razorcake issue #16

have a little bit of pent up anger. Maybe,I’m just a big asshole who should giveup music. But I do sometimes see thelight at the end of the tunnel. One thingfor sure, American pop punk is floodedwith cookie cutter, paint-by-the-numbersbands. Something I find interestingis if a band is not from the USA, I seema little more interested. I have come toreally appreciate a release by Crackle.They seem to put out pop punk that isnot only energetic, but raw at the sametime. There have been very few releasesthat I have not liked. What caught myattention of this release was that thisband took matters in their own hands.They worked hard and long to save andbuild a home studio because they neverliked the results of their recordingswhen they contracted a third party torecord them. I have been there before. Idon’t know how hard it is to build yourown studio. I have been fortunateenough to have friends and relativeslately who have the gear and the knowhow.But one thing I do know is it’s notcheap! Now in their own hands, theyspend four long years recording a newalbum’s worth of material and rerecordingsongs they were not satisfiedwith in the past. The result is quiteimpressive. The songs have a strongPropagandhi meets Consumed soundand structure. The production is solidbut not overproduced. Patience wastheir friend because I have no complaintsabout the mix. The guitars are upfront but not overpowering. The bassand drum sound is solid. The vocals arein the right place and everything soundsindividual and at the same time together.Their first attempt at self-recording isimpressive. I’m looking forward tohearing more. This is their best effort todate. –Donofthedead (Crackle)OPERATION MAKEOUT:Hang Loose: CDFun time punk from the Great WhiteNorth – a three piece, featuring twolovely ladies and one fine gentleman –singing fun, enjoyable, borderline poppunk songs. They remind me a bit ofSleater-Kinney, musically, if Sleater-Kinney would have stuck with the morefast paced punk rock of their firstalbum. Operation Makeout has lots ofbreakdowns that remind me of Wire.Vocalists Jesse (bass) and Katie (guitar)have such different voices that theywork so well together. Scratchy-voicedJesse, couples with smooth soundingKatie, and it’s really nice how theyswitch lead from song to song. We evenget vocals thrown in by the fine drummer,Anna. The album, overall, is terriblyenjoyable and fun, with lyrics thatare poetic and even arty, yet touchable(as in I can relate man.. I can!). Themost standout tracks are “CurrentEvents,” “Lost, Unwanted… But StillNice,” and the oh, so cute “Contents.”There is also a sweet hidden track remixof “You and Me Geometry,” by schizosamplehungry-electro-noisemongerSecret Mommy (aka Andy from the RedLight Sting). Operation Makeout giveme high hopes for the future of punkrock. Thank you very much, Canada.–Sarah (Mint)PARADISE ISLAND:Lines Are Infinitely Fine: CDArty, mellow, boring. –Jimmy Alvarado(Dim Mak)PATH OF DESTRUCTION:1:00 AM: 7”I tried this puppy out on two differentspeeds. At 33 1/3, they were a competent,if not particularly interesting hardcoreunit. At 45, they got amazingly better,tighter and the singer sounded like apsychopath sucking on helium. Is this agood review? If you consider someonesaying your record sounds better at thewrong speed, then yes, this is a goodreview. –Jimmy Alvarado (Havoc)PELICAN: Self-titled: CDEPRighteous one-riff stoner metal, likeSleep with no singing and an extra fingerfor the little guitar strings.Occasionally gets a little too preciousand abandons the glorious monotonythat really makes the form, but with noguitar solos per se they’re still wayahead of the pack. And “Pelican”? Thatain’t no metal bird. Perfect. –CussBaxter (Hydra Head)PHOENIX FOUNDATION,THE: These Days: CDFirst off, this record label is calledNewest Industry, which is a Hüsker Düsong. The Newest Industry logo is aspoof of the Hüsker Dü logo. So whodoes the Phoenix Foundation soundlike? Gee, I wonder. The songs aren’t asgood or nearly as diverse, but the basicingredients are there. The songs don’tsound tired or boring at all even thoughthey all go at about the same tempo, butfor the most part, they’re another bandthat is right on the edge of being great. Ihave the same problem with Gunmoll:some of their songs are spot on, but theynever quite explode all over the place.Hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll hearfrom this band. –Not Josh(Newest Industry)PLAN A PROJECT:Self-titled: CDTwelve songs of very fast, upbeat,punky Op Ivy type of music with lots ofsingalong gang vocals included andintelligent lyrics. Even some talk ofunity is included in some of their lyrics.Okay, these guys are a lot like Op Ivy(they even cover ‘‘She’s a Bombshell”as a hidden track), but they are no ripoff.They are inspired, if you will. If thiskind of music is your thing, I would definitelyrecommend this record. –MikeBeer (Go Kart)PLANET SMASHERS:Mighty: CDEEK! EGADS!!!! HOW DID THISSKA CRAP END UP IN MYHOUSE?!? QUICK, OPEN THE WIN-DOW!!!!! CHUCK THE FUCKEROUT BEFORE IT KILLS OFF THEGOLDFISH!!!!! –Jimmy Alvarado(www.stomprecords.com)POLYSICS: Neu: CDThe American release of Polysics’ secondalbum, originally released threeyears ago and only now being domesticallyreleased thanks to the kindness anddiligence of Asian Man, and oh what arecord it is. The Devo influence is stillfirmly in place, but the tunes seem lessmelodic and infused with more intensity,making them just plain rock outharder than their previous long player,Hey Bob! My Friend. More succinctly,this is the equivalent of having BoojieBoy rape your eardrum with an oldCasio keyboard. Hunt down either ofalbum, play it loud and play it often,‘cause Polysics rule. –Jimmy Alvarado(Asian Man)POSSIBLE SUSPECT: SoSick of Your Dependency: CDYou’d almost swear that Chi Pig ofSNFU is singing here, but instead it’s aguy named Mark from the Netherlands.The first song is decent; not a bad listenat all. By the time I got halfway throughthe album, I realized that it’s quite possiblethat they only recorded one bassand drum track and just play each songon guitar over it. It’s repetitive, yuprepetitive. I say repetitive. Hey! Hey!Hey! –Megan (Mad Butcher)POST STARDOMDEPRESSION:Ordinary Miracles: CDBands like this make me feel like theowl on those old Tootsie Pop ads. Howmany tracks ‘til it goes in the trade-inpile? Ah one, ah two, ah didn’t make itthat far. –Megan (The Control Group)PROTAGONIST:Hope and Rage: CDNOTE TO ALL WOULD-BE “HARD-CORE PUNK” BANDS: If you’re writingsongs that are longer than two minutes,you’re doin’ something wrong.Shitcan the set and start over. And, forthe love of Pete, don’t release a discchock full of songs that clear four-plusminutes. It’s almost as offensive asseein’ your gramma in an “Assmaster”video. –Jimmy Alvarado (Blackout)PUBES: Wow, Baby!Let’s Go Wheelin’!: CDNever, ever thought I’d run into a bandthat reminded me of both Love Canaland “Get Out of My Yard”-era WastedYouth, but that’s exactly what came tomind while this was playin’. –JimmyAlvarado (www.roadhousetunes.com)PUTRID FLOWERS, THE:...And For The LittleChildren, Sing: CDJust so you know, the Putrid Flowers arean UNSIGNED BAND. They tell youthis both in the liner notes and on theCD itself. So they are unsigned, okay?It’s kinda strange that they are unsigned,since they seem to imply that Fat Mikesaid that they were the best band he hasever heard. Dunno. Also strange thatthey are unsigned because they are prettygood. I mean, pretty good. Not superawesome, but if I saw them live andthey seemed pretty cool, I would buythis. Likewise, the lyrics aren’t anythingI will be quoting any time soon, but if Iheard someone reading them at an openmic poetry reading, I would tell thereader that I liked them. Musically, it’spretty straight ahead rock for rock’ssake. They could play a punk show andget a pit, but also not scare the normalsaway. One thing I will say, is that theyhave that “thing,” where you can tellthat they care about their music morethan that it’s cool to be in a band. Atleast I think so, but the music seems tohave a passion underlying it. I wonder ifthis will still be the case if they everbecome a signed band. I also wonder ifthey will make as big a deal about beingsigned as they do about being unsigned.–Rich Mackin (Putrid Flowers)PW LONG: Remembered: CDA label that once put out some mightycrucial punk, hardcore, and just plainweird tuneage is now apparently hometo bad Southern rock. My, how thingschange with time. –Jimmy Alvarado(Touch and Go)Q & NOT U:Different Damage: CDI thought their last record, No Kill NoBeep Beep, was pretty good. This oneisn’t as good. And they have alsodumped a member of the band since thatalbum. Hmmm… I always did like theirgroovy drum beats and slightly danceabletunes, and a lot of it sounds like thelatest Fugazi record. This is the recordthat is gonna make all the emo kidscream in their jeans. I don’t really knowwhat else to say. This review is really asbad as the effect this record is having onme. –Sarah (Dischord)RANCID VAT:Crybaby b/w Strychnine: 7”Pretty good punk rock that’s endearinglysloppy in a Rip Offs kinda way, butheavier and more rock. What else wouldyou expect from Phil Irwin (AKA TheeWhiskey Rebel) and his wife?“Crybaby” is quite catchy for a bandoften lumped in with the Confederacy ofScum bands, but bands really shouldn’tinsist on performing Sonics coversunless their lead singer wears vinylsuits. –Not Josh (Casual)RESISTOLEROS, THE:Rock ‘n’ Roll Napalm: CDFang’s Sammytown recruits a new bandand goes the punk’n’roll route. Asidefrom the fact that there’s nothing here asclassic as “The Money Will Roll RightIn,” not to mention that there are literallythousands of bands out there thatsound just like this, this ain’t a badeffort. –Jimmy Alvarado (Steel Cage)RETURNERS, THE: TheWag b/w Motorheartbeat: 7”The A-side sounds like the Weirdos aftersuffering blunt force trauma to the headand waking up convinced they were A.Supercharger and B. German; the flipsounds like one of those songs off TheArmitage Shanks Sing and Play TwentyPunk Hits of the Seventies that younever heard before and turned out to bea cover by the Users or the Killjoys orthe Kusers or the Illjoys or someone likethat (but is, in fact, another original).High praise aside, i have a bit of a problemwith “The Wag,” as one of my alltimefavorite genres of music is moronicthree-chord rock’n’roll that ushers inA NEW FANTASTIC AMAZING ERAof wacky dancing (The Twist, TheHucklebuck, The Uganda – hell, i cando ‘em all at once!), yet i am COM-PLETELY AND UTTERLY bereft ofany idea how to do The Wag. I mean,one would assume it involves somemanner of “wagging” – or, at bare minimum,“waggling” – yet, the dance ispontaneously flung myself intobody’n’soul within seconds of thisrecord hitting my turntable was conspicuousby the complete absence of eitherwagging OR waggling (hmm... perhapsthis is a dance best performed sans pantaloons?).How MY personal interpretiveinterpretation of The Wag goes islike this: 1) Kinda stand there and twistover to the left, in sort of a demi-contrapostoposture (yes, that’s right, i said“demi-contraposto!” I’d tell you to lookit up, but it’s not in the dictionary) (atpresent) 2) Raise left arm up, as if flexingmuscle to impress chicas 3) Raiseright arm up in opposite position – thatis to say, with the forearm pointingdownward. However, keep your rightfist pointed away from your body, kindof like Bowser from Sha Na Na woulddo 4) As the beat goes “BUP-BUP!BUP! BUP-BUP! BUP!”, jerkily jab leftfist up and back with each beat, as if torepeatedly punch a small, invisible otteroff of the top of your head, whilst simultaneouslypunching your right fist outand up behind you, as if to repeatedlysmack an invisible potential sodomist inthe nutsack. 5) On chord changes, twist