"Echo Road" CD
When Antte told me that he had just sent me the new HBS so I could do a review
on it, i was so thrilled that i had to catch the postman every day but he has never
had anything for me. On Friday I finally found it in my mailbox and the first thing
I noticed was the great cover with some beautiful artwork by Antte. Then I put the
CD into my player and simply got blown away by this storm of really good punkrock music like it’s supposed to be! The three guys from Finland are making some well-grounded fresh unique punkrock and sound like no other. These guys definatley have their own style and the choirs are pure “sing alongs“! Furthermore I was surprised when I read Antte produced the whole thing. RESPECT! The sound is just as good like from majorlabels! Saying this I’d like to recommend you these 8 great tracks of punkrock full of power and intelligent lyrics. If you get the chance to purchase „Echo Road“ you can definately do so!
/Sascha Gill
FOREIGN LEGION
"What Goes Around Comes Around" CD
Merthyr Tydfil based band, Foreign Legion have been around for quite some time. These boys have been playing music just about as long as I have been alive, so they definitely know what they are doing. Recently, they contacted me to design there new album (released later this year on Durty Mick Records) so I jumped at the chance. Living in Canada has its downfalls and I couldn’t find any of their releases so like the trendy, emo kid I am I checked out their Myspace page to hear their sound. British-check. Punk-check. Two tell-tale signs of a good band and I wasn’t even 2 songs in. Anyways, it was like I expected, the sounds of the 70s British punk revolution right here for my entertainment in the 2000s. Enough rambling onto their album, “What goes Around Comes Around”.
The lads were kind enough to send me a copy recently and I have been playing it non-stop. To the point that my girlfriend (who doesn’t care for punk) is starting to sing along. This album (produced by Mick Jones of The Clash) is definitely one of the better ones I have heard in 2007. Surprisingly, it was nothing like I expected. I expected every song to be good old fashioned punk rock. Don’t get me wrong this album certainly is, but these guys have some serious bloody talent. It sucks you in. Some songs are slow, some fast, some short, some long. Toss in strong lyrics & 20 plus years musical experience and you can’t lose.
In my eyes, the best songs on this album are FL, Wake Up, Where’s Johnny Gone, Another Day & Valleys Mentality.
Yah, I know, I barely went into details song-wise, but I don’t want to ruin it for you. Hit up their Myspace...go to Interpunk, contact their record label. Do anything you can to hear this band, you will be happy you did. What started out as a client for my artwork just ended up being one of my favorite bands!
/Taron Cochrane
KRIMINAL POGO
"Self-Titled" CD
Ditchdiggin Records
Female-fronted punk rock has never been for me...it’s just not my cup of tea. I never really thought it ever would be either, but, then again it’s never safe to assume. Today I received a little package in the mail from California’s, Kriminal Pogo. I cracked it open (and to start things off) the album is safely secured in a DVD case. Definitely something I never expected, but, cool nonetheless. Now to further excite me, this female-fronted punk rock band was damn good! Suddenly my whole view has changed. Okay, okay...Enough about my boring life...let’s talk more about this album.
It starts off with a bang with the catchy-as-hell track, “Give Up”, followed by the equally as catchy, “Street Punx”. This is just the beginning of an all-around great album. Sometimes (like every other music fan) I tend to dissect and pick-apart music. In this case, I just enjoyed this album through & through. Tracks like “Fucked Up” and “Retaliation” really grew on me, I ain’t gonna lie.
Thanks Kriminal Pogo, not only did you give me some faith in female vocals but you also entertained the shit out of me!
/Taron Cochrane
"Split" 7"
Mightier Than Sword Records
Prevail Within's debut album that was released last year got a pretty good review from Mutiny Zine and the only thing I really had to complain about was that the levels of the vocals were mixed a bit low. On this recording the vocals have been turned up and so has the energy of the songs! "Kill The Lights" is a killer hardcore song that really sticks to your brain and "We Won't Let Go" shows that this band really got some great song-writing skills. Excellent job! On the other side of this transparent splattered piece of vinyl you'll find two amazing tracks by one of my favorite bands - Smartbomb. These two songs are as usual nothing but pure energy. I'd say that Smartbombs is less hardcore but more punk rock than Prevail Within. "Hands On It" kicks you in the face and "Gangs of America" hits you in the gut. Great work by both the bands and the label. This 7" is fantastic!
/Christer
"Show 'Em Watcha Got California!" CD
Durty Mick Records
We have reviewed a lot of compilations lately and here's yet another one. 24 songs by different punk rock, Oi! and hardcore bands outta California. Most bands do a good job and my absolute favorite songs are The Last Gang's "Please, Please", The Ignorant's "Losing's In His Blood", Black Market Radio's "Kill Me" and Kill Nine Nine's "Panic". Other bands on this compilation are The Sore Thumbs, who you might know from our interview, Cheapskate, The Hudson Drags & Nuts And Bolts to name a few. Over all this is a pretty cool release from Durty Mick Records. /Christer
"Corruption Concealed Under Deceptive Slogans" CD
Rise Or Rust Records
Political hardcore comparable to bands like Paint It Black and Kid Dynamite. I think that pretty much sums up what this band is up to. This is their second release and as far as I'm concerned they sound like they really got their stuff together. The band is tight, their singer is really good and this is my favorite kind of hardcore so do yourselves a favor and check this record out. Along with bands like Rentokill it seems like Austria is getting a pretty good scene going down there. I like it! /Christer
"Broken Guitars & Trashy Bars" LP
Longshot Music
Half of this split LP has already been reviewed since the same Hiroshima Mon Amour songs were on the split with Shock Nagasaki. The Crackdown tunes however have not been reviewed, so here we go. This canadian 5-peice, based in Winnipeg, has been together for about three years and this record is their second release. I really like the songs and the sound of the recording is great. The Crackdown play classic punk rock with a whole lot of sing-a-long friendly choruses. The band do five originals and a great cover of Rose Tattoos' "Nice Boys". Apart from the cover I also really like the fast "These Streets" and the closing song "No Surrender, No Regrets". This is the best stuff I've heard from this band up until now and as far as I'm concerned this could be the beginning of something great...
/Christer