Review: Fat Dog's debut album, WOOF., is a frenetic and electrifying trip through a kaleidoscope of genres, encapsulating electro-punk, rock'n'roll snarls, techno soundscapes, industrial-pop and rave euphoria. Frontman Joe Love and synth player Chris Hughes lead the charge, delivering a sonic assault that defies categorisation. The album's tracks, like 'King Of The Slugs' and 'Running,' pulsate with runaway rave intensity, showing the band's knack for combining dance-punk energy with klezmer-tinged interludes and broken-down grandeur. While WOOF. offers few moments of reprieve, its relentless fervor and wracked nerves keep listeners hooked from start to finish. With their rapid ascent and zany hybrid sound, Fat Dog emerges as a captivating force in London's art-rock scene, leaving audiences both fascinated and puzzled by their enigmatic charm.
Review: You can feel the energy emanating from these rare, almost-lost recordings of heroic San Francisco punks the Dead Kennedys. Laid down in 1978, the same year the band got together, it's hard to work out what's more remarkable - the rabid vibe itself, or the fact that rabid vibe seemed to come so effortlessly and naturally once the founding members joined forces. It's almost like it was meant to be. Across 16 tracks that vitality is laid bare in all its ferocious glory. And while it's great to hear the origin stories behind some of the DK's biggest songs - 'Kill The Poor', 'Holiday In Cambodia', 'Forward to Death' - it's perhaps more interesting getting to grips with the initial ideas that didn't come to fruition in the end. Either way, basking in the glory of an outfit with protest and anti-establishment attitude bleeding from every orifice still feels fantastic.
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (Boston 1982) (4:20)
Capital Radio (London 1978) (3:03)
City Of The Dead (London 1978) (2:41)
I Fought The Law (London 1978) (2:28)
London Calling (Boston 1982) (3:31)
Armagideon Time (London 1980) (4:34)
Guns Of Brixton (New York 1981) (4:04)
Know Your Rights (Boston 1982) (3:59)
Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Boston 1982) (2:57)
Review: The Clash are post-punk icons whose music still draws in new generations of anarchists some 40-odd years after the band peaked. Back in 1978, they were still at their very best and it was then that they recorded the BBC Sessions that now make up this new vinyl release. Alongside all the tunes from those recordings are a series of selections from their 1982 East Coast tour in the United States of America. All the classics are here such as 'London's Burning', 'I Fought The Law', 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' and many more along with some less-known gems.
Review: Over two decades since its initial release, the third full-length from emo veterans, Saves The Day, is still heralded as a high watermark for the pop-punk/post-hardcore scene of the 21st century. Switching out acclaimed producer, Steve Evetts, who manned the desks of their first two albums, Elliot Smith collaborator Rob Schnapf was enlisted to help the band channel their dynamic influences and conflicting emotions into an exceptional work of alternative, melancholic beauty. 'Stay What You Are', is often regarded as one of the focal points of the emo movement arriving on more accessible shores, and you'd be hard-pressed to find any self-respecting list of genre essentials that omits the project. Influencing a myriad of today's most prevalent and dynamic acts, this scene staple belongs on the shelf of any self-proclaimed, unashamed lover of emo.
Review: A novelty mashup album first released over ten years ago by Doomtree's Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy, Wugazi is an album reflecting the cream of the crop of the cut-and-paste style. An ultra-niche, hilarious fusion of the straight-edge grimoire-punk backing tracks of Fugazi's Instrument, and the lyrical fine-stylings of the Wu-Tang Clan's The 36 Chambers, Otter and Andy deliver a successful and convincing rerub of two of the most rebellious collective spirits in musical history. Now reissued via Eggroll.
Review: This album was a self-imposed ambitious project, conceived to spark creativity amid challenging times. Pivoting from our previous guitar and keyboard-centric albums, we embraced a new approach. I demoed everything on a cassette 4-track using drum loops, aiming for a return to simpler times. Tom and I selected synth sounds, creating samples across three octaves, loaded into Roland SPD-SX samplers, and learned the songs with drumsticks, transforming our writing process. Recording felt reminiscent of brass, so we added a saxophone horn section, thanks to Cansfis Foote and Brad Caulkins, enhancing the reedy bell tones. The result is a blend of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Von LMO, The Flesh Eaters, and The Screamers- a punk junk fusion that's poppy, hooky, heavy, and occasionally sci-fi. With boneheaded riffs and heady lyrics, it's a unique soundscape. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio on eight-track 1/4" tape, this album is a fresh, innovative pivot.
Review: Originally released in 2008, Songs To Scream At The Sun would serve as the second and final full-length from Boston straight edge melodic hardcore heroes Have Heart. Critically acclaimed upon release for its positive messaging and outlook, echoing the sentiments of the youth crew acts they sought to emulate, their fluid musicianship married both the raw angst and emotive melody at either end of the genre's spectrum with an effortless air of coalescence, while vocalist/lyricist Pat Flynn would set a new standard for earnest storytelling and insightful hardcore lyricism. Produced by Kurt Ballou of Converge at his iconic God City Studios in Salem, Massachusetts, the album has grown to become a much-adored underground classic, with this long overdue repress arriving courtesy of original label Bridge Nine just in time for the band's summer run of reunion shows including a headline slot at Manchester's Outbreak Festival. In more recent years, both vocalist Pat Flynn and drummer Shawn Costa continue to play together in indie-rock/post-hardcore supergroup Fiddlehead along with Basement guitarist Alex Henery.
Review: The debut album from Swami & the Bed of Nails, featuring Swami John Reis, All Of This Awaits You is produced by Reis and mixed by Ben Moore, the album originated from the final Hot Snakes writing sessions in 2023, evolving into what Reis calls "a growing tributary" after the passing of his friend Rick Froberg. The nine-song album reflects on this challenging period, offering an immediate blast of joy celebrating life on earth and rock 'n' roll's innocence, blending punk rock with a nostalgic, idealised pursuit of simple pleasures, ridiculing unbridled ambition. The music, a reenactment of elderly teenagers' past lives, promises an exciting journey through punk's lens. Featuring Joe Guevara on piano and synthesizer, Jason Koukounis and Richard Larson on drums, Tommy Kitsos on bass, and Mark Murino on second guitar, the album also includes guest appearances by Rob Crow, Anthony Anzaldo, and Jacob Turnbloom, creating a timeless yet contemporary sound.
Prison Affair - "Apuna Lamiento (Pero Entre Colegas)" (1:47)
Prison Affair - "Quizas" (1:58)
Review: For the uninitiated, the term "egg-punk" is basically what the kids call Devo-core these days; an internet microgenre of glitchy, lo-fi, new wave-tinged scuzz-punk that doesn't take itself too seriously. This transcontinental split EP sees two of the finest modern examples on either side of the Atlantic, with Nashville's Snooper delivering three cuts of cutesy, chaotic twee-fuzz (one of which was even recorded on a Tascam 48), while the flipside contributed by Barcelona's Prison Affair lowers the tone with murkier, impenetrable garage-machine-punk, coming off like Big Black covering The Cramps. Jagged, incomprehensible, bizarre and oh so fun, let's get eggy.
Atwater Basketball Association File No 172-C (1:27)
Heart Attack Man (live) (2:04)
The Maestro (live) (3:12)
Mullet Head (2:54)
Sure Shot (European B-Boy instrumental) (2:56)
Review: Beastie Boys' classic 1994 album, Ill Communication, is getting a special deluxe edition reissue on vinyl to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The remastered 3xLP set resurrects a rare version initially released as a limited run in 2009 that includes 12 bonus tracks - rarities, a live version of Check Your Head's 'The Maestro,' B-sides, and remixes - all adding to what is already a spectacularly varied and wonderfully sprawling album. Ill Communication was the fourth studio album by the New York-based hip-hop ensemble, featuring hit singles like 'Sabotage' and 'Get It Together.' This reissue follows recent re-releases of other Beastie Boys' albums, including Hello, Nasty and Check Your Head and further highlights the group's 'giants of the 90s' status.
Review: Billed as a "love album", the fifth full-length from IDLES offers an entirely fresh batch of soulful buzzsaw anthems, aiming to take a further look inward following on from the apolitical, primarily introspective musings that permeated 2021's criminally underrated Crawler. Working with renowned hip-hop producer Kenny Beats yet again, who shares co-production credits with Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis, REM) and the band's very own guitar wizard Mark Bowen, the collective have distilled the vital aspects of their sonic makeup, whilst eschewing any rethreads of topical malaise they've previously exorcised to its maximum potential. One spin of the grooving dance-punk lead single 'Dancer', complete with backing vocals from James Murphy and Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem, should be enough to illustrate the power of positivity brimming from these sessions, with frontman Joe Talbot's simple succinct summary of the record going as such - "Love is the fing".
Review: Despite being at the centre of one of rock's tensest social media dramas in recent history - having been called out by Fat White Family for being too middle-class for their own image - Idles are back on top, thanks to their new album 'Crawler'. Taking a chance on their own criticisms, this album is more introspective than 'Ultra Mono', revealing the band's various wrestlings with addiction and desperation. In true post-punk fashion, it's an emotive sophomore development from lead brain Joe Talbot, spanning plod-rap grungers ('Car Crash') and dark disco-rock ('When The Lights Go On'), all giving off his signature brand of hopeful nihilism, with the ultimate message that 'the show must go on'.
Review: Bristol's heavy post-punk groups Idles present their first full length album after a slew of records dating back to 2012. Brutalism collects the best of the bands antics, from vocals that shift from wailing snarls and smokey mob calls to punkish drawls, or the more spoken word and poetic emotional ballad that is album closer "Slow Savage". Guitars can thrash away or chill out melodically in the background, with the character of this album's songs striking up a familiar feeling of late-'90s punk to mid-2000s indie. Album highlights for us include "Mother", a song championing one woman's die hard working week, to the screeching, distorted anthem "Stendhal Syndrome".
Review: When The Clash rolled into Passaic, New Jersey in March 1980, they were fully hitting their stride. They'd released their instant classic London Calling in December the year before and cracked the US top 30, so they hit Stateside with some swing in their stride, and it shows on this fantastic document of one of the breakthrough US gigs. Of course the classics spill out of this collection, from 'London Calling' and 'Guns Of Brixton' to 'I Fought The Law' and their cover of Junior Murvin's 'Police & Thieves', all delivered by a band firing on all cylinders.
Review: Originally released in 1977 (the year that punk died), 'Rocket To Russia', still stands as arguably one of the most vital punk staples to ever come out of the genre. The strength of lead single, 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', was enough to secure the band a deal with Sire Records, who would front a hefty sum for the budget, which was poured into production costs. Admittedly, the project didn't sell in the high regions the members had hoped, citing the influence of the Sex Pistols as a negative blanket over the scene, but the more psychedelic, surf-rock sonics may have been too much of an outlier for the time. While sporting another essential cut in the form of, 'Teenage Lobotomy', as well as the iconic rendition of, 'Surfin' Bird'; the album would mark the final endeavour of all four original Ramones before drummer Tommy would depart, whilst remaining on as producer for the acclaimed follow up the next year, 'Road To Ruin'.
Review: Given The Clash's wholehearted embrace of dub and reggae in their sound, it was significant when they came to Jamaica for the World Music Festival in 1982. Now you can relive that momentous gig thanks to a high quality sound board recording which captures the energy of the performance and the band when they were riding high off the back of Combat Rock. The hits are non-stop, from 'London Calling' to 'The Guns Of Brixton', 'Bankrobber' to 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go?'. The kind of band who truly made their songs come to life on stage, no one did it like The Clash - stick this on and you'll have no choice but to agree.
Vermillion & The Aces - "I Like Motorcycles" (2:47)
April South & The Pennies - "Heroes Of The Night" (3:16)
The Chevrons - "No More Tears" (2:42)
Teacher's Pet - "Missing Person" (2:28)
Houston We Have A Problem - "Another Bottle Of Wine" (3:40)
The Cry - "Love Is Necessary" (3:33)
Metropolis - "See No Reason" (3:08)
Risk - "You Took The Risk" (2:45)
Three Phase - "All I Want To Do (Is Fall In Love With You)" (3:34)
Review: To get an idea as to just how male-dominated the music industry has been - and unarguably continues to be - you only need to take in the blurb for this musically forward-thinking collection. Billed as a "first of its kind" compilation, it focuses entirely on U.K. and Irish punk, powerpop, New Wave, hard rock and synth pop bands that were female-fronted. Shame on all the labels that allowed that situation to happen.
Gender politics aside, whoever was responsible for putting the track list together clearly has an ear for those genres. Presenting The Russians, April South & The Pennies, Teacher's Pet, and Cheap Cinema, it's likely many of the acts here will be unfamiliar to anyone who wasn't around in the years between 1979 and 1983, and yet everything here really does deserve not just to be heard, but shared and musically celebrated.
Review: You don't get to call your band Amyl & The Sniffers if the music is anything short of corrosive, in the best possible way. Launching at a serious pace from the off, this is punk at its modern best - a juggernaut of sweat, swearing and uncompromising songwriting that's only rival for your attention comes in the form of riffs and gritty chord instrumentation.
But the Melbourne, Australia band's second LP is far from a simple rehash of the first, which we could have also described in similar terms to those you just read above. This time round things feel more thoughtful, perhaps even patient in certain moments. Of course they still wear 'weirdos' on their sleeves, tongues often firmly placed in cheeks. But there's a depth here to the songwriting, a retro and introspective feeling that reveals far more than the debut album let us hear.
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