Doomsday Massacre Wake Up or Melt Down EP
Another new Houston band slugging and thrashing its way up. This is a five-song release with the kind of intensity and drive that epitomizes Texas hardcore. A good one.
MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL
Another new Houston band slugging and thrashing its way up. This is a five-song release with the kind of intensity and drive that epitomizes Texas hardcore. A good one.
A fuzzed-out bass and guitar are the musical hallmarks here, along with real echoey drumming. These guys unfortunately seem to have it in for hippies, who are the targets of three of the five songs on this EP, including a retarded racist diatribe against Yoko Ono (“Oh No”). Pathetic in the thematic department.
It’s been a long time since this Houston outfit has released anything, and they’ve come a long way in the interval, as this is undoubtedly their best material to date. Side one is hard, and side two is soft, but both contain haunting post-punk. Although MYDOLLS aren’t outspoken feminists, they have a scathing demeanor—musically, vocally, and lyrically. “Christmas Day” is a great track, and “Please No, Mary” is poetically grand.
Five new songs in REALLY RED’s very distinctive style. After four 7″ records and one LP, if you don’t know what they sound like, you’re really blowing it. Great driving, rocking, hypnotic songs with political lyrics as sharp as they come.
The parting shot from one of the great punk experimenting bands. REALLY RED combined awesome power with intelligence (lyrically and musically) to produce both pop/punk and experimental punk of the highest calibre. This record displays both, in a mix of live and studio tracks. Great cover of RED CRAYOLA’s “War Sucks.” We’ll miss em.
It’s a double LP of bands covering REALLY RED songs! But you already figured that out from the clunky title. Boy oh boy…let’s get some stats out of the way: 39 bands, three versions of “Teaching You the Fear,” two versions of “Pig Boy,” and a big-ass poster with a square for each band credit. It must have taken hours to enter this release into Discogs. Big names like DICKS, VERBAL ABUSE (twice!), the BELLRAYS, MYDOLLS, SUGAR SHACK, HICKOIDS, MUDHONEY, the HATES, 50 MILLION, JESUS CHRIST SUPERFLY, and beloved Randy Biscuit Turner’s last band the TEXAS BISCUIT BOMBS all contribute. REALLY RED is fucking classic on all accounts and many of the versions here are fine, some even interesting, but it’s a bit much. They’re certainly a band worth honoring in some way but I don’t see the point of a 39-song 2xLP released by CIA Records (the same label that released the REALLY RED records forty years ago), unless it’s a benefit or something? Nope, doesn’t seem to be. I could see curious fans wanting to check out some tracks via streaming (you can also buy a weird T-shirt), and maybe the most compulsive vinyl-hoarders lining up to purchase, but this is not nearly as essential listening as an actual REALLY RED record.
A fascinating look into the worldwide punk underground circa 1986, this compilation was originally released as a 90-minute tape that came with a 32-page zine. Now, a resurgent C.I.A. Records has slapped this sucker onto a CD so that you, dear reader, can relive the glory days of MRR-classifieds-sourced comps. While most of the artists involved come from C.I.A.’s native Texas, there is a wide-range of sounds and ideas spread across The Dog That Wouldn’t Die. Hardcore punk, trashy rock’n’roll, and raw, lo-tech sample collages all find a place on this canvas. As for “big names,” not sure that these qualify but someone out there will thrill to hearing PAIN TEENS, MYDOLLS, THREE DAY STUBBLE, CULTURCIDE (who contribute the epic “Atomic Bomb”), and even FRED LANE. ANDERSON COUNCIL gives us the mellowest SEX PISTOLS cover ever with their acoustic “Apathy In The USA.” PARTY OWLS live up to their name with the lunkheaded punk of “Check Your Dick For Spots,” while PROBLEMIST takes a noisy deep dive into “Reagan’s Colon.” SOLID WASTE DIVISION throws down a cool sax-laden grinder that is followed by NAKED AMERICA’s spazztastic “Corporate Society.” Other highlights include MEAT & GLASS going off like HARRY PUSSY, POISON GAS RESEARCH unnerving feedback manipulations, and EKU’s bedroom rock concoction. The Dog That Wouldn’t Die is a time capsule that deserves a second look.
