Glare
Gouramie Records
Ah, the joys of going back to school: a freshly sharpened pencil at the ready, the inky smell of a just opened notebook, and, most importantly, the first free CD of the semester.
Fortunately, this gift happens to be Glare from Tucson's own Shovel, a band I've enjoyed live on occasion while satisfying my need for adult beverages at various local taverns.
If you like your Rock and Roll airtight, and with lots of jangle, then Shovel is for you. Glare is 13 songs of straight ahead rock that features interesting guitar breaks and solid musicianship all around. Oh yeah, Shovel can actually sing, quite a rarity
these days in the area of alternative rock. I took a personal liking to the melodies on "Uninvited" and "The Biggest Lie."
On a purely personal note, I must report a phenomena that occurred during the ninth track, "Towels & Glasses"€ During the chorus of the song, my cat Bubba killed and ate two cockroaches. If you can, buy this album and conduct this experiment with your dom
esticated animal. Science needs you. By the way, Bubba is also an excellent mouser.
Find out more about Shovel by dialing -M.R.
Punk Rock JukeBox
Blackout Records/Cherrydisc Records
Old School to New School.
This is the best way I can describe this
compilation of 70s and early 80s punk songs done by many of today's up and
coming bands. From NYC to LA, Punk Rock Jukebox shows punk and hardcore
bands paying homage to their favorite bands and doing it in a style
that is truly their own.
After listening to this compilation once, I thought it was just an average compilation, but after a few listens I have to admit it grew on me. Most of these songs are intense and there are many great singalongs that will have you dancing in the streets f
or days.
Out of these 23 songs, three-fourths of them are classics but there are a few that really stand out. These include No Brain (featuring Lars and Tim from Rancid as guest vocalists as well as drum tracks from Marky Ramone) playing the Ramones classic "I'm A
gainst It"; 88 Fingers Louie, who admit they are treading on sacred ground by covering Minor Threat's "I Don't Wanna Hear It"; Deadguy, who play a sick version of Black Flag's "Police Story"; and hardcore veterans Leeway who blast out "Civilization Dying"
by the Zero Boys. Besides these great songs, there are about ten other songs that make for a real exciting compilation.
Another thing I liked about this compilation was that when these songs were new, I was just growing up, so it was kind of hard for me to get into punk back then, and I think it is great that bands I listen to now cover songs that remind them of their yout
h. As cheesy as it may sound, that's just the way I feel, so deal with it!
As well as being influences for these bands, old punk and hardcore songs were just a way of life back then. Besides being great anthems, these songs were about friendship and unity, something that is treasured in the punk and hardcore communities across t
he country. So by covering these songs, they were covering something that had a great impact in their life, and songs that stood for something.
So just buy this compilation if you are a fan of any kind of punk rock, or just rock and roll in general for you owe it to yourself as well as your generation. For we don't want to be known as a generation of slackers now do we? Live life, make an impact!
-A.B.
Tight Fits
"Full Frontal Attack" single
Ewww! What a gross single!
Please don't be tricked into buying this
7", adorned with a tempting Trashwomen cover.
I assume this single,
which is bad, is a joke since the Tight Fits include two members of the
now defunct Rip Offs, who are good. However, these two songs, "Full
Frontal Attack" and "Bulldozer", would be considered awful by any
standards, making it a very
expensive joke. Although the lyrics are mildly amusing, ("Girl/I'm
back/Get ready for a full front-al attack"), I could not be diverted from
the awful '80s heavy metal music that went along with them. Jason White's
melodramatic vocals sound like he's at tempting some sort of rock 'n' roll
opera, and when my boyfriend walked into the room, he asked why I was
listening to the Dead Kennedys.-F.H.
