Reviews

Rad Girlfriend

Canadian Rifle I’m Just Like You EP

CANADIAN RIFLE has long delivered pop punk via chugging guitars, floor toms, and agnst. That’s the sound for a host of bands from the early-to-mid-’00s. This record has the musical markers you’d expect: distorted but tuneful guitar, intentional dissonance, and earnest but irreverent lyrics. I think this record sounds just a touch sharper and leaner than past releases. If you spent your youth spinning the first BENT OUTTA SHAPE EP, or IRON CHIC later on, you might want to pick this up.

Coronary The Future is Now 12”

On their debut 12” The Future…Is Now, Chicago’s CORONARY bangs out nine solid cuts of hardcore that have a nice metallic sheen and lots of anger to spare. Sonically, CORONARY successfully incorporates a few different styles here, from the thrash-y “Future Ruin” to manic powerviolence on “Suffer The People.” The standout for me is “Violent Era,” a fun ripper that goes from D-beat to beatdown. For fans of HEAVEN’S GATE and MUNICIPAL WASTE.

Leatherface Cherry Knowle LP reissue

Full disclosure here, I love this band. Now, that said, I do not particularly love this album. It was, in fact, the first LEATHERFACE album I heard, and as such it will always have a certain place in my heart, but for me it’s probably somewhere in the middle as far as my personal rankings of their albums go. That’s not to say that it’s not a strong album. In fact, as my gateway to the band, it was strong enough to make me go see them several times, which then led to my eventual love of the band. Song-wise, there are some great ones here. I think it was initially the production of the album that didn’t win me over immediately, but now it’s endearing. I’m glad that it’s finally been reissued, as it is a great record, and the only one I actually no longer have a copy of. Pretty sure it sold out fairly quickly though, so it’s off to the internet I go to find a copy for a ridiculous price!!!!!

Loose Behaviour 4 Songs in North Carolina EP

This band is made up of members of the ERGS!, the SLOW DEATH, the RAGING NATHANS, and the ARTERIES. Each of the four members contributes lead vocals to their individual track. These four songs, despite the vocal differences, flow together well. The biggest thing that calls out to me while listening to this is that even though the pedigree of this is decidedly anchored in the punk scene, this is more of an alt-rock vibe, dare I even say a “mature pop punk” record. I can’t stop listening to this. It’s that fucking good.

Mikey Erg Mikey Erg LP

I spent some part of quarantine listening to MIKEY ERG’s 2019 solo album Wax Built Castles, which was a collection of reflective acoustic ruminations reminiscent of Devon Williams’ post-OSKER output. That album fit the mood and the volume of the time. Last year he turned it up with a four-song EP titled Bon Voyage, which was a warm up to this full-length release. Ten blistering punk pop punk songs in 26 minutes, drawing emotively and literally from ’80s indie rock and ’90s punk. The album opens with a mid-tempo rocker “Can’t Be Too Careless” and then shifts into a cover of PEARL JAM’s “Spin The Black Circle.” “Rubin Hall,” “Hey Marissa,” and “Rumblestrip” touch on topics of college life, relationships, and tour with early-aughts ferocity. The version of GREEN DAY’s “Going to Pasalacqua” is the best cover since the ERGS! gave proper treatment to the GIN BLOSSOMS song “Hey Jealousy.” The final two tracks, “Good Mic” and “Give Up,” slow down and blow out as great album closers. MIKEY ERG has been in plethora of bands, currently drumming for the pivotal WORRIERS, and in the past DIRT BIKE ANNIE, STAR FUCKING HIPSTERS, DOPAMINES, and of course the ERGS!, but it’s his voluminous and diverse solo work that continually surprises and satisfies. Factoid: The album cover art pastiches the CLASH’s debut album in the same way their London Calling album mirrors ELVIS PRESLEY’s debut album.

Spells Past Our Prime LP

Driving and pounding melodic hardcore, this has a lot going for it. I find male/female harmonies that are done well kind of irresistible. There’s plenty of that on this record. I wouldn’t say that there’s anything terribly unique or groundbreaking about this record, but it’s really well done and easy to listen to. And the title of the record is obviously worth a chuckle. Be serious about what you do, but don’t take yourself too seriously.

The Slow Death Born Ugly Got Worse LP reissue

The tenth-anniversary reissue of this gem of an album has been remixed and remastered, so it sounds even better than it did a decade ago. This is still one of my favorite records by Mr. Thorson and company. The opening track “Ticks of the Clock” is and has been one of my favorite songs for the last ten years. That said, just about every song on this record is a hit in my opinion, and I’m thrilled that Rad Girlfriend has reissued it so that hopefully a new crop of folks can give it a spin and possibly find their new favorite band!

The Soviettes LP LP reissue

A reissue of the SOVIETTES’ first LP from 2003. For those unfamiliar, the SOVIETTES were a band from Minneapolis that played what could be described as pop punk with tons of harmonies, and everybody sang. I like to think of them as something similar to the BANGLES-meets-DILLINGER FOUR. They released two albums on Adeline (this one and LP II) and one on Fat before calling it a day. I was a big fan, and was able to catch them once while they were still active and once during their reunion run, and I am beyond excited that this record was finally reissued on vinyl. The fine folks at Dead Broke and Rad Girlfriend have done a stellar job with this reissue. It looks and sounds great!!!!