Doc Hopper Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blew cassette
Simply put, this album is a safety-pinned smörgåsbord of covers, original songs, and leftovers across the decades of DOC HOPPER’s reign, meant to be parsed through and enjoyed. You easily hear the band’s chemistry upon listening, as they create a punk language between themselves, usually an invention of bands who just know what the fuck they’re doing. From start to finish, it includes masterful screeching riffs, thundering bass lines, and excitable drums all starting and stopping along each other’s axis. Lyrically, it’s comprised mostly of hedonistic hail-marys spewed by vocalist Greg Hoffman, best demonstrated in the cover of “Drink, Fight, and Fuck,” by GG ALLIN, definitely making ALLIN proud if he could listen from hell. This release takes you for a joy ride, ranging from “Shirt…Lose It…Now” and its beautiful caterwauling guitar, to “The State of Maine Song,” which ends the party on a calmer note of comradery. Creating alcoholic anthems and punk rock classics since the ’90s, they maintain a similar sound to SINKHOLE, their New England scene peers, and even share drummer Chris Pierce. Overall, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blew is a peak Frankenstein lab creation of punk hardiness through the eras.