First release from them in two years. Side 1 presents the better aspects of the current line-up: more thrash out songs with good social commentary lyrics. A pleasant surprise. Side 2, on the other hand, is a live recording, and is more typically heavy-handed and nihilistic. At least most of the good songs are all on one side.
A nice concept almost ruined by disorganization. Meant to be an aural chronicle of an ourdoor punk fest held in Berkeley in the summer of ’81, this LP unfortunately reflects many of the event’s shortcomings. There’s no list of songs on the cover, no sheet or booklet with info on the bands, and, worst of all, the original recording speed was way too slow. I don’t know whether the generator used to record the bands kept frying out or what, but I do know that all the singers have been miraculously transformed into slow-motion bassos and all the groups sound embarrassingly out of tune. No one gets away unscathed, but noisy thrashers WAR ZONE are really hurt, having lost velocity and been censored (an anti-Bill Graham rap before “Marriage of Convenience” is missing). Fortunately the punk (DOA, TSOL, LEWD, WAR ZONE, FLIPPER) and post-punk sides (OFFS, WOUNDS, TANKS, TOILING MIDGETS) have been segregated, but on the whole this LP proves that good intentions alone do not a good album make.
