Razorcake Issue #19

authenticity, updating its membership,and playing songs that aren’t merely tobe played over the gravesites of deadgreats, but something that sounds like abuzzsaw cutting down the house of history.Down and Away’s songs are onpar with the top terrace of bands currentlyplaying this style. Smalltowncould be poised for a breakout. It’sbeen ages since I thought that earlyStiff Little Fingers could be toppled onits own terms and Smalltown’s creepingup to the greatness of “AlternativeUlster.” Their cut on this split,“Changes,” just puts one more pokerchip on the top of the pile I’m hoardingto bet they’ll be a lot of people’sfavorite band in the upcoming year.Flawless track. –Todd (Broken Bones)DRESDEN 45:Paradise Lost (Expanded): CDThis band passed under the radar forme during the late ‘80s. It was a weirdperiod for me in regards to punk. Myalcohol intake was at an all-time highand I had stopped reading zines. Ibought punk records randomly and at ahigh risk of buying something bad. Ididn’t know who was important or not,but I was not completely out. The firstthought I had when I saw this CD in thereview bin? “German.” Wrong. I lookon the back and see that this band wasfrom Texas. What the heck, I’ll bring ithome and check it out. What’s it goingto hurt? The first thought I have whenthe CD starts is that these guys soundNardcore meets East Coast hardcore. Amix between Ill Repute and RKLinfused with the Crumbsuckers andLudichrist. You can hear the crossoversound laced all over the songs, whichwas rampant at the time. Double bassdrums and the guitar solos. As they progressed,the rock/metal element tookhold more. There is even a song withsome rap. This is exemplifies my memoryof what punk became late in thatdecade. Sort of a confused patchworkof influences. I’m not trying to dismissthis at all, because I truly am enjoyinglistening to this. My band at the timewent through the same progression andnever really has focused on one sound.This hits close to home. I believe this adiscography of sorts. It’s kind of coolthat it gives me a second chance to heara band I have never heard.–Donofthedead (Arclight)EAST BAY CHASERS: ItCame From the East Bay: 7”Loud but pretty nondescript punk rock.Pretty much forgot what it sounded likeas soon as it was over. –JimmyAlvarado (Five and Dime)EASTERN YOUTH: What CanYou See from Your Place: CDEdgy, angular, post-prefix-core fromJapan (and sung in Japanese). It has anemo breakdown edge to it and wouldprobably sound really pretty to peoplewho like their emo to have a delicatefeel about with something resemblingsinging, with appropriate cracking asthe vocalist begins to strive for registerswhich are beyond his range. It’s anodd and interesting fusion – there’s adefinite influence of Japanese pop andtraditional music here, particularly inthe vocal expression, but the musicseems to stem pretty solidly from theDC scene in the middle of the 1990’s.Regardless, a few interesting stylisticdeviances or variances from an alreadyshitty genre norm aren’t enough tomake a good album. –Puckett(Five One, Inc.)ENDS, THE: New Rome: 7”The Ends are one of my favorite newbands, but I don’t think this is myfavorite single by them. Perhaps I’mcrazy, but the recording on the a-side isa tad too hot for my liking. It’s almostlike someone’s subliminally crinklingaluminum foil in the background. It’snot crackly, but it sounds tinny and it’shard to crank the volume up on. Thetitle track plays it really close to theStitches’ “Brain’s on Vacation,” especiallyin the mid-tempos and vocaldelivery (snot, whine, sneer, and if astriped shirt could make a sound). I likeit when The Ends eviscerate whileadmiring bands of the past, like whenthey covered Eater and Elvis Costello.“Saw It Coming,” the b-side, is better,and does just that – conjures up someof the ghosts of the past while offeringa row of freshly poured shots. “Saw ItComing” has got the elbowroom,swagger, and bounce that shows howgood the Ends can be. Still, a 50/50 7”from this band is definitely not a throwawayand is better than ninety-eightpercent of the stuff out there. –Todd(Dirtnap)ENDSTAND:Hit And Run: CDEPFancy photo of some obscure landscape,pretty butterfly behind theband’s name, fancy cursive font for thetitle… hmm… smells a lot like an emoCD to me. As I got ready to jam pencilsin my ears again, this band turned outto be hardcore. Well, melodic hardcore,that is, kinda like Thrice with a singerthat sounds like Roger Miret fromAgnostic Front. Didn’t really do anythingfor me besides make me sigh inrelief that I didn’t have to sit throughanother emo CD. If this is your thingand you can ignore the terrible packaging,check them out. –Toby(Combat Rock)ERROR: Self-titled: CDFunny, I liked ‘em more a decade ago,when they had completely differentmembers, lived in Germany, and werecalled Atari Teenage Riot. –JimmyAlvarado (Epitaph)ESTER DRANG:Infinite Keys: CDSofter music in the vein of Radiohead’sThe Bends. Think lots of pianos, highpitchedcrooning. For a very long time,I bought damn near any Jade Treerelease without question, simplybecause it was on Jade Tree. I trustedthe label to provide more interestingfare like Cap’n Jazz, Lifetime, Trial ByFire, Kid Dynamite, Strike Anywhere,etc. (conveniently forgetting thePromise Ring discs). This album basicallyended that for me. It’s not that it’sa bad record (I actually bought a copybefore this showed up in the mail), it’sjust that I finally got around to noticingthat Jade Tree releases records whichjust don’t interest me as much.–Puckett (Jade Tree)ESTROGENOCIDE:Self-titled: CDI don’t know much about the electronicmusic that I just dub techno, but I knowthat this is awful. Sounds like theybroke out the casio and pushed thesample techno beat and growled thevocals a bit to sound spooky. Lyricslike, “OJ’s wife was cheating/ So shemust suffer/ It is better to kill her/ Thanit is to fuck her.” No thanks. –Megan(M.H.)