Alright, here goes.... in the order of demo tape ->CDs ->7"s ->12"s. Wish me luck.
Demo Tape
Troops of Tomorrow- Demo
Fucking amazing blend of 80s hardcore and great Oi. The obvious band to compare them to is 86 Mentality, and in my opinion they were one of the best bands of the last decade, so its easy to understand my love for Troops of Tomorrow. I hate calling bands "hard" or saying that "this makes me want to punch stuff" but sometimes nothing else will suffice. "I don't wanna be the change I see/ Cuz I don't fucking care about society ", see what I mean? Oh and a DYS cover, pick this up ASAP.
CDs
Both of these were freebies that were tossed in my order by the lovely gentleman at Sorry State Records. I like getting free stuff, so I'll give these two some quickie reviews.
Chest Pains- Because Our Time is Limited and Valuable
Cool California/Texas sounding punk here. Reminds me a lot of stuff like The Dicks, but slower and not quite as good. There's a sweet (although slightly altered) Circle Jerks cover on here too. Some great frantic, twangy as hell guitar work on here, which I love. My only suggestion is that it should be faster, if this was even 25% faster, I probably would have loved it. Also, cool screen printed CD sleeve, always a nice touch.
Devour- S/T
What I'm assuming to be an extra insert CD from their S/T LP, I was pleasantly surprised by this. Despite the lack of any real packaging (again, most likely a leftover from CD/LP packages), I put this on expecting the standard fare of bands who use stencil fonts and have band names that start with the letter D. This is a lot better though, rather than sounding like a d-beat ripoff or His Hero Is Gone worship band, this is fast, thrashy metallic punk. I don't have any insert or information like song titles or anything, but this was good enough that next time I see it in a distro or something I'll think of picking it up.
7"s
Dry Spell- Magic Man
I know I ragged on Chest Pains for being too mid-tempo, but this is mid-tempo punk done right. From Virginia (big surprise there, right?), these guys are great at songs that are fast but not too fast, and slow but not too slow. Great rock feel to them as well, and some of the riffs in these songs make me wish I wrote them (I.E. The Intro in Magic Man). Lyrics are great in the vein of snotty punk. Nothing really groundbreaking, but everything fits where it should and makes one stellar EP.
The Shitty Limits- Yesterdays Heroes
The first of a few Shitty Limits records in this package, Yesterday's Heroes offers up 6 real quick tunes (only one over a minute, the rest hovering around the half minute mark). Total art-school punk vibe from these guys, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. Songs are short enough and to the point enough that you can tell these guys know exactly what they are doing, and their goal is to have short powerful jangly songs with uninterested vocals. They have no reason to lengthen their songs because it wouldn't add anything interesting. Speaking of art school punk, there is a real obvious Wire reference in one of the songs, but I'll let you find that for yourself once you buy this awesome disc.
Criminal Intent-S/T
One of two records I picked up simply because they were cheap and Canadian (My interested in Canadacore wins over again. This one is a Halifax band by the name of Criminal Intent, and what I'm assuming to be their debut EP of the same name. Also apparently put out on Dave from Career Suicide's label, Sewercide Records. There's some nerding out for you. As for the record itself, it's clear that they are heavily influenced by the not-so-straightedge half of 80s Boston hardcore (I'm talking The Freeze, Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, etc.), and they do it fucking well. Bummer that this band is broken up with this being their only release.
Cloak/Dagger- Surf Song
An older single from Cloak/Dagger that I hadn't picked up for whatever reason, not sure why I didn't to be honest. Two songs in the vein of what you'd expect from these guys, but the B-side wins out with the questionably named Concentration Camps. Great guitar work, and the vocals on this side totally annihilate the A-side's Surf Song. As usual, I love the art, but no surprises there.
The Shitty Limits- Espionage
Another cool EP from these guys, this time with longer songs that I can really get into. Side A opens with the two minute title track, which reminds me a lot of what I think it would sound like if Wire tried to play Adolescents covers, or something. Certainly sounds like some British post-punk/California punk crossover, which I can totally support. Best of both worlds, you know? Side B has two shorter songs that are sort of a midpoint between the sort of thing on Side A and the short fast songs on Yesterday's Heroes. We Had A Gang has a really rad power-pop vibe going on, especially with the vocal hook in the chorus, these guys' songwriting prowess wins me over again and again. Closes out with the ultra-frantic Amateurs, the weakest of the three songs, but good nonetheless.
C.C.S.S.- Punkcore/Punkwhore$
The second of the two EPs I picked up out of sheer Canadian nostalgia. From what I've read, this band contained members of Montreal motorpunk favourites Inepsy, despite sounding absolutely nothing alike. This is just straight forward punk rock, in the vein of the Canadian Subhumans. Great catchy guitar parts grab you and keep you listening, while the lyrics are intelligent enough to transcend the music, but not so much that they seem condescending, a good balance. The second song on the A-side, Please Go Away is the clear highlight here. Music rules, vocals rule, lyrics also rule. What's not to like? Also, there is a totally awesome cover of The Dicks' Hate The Police on here, so even if the rest of the EP blew big time (which it doesn't), it would probably still be redeemed.
Inepsy- See You In Hell
Rounding out the Canadian trifecta, I'm years late on this one but here's Inepsy's debut EP, See You In Hell. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I picked this up, so it should be no surprise that I fucking love it. I can't really say anything about this that hasn't been said before so I'll just put out the usual "This sounds like the best parts of Discharge mixed with the best parts of Motorhead" and leave it at that. If you don't have this yet and can find somewhere to pick it up, do it.
12"s
The Shitty Limits- Beware The Limits
Finally, a more substantial amount of music from The Shitty Limits. 12 twangy rippers on this one, and fuck is it good. Great songs with plenty of "pop sensibilities" I'm not sure what I can say here that I didn't say in the EP reviews. I remember reading someone comparing some band to Wire covering Minor Threat, as opposed to the opposite. They might have been talking about this band, I don't remember. Either way, that's probably the best way to sum this up. Fucking awesome.
Darvocets- Are... New Wave
I went into this one blind, after hearing that someone in this band has something to do with Folded Shirt. I was not let down. Not quite as totally weird as that band, which was a relatively neutral surprise (I both hoped that it would and wouldnt be out-of-this-world weird.). Are...New Wave sports 6 tunes, and comes in an inside out LP jacket with dolphins and razor blades silk screened onto it. I think that dolphins and razor blades are a good way to describe this. Reminds me a lot of Black Randy and the Metrosquad, who I totally love, so I'm pretty big on this. Songs range in topic from Bigfoot to anti-gravity travel.
Cloak/Dagger- Lost Art
As I have mentioned time and time again, I really, really like Cloak/Dagger. That being said, I think that this band is best showcased in an EP format. Thats not to say that these songs are bad, because I can assure you, these are awesome songs, with awesome lyrics. It's just that they would be much more easily digested had they been split up into 4 EPs, or maybe even with just a couple tracks left off of this. After a while, the songs sorta blend together. However, as I said earlier, this is far from horrible and it still beats the vast majority of formal LPs that bands like this jump into. I just had unreasonably high expectations I suppose. I'll just blame it on Jade Tree and carry on my way...(even if they made the insert a really thick, slippery glossy sheet, which reassures me of its durability every time I pick it up). If you like Cloak/Dagger, grab this. Just don't let it be your first foray into the band, grab the 7"s first.
Matrix Etching: Let me clear my throat. Ah huh, ah huh, ah god damn!/ What does HEEEEE want?!!!
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