Pagans Pagans LP
A reprise performance by one of the great ’77-era American punk bands, Cleveland’s PAGANS. At first, I was put off by the “Recorded Live Spring 1983″ sticker on the cover, because a lot of their recent material has had an unappealing arty quality. But although there are some covers like “Seventh Son” and relatively subdued numbers (“Angela,” “Wall of Shame”) here, it also contains several raw garage punk blasts with exceptionally gritty vocals. Tracks like “Give Till It Hurts,” “Cry 815,” “Cleveland Confidential” and the classic “Dead End America” make this limited edition album well worth it, but I wish someone would release some older material from the vaults.