Results tagged “C-plus records”

Square Wave, 2007

Although Sweet Rot may not bowl anyone over with their relatively generic brand of lo-fi garage punk, their Drug Fiend EP is nevertheless worth a few spins on the old turntable. Indeed, while this Orange County outfit's sound is a largely predictable admixture of raw vocals and fuzzy guitars with rockabilly and surf rock accents, the band's brilliant incorporation of well-placed, bizarrely ghoulish backing vocals (a feature especially effective on the EP's closing track) really makes this disk stand out from the rapidly-expanding pile of indistinguishable lo-fi recordings littering your neighborhood record shop.

Track 3. "Wouldn't You Like To Know (What I Did With Your Mom)?" This is what it would sound like if a bunch of punk kids got stoned and decided to hire a two-bit (and perhaps lobotomized) Elvis impersonator to try and imitate Lux Interior and Dave Vanian. Somehow, it works magnificently.

Sobriquet Grade: 79 (C+).

Wedge Records, 1996

The Frantics (not to be confused with the Seattle band of the same name or the Frantix, the Denver-based hardcore outfit) were a fairly successful snotcore band during the latter half of the 1990s. On Playing Dumb, the band's second 7' EP, the Frantics churn out four solid tunes decrying petty high school behavior, celebrating trouble-making grade schoolers, and championing the sort of punk rock born of slackerdom that would make the band one of the subgenre's most consistently fun groups over the next five years. Nevertheless, with the exception of a few moments on "Gimme A Doller Inc." and the title track, there's not a whole lot of pogo-worthy music on this disk. While the band's trademark buzzy guitars and nasally vocals are out in full force, Playing Dumb pales in comparison to the band's subsequent release, 1997's thoroughly rocking Downtown Delirium. Still, for a bunch of kids barely out of high school, Playing Dumb is an admirable achievement that showcases the early development of one of the snottier pop-punk bands of the late nineties.

Although the mixing on Playing Dumb is somewhat uneven (Anthony Rampant's bass is almost lost on "Bad Little Boy," for instance, and Kevin Mac's vocals would benefit from a bit more volume at times), the record is good enough to dust off for a listen every once in a while.

Sobriquet Grade: 78 (C+).

Big Neck, 2007

Channeling the raw decadence of such heroin-soaked seventies proto-punk heavyweights as the Dead Boys, New York Dolls, and Voidoids, Detroit's Terrible Twos are an above-average lo-fi garage outfit that should get you feeling nostalgic for Dictators-era punk. Of the three tracks on the disk, the lead-off "Alcohol and Adderall" is probably the most radio-friendly, blending melody with speed and adding a dash of late sixties' surf to the mix. The melody, however, begins to give way to a more experimental brand of noise punk on the second track. With a delightfully demented keyboard and vocals hinting at a barely contained madness lurking under the surface, "Surprised" takes a few listens to appreciate but is anything but filler. On the third and final track, "Outdoors," the insanity threatening to take over the previous track emerges in the form of red-throated guttural shouts that slash through the chugging guitars and evaporate into an eerie cloud of sonic distortion.

Sobriquet Grade: 79 (C+).

It's Alive, 1997

LAB only barely fits within the purview of Sobriquet Magazine. Thanks to the "punk-related" clause in our review policies, however, it makes the cut. You see, LAB is basically the final incarnation of the metallic hardcore punkers formerly known as Bl'ast. After Clifford Dinsmore left the band in 1989, guitarist Mike Neider took over the band's vocals and the group morphed into Blackout and, finally, LAB before petering out in the late nineties.

While "Burning Leaf" may be a bit speedier than your typical stoner sludge dirge, this disk is basically the sort stuff fans of Black Sabbath, Kyuss, and Blue Cheer would dig. I mean, the musicianship is tight and the songs are long. You know, competent hard rock. The only problem is there's not a whole lot of oomph to the record.

Sobriquet Grade: 78 (C+).

Split 7"
Attack Records, 2003

Social Napalm (U.S), 2003

Still, while there mightn't be any stand-out radio-friendly tracks on this disk, both Worhäts and Strohsäcke deliver solid, if unexceptional, performances. Fans of fuzzily distorted guitars and scratchily barked vocals should enjoy this record.

Highlights:

Track 3. "Shuldig" (Worhäts). Opening with an almost meditative guitar riff washing over the sounds of a brutal beating, "Shuldig" captures the sense of immediacy and fury at the heart of Worhäts's sound better than either of the band's remaining two tracks.

Track 5. "Nichtsnutz" (Strohsäcke). If you were to play the first thirty seconds of "Nichtsnutz" and I were to tell you that the name of the band was the Exploited, there's a pretty good chance you'd believe me. I mean, The bass line is certainly reminiscent of the sound Billy Dunn brings to the Edinburgh boys' Let's Start a War (Said Maggie One Day)-era recordings. Of course, there's also Strohsäcke's near sing-alongable chorus to enjoy, too.

Sobriquet Grade: 78 (C+).

Sonet Music, 1995

For a nation as sparsely populated and out of the way as Norway, the hackneyed motto "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" has, in recent years, been taken to extremes from which even Ozzy Osbourne would recoil. Since 1992, when Mayhem's Varg Vikernes set fire to several medieval stave churches and murdered Øystein Aarseth, Norway has hosted some of music's more shocking excesses. Even Sweden's hillbilly house outfit, Rednex (whose dreadfully catchy version of "Cotton-Eye Joe" can still be heard at minor league ballparks across the United States), were arrested in Trondheim for partying too hard on stage. More typical, however, is the sort of Iggy Pop versus Sid Vicious shenanigans exemplified by the Cumshots whose notoriously chaotic and violent performance have resulted in scores of injuries to audience and band. Plus, thanks to the wonders of viral video, one can watch a live performance of "Go Forth and Fuck" in which the band one-ups the Stanglers' infamous strippers-on-stage scandal by allowing a pair of environmental activists to copulate onstage. Not to be outdone, the Flying Crap got themselves banned from Norwegian television and Kristiansand's Quart Festival by incorporating the firing of a shotgun loaded with live ammunition into their live act.

Oh. And they play music, too.

The Flying Crap are a pretty run-of-the-mill hardcore outfit and Never Mind Your Head is a fairly pedestrian hardcore album with bits of sludgy metal (particularly evident on tracks such as the dirge-like "Kill 'Em All") thrown in for good measure. Lyrically, the Flying Crap are reminiscent of the sleazy subject matter of bands like the Dead Boys (even the old school song they choose cover, Wayne/Jayne County's "Toilet Love," is a suitably disgusting ode to sloppy Larry Craig-style bathroom sex). With sex, hard drugs, disease, and misanthropy as running themes, the Flying Crap are relatively indistinguishable from the mass of mediocre hardcore outfits churning out metal-tinged, gutter-minded punk rock. Still, tracks like the aforementioned "Toilet Love," "Dirty Lause (sic)," and a spirited cover of "Teenage Kicks" stand out as worth the extra listen.

Sobriquet Grade: 77 (C+)

The three tracks on "If You're Punk Rock, I'm Single" showcase Walker's rather unique emo-tinged, lo-fi sound. With a fuzz pedal that may well have once belonged to Bob Mould, hook-laden melodies, and mellow (if somewhat plaintive) vocals, Walker fashions a decidedly poppy record that is neither Ramonesy nor whiny. Both "Letter" and "Throw" are keepers, the former being perhaps a bit catchier than the latter, but neither are bona-fide standouts. The band's emo influence can be heard in the lyrics ("I wrote you a letter/ But I didn't know where to send it"), but they are mercifully leagues away from being the sort of saccharine drivel passing itself off as emo these days. If anything, Walker maintains a bit of the humor ("I tried to kick the football to Lucy") so sorely absent in the more egregiously self-pitying emo that has superseded the genre's earlier style. The third song, a cover of the Captain and Tenille's "Love Will Keep Us Together," is a solid addition to the body of half-reverent, half-ironic punk covers of 1970s AM radio staples to which it was almost obligatory for any self-respecting pop-punk band of the time to contribute. I wouldn't play it too often, though.

Sobriquet Grade: (79) C+.