Girls (now
there’s a name I’ve not heard in at
least 15 years) and others. Well
worth the green if your taste in music
includes punk, free form jazz and
everything in between. -Jimmy
Alvarado (Your Flesh)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“Industrial Strength 2001” CD
Rats, Oozzies, Strychnine, Cell
Block 5, Shitgiveits, Oppressed
Logic, Glamour Pussy, Jumbo
Shrimp, East Bay Chasers, The
Process, Doomsday Device, Puzzle
Box. -Pete Hucklebuck (Industrial
Strength)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“Killed by Hardcore” LP
New in the “Killed by Death” series
and the start of increasing prices of
the time period between 1980 -
1985. Now you will start seeing
“KBH” on Ebay to drive those prices
up. This is the time period that holds
true to my heart and one that I definitely
call my own. I’m more of a
observer now more than anything
but still a fan. Here lies a great international
comp that is very comparable
to the Tim Yohannon tribute
comp that came out last year. Many
great bands on this release which I
only have a few of the tracks in my
collection due to being young and
poor at the time. For the first in the
series, many bands are represented
here. Urban Waste, Terveet Kadet,
NOTA, Colera, The Fix, America’s
Hardcore, Lama, Nihilistics, The
Execute, The State and others. An
informative insert is enclosed. A
great comp from start to finish. I definitely
will collect this series. -
Donofthedead (Redrum, no address)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“New World Hors D’ Oeuvres
Volume Two” 7” EP
Toy Train: Noisy, back-beat driven
dementia that’s hypnotic, hooky, and
hip hoppy. Fantastically, the song’s
narrative is a dark, post-apocalypic
story line ala “Warriors of the
Wasteland” infused through a shaker
of a Mr. Boston’s bartender’s guide
(ie: “Bloody Mary didn’t pay for a
genocide and tonic” and “My body
ached for a hot toti.”). It holds
together much better than it sounds.
Eternal 13: Soaring, guitar-beautiful
skaterock sawed from half of
Bloodhag’s body that’s a fun and
powerful bludgeon and attack while
grinding infinite coping. The
Cripples: “Split Apart” - ‘60s synthesizer
rock being slaughtered and
splattered and crashed about on the
hard rocks of gauzey guitars. Makes
me think of The Mummies, which is
a fine thought. “Miracle” is more
standard fuzz rock fare that’s repetitive.
My least favorite track of the
four. All in all, impressively an
diverse 7”, scoring with three cool
songs. -Todd (Extravertigo)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“No-fi Trash” CD
With the exception of the always
swell Adventures of Jet, here are 27
reasons why you should give up listening
to music (and punk in particular)
entirely. Absolutely abominable.
-Jimmy Alvarado (Suburban
Home)
VARIOUS ARTISTS
“Punch Drunk II” CD
This is a full-fledged fist-thrustin’
audial assault of insurgent streetscruff
punkrock radicalism; brutish,
thuggish, and cataclysmically confrontational
to the max! Oi, old
school, and other assorted sonic
chaos is raucously regurgitated by
such heathenish hoodlums as
Reducers S.F., Dropkick Murphys,
The Forgotten, The Beltones, The
Bodies, The Generators, The
Randumbs, The Templars, The
Vigilantes, Thug Murder, and
numerous others. The riot-inciting
sounds brazenly splattered throughout
this supercharged disc are industriously
representative of true
punkrock aural belligerence: gruff
working-class vocals, rugby chant
choruses, rapid-fire machinegun guitar
riffs, balls-out ground-rumbling
bass thumpings, and boot-stompin’
cobblestone alleyway drum poundings.
Sure enough, I’m now deliriously
punchdrunk on ale, anarchy,
and these brain-rattlin’ TKO
anthems... that’s cer- 79