We try to keep a healthy balance of the old and the new here at Maximum Rocknroll, and ANIMALS AND MEN embodies the best of both worlds. They are a great, fairly obscure DIY-style punk band that started in the ’70s, inspired by the likes of Adam & the Ants and Pere Ubu. They later evolved into the impressive minimalist punk/blues band THE TERRAPLANES, and eventually faded away. But as with so many unsung gems of punk’s past they were rediscovered and re-issued in the ’00s on Hyped To Death‘s Messthetics CD series, and an LP reissue on Mississippi Records of their three 45s and early demos.

And as seems to be de rigueur nowadays, they went ahead and reformed, played some gigs, and got some new material together to record a 12″, which was released in 2009 on Convulsive Records. As predictable as all of this is, the real shocker is that the new record is fucking great! In this writer’s opinion, it’s at least as good as the old stuff. To prove the point, here is a live version of “John of the Sword” from said 12″, which I guarantee to get stuck in your head, in a good way…

Whoa! How did we not know about this one before?

Punk in Love came out in Indonesia about a year ago, but it looks like there’s still no English subtitled version. Maybe that’s OK though ’cause it seems so corny that it might be best to make up your own dialog. This sentence, culled from Film Asia‘s synopsis of the movie, probably tells you as much as you need to know about the plot:

“With just adequate money and punk hairstyle as their trademark, the four friends make a trip to Jakarta and their mission is to prevent Maia’s wedding to Andra from happening.”

The entire is film is up on YouTube, starting HERE. Let us know if you have any more info on this one!

Seems like a good day to fire up the old YouTube time machine. And where in punk time do we find ourselves? Ahhh, 20+ years ago at 924 Gilman as Pain of Mind-era Neurosis grace the stage. Please take note of how tiny and young everybody is.

You can find more awesome videos like this over at http://killthatcat.com
It’s full of shredding new bands, and some jaw dropping archival shit. Check it out!

Here’s a little change of pace from the usual band videos. Gordon Zola, former MRR & Epicenter shitworker and member of the infamous COOPERATIVE, has written a book… about cheese! It’s called Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge, and if you missed our review, you’d better go back and get yourself a copy of MRR #322. Here’s a short video by Bridget Huber and Nancy López documenting the book’s release party at SF’s Amnesia bar (which used to be called something else, but I just…can’t…remember…)

Our friends at Mondo Vision go to Europe, visit squats, identify obelisks, and have a fun-tastic time… it’s “really romantic.”

This week’s videos were discovered on the YouTubes by our own shitworker/MRR Radio DJ, Rob Coons. The band needs no introduction. This is shot in Chicago in 1993. Enjoy!