BANDS REVIEWED:

- :30 Seconds Over Tokyo - A//Political - Anti Fascist Underground - Anti-State - Blood For Blood - Blood Gin - The Casualties - Christdriver - The Chuds - Citizen Fish - The Dents - Dissucks - The Dropkick Murphys - Drunken Orgy Of Destruction - God Below - Heist - Inflicted - The Mart!ans - O. City Bombers - Oheisavara - Oi Polloi - Ojorojo - Oppressed Logic - The Pinkerton Thugs - The Pissants - Rancid - React - Scared Of Chaka - Slush Fund - The Specials - Subjugated - Timebomb '77 - Totalitar

REVIEWS TO BE ADDED SOON:

 Anti-Flag - Axiom - Chuck Berry (seriously) - Buried Alive - Demon System 13 - Humpy - Inhuman Conditions - The Meatmen - Reagan Squad - Subincision

Citizen Fish - Active Ingredients CD Lookout Records

The newest from Citizen Fish and they're just as fucking good as ever. As always there's ska, but who cares it's still political, it's still rockin', and it's still very, very Sub Hum Ans (my favorite band of all time). Go get it now and then buy all the rest of their stuff and every thing else on Bluurg Records. 9/10

The Casualties - The Early Years: 90-95 CD Punkcore Records

Ah, the Casualties. I've found myself growing a slight distaste for these guys lately. I don't know why really, I've liked everything they've released. I think it's because almost every drunken piece of ignorant shit at shows that I meet and just wanna kick in the face is always a Casualties banner child. Always drunk, always clueless, always wearing Casualties everything (if you don't know what I'm talking about go see 'em in Buffalo the 4th). I think that just makes me bitter. This album has revived my old liking in the band. Early, terribly recorded tracks including all the favorites like " Ugly Bastards ", " Two-Faced ", and " For The Punx ", and some songs I've never even heard before. Gotta' love " Punk Rock Love " too, complete with Screeching Weasel pop-punk melodies. These guys are just a lot of fun. I look at some of these pictures in the insert and think man what nerds, but you gotta love them. Another good one from the Casualties. (And for you local kids I picked this up at that little record store in Fredonia. They're starting to get some good shit rolling in, not just indie and emo. Check them out.) 8/10

Drunken Orgy Of Destruction - Suburban Warfare ?? CD

The new Spazz...er, Drunken Orgy Of Destruction album is pretty cool. They do sound a lot like Spazz (cookie monster voice and everything) but there are some differences. Like, they're not as good as Spazz. Seriously though, they're one of the weirdest fucking bands I've ever heard. These guys are all over the place. Total noise. Songs are longer than many other powerviolence/grind bands too (average 1 minute+). Lots of humor too, some of it falls flat, some of it is actually pretty funny. I really like the songs " Fall In Line ", " Cumber Party ", " Kyles In The Scene " (this song really, really reminds me of some Crass song. It's fucking driving me crazy especially since there is nothing at all similar between the two bands, I have no idea what it is) and " Black Eyed Susan ". Those are really the only ones that stand out for me, but there are 33 on this cd, plus I got it for only $5. Good. 7/10

God Below - demo ??

Tough, burly newschool hardcore. Ooooh, ex-members of Earth Crisis. Suffice to say I don't like this. Tough guys probably do, but I'm a pussy. They weren't too bad live though, which is where I got this, and for free which isn't too bad either. 2/10

Scared Of Chaka - Tired Of You LP Sub City Records

Ah, a new Chaka album. More great shit from these pop-punkers who do it like nobody else. If you've never heard them, as I've stated they are basically a pop punk band but much better. Very garagey and '77 punkish at times. Also a lot of their songs (nothing on this album really) can get pretty aggressive actually. This album is a little more mellow and rocking than their other stuff but I think I like it better than everything but their first Hutch Brown Sayngwich. Favorite song is probably the last song on side A, " Monsters " due to the catchy hooks. Fans from Showcase Showdown to the Dead Boys to even late 70's Misfits could appreciate this. I don't know much about Sub City, except for the fact that they're a subsidiary (Yeah I get the shitty pun too) label of Hopeless records, which is normally a very, very shitty label. Don't let that discourage you though - get this! 8/10

V/A - Cock Sparrer Tribute 7" D.S.S. Records

Rather mediocre 7" featuring some pretty decent bands. Shocks Troops' cover of " We're Coming Back " is good but way too fucking long and boring. Dropkick Murphys cover of " Working " annoys me just like everything since their Curse Of A Fallen Soul 7" does. The Oxys suck. And the best song on here is a cover of " I Got Your Number " by the Disgusteens. I've never heard these guys before but I'm assuming by this song that they're definitely a pop punk band. Very catchy and annoying. I'm sure these kids have record collections full of your Screeching Weasels and Pink Lincolns. Kind of disappointed by this record overall though. 5/10

The Dents - The End Of All Civilization 7" S.F.W. Records

Great debut 7" from these Rochester punks. Political fastpaced streetpunk laced with some oldschool hardcore. Musically they remind me a little of Violent Society or :30 Seconds Over Tokyo. Lyrics about war, school, society and your basic political punk themes. Honestly though, theres hundreds of bands that play a similar style as this, but I feel these guys are one of the few that stand above the rest. It's just so fucking full of energy. This should be very popular among the most discerning hardcore/punk or political fans. I can see this becoming quite a sleeper hit. Assuming they release more shit after this, expect these guys to get pretty popular amongst the kids this is aimed toward. Get ahold of So Fucking What records in Rochester NY and here for yourself. " We get off pointing fingers at the government and its problems, but we tried to govern ourselves and it was chaos and failure. "9/10

Subjugated - Up The Punx 7" Beer City Records

First off how many bands have used this title? I can think of at least three off the top of my head. This thing surprised the hell out of me. Beer City releases a lot of 7", and rarely have I purchased a Beer City 7" by a band that I've never heard of that I liked. The majority fucking suck, it's that simple. This didn't. Great sloppy hardcore with alternating vocalists. When you hear this all you can think of is petty vandalism. Then one day I was listening to this and caught a chunk of the lyrics. I was stunned and ran over to get the sleeve to check it out. This band is surprisingly an incredibly political band. I couldn't believe it, I just assumed they sang about beer and stupid shit. Here; " Global warming - an apocalyptic fate. Man beats wife cuz dinner is late. Cops shoot homeless and calls us vandals. The church survives another porn scandal " or " It's always some government sponsored agency, that funds illicit actions; who feel it's a threat to have people speak out - if I'm so free what are these handcuffs for? " I like the cover art too. I love this band to death, but I'm sure like most Beer City 7" bands I will never hear a single thing from them again. 10/10

A.F.U. - s/t CS Don't Compare Records

AFU (Anti Fascist Underground) is a LA thrash band with obvious influences from the early SoCal hardcore scene. I have no fucking clue what their lyrics are about but I'm pretty sure the general idea is unity and love for hardcore. The first song fucking sucks, it's about 5 minutes long with metallish guitars and whiney screaming, but everything else is incredible. The singer has the whole thrash/crust scream down but the annoyance factor is over the top. When my band played with these guys he was puking in between songs and shit, so you can tell these guys are just about having a good time. Plus their bassist is quite possibly the best bass player I've ever seen and you can hear it on this tape. The guy is insane, I've never seen anything like him. Plus there's a Necros cover. Great shit, I don't know how you could find this, but if you do pick it up. 8/10

Anti-State - When Corporations Rule The World 7" Gasmask

This is a very dark sounding EP. Lots of stops and starts and tempo changes. Almost sludgey at times. Anti-State has a very youthful sound, but almost annoyingly youthful at times. Prime example is during the spoken word at the beginning of the anti-McDonalds song. One of the vocalists sounds like he's about 14 and for some reason it bugged the shit out of me. " Squatting Is Not Illegal " is a great song though, I love the trade-off. All together this 7" doesn't really do it for me musically, but its got some great lyrics and information inside, like proof on how America is slowly becoming the next 3rd world country. Interesting; I'd like to see what this band does in the future.6/10

Oi Polloi - Fuaim CathaLP Skuld Records

Sweet Sassy Malassy...first full length in 10 years and two years in the making. Shit, I think I'm drooling. Oi Polloi never lost a fucking step. Intense anarchopunk with Degsy's gruff, heavily Scottish vocals. Has some ska and a little Celtic folk thrown into the mix at just the right parts too. Song topics about nuclear arms, the Nestle corporation, Redhead discrimination, destroying the rich, and of course, defending the Earth. Every song here is fantastic, even the little Celtic jingle that starts off side B. There's not a single low part. If you're normal you will listen to this in it's entirety, and then start it all over again, repeating the process several times regardless of whatever else you need to do. Well maybe not, but it's damn good. Comes with a big, informative booklet and a good-sized poster showing the album cover. Easily the best album of '99 so far. 10/10

A//Political - Punk Is A Ghetto 7" Profane Existence

It's such a fucking relief to hear a band like this around now. Catchy, mid-paced punk rock, YOUTHFUL, clear vocals, and some of the most right-on political lyrics I've ever heard. A//Political plays Crass style punk only with a quicker, more up to date feel. The singer really sounds English too even though they come from Baltimore. Check this out: " If we want punk to be a threat again, not just by the fashion police. We must start to fucking think, and bring society to its knees " Why the fuck wouldn't you get this? 10/10

Heist - Pain Is Causing Life 7" Havoc Records

7 inches, 17 songs, nudity, fat guys, pictures of dead people...this is punk rock. Heist is a fast, somewhat political band from Australia. I think the drummer in the band Rupture as well. This 7" is pretty sloppy, they recorded it after only three practices, but maybe that's why I like it. This is fast as fuck, and has different vocalists and all that, but it's not powerviolence. Which is good too 'cuz I'm really kinda' getting sick of all these Spazz, MITB clones coming out. Another thing that's really cool is Heist seems to have some cheese influences or something and it shows in their music. You can hear it in a lot of their breakdowns plus on several of the songs they have some fucking instrument playing along. I swear it's a synthesizer. Just about this entire record more or less centers around some Australian bushwacker named Ned Kelly who stole from the rich back in the early 1900's, which is cool. The first song on side B is my favorite. They have a CD out now too, but I say go for this first. 8/10

Oppressed Logic - Aint A Damn Thing Changed CD/LP Beer City Records

This is a pretty fun release. It's not as good as their first Beer City 7" or their new split with Fang, but it's still pretty good. 80's style hardcore punk with real badass attitudes. Too badass at times. Some of their lyrics are real jocklike almost. " Little fucking hooker, come and suck my prick " (from the song Little Girls, which is actually one of my favorite songs on the album.) And then some of the songs are too long, and being this style of punk rock, all the songs generally sound more or less the same anyway, so a 4 minute song just doesn't cut it for me. Still, this is a great band and there are some great songs on here. The title track, " Natural Acts ", and " Little Girls " are my favorites. I hear stories about their singer Mike Alvilez all the time about the shit he does on stage, so if they play near you (and they're starting a US tour real soon) check them out. 7/10

React - Disturbing The Souls Of Buried Rage 7" Profane Existence

Boy does this thing kick some ass. Awesome tuned down political thrash with M/F vocals, although the girl just kinda joins along with choruses and the guy sings the majority of the record. Fast, angry, and with members of the Pist. React is fucking incredible, end of review. 9/10

Inflicted/Ojorojo - split 7" Power Ground Records

There's been a big buzz about Ojorojo lately. Basically I think it's cuz they broke up and then just about released everything at once. They've got a cd out too now called " Can You Keep Your Sanity ". Anyway I wasn't too impressed. Maybe I just feel cheated that they've only got two songs here and one is a fucking instrumental. Sound kind of like Damad. I don't know, I don't have much to work with here considering there's really only one song to review. Basically it's deep throated growly vocals over medium paced dark hardcore. Nothing too ground breaking. Infliced are a band I've heard nothing about and they're really good. They've got dual vocalists and sound kinda like Ojorojo but more fast paced and with basically more of a punk rock sound. This 7" is short and really doesn't offer too much from either band, but it's got some good stuff. 6/10

Timebomb '77 - The American Way 7" Black Hole Records

Timebomb '77 is another oi! band out of Atlanta and basically that's their sound. Nothing too new, nothing too special, but still it's good. The first song on the A side though is incredible. Totally different than any other song I've ever heard from these guys. It's real agressive with alternating vocalists and shit. It's honestly good enough to buy the record just for that song considering it's really the only song I listen to anymore. There's a Chron-Gen cover on here too thats pretty good. 7/10

The Mart!ans - The World's Not Gonna End CD Sour Records

I've had this thing for over a year now but I decided to review it anyway. Party because I see it taking so much crap. Everybody seems to fucking hate this cd. Every review I've read has more or less deemed it one of the worst things they've ever heard. I love it! Fast, sloppy, melodic, hardcore punk similar to i farm is what you got here. The sound quality is verging on terrible, the bands timing is not together, and they sound about as tight at times as a three week old band. But, with all those things wrong, I'm still listening to this thing over a year later, so the Mart!ans must've done something right. These songs just grab me, there's 24 here and there's not one I don't like. Some are just fuck around songs; " Getting Drunk On Romper Room " and " P.E.T.S.A. " are a few but some are just really good punk rock songs with incredibly catchy hooks like " Parlor City Pride " and " Generation Ax ". These guys broke up a while ago and Sour Records is one weird fucking label (I haven't even heard from it or seen an ad since I got this thing) so good luck trying to find this. Fuck all the other reviews and make up your own mind. Give this band a chance. 8/10

Slush Fund- While We're Still Ahead CD Longshot Records

This is without a doubt one of the best bands to ever come out of Buffalo, and this is without a doubt best ska-punk band I've ever heard. Fucking Less Than Jake who? Slush Fund are the kings. Except...they broke up last year, and this is a discography cd. This isn't normal ska-punk though, it's really almost a different style of music altogether than bands like Less Than Jake or Slapstick, sorry to confuse you. No Slush Fund is by far a punk band, with ska influences at times. Similar to Plan A Project and AAA. These guys were at the forefront of the Buffalo punk scene back when it seemed to mean a lot more, with bands like The Half Cabs and Stomping Abrasions, but I never really got too into them. Honestly the only time I ever heard them before this was outside in a parking lot during one of their shows and I really wish I would've gotten into this band a lot more. You can feel the fucking energy, which is maybe why it's so good. I say get into this band and contact somebody because there should be copies left. This band can hold a candle to any ska punk band ever (well maybe not OPIV, but they dont count), and I don't even fucking like skapunk! Members of these guys have gone on to to form bands like The O-City Bombers, and Fists Of Fury, two more under appreciated killer bands from the Buffalo area. 8/10

Pig Destroyer- demo

Grrrrrrind from Virginia. Pig Destroyer is fucking off the wall. You know in the Exorcist, where the possesed little girl flips out and starts screaming in those different voices? Well that reminds me of Pig Destroyer. Three guys, no bassist, one screamer, one guttural as all hell grind vocalist. A little too much for me at times, but it's short and fun to listen to. I've heard they put on a pretty good show too. 6/10

Christdriver - Everything Burns LP Profane Existence

This thing sucks. I love Profane Existence and they're by far one of my favorite labels but this thing is terrible. It starts off decent, with a real long " I fucking hate you all and blame you for what you've done to me " speech but goes straight downhill from there. And fast. Dirgy gloom core that sounds like Rob Zombie singing over Earth Crisis guitars, only an extremely slow, sludgecore like Earth Crisis. It is really a metal album, but it's not fast, and it doesn't even have the cool cheese metal vocals like Banshee and those other cool 80's hair bands. " This kiss will send you to HELLLLLLLL ". Luckily though this album WAS actually free. Now the only thing I want back are the precious 4 minutes I actually spent listening to this thing. 1/10 (NOTE: I have since listened to this record in its entirety and I still think it sucks, but on the plus side while pulling it off my shelf the other day it slipped out of its sleeve and split on my floor. No big loss...)

Totalitar - Ni Maste Bort CD/LP Finn Records

Killer Swedish crust punk sung in Swedish. Don't let the language scare you. I know that if half of you heard this and weren't aware of the foreign language you'd have no idea. This album is fucking good, and there's more where this came from. Totalitar has at least 4 seven inches that I can think of, so they've been around awhile and know their shit. The songs " En Inre Storm " and " Leva Pa Kna " are rad as fuck. 9/10

The Chuds - demo Independently Released

I don't know if this is an official demo or not, or if it's just a tape the Chuds made me of some of their songs since I'm hopefully setting up a show with them. I guess it's going to be released as a 7" and for now its just in tape format. Whatever. These guys are good. Reminds of the Boils at times. " Militant Girl Scouts " sounds very Minor Threat like. Hardcore punk I guess, or pogo punk, or hardcore pogo punk. " Shop and get out " has one helluva catchy chorus except until I got this tape I thought they were saying " scumbag get the fuck out ". " The Chuds theme song " fucking rules. Ha ha, Simpsons funny. 8/10

V/A - At War With Society CD New Red Archives

This is an NRA sampler, but unlike most samplers this fucker only costs 99 cents. Take that Fat Wreck Chords. All the NRA bands you've grown to love (or haven't) - Reagan Youth, UK Subs, Christ On A Crutch, Anti-Flag, Swingin Utters, etc. Best songs on here by Christ On A Crutch, MDC, Corrupted Ideals, Hogan's Heroes, and Reagan Youth. Worst songs on here by Squat, The Nukes (that song just really makes me cringe for some reason), 2 Line Filler, and No Use For A Name. NUFAN fucking sucks, I hate those guys. They sound like such pansies all the time, especially on the song DMV. Samiam's on here too, and they've got some songs I actually enjoyed, particularly " The Bridge ". There's 33 songs on this, and 32 have been previously released. The one that hasn't is the UK Subs' " NRA Jingle " which is good, because it's the UK Subs, but for some hell of an odd reason, they censor " fuck " several times on this song. What the fuck is that all about? I hope it's a joke. Good comp., Incredible price. 7/10

Blood For Blood - " Revenge On Society " CD Victory Records

Hey look, another Boston band. This band is fucking intense. Some angry, angry guys. They're some pretty fucking big guys too. Good shit here. Kind of like a Strife meets The Bruisers. It's Victory hardcore laced with oi! more or less and it comes out really well. The songs " Still A Paper Gangster " and " Wasted Youth Crew " make you wanna break some glass and take a monstrous, explosive shit. If I saw these guys live I think I'd have an embolism. They're that intense and honestly that good. Some of the toughguy parts are tacky and some are really fucking cool. Speaking of fuck, I think this cd gets number 1 for the " fuck " count in my collection, they must scream it out at an average of 6 seconds or something like that. Once again, Blood For Blood are badasses who play good music and want to beat the shit out of you. 9/10

Down Time - " Roshambo " Demo Independently Released

This tape is really bad. It was advertised as Crimpshine (who I love) with bits of ska but doesn't sound like either. The singer sounds a little like that guy from the band Cake and there's a bunch of weird instrumentals on here. Real slow guitar songs with an almost emo-cheese rock like sound or some shit. I didn't like it. 0/10

Oheisavara - " Vapaan Likkumisen Kirous " 7" Beer City Records

This thing is fucking awesome. Intense 5-piece hardcore punk from Finland with alternating male female vocals. The vocals are perfect. The females are bitchy with a little hidden melody, and the guys voice isnt youre Doomesque grind voice either like many of the European bands that I've heard. Everything just meshes well and I like it a lot. Plus they have real cool names like Une, Uoshu, and Makiska. Lyrics also translated to English inside booklet. One of the best things I've heard in awhile. 9/10

The Pissants - " Demo's Suck " Demo Deep Rest Records

The Pissants are a newschool punkcore band from right here in western NY. They're more or less billed under the southern California Epifat sound, but I don't really hear that too much. Whenever I hear these guys I don't put them in the same catagory as bands like Pennywise and Strung Out (that's not an insult, both those bands SUCK). For one thing that music is very played out and boring, and I'm still not sick of the Pissants. Even if that's the genre they're gonna be known under they'll at least breathe some new life into it with creativity and a sense of humor that isn't seen much in all those skate bands anymore. The Twisted Sister cover is fucking great. It's worth the 2 bucks itself. Look for a tour this summer. 7/10

The Dents - s/t Demo Independently Released

The Dents, hailing from Rochester NY, play snotty hardcore punk rock similar to Violent Society. The singer has kind of a sneery almost mock English voice at times that really goes well with the music. 8 songs here, including a live version of my favorite Dents song, " One By One ". These are really cheap at shows, only 2 bucks. It's a whole dollar more through the mail though. Darn. 9/10

The Aquabats - Return of The Aquabats CD Horchata Records

This cd is a lot like a big puddle of puke. One coolass heap of various components that should adorn your collection. The main part is high energy trumpet-heavy ska, that would look like a Slush Puppy, mostly syrup, if it were regurgitated. Tou have some really bad reggae in a part of "Pinch and Roll" (a song about itching your balls) witch would look like some accidentally ingested rolling papers, some skat in "Marshmallow Man", which would be Sammy Davis Jr.'s glass eye if puked up, a spy song called "Cd Repo Man", croissanwich, some 2-tone keyboard things in "Aquabats March", bottle caps if tossed, generally, a shmorgas board of assorted nutty stuff. Well, not really, I just wanted to talk about puke. i just think it's neat. The styles that vary usually last in intervals of 10 seconds. The Aquabats aren't a great band, but they sure are good! Do yourself a favor, get their cds, memorize their cast of characters, and go see these freaks live. funny shit. Puke! Puke! Puke!!7/10

The Dropkick Murphys - Curse Of A Fallen Soul 7" Hellcat/TKO Records

I was extrememly disappointed when I heard Mike McColgan left the Dropkick Murphys. He had that awesome Irish twang that made me love every fucking song I heard by them. So I wasn't gonna give the new singer much of a chance and wasn't too interested in hearing anything new. Then I heard who the new singer was. Al Barr. Fucking Al Barr from the now defunct Bruisers. So since I loved the Bruisers and I loved the Dropkick Murphys with Mike, I thought I'd pick this black plastic slab up. Damn good. If you've ever heard the Bruisers, then you know Al Barr can growl like a drunken skinhead (which he isn't) and the dude can actually sing. He's got some pipes. Both examples are exhibited here on this 7". A perfect example is the title track. It starts off as a folky pub sing-a-long and then quickly breaks into an aggresive oi! attack. I love it! You can easily listen to " Do Or Die " and then slip this on your turntable. Don't hesitate. 8/10

:30 Seconds Over Tokyo - All Ages Pie Eating Contest 7" Beer City Records

Boston is amazing. They just keep churning out bands. :30 Seconds is one of the newer bands though that I've been hearing a lot about lately and have never checked out, until today anyway. And they are fucking great. The whole band is comprised of teenagers I think but it sounds like they've been around for a lot longer. Complete Oi! choruses and the works. Actually reminds me a bit of Reagan Squad from Pittsburgh at times. I guess they've independently released a CD since this though, so pick that up too. But don't forget this 7". Great stuff, I can't wait to hear more from them. If Boston keeps giving us more bands like this, then they're gonna be kicking shit up for a long, long time. 8/10

The O-City Bombers - We Don't Like You Either CD Longshot Records

Ever since these guys were parading around as the Dreadnoks they're been one of my favorite, if not my favorite local band. Fucking great stuff. O-City plays a pretty unique style of punk rock. It's hardcore but it's got melody. It reminds me a bit of a tighter Mart!ans, and even at times some Anti-Flag. Mix that in with influences like The Misfits and Black Flag and you got one pretty damn good band. These guys play all the time all over, so if you're in the Buffalo area, look for them. The O-City Bombers recorded is awesome, but it still doesn't compare to them live. 8/10

Dissucks - A Room With A View Of A World Of Shit 7" Rabid Reaction Records

First off I don't know if it's Dis Sucks (the hatred of Dis-core?) or Dissucks, so if I'm wrong bear with me cuz I've seen it both ways. Who the hell cares anyway? Solid crust-punk from Philly. Loud fast and screechy vocals put this far above that gravelly voiced grindcore shit in my book. Very anti-religious. I've fallen in love with the Philly scene much like Boston and Pitt thanks to bands like these guys and Violent Society. Recording and packaging isn't all that great, but it's cheap and one of the better new crust bands comeing out lately, so give it a chance. I really like this 7" but would kinda' like to know what they're saying. It's not like I'm some picky little shit who whines whenever he doesn't have a lyrics booklet, but this band interests me and it's hard to follow along to these type of vocals. Only $3 for 6 crusty songs. You can't go wrong. 9/10

Rancid - Life Won't Wait CD Epitaph Records

Like just about everybody else, I'm a Rancid fan. Thus I just about shit my pants when this thing came out...almost a month ago. But I finally got some cash and picked up this this latest Rancid gem. I was not let down. Rancid has once again given me something that I enjoy listening too. This album is great and better than a lot of stuff out there still but it's not as good as " Lets Go " or their other albums really. This is still the same Rancid, with plenty of punk rock to go around, but it has A LOT more ska. This is not the standard couple or so ska songs on every Rancid release. The majority of this is definitely a ska album. Lots of guest stars. Marky Ramone, Buju Banton, guys from Hepcat. Enjoyable but I hope they go back to the old stuff. 5/10

Blood Gin - Everybody's Punk Rock 7" V.M.L.

This is some weird shit. It's definitely punk rock, but just weird. At times the music kinda bothers me, but the lyrics are great. Some of this reminds me of Dead Kennedys, NoMeansNo, and a bunch of other Alternative Tentacles bands. This BELONGS on Alternative Tentacles. I like it though, and have found myself listening to it a lot lately. Definitely get this if you enjoy experimenting. 6/10

Suicide Machines - Battle Hymns CD Hollywood Records

Take Destruction By Definition, water it down, make it angrier, and you've got Battle Hymns. This CD is billed as twice its predecesor, but falls short. It's impact is lost on lackluster lyrics, and the song order, militant songs such as "Hating Hate" are mixed in with a deedle-ska song called "Give", also the songs seem awkward, and lacking a distict semblance of the Suicide Machines. And short little shit songs called "Punck" (4 seconds), and "Jah", (5 seconds) just piss me off. Also you catch them yelling "oi!" in "In the End". I could go on. If you could buy one cd, I'd recommend Destruction By Definition, but this is a crappy cd. Avoid it. 3/10

The Specials - The Specials CD Chrysalis Records

Put this cd in, hit play, and you have a wave of 2-Tone ska spewing in your face. Starting with "A Message To You Rudy" with classics like "Too Much Too Young", and "Gangsters" in the fray, and finishing up with "You're Wondering Now", you've got a solid chunk of the best goddam two-tone ska band under your belt. Go out and get this cd, it'll make you laugh, cry, and moonstomp. 'cause if it doesn't you'll burn in hell. 10/10

The Pinkerton Thugs - The Pain...And The Pinkerton Thugs CD/LP VML Records

As soon as I popped this in to my stereo I knew I was going to love it. This disc explodes in your face like nothing I've heard in a while. Starting off with the fast paced streetpunk anthem " One Day " and tapering off with a folky acoustic ballad called " In The Town Where I Was Born ", this has 13 of the best political punk rock songs I've ever heard. This is honestly up there with Conflict, so you know it's good. Aside from Conflict the only other band that even remotely reminds me of these guys is the Unseen, and that's probably just because they share a member (Paul Russo). This gem is only 10 bucks ppd from VML so I suggest you pick it up as soon as possible. 10/10

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