NOTESfromthe
UNDERGROUND
ophomore slump? Fah-git-abad-
it. The inked-up H20 fellas are
back and don't disappoint with their
2nd release, Thicker Than Water. As
the scene's most vocal proponents of
family values, Toby Morse and crew
are still looking after us like family
with 15 new, youth-crew, old-school,
-core tracks.
these New
Sure,
posi-core
favorites are now recording for
York
the much bigger Epitaph label, but
label but
it
they still manage to keep it legit with
"Universal I
ge" the
Language," the
unes like
Dag Nasty-esque "I See It In Us," the
anthematic title track, and a cover of
"Friends" by the old-school DC outfit
Marginal
inal Man
After a short stay
of
in the big house, Jim Wadud and his
band Maximum Penalty are back
and fuckin' shit up. But rather than fol-
lowing the pack, this New York four-
from the
some's new record, Superlife, strays
from the mindless hardcore formula.
The fact is, Wadud has some pipes,
and these guys can flat out rock-JE
Snuff can be considered the standard
UK ska-punk-reggae-mems set
-meets-hardcore
band, who chants British anthems set
to Southern Cali punk rock music, but
they are actually cocky, raw, fresh
and, best of all, all-knowing British cit-
izens. Embracing the US/UK musical
mixing ping pong game-back and
forth: US bands steal from UK bands;
TIK bands steal from US bands-they
play catc
y catchy, hip,
hip, humorously pep-
pered, power-ska-punk-pop. Potatoes
And Melons Wholesale Prices
Straight Up From The Lock Up
has songs like "It Must Be Boring
it
as if
Being Snuff," where it sounds as if
Homer Simpson into
they talked Homer Si
making a guest vor Sim
guest vocal appearance, and
"Magic Moments," where they
destroy your parents' favorite wed-
ding reception slow song by changing
the tempo to warp speed
Universality is something all bands
strive for; few achieve. Lagwagon
succeeds, however, and makes every-
one an instant fan by giving them
LAGWAGON
104 THRASHER
what they want, which is ska/dou-
bletime-punk à la early
Doughboys/Descendents. And
they do it for the fun. If they only sold
25 records to their friends, they would
still be happy, because they enjoy
making
for themselves, then
music for
share it with the rest of us. With a
sense of humor, the guys are pic-
tured sporting plaid jump suits, mock-
ing pansy '70s pop music stars The
Bay City Rollers on their latest,
Double Plaidinum. "Bad Scene" is my
favorite cut, and I like the lyrics so
much, I'd like to hang out with these
guys-JS APPLAUDING WOMEN
IN ROCK: The Eyeliners' 7", Broke
My Heart, is a testimonial of what
women with instruments, attitude,
and the will to rock out can do. The 3
kick out the jams filled with "Yeah,
yeah, yeah's and mean chords.
Although toned down a notch from
their first record's spasmotic heavy
metal wall of noise, Japan's
Supersnazz still deliver the goods
not for their rock 'n' roll. However,
Wild Wild Records has just released a
paint-peeler of a garage punk record by
a band called The No Talents. Two
chicks and two dicks, a couple chords,
and a healthy dose of attitude is what
you'll hear on their sparkling green
vinyl, 100% No Talent. Recently
recording an album after the a
after the addition of
the Kent 3's T William Long on
drums is Seattle's Helldorado. They're
a 2-guitar buzzsaw blitz of twangy
garage rock, with a singer who's sultry
charms are enough to beguile any
HELLDORADO
warm-blooded man caught in the
vacinity. Their soon-to-be released LP
will most likely be on Empty Records
and has yet to be titled-WL... Jurassic
5 (who actually have 6 members) lum-
bers like a Brontosaurus past the cre-
ative tar pits that clog the music indus-
ative tar pits.
try with a dope self-titled EP under
their belt. Sporting an old-school vibe
that features positive, upbeat flows
and a fully functioning turntablist
or 2,
the 15 are bringingin
the J5 are bringing fun, thought-pro-
extinction Gangsta
Gangstarr, a a virtual
Gangst
with The Devil Youth Blues. Slowing voking his honback from the verge of
things down a bit and injecting a more
pop feel has enabled the girls to show
that they really do know how to play
...The French are known for their
cuisine and Eiffel Tower, but usually
dinosaur of the rap world, still remain
on top of the game with two new sure-
shots-"You Know My Steez" and "So
Wassun
Wassup?" from their forthcoming
oming LP,
Moment Of Truth-that both possess the
classic Gangstarr formula: straightfor-
Classic Gangsta
heated in
ward, buttery Premier beats basted in
GURU's mellifluous monotone. A
couple other recent releases worth giv-
ing a nod are Mos Defs most impres-
sive debut single, "The Universal
Magnetic," and "Keep the Fame" by the
Chi-NY Network, which consists of
Chicago's Vakill and Rhymefest, and
elest, and
NY's
NY's Percee On a final note,
Hote
Tommy Boy Records is the latest to
pick up Prince Paul's incredible.
Psychoanalysis album, re-releasing it
with 3 extra songs. Sounds like a
beautiful night for independent pro-
jects that weren't even created for
public consumption-T54...
T54: True 54 JE: Joseph Epstein WL: Wez Lundry JS: Jon Stain
and
Vanvlack kept busy with
But
Late last summer, legendary New
York hardcore band Burn played a
reunion show to 30-or-so crazed
onlookers at Z Bar in Alphabet
City. The band had broken up in
'93,
hyper-active frontman
Chaka Malik has been kicking it
with Orange
9mm, while Gavin
Pry. But,
as the saying goes, you can take
the kid out of the hardcore scene,
but you can't take hardcore out of
the kid. That's right, the almighty
Burn are getting back together, and
will include drummer Matthew
Cross, guitarist Taylor McLam and
bassist Chris Vitali.
Why get Burn back together?
Chaka: Orange 9 is going in such a
way that has little to do with hardcore.
I mean, I still love it-it's still heavy
and will rock your socks off-it's just
coming from a different musical place,
more pop-oriented, and I want to play
music that's going to
bing to really rock the
kids. I've been hardcore kid since I
and I still love to
was 16, and I
dive
and bug out, and Burn's an excuse for
Gavin and I to play really heavy, it's-all-
over, kill-yourself-
If-now kind of
that actually has some spirituality.
The scene has really diverged
music
in the past 6 or
or 7 years to a
kind of tough-guy then sensi-
tive-emo scene.
That's one cool thing about Burn.
Our shows were pretty violent, but not
where it
to the point where it was a negative
thing. I saw a video of our show
where this kid is stage diving and just
punching people in the crowd, and
that's brutal and not necessarily right,
but we were never a tough-guy band
by any means.
Now what sort of context do you
think Burn will be taken in?
A lot of the kids that never saw us
I will come out to see what we were
talking about live because, especially
with hardcore, you just have to see a
band live. But I don't know. I talked to
a lot of my friends, some tough guys
from back in the day, and they were
like, "Yeah, you know we're coming,"
and part of me was like, "Oh, no.
Then I talked to an emo kid, and he
was like, "Yeah, I definitely want to
come out." -Joseph Epstein
CHAKA MALIK
XBEER CITUX
skateboards/RECORDS
THE BRISTLES
Lifestyles of the POOR & UNKNOWN
LP AND CD OUT NOW!
ORDER DIRECT
$10 PPD IN THE USA
$12 PPD EVERYWHERE ELSE
send money order or well concealed cash
US Funds ONLY! NO CHECKS PLEASE
SEND $2 FOR BEER CITY RECORD
CATALOG AND STICKERS!
THE BRISTLES
Lifestyles of the POOR
UNKNOWN
THE
bristles
10 SONGS OF POGO PUNK MADNESS
FROM THE BAND THAT HELPED
START IT ALL!
CHECK OUT WHAT
DUANE PETERS SAYS:
"Now I can see why so many bands
on the east & west coast are trying
to cop identity and sound off the
Bristles. It's cause the Bristles are
punk rock, raw & for real!"
-Duane Peters
singer of the U.S. Bombs
and Beer City Pro Rider
Don't forget to stock up on these other Bristles releases on Beer City:
Pogo till you puke-7" (colored vinyl), Generation Annihilation-7" (colored vinyl)
Were in it till the end-7", Bristles/Workin Stiffs split-7", Last Years Youth-LP & CD
7" $3 PPD IN USA/$5 EVERYWHERE ELSE/ LAST YEARS YOUTH LP&CD $10 EACH PPD $12 EVERWHERE ELSE
BEER CITY RECORDS: P.O. BOX 26035 MILWAUKEE, WI 53226-0035 U.S.A.
phone: 414-257-1511/fax: 414-257-1517
Check out the Bristles interview on our web site! at :http://www.beercity.com
DISTRIBUTED BY PROFANE EXISTANCE AND RHETORIC DISTRIBUTION