This is the debut EP from this Southern California PUNK band. They use to be called Final Solution (which if you recall NFT released their EP as well) but are now known as Cause of Death and features former members of Shattered Faith. This is their debut 7” as Cause of Death and this is one raging slab of wax through and through! This has all the raw brutality of your favorite early SoCal punk bands that recall early Bad Religion, Shattered Faith of course, and Adolescents. This record has four songs that were indeed influenced by the bands and era mentioned above but you’ll hear at first spin that these songs contain that particular new brand of rage that can only be brought out of people living in 21st century society. ~ Jay Castro
This German duo consists of the debonair Stu Black that comes off like a mix of Johnny Cash and Nick Cave belting out vocals and passionately strumming that guitar. The lovely Viva Valli meanwhile feverishly pounds on the drums and lends her vocal talent as well with a flawless Jayne Mansfield meets Nancy Spungen look. The music is very minimalistic Rock n’ Roll that straddles the sound of Rockabilly and the wild 1960’s garage sound of bands like the Kingsmen or The Troggs. Cheating Hearts let the guitar drive the bus on their short song bursts about losing love, wanting love, and making love. Get on the bus and search for your soul in the darkness with Stu and Viva. You may not ever find it but you’ll have a lot of fun looking! ~ Jay Castro
Also not to be confused with current Portland punk band The Chemicals, this band called the Chemicals were also from Montreal and this particular record originally came out in 1985. Meanbean does a really good job and plucking records out of the black hole of obscurity and giving them an all new look so these records shine brighter than they did back when they were originally put out, this release is no different. Maybe a bit less punk than The Wipers, the Chemicals have a bit more of a British Invasion feel to them. They definitely do great pop-infused rock songs, but I can hear how they might have been a bit too rough around the edges. This may have been a bit too much for folks around the mid 1980’s, but perfect for people that appreciate the frayed edges or great, timeless melodic Rock n’ Roll! ~ Jay Castro
Back to the 90’s again, only this time we’re setting the Wayback Machine dial to the late 1990’s. Hey I don’t mind, these were my High School years, back when I was just discovering indie/underground music with wide eyed enthusiasm. hink back to a time when bands like Discount and Tiger Trap mixed twee with the fractured noisy guitar sounds of Sonic Youth. Back to an era when bands like J Church and Superchunk straddled the sounds of Pop Punk and what was then called “Alternative,” and before the word “Emo” was a household term. This record not only sounds like albums that came out then but has a similar all around feel too. It radiates intellectual slacker kinda like Ethan Hawke’s character in Reality Bites. ~ Jay Castro
Sludgy, powerful, and highly melodic are some of the thoughts that immediately came to mind after hearing this new EP from this New York City quartet. It’s got that NYC sleazy feel like the New York Dolls had but it also has a lot of Detroit’s MC5 and Stooges groove and power to it as well. Like a hard rock band that grew up listening to Motown would have. The record has a very 1970’s production and tempo to it. The choruses are super catchy, they make you want to raise your fist and shout along, the guitars find the hooks floating around in the air and redirect them at your face, the rhythm section pounds away on your eardrum and they got a scrappy singer with a raspy style and charisma to spare. ~ Jay Castro
In 2012, the former bass player/co-lead vocalist of London Punk legends The Boys quietly self-released one of my favorite albums called Little Big Head. It was one of those albums where you drop what you’re doing in amazement because you can’t believe how good it is. It’s an album you want to immediately call all your friends to tell them about it. Now the year is 2014 and Duncan has gotten himself a regular backup band calling themselves The Little Big Heads and they’ve been relentlessly touring since the first album came out. Difficult Second Album picks up where Little Big Head left off and Little Big Head picked up where Boys Only left off back in 1980, all without missing a step. Duncan Reid and the Big Heads continues to make remarkable soul searching power pop songs with singer/songwriter warmth and intimacy and on their second album and I hope they continues to do so for many more albums to come. ~ Jay Castro
This band, like a lot of bands on the famed No Front Teeth label, is a mixed bag of members of other bands from the London area. The Dying Shames consist of members of The Gaggers, Miscalculations, Ricky C Quartet, Los Pepes and more. This record however doesn’t sound like any of the above-mentioned groups. This is brilliant (and yes I mean that in every sense of the word you disbelievers!) 1960’s Mod/R & B Rock n’ Soul! These punks jump into the Kinks/Small Faces pool of cool water holding on to 800, 000 volt live wires. Four original songs of melodic, hook driven rock n’ roll recorded in all analog so you can really savor the flavor. These songs aren’t just played like hyper, long lost cover songs from back in the day either. These tunes you can tell are well crafted from five lads with heart and soul and who have the utmost respect for the genre. My hat’s off to these boys: one of the best 7”s I’ve heard all year! ~ Jay Castro
A little bit of a new twist added to this New York City band’s third LP. Their first Self Titled LP released in 2010 and their second LP, Falling off the Face of the Earth had a straight up Mod R & B feel. The opening song “Better to be Lucky than Good” has a harder edge to it, like maybe Esther Crow and her assembly of impeccably dressed gentlemen have been listening to The Humpers and The Devil Dogs a little bit. Even the song title sounds like it could be a lost tune from Steve Baise and the boys. But don’t worry; there is still plenty of the old Electric Mess you know and love on the rest of the album: keyboards bouncing around every which way and tambourines and hips shaking all over the place! ~ Jay Castro
This Canadian trio belts out some really catchy, up-tempo punk rock with a bit of pop to it. It’s too tough to call power-pop, but a smidge too melodic to really call it straight up punk rock. I think you know what I’m saying. Their music does however possess a sense of urgency and a manic punk energy. This is their debut LP following last year’s stellar Dead Eyes EP, two of those four songs can be found here on this LP. The guitars are there, but not in your face and coupled with the female backing vocals give the songs a light, breezy feel to them. Feral Trash goes really well with Radioactivity and Low Culture. Terrific LP, the band sounds confident and sure footed with their sound, very rare these days epically on a debut LP! ~ Jay Castro
Singed my ear canal this record did!! This Minneapolis band launch wild, catchy Rock n’ Roll that’s wrapped tightly in guitar hooks that take cues from 1970’s rock monsters like the Rolling Stones, T. Rex and Gary Glitter. The A-Side is a tall shiny monument erected in the name of Marc Bolan himself with an ultra catchy bluesy riff that burrows in your brain and begins to take over your senses. The B-Side is an instrumental that makes you wanna strap on your white platforms just to stomp to the beat of this tune! The absolute icing on the cake is the production. There’s a sound that rock records in the 70’s had that makes them sound powerful, like a jet engine. Juvie pretty much nailed it here! Terrific record can’t wait to hear more! ~ Jay Castro
Sometimes I hear a record and I am at a total loss. I hear so many influences in some bands it’s hard to describe in just a few sentences. Once again I will try my best to give describe what I hear and feel when I listen to this Bloomington, IL band. It definitely has a Post Punk era Manchester, England/Jangle Pop feel to it. It’s got traces of early Echo and the Bunnymen melancholy, Johnny Marr style guitar hooks and all of this seems hurried and uneasy like some Joy Division songs without the sheer misery and sense of disparity. Now imagine all of that modernized with a clearer production than any of those other bands ever had. Kama Kama continues the unique and infectious sound they laid down on their 2012 debut EP The Tiled House. ~ Jay Castro
Legend has it that this Kalamazoo, MI band sent in a demo tape to Dirtnap Records (who have their hands full already and are said to not be accepting demos anymore) but made an exception due to the full frontal radness assault that they heard in Legendary Wings. Jeff and his Kalamazoo crew mix ultra catchy melodies, loud guitars and earnest vocals like the Ramones, Real Kids and The Beat do and Legendary Wings are every bit as captivating. The band has matured a bit since their 2012 debut Making Paper Roses (also on Dirtnap) but in a good way I assure you. They took their sound and tightened a bit here, fortified a little there and made a superior sophomore effort, something few bands are ever able to accomplish. ~ Jay Castro
London, England’s Los Pepes for everyone indeed! I couldn’t agree more with this statement! Their debut LP should be given out with every Dole check, every Civil Servants exam and made available at every polling place so that anyone in any free nation should have access to it. If more people would bask in the sounds of Los Pepes then this world would be a better place to live in. They sing and romanticize about things that we can all relate to: loneliness, guilt, and falling in love with the wrong people. Its classic sounding power-pop laid on a heavy foundation of loud Rock N’ Roll guitar hooks and energy. It sounds as if it could have been a lost gem from the late 1970’s. I’m just glad this gem was unearthed at all for the entire world to enjoy! ~ Jay Castro
First off the skillet is Low Culture, which deliver more of their critically acclaimed brand of fast strumming, ultra catchy and up-beat punk energized music. Chris Mason definitely brings that Marked Men charm into whatever band he’s in. And speaking of critical acclaims, next onto the plate come Vancouver’s Needles//Pins who just dropped a fabulous LP onto the masses via Chris’s Dirt Cult records. Needles//Pins has a somewhat similar style to LC only with a bit more Ramones street toughness to it. If you’re a fan of high energy, ridiculously melodic punk rock (and let’s face facts here: if you aren’t you’re a total sap and you have no business even reading this blog in the first place) then this record comes highly recommended. ~ Jay Castro
Clever and catchy wallflower jangle pop with a splash of melancholy softly radiates from this Brooklyn, NY outfit’s new record. This EP was produced and engineered by Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez of hyper punk/funk band Ava Luna with recording help from NY experimental folk singer/songwriter Ben Scherer. The three definitely succeeded in creating a distinct and charismatic mood that envelops the entire record, similar to Scherer’s 2007 folk instrumental Rooms EP. You can almost see vocalist May Rio slink and sway in an intimate dimly lit NYC club like Hope Sandoval crossed with Emiliana Torrini with the rest of the band leisurely and masterfully backing her every move. ~ Jay Castro
Ministers Dead are from London and Hertfordshire and play a straight jump kick to your face, hard hitting, melodic hardcore with a “call to arms” style lyrics that you don’t hear much from No Front Teeth. The sound has more in common with the Southern California in the 1980’s than it does with 1977 and the UK. The Bleach Boys (who are THE Bleach Boys from back in the late 1970’s) serve up a good complimentary style of music to this split 7” but with a different lyrical approach. Where Ministers Dead want to rile up the masses and ignite the revolution, Bleach Boys are older blokes that express their distaste for western society by writing lyrics full of sarcasm and dark humor. Think of them as the George Carlins of Punk Rock! Not only is the music great, but the cover art is killer and like most No Front Teeth releases has different variations of it. ~ Jay Castro
For anyone who read my interview with Bobby Passion from the Scraps that posted earlier in the month on these here illustrious pages, you know how much I like these guys and you have an idea of what they already sound like based on my two cents above the interview piece and your copy of their EP is currently flying over the mighty Atlantic in a cargo plane from No Front Teeth. If you haven’t then I will give it to you briefly so you can still catch Marco at the NFT headquarters and he can still get your EP out today. This is killer late 1970’s Brit Punk inspired music: raw, feral, melodic and minimalistic punk rock. Reminds me a lot of the Damned, Eater and Slaughter & The Dogs. Not total mindless throwbacks though, this is music made by three young
Portland, OR’s Sex Crime also does a brand of Punk Rock with synthesizers as their weapon of choice but these boys and girls have yet another unique take on this particular wild animal. First off, this band consists of current and former members of bands like The Epoxies, The No Talents (yes THE No Talents from France), Suicide Notes, The Rickets, and more I’m sure I’m leaving out. They’ve only been around for a couple of years yet have already released a handful of EP’s and have toured Europe. This ain’t your goofball band of smelly kids that can barely see their adolescents in the rear view mirror. The members of Sex Crime are punk rock lifers and they all bare an impressive résumé. They’re not here to impress anybody, they’re here to bring exciting punk rock with an element of danger that will melt the flesh from your face and that is exactly what this EP does! ~ Jay Castro
This is one wild disc! I sat there reading who was in this band and had to read it three times over to convince myself I wasn’t just seeing things. The Spite are of course Sonny of the Testors on guitar/vocals, Steve Mackay of the Stooges on sax, Rat Scabies of The Damned on drums and original Sex Pistol Glen Matlock on bass! The music however is the REALLY amazing part: loud, mean, trashy Rock n’ Roll! From the first song “Dog on The Subway” the whole album gives the feeling of an uncontrollable wrecking ball swinging around your head. The mammoth 14-song record does have some slower numbers in it, but even those have a sensation of barely controlled energy waiting to explode. This goes to show you if you still have the rage, age don’t mean squat! ~ Jay Castro
Stalin Video comes to us partly from South Carolina’s Now in 3D and London’s Gaggers and sounds like a perfect blend of both. The songs are quick, razor sharp ditties of ultra bratty synth/doom punk. There are a few bands doing this sort of thing like Australia’s Ausmuteants and No Front Teeth label mates Miscalculations but none have this kind of jittery uneasy feeling of organized chaos and good ol’ fashioned ‘77 punk snootiness. This 7” is one sided but its 5 songs of relentless laser blasts that don’t skimp on manic energy. So run and take shelter behind a pile of rubble or a smoldering vehicle because Stalin Video are slowly moving forward and are scanning the perimeter for all remaining life forms: they will destroy whatever or whoever is found alive. ~ Jay Castro
The only problem with being a fan of Steve Adamyk Band is trying to keep up with all of their releases and if you’re a fan, you want to. I have heard (as far as I know) all or most of these Ontario wild men’s records and I am never disappointed, Dial Tone is by no means an exception. This record continues to let us follow Steve Adamyk Band on their journey to perfect their own unique brand of aggressive, trashy, angst filled power pop punk. This time the band enlisted the help of Warm Soda front man Matthew Melton for the recording and it definitely adds a new depth to their sound. Every time you think SAB has hit peak perfection their next record comes out and you realize they’ve just set the bar higher for themselves yet again! ~ Jay Castro
From the town of Burnley, England come four burley chaps singing about love, life and all the woe and splendor than accompany both. Their music sounds like they would have earned a prominent set time during the Warped Tour heyday of the mid 1990’s right in between Pennywise and Down By Law. Thick guitars, shout along melodies with “all the ooos and aahs in all the right places.” I can easily imagine this band on an old Plan B skate video. The record is well produced and despite the goofy band name these guys wear their hearts on their sleeves and sing, play and sweat like they mean it. ~ Jay Castro
Whoa, I haven’t heard new music like this, and done this well, in a very long time. Heavy, fuzzed up mucky guitar riffs with reverb dripping all over the place similar to early Nirvana and a singer that shouts with a snotty tone in his voice similar to Mudhoney’s Mark Arm. A tremendous debut from this, not Seattle or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, but by way of Baltimore, MD trio of young, bratty, vigorous musicians ready and eager to resurrect the Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend inspired guitar decadence of 1990’s grunge! These are people that see this type of music as a jumping off point and if they continue are sure to take it to all new heights! ~ Jay Castro
The Philly boys at FDH bring you a new project from Shawn of Digital Leather and Bobby of The Hussy. Anyone that’s heard either of these bands (and if you haven’t, you really should!), this sounds pretty much how you would expect a perfect amalgamation of these two minds would. It’s wrapped in dark monotone vocals and mechanized drumming all while riding on a vessel of synthesizers and guitars that take you through a dark demented Charlie and The Chocolate Factory type tunnel to an unpleasant future filled with rotting buildings and the smell of smoke in the air. TIT goes well with Stalins of Sound, Ausmuteants and Miscalculations; TIT: bringing you the now sound for the no tomorrow! ~ Jay Castro
Thanks to Stephanie Meyer and her horrendous interpretation of Vampires, the mere sight of the word now makes me cringe and bury my head. I thought this was going to be some kind of grind core/goth/industrial parade of crap like something they’d play at a fetish ball or something, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. The first two songs are a bit on the dark side, but it kind of reminds me of Gish era Smashing Pumpkins with a bit noisier/chaotic production. Loud, heavy guitar hooks rule over vocals that willingly submit to its supremacy. The third song “Winnipeg Song,” which is where the band is from, begins with a Death Cab for Cutie inspired riff before it starts to kick into a higher gear. Good, solid release that kept my interest though all four songs of the EP. ~ Jay Castro
The four Phoenician ladies in Venomous Pinks play tough Punk Rock N’ Roll for you scrawny humans to admire and aspire to be someday if you can keep up. Their new EP is crammed full of sweat, beer, tattoos, and even Agnostic Front’s Roger Miret’s head pops up a couple times in the skirmish as well. Some of the other hard rocking ladies that come to mind when listening to this are Civet and Distellers’ Brody Dalle. The band has just released their second EP and has been around since 2011. They play in Phoenix/Tempe area quite a bit. What does that tell you? This band likes to play live better that sitting around tinkering with some silly recording machine. Venomous Pinks gain strength from your weakness and feed off of your nightmares, soon they will be coming around and you will be powerless against them! ~ Jay Castro
Not to be confused with Portland’s Wipers, this band is from Montreal and sadly this was their one and only release. It originally came out in 1980 and re-released in 1981 and that’s it. The crate was shut, sealed and placed in that enormous warehouse they showed at the end of Raiders of The Lost Ark. Thankfully Meanbean found it, dusted it off and presented it back to civilization and boy I sure am thankful they did. This is a killer two song 7” of new wave/power-pop/punk which was obviously put out at the wrong time. This reminds me of The Vapors or The Normals which are two of my favorite bands. The original version was just in a plain white sleeve and Meanbean prepared a killer picture sleeve and the record now also comes with liner notes from some of the band members and available on color vinyl: definitely giving it the royal treatment it deserves. ~ Jay Castro
These reviews originally appeared in Audio Ammunition on December 30th, 2014
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