Razorcake Issue #19

Please note: If you’rean established recordcompany, and you sendus a pre-release withoutall the album art, we’reprobably going to throwthat shit away...cock gobblers.999: Concrete: CDLemme start off with a big caveat: Ihave never liked this album. I bought acopy for fifty cents back when it firstcame out and felt I was ripped off. Why,you ask? Can’t really come up with oneoutside of personal taste. Granted, theydo a serviceable version of “Little RedRiding Hood,” but the ‘80s pop feelprevalent on the disc just never blew upmy skirt in the right ways. Being theopen-minded fellow I am, I decided togive it another go. The verdict: stilldon’t like it, although not as venomouslyas before. The pop vibe still leavesme with an icky feeling, but I can betterhear the sound that 999 had mined tobetter effect on previous efforts than Icould two decades ago, which raises itslevel up to tolerable for these ears. TheB-sides added to this reissue, namely“Scandal in the City” and the two livetracks, make it that much more listenable.–Jimmy Alvarado (Captain Oi)A STATIC LULLABY: …AndDon’t Forget to Breathe: CDThere are two other albums I know ofthat start with “… And” and both ofthem are better than this screamotichardcore for kids who dye their hairblack. No, darker. Blacker than that. No,dude, I mean fucking black.–Puckett (Ferret)AARITILA:...Ja Kaikki KuitenkinPaattyy Kuolemaan!: CDI’m going on a mini tirade now. It’sgoing to be real quick. I wish more kidswould seek out bands from around theworld. If they did, even more bandswould come here to tour. Okay, I’m finished.Now I have two copies of thisCD. I received the Finnish pressing ofthis CD that was released by 1000dBRecords about six months ago from agood friend there who sings backgroundvocals on this recording. Interestingly,Hardcore Holocaust released it here inthe States. I think they are great fordoing this because I believe they trulystand behind their releases, not worryingif they are going to be big sellers.You can see they love the Finnish punk.Awhile ago they put out the ViimeinenKolonna CD. Did you buy one? Or wasthe Casualties CD the preferred purchase?Even more interesting is that Ihave a review copy in my box. I’m gladto see that more extreme punk labels aregiving this mag try. I can’t tell you howmuch bad emo and alternative rock I getto review. Oops, I went on anothertirade! Back to this release. I’ve beenlistening to this for a while now. It’s agood, angry release that is not overlyfast and fits into a Discharge niche. It’sgot a heavy bass and haiku-like lyrics,which are sung in Finnish. The guitarswere recorded well and come off powerful.The drums hold down the backgroundwith an even pounding. Eventhough I don’t understand a lick ofwhat’s being said, anger78This is screamotic hardcore for kids who dyetheir hair black. No, darker. Blacker thanthat. No, dude, I mean fucking black.–Puckettcrosses all communication lines. Fromstart to finish, it feels like you are beingdragged behind a car holding yourbreath. Collector nerd note: this releasehas a greener tint in the artwork. TheFinnish one is more yellow.–Donofthedead (Hardcore Holocaust)ALEXISONFIRE:Self-titled: CDFor every Black Cross, Give Up theGhost, or Fairweather record that EqualVision releases, there’s at least onealbum by a band like Armor For Sleepor Alexisonfire (which is to say that forevery interesting, experimental, andartistically challenging record, you getone incredibly commercial releasewhich offers no surprises and nothingnew). Like bands such as Waterdownand the rest of the screamo hordes, onevocalist screams as if he wanted to be inMorbid Angel; the other sings in sweet,angelic tones. Like most bands of thisilk, the musicianship is passable togood; that’s rarely the problem. Theproblem is that the actual music beginsat pop-punk with the sweet melodies toget the chicks in and then tries to add atougher edge so that, you know, thedudes will like it, sounding like everyother band with dyed black hair andbangs, ear plugs, and star tattoos in theprocess. In that respect, this albumoffers something for everyone who willbe listening to the next big trend in twoyears. However, by nearly every measurethat I can use to gauge a good – oreven decent – album, this doesn’t evenbegin to register.–Puckett (Equal Vision)ALLI WITH AN I: I LearnedBy Watching You: CDWow, these guys sound as tough as theirname! They’re almost as hardcore as theGet Up Kids! –Potsi (Law of Inertia)ALPHA CONTROL GROUP C/PHOTON BAND: Split 7”This 7” comes with a copy of Chumpire#166, which is a tiny zine with quickreviews of shows. The Alpha ControlGroup C sounds like a lost late-’80sband. Photon Band sounds like a lostlate-’70s band, both painless but alsookay to be lost. –Speedway Randy(Chumpire)ALREADY DEAD:This Was Never Yours: CDBy-the-numbers metallic hardcore,never deviating from a well-establishedtemplate and never stepping outside ofthe box. Kinda sad when you’re listeningto supposed “radical” music and yourealize that Barry Manilow took morechances. –Jimmy Alvarado(High Fidelity)AMERICA IS WAITING:In the Lines: CDEPIf I kept listening to emo, I would stophaving to take sleeping pills.–Donofthedead (Die Die Diemond)ANNALISE/GUNMOLL:Split 7”I’m at a bit of a loss here, so I’m goingto flat-out steal Maddy’s compare-aband-to-a-brand-of-breakfast-cerealreviewing technique: As cereal goes,this 7 incher is a five bean salad. Maybefine when you’re at a post-bris partywith a bunch of your elderly blue-hairedrelatives, but nothing you’d want toencounter when you’re sitting down to abig brimmin’ bowl of Capt Crunch withCrunch Berries. As is often times thecase with this sensitive stuff, it’s nottotally without merit. Overall it’s a bitlike lukewarm Hot Water Music.Musically it moves around and hassome energy to it. But it shoots itself inthe foot over and over again with it’sirksome self-consciousness posturing.Gravel up your voice all you want boys,you’re not fooling anyone – not evenyour friends, who are too nice to tell youto quit writing songs to assuage yourstupid girlfriends. Urgh. Oh, and thiswas two bands? I couldn’t really tell.–Aphid Peewit (No Idea)ANTELOPE: Self-titled: CDEP...And that, ladies and gentlemen, wasfour minutes of my life I could’ve betterspent doing something constructive, likegouging my eyes out with a soup ladle.–Jimmy Alvarado (Dischord)ANY LAST WORDS:Self-titled 7”Eight songs of all thrash, no flash fromthis Twin Cities band. Any Last Wordsmine the same territory as other bandson Havoc Records like Vitamin X andTear It Up, mixed with some youthcrew-y bits here and there. It’s certainlynothing to scoff at, but it wouldn’t hurtfor these guys to throw a monkeywrenchinto their thrash-thrash-thrashformula. –Josh (Havoc)ARCADE INFERNO/THE ROGUE SET:Tonight, St. Pete Burns: CDWhen this came in, I thought it was aDVD since it was in a DVD case. I thinksome grindcore band did the same thinga couple of years ago, and when somebodytried to convince me that it was abrilliant idea, I responded by pointingand laughing. So this isn’t a DVD, it’s aregular old CD. Both bands are treadingon the same ground as the Jack PalanceBand and American Steel, and while Iwouldn’t exactly call that “hallowedground,” it’s definitely not a bad thingin my book. And I’ve said this about fifteentimes already, but hand-screenedcovers are pretty cool. Worthy of repeatedlistens. –Josh (Network of Friends)A-SIDES: Going Gone: 7”Holy crap, the Monkees’ less musicallyproficientbrothers have released a single!Alert Rodney Bingenheimer whilethe rest of us run for cover! –JimmyAlvarado (Prison Jazz, no address)ASSERT:Riotous Assembly: CDBasic hardcore with some faster-thanlightsdrumming, just-gargled-withbleachvocals and political lyrics whichstate the obvious in ways that are as subtleas a hammer. It’s not bad, but it doesn’tdo much for me.–Puckett (Malt Soda)AT THE SPINE:The CurriculumIs Never Neutral: CDWhat seems to dominate college radiobut never leaves. This is probably somecritic’s favorite, but it leaves this listenerbored. –Donofthedead(Global Seepej)ATLANTIC MANOR, THE:Failing by the Second: CDEPThis failed the second any sound wasproduced. There was already a lastWarren Zevon record.–Donofthedead (Do Too)ATTIC TED: The BastardizedCountry Carnival: CDBizarro sideshow freak rock’n’rollbelched forth from the bowels of Tejas.Someone was a fan of Touch & Go’smid-’80s releases, and it shows. –JimmyAlvarado (Pecan Crazy)AUSGEBOMBT:Hellbomber: CDSpeed metal with anti-war lyrics playedby what looks to be guys who take theirfashion cues from the old hardcoreturned-metalband Genocide. Not allthat bad, but it ain’t exactly memorable,either. –Jimmy Alvarado(Hardcore Holocaust)AVSKUM: Punkista: CDSome grade-A fjordcore here from thislong-running band, perhaps a little morereliant on the Discharge influence thanis healthy, but damn if they ain’t got the