PENNYWISE - s/t LP 1991

Today is runoff election and I will immediately cast my vote after this post. It follows a band I only knew by name so far and I'm really excited about this brilliant album. Fourteen fantastic missiles were recorded and their sound pushes me up and makes me forget everything else, no wonder the album quickly circulated throughout the punk community, earning the band some nationwide recognition. Lyrics in the album endorsed a positive mental attitude. Formed 1988 in Hermosa Beach/California by vocalist Jim Lindberg, guitarist Fletcher Dragge, bassist Jason Thirsk and drummer Byron McMackin, Pennywise linked with Epitaph Records for their eponymous (in all areas) 1991 debut. Willfully taking their sound in a direction counter to the burgeoning grunge movement, the group helped to define the emerging West Coast punk scene. A real highlight of the 90s!

- Special Thx to Fredrik -

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FINGERS - Cold Cold Night 7'' 1982

A nice Powerpop 7Inch by the Fingers from Oklahoma with their sole record on Digit Records. Not much info about the four so short to the songs: Cold Cold Night is a beautiful piece about lost love and the silence in your room and you're thinking of the living times you had and above you hangs a thick cloud with killing memories. The flip is just the opposite and goes forward, you take your girl to the drive-in movie and you're happy and life is great, stories that writes life...fine stuff.

- Great Thx to Reinhard -

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THE DISHRAGS - Love/Hate 1997

A quick re-post now: When the Dishrags formed 1977 in Victoria, British Columbia, they were like the Runaways without Kim Fowley's behind the scenes machinations: three teenage girls, singer & guitarist Jade Blade, bassist Dale Powers and drummer Scout, devoted to the Ramones and the Clash and creating their own short, sharp shocks. Moving to the more punk-friendly Vancouver scene (where bands like D.O.A. and the Pointed Sticks were already defining the sound of western Canada's new wave) in 1978, the Dishrags made their debut on the now-legendary Vancouver Complication anthology. If they had never made another recording, the Dishrags would remain beloved in punk-fanboy circles for the track "I Don't Love You." 103 seconds long and built on an insistent, scratchy guitar riff and a positively crazed drum part played primarily on the ride cymbal, "I Don't Love You" is as clangorous and primitive as U.K. second-wavers like the Slits or the Desperate Bicycles, but it also features an instant-classic pure pop chorus that would do the Buzzcocks or the Undertones proud.

The Dishrags followed that up with a slightly more polished three-track EP, "Past Is Past," and following a lineup change (Powers being replaced by second guitarist Sue MacGillivray and bassist Kim Henriksen) the band traveled to London to record the EP Death In The Family. Produced by Chris Spedding and featuring a more traditional punk-pop sound akin to the Adverts' first album, Death in the Family was insistently tuneful and clever. The wistful title track seemed to have actual hit single potential, while "Love/Hate" explored a darker post-punk sound along the lines of Siouxsie & The Banshees. Though RCA's U.K. imprint released the EP, it disappeared almost immediately, and the Dishrags broke up. Over a decade and a half later, the Canadian reissue label Other People's Music gathered the complete recordings by the Dishrags -- the two tracks recorded for the Vancouver Complication sessions, including the previously unreleased "Bullshit," the single, the EP, and ten demos and live tracks including covers of Lou Reed's "Vicious," the Ramones' "I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You," and the Clash's "Janie Jones," alongside previously unheard Dishrags originals. This is a textbook example of how to do a punk-era reissue properly. Review by Stewart Mason (source: AllMusic)

- Great Thx to Dante D -

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TOLBIAC'S TOADS & SNIX - Split EP 1984

Decent Skinhead stuff by two classic Oi! bands and this record is a MUST in your sorted record collection. First Tolbiac's Toads, formed in Paris May 1982 and dissolved in 1994. The name Tolbiac's Toads comes from the nickname given by the inhabitants of Tolbiac where are members of the group from because the area was built on swamp where there were many toads and local skinheads wearing a bomber almost all green, like the skin of toads. They released a few 7inches and a mini compilation album. Snix was formed 1982 in Lille and they were considered one of the first and most classic Oi! bands that came out of France. They released four albums and this split EP on their own record label in an edition of 1000 copies. A short review: "Tolbiac's Toads present two cool tracks, one in a more melodic and catchy Britpunk style, the other in a thrash-meets-13th Floor Elevators-meets-Blurt style that's quite unusual. Snix's pair are more predictable, but also well done, in an Oi style. Two up-and-coming French bands." - Tim Yohannan (Maximum Rocknroll #21, January 1985) I only say all four songs be mind-blowing and it was a good idea to put both bands on one record. Oi! Oi! Oi!

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TRIEBTÄTER - Hass & Krieg 1984

Cool German Punk from Stuttgart by Triebtäter, founded 1980 and Corpus (vocals), Johnny (guitars), Peter (bass) and Willy (drums) have set with their fifteen striking bangers an exclamation point and brought via Rat Records on our turntables. Solid masterpiece that fits seamlessly with classics from AGR or Weird System. In 1992 Incognito Records released a six track EP with demos from 1982 as part of the 333 x Up & Down series and present on numerous tape compilations. Shortly after Hass & Krieg the band unfortunately broke up.

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B.G.K. - Jonestown Aloha! 1983

Now we rev up with the first album by this hardcore legends from Amsterdam. I quote infos for you from the unfortunately inactive KFTH page and it's sad that is layer there: "Named after a Dutch historical figure who assassinated the king of the Netherlands in 1584, Balthasar Gerards Kommando was formed in the early '80s by members of Amsterdam punk band the Nitwitz. Rejecting the then-popular trend to emulate British Oi! bands, B.G.K. took their musical cues from American hardcore bands such as MDC, and soon developed an ultrafast style of their own. The band was also committed to following through with its leftist political stance, both in terms of the punk scene (the band set up DIY shows with low door prices, and put out affordable records on their own label) and in a wider political spectrum (they often played benefits for various causes, and helped run the Emma squat in Holland)." On many compilations welcome, one is called Viva Umkhonto! from 1987 - Let's enter now twenty spiffing powerful snacks.

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F.D.P. - Schwizer Simmer EP 1982

Rare debut record by this Zurich based combo and present at this recordings: Stöffi (vocals), Babsi + Wuzz (guitars), Pat (bass) and Üse (drums), released on Soilant and 500 copies exist. What F.D.P. exactly means is beyond my knowledge and I find shortcuts shit. Six awesome bumpy tracks (two of them live) recorded probably direct on tape in the rehearsal room in their original rawness, I call that sensational, exact the sound I like: WOW!!, KBD at its finest. More about the band is not available except one year later a second EP was made via Gramschap called F.D.P./Draske, maybe a split but I don't know. They're on some compilations, one of them the famous Definitv Zurich album from 1986. Lümmellabel brought 1997 one more lifesign by F.D.P. in form of a five track mini CD called Der Grinsemann out. That's it for today, have fun with the music, I'm getting ready for soccer.

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V/A - Destroy Power Not People EP 1995

Fifteen minutes statement by twelve bands and the topic can only be treated aggressive and rough, a different language doesn't understand all these scumbags worldwide. This little piece of wax comes in a six-way fold-out poster sleeve with liner notes and information about the participating bands one side and on the other side a poster, released via Lost And Found Records. Superb record and a must have!

1.Riots In Blood - UNCURBED

2.Headstone - TASTE OF FEAR

3.You Have No Right - DISGUST

4.In The Dirt - COLD WORLD

5.Huominen Tulee - BASTARDS

6.Society - DEAD BEAT

7.Vaihtoehto - KAAOS

8.Same Old Shit - DISRUPT

9.Raka Rör - NO SECURITY

10.Time Flies - CONFRONTATION

11.Life Of Hate - SIEGE

12.Genocide - HERESY

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T.S.O.L. - Change Today? 1984

Again snow overnight, brrr... Fuck Winter!!! Let's get comfortable with the third album by T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty), formed 1978 in Long Beach by Jack (vocals), Ron (guitars), Mike (bass) and Todd (drums), released in 1984 through Enigma Records. Bradley Torreano of Allmusic remarks that Change Today? had "a different flair than the group had in the past. The guitars were gloomier and more focused, while Wood's melodramatic croon sharpened the whole affair into a unique L.A. goth sound." Allmusic's Robert Gabriel gave the album three stars out of five, saying that it "marked quite a stylistic twist for the band. Known up to that time as a hardcore punk outfit, T.S.O.L. suddenly became much more of a traditional rock group with more in common with The Doors than The Damned. All things considered, Change Today? is actually a fine album, most notable for its inspired songwriting and driving guitars. Well, I have nothing to add except a perfect album (with twenty nine minutes far too short), beautiful melodies and the request not postpone important things.

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STRESS* - s/t LP 1982

RRR 10 is STRESS*, founded 1979 in Schleswig by Thorsten (vocals), Wolfgang (bass), Carsten (guitars) and Jürgen (drums) and it's not easy to describe a review. Well, for all those who like the early punk slabs of the Cologne Rock-O-Rama label (me too but there is also crap) is this album worth listening, good lyrics and musically okay. Others say the record is only boring and I quote: This record is positively laid back, the worst possible attribute for a hardcore release, the songs themselves don't show much promise, either. There are rare glimpses of potential, but they never develop into anything substantial (KFTH). I mean, the songs were recorded thirty-five years ago and don't have to hide behind today's shit called D-Punk. I think the spirit of the early days is missing and sure, I can't compare that to today, I know that too, but I think punk today has become too commercial and the music often sounds the same. Well, I'm not interested in it anyway and who gives a shit about my thoughts? Enough stupid words: the wimpy recording is fantastic, the songs nasty & refreshing, cool cover = galactic album! - For risks and side effects contact a toilet, a psychiatrist you trust or a well-tempered drink, your choice.

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