Record Reviews

LimpWrist - 18 Songs 12" - LimpWrist are a straight-edge, all-gay hardcore band from somewhere in America. They play really fast, almost thrashy hardcore with rather, um, explicit lyrics about what it's like to be queer and a member of the punk scene. It's just really refreshing to hear a band playing songs about something that actually matters, rather than that lame tough-guy bullshit, and doing it in a positive way that everyone, of all sexualities, will appreciate.

I don't really think that LimpWrist are trying to be sensationalist. What their lyrics, some but not all of which are rather explicit (''I love hardcore boys it's too good to be true, one by one or the whole damn crew''), are doing is showing that being prejudiced against a band because of their sexuality is stupid, and that they don't care anyway. The general apathy towards the reaction of the band's more conservative listeners is so positive, as are their 'I'm going to do whatever I want, and enjoy it as much as I can' lyrics. The songs are often quite humorous, but underneath the in-jokes is a serious message. I think it's a shame that a lot of the annoying right-wing losers that I know won't ever buy this record off me. They should listen to this record, as it might actually make them view the world from someone else's perspective. (Perhaps they'd then have thought twice about kicking and punching my bi friend when he fell over in the pit the other day. Yes, that actually happened. I
The lyric booklet, which is a very cool 16 page cutnpaste-style zine, is littered with homophobic comments about the band. In the context of the band's lyric sheet, it just seems to stupid that anyone would find these people offensive.

http://www.exdistro.com/noise/noise.html - mp3s

No Comply - Your Life (is your direction) - 6 song EP - DeckCheese Records - For someone that doesn't really like punk/ska that much, this is pretty good. There are a lot of really shitty ska bands out there that just write cheesy songs on the guitar and then add the horns as an after-thought. Fortunately, No Comply don't really fall into this (rather lame) category. The songs are quite well written, and the metal influenced guitar fits well with the band's overall sound - catchy, melodic punk with conservative amounts of ska and metal. There's also plenty of energy in the music, which is a good thing and certainly helps their live performance. Overall, not my favourite punk release ever, but significantly better than a lot of the output by other bands in their chosen genre.

Five Knuckle - Lost for words but far from speechless - Household Name Records - A good release here from Bristol's Five Knuckle. There are some weaker songs, but overall it's a consistent album with some really good songs on. They're a good live band too, and I'm pleased to see that some of their performing ability and energy has transfered well to vinyl.

F-Minus - Wake up screaming - LP/CD - Hellcat Records - A good record, but not quite as good as Suburban Blight which was excellent. This record is slower than the last (20 songs in 20 minutes) and seems slightly less varied. That said, it's still a good album and the slightly slower sound is cool. First time buyers should go for SB though.

Death By Stereo - Day of the Death - At the moment this is one of the most popular albums among a lot of the people at school, but unfortunately for me I really don't like it that much. A lot of the people I know have gotten into that really stupid testosterone-fuelled tough guy hardcore recently, which is annoying because bands that sing about being 'forever true' or having a 'reason to believe' always tend to annoy me. Anyway, Death By Stereo's album is a bit crap because it's full of lame metalish guitar solos, overproduced drum sounds and tedious group shouts. I suppose it would be quite fun live, but this kind of hardcore never does it for me when recorded.

Zine reviews

Direct hit #2 - quite a nice little fanzine mainly about hardcore, with some good (if somewhat
outdated) reviews. Layout/artwise, it's in the RTB/Fracture genre - nice, yet uninspiring,
published on a PC. I want cut n paste and 'In abandon' zine!

Reason to believe (various issues) - self-proclaimed "DIY hardcore punk zine" this great
free zine does just that, while providing some excellent competition for 'Fracture'. I've a
number of issues of this zine, as it's free, and all of them have been really good. Addressing
a number of important issues within punk and society (major labels, the jubilee, gender,
being eco-friendly) this zine is really consistent and interesting. In the past they've put out
some really great articles about resistance in the South Pacific, being a prisoner, travelling,
women in punk (with an equally good response from Four Letter Word/Artcore Fanzine's
Welly) and punks that skateboard. There are also record and zine reviews and band info.

Meltdown #3 - a good zine by Ben from Berkley, CA. About his life, his travels, collected
notes found on the street (we're not the only ones!) and a cool interview with Radio Active
Queers. This zine is mostly scruffily typed or hand-written, but overall I think that's a good
thing.

Cometbus #49 - I really wish I hadn't read the letters section of this zine first, as Aaron was
really mean to a person called Margaret who wrote him a nice letter. Anyway, this zine is
quite good with loads of cool stories, artwork, poetry and creative writing, all submitted by
a variety of people, with Aaron Cometbus acting as editor. It's well laid out and looks
interesting, and comes in the excellent book-ish format.

Trailer Park Trash #10/11 - This is the zine by the Bath gig collective of the same name. It
has local music information, cd/live reviews and cool articles about cult tv and Duane Peters,
US Bombs singer and skateboarding legend. This local zine is quite cool, although it may not
be of much interest to some people.

Avow #13 - 'the alphabet issue' - this issue is based on the alphabet, with the zine
progressing through the alphabet as you read it. There's some good artwork and more
creative writing in here, which is cool. Choice letters include 'R is for used records in
dustbins' and 'Y is for your head in a vice'

Chickenhed zine and roll #4/Hopewell #4 (split zine) - we have split 7"s, so why not split
zines? I think it's a very cool idea, and great to have some variety all in one package. Out of
the two, I probably preferred 'Chickenhed...' which is a collection of well written short
stories which are often quite humorous. Although not as funny as 'OJ killed Elvis' this zine is
nicely presented (typed and hand-written) with a layout themed around a pack of tarot
cards. Each page has a different card as a background, starting with the hermit on its cover.
Nothing groundbreaking, by the stupid stories made me laugh. On the flipside is 'Hopewell',
which has some cool writing about living in a punk house, travelling, war, home brewing,
smoking weed and some rather poorly presented record reviews. Overall, both zines were
good but didn't really blow me away like other zines have done in the past.

Pro-tection Fanzine #6 - This issue of Protection Fanzine from Cheltenham is pretty dire,
with uninspiring interviews with Four foot fingers and Kenisia, live reviews of bands that I
don't like and some other stuff. Fair play to them for trying but this zine isn't very good.

Dunk and Piss #5 - A really small (A6) zine by a punk kid called Alex with content talking
about his life, funny stories, a holiday in New York, walking on train tracks. This zine is cool
and fits perfectly in the back pocket it of my jeans - a great zine to read in short bursts while
you're at the train station.

Bristle #11 - This magazine comes out every few months in Bristol. Containing various
articles concerning Bristolian politics, it's an excellent local read.

Clutch #3 - 'Three more weeks' comic - every page in this cool little line-drawn comic deals
with a different day in the writer's life. Nothing much happens, but it's really interesting to
have an insight into someone else's life. The line drawings are really primitive, but that
doesn't detract from the comic, as it adds to that independent, self-published feel. This is
cool, and makes for a good short read. Similar to 'the assassin and the whiner'.

Cometbus #46 - woah, it's a novel! I'd read this before, but bought my own copy mainly
because it's the kind of zine that I want to show to my kids. Also, my friends will think it's
pretty cool. In #46, the legendary Aaron writes a whole 90 page book about growing as a
punk in 80s California, and how damn glamorous it was too.

Artcore #18 - the legendary Artcore, this time with glossy cover and mock Black Flag
writing. Written by Welly, singer of Four Letter Word. Artcore has its usual mix of reviews,
band interviews and opinion.

Litter Magazine #1- this magazine from London is full of good artwork, photography and
poetry. It's all really nice to look at, although it doesn't take that long to read.

So Fuckin' What? #5 - this issue came out in January 1999, so I have no idea why it turned
up in my local record shop almost four years after it came out. I got it for free, so I don't
care. This zine looks really 'punk', with its cut n paste, bad photo copying and 'ransom note'
titles. As well as the standard music stuff, there are some good columns, articles about
Mumia Abu-Jamal, anarcho-feminism and some good information of an anarchist nature. I
wonder if they're still doing this zine...

Under the volcano #59-61 - a music zine that one of my friends got for me while on holiday
in America. Interviews with Anti-Flag, Propagandhi, Go Kart Records and the Unseen and
many other bands of a similar nature. Nothing special, just the standard MRR format - intro,
letters, columns, interviews, reviews. Probably not worth the $2.95

Trainwreck #2 - see above, except with H20, Seville and Jimmy Eat World.

Reading material for musos and tree-hugging liberals

Kurt Cobain - The Journals

Strange to be reviewing a book in a record thread but I can't think of a better place for this. Reprinting notebooks and journals that Cobain kept from leaving school, this book provides some sort of snapshot into his mind.

Fragments of stories, cartoons, dreams, lists of records, video ideas, songs lyrics in progress make this a compelling read.

Of interest not only to Nirvana fans, this is also a document of how a band is put together. From choosing the name, letters sacking drummers because they would not rehearse 5-6 time a week!, lists of favourite tracks by other bands (later to become lists of producers wanted) there are designs for guitars, stage props, details on overdubbing tracks, how various instuments should be recorded etc.

An overiding theme appears to be Cobains struggle to articulate his thoughts. He writes " I can only communicate in grunts and shrieks" and appears painfully aware of his almost unreadable scrawl ... there are many attempts at drafting letters.

Other topics he is passionate about are abortion, sexuality, ignorance and punk. Over and over again, he states he IS punk rock and that one of the reasons Nirvana signed to Geffen Records was so they could be the enemy within, appearing to be in bed with "The corporate c**K-suckers" but able to get the music across to people in small town America.

As the journals get newer, his sense of outrage at the way the music press mis-quotes him gets stronger. He gets indignant at how his brief flirtation with heroin gets blown up into a long life addiction.

All in all, an interesting read, whilst not being essential, is still facinating reading.

No Logo - Naomi Klein - 500 pages

This excellent book deals with the sterilisation of our society, through branding, advertising and corporate control of the media. Klein approaches the whole issue objectively, which makes her criticism of Starbucks, Nike and all the other super-brands much more satisfying to read. A good book, but only if you have a long attention span.

Captive State - George Monbiot - 400 pages

It's nice to read something which criticises the British government for once, rather than the usual anti-Americanism. A lot of the chapters in this book deal with separate issues, so you can just dip into it at irregular intervals, rather than reading the whole thing at once. The quote from Radiohead singer Thom Yorke on the front summarises this book quite well: "After reading Captive State, I will never be able to take the Labour government seriously again."

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitzyn - 150 pages

This book's title and author sound very pretentious and make it look like the kind of a novel a lame coffeeshop-intellectual might read. In reality, this is a very easy short book about life in a Soviet prison camp. I like this book.