The first political punk band
582368
Before Bad Religion, Op IV and Screeching Weasel there was the Clash. While the Ramones are THE kings of Punk Rock and always will be, the Clash played a huge role in the evolution of punk, more so than the overrated Sex  Pistols. London Calling is one of the best old school punk album I've  heard. While I would recommend the original rather than the remastered,  either one is still wonderful. This album, though, is more punk/ska, it was  made around the period that The Clash and Bob Marley were involved in some  projects together, and the same time as the Specials were on the rise. The  critics can say what they want, but a lot of punkers will be wondering if  any the Clash's albums are worth getting. Definately this one, if you like  Operation IVy, The Toasters, The Specials, any punk/ska in fact, this is  indeed THE record to get.
1357775
Although this space is mainly dedicated to reviewing political books and commenting on past and current political issues literary output is hardly the only form of political creation. Occasionally in the history of the American and international left musicians, artists and playwrights have given voice or provided visual reminders to the face of political struggle. With that thought in mind, every once in a while I have used this space to review those kinds of political expression.

This review was originally used to describe several of Woody Guthrie's recordings. This review takes an end around look at some previously unknown, if not hidden work from the 1940 and 1950s that were not songs, but poems, reflections, and "speak-outs" that came to mind when he had his lucid moments. And best of all, best of all for those, like me, who worry about the future of folk as the generation of '68 dwindles these works are recreated here and put to music (including producer Rob Wasserman's fatalistic bass, yes, bass work.

My musical tastes were formed, as were many of those of the generation of 1968, by Rock & Roll music exemplified by The Rolling Stones and Beatles and by the blues revival, both Delta and Chicago style. However, those forms as much as they gave pleasure were only marginally political at best. In short, these were entertainers performing material that spoke to us. In the most general sense that is all one should expect of a performer. Thus, for the most part that music need not be reviewed here. Those who thought that a new musical sensibility laid the foundations for a cultural or political revolution have long ago been proven wrong.

That said, in the early 1960's there nevertheless was another form of musical sensibility that was directly tied to radical political expression- the folk revival. This entailed a search for roots and relevancy in musical expression. While not all forms of folk music lent themselves to radical politics it is hard to see the 1960's cultural rebellion without giving a nod to such figures as Dave Van Ronk, the early Bob Dylan, Utah Phillips, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others. Whatever entertainment value these performers provided they also spoke to and prodded our political development. They did have a message and an agenda and we responded as such. That these musicians' respective agendas proved inadequate and/or short-lived does not negate their affect on the times.

As I have noted in my review of Dave Van Ronk's work when I first heard folk music in my youth I felt unsure about whether I liked it or not. As least against my strong feelings about The Rolling Stones and my favorite blues artist such as Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James. Then on some late night radio folk show here in Boston I heard Dave Van Ronk singing "Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies" and that was it. From that time to the present folk music has been a staple of my musical tastes. From there I expanded my play list of folk artists with a political message.

Although I had probably heard Woody's "This Land is Your Land" at some earlier point I actually learned about his music second hand from early Bob Dylan covers of his work. While his influence has had its ebbs and flows since that time each succeeding generation of folk singers still seems to be drawn to his simple, honest tunes about the outlaws, outcasts and the forgotten people that made this country, for good or evil, what it is today. Since Woody did not have a particularly good voice nor was he an exceptional guitar player the message delivered by his songs is his real legacy.

And now we have a second legacy for the ages from the hard American populist. Stick outs here include Lou Reed (yes, that Lou Reed from the Velvet Underground) on The Debt I Owe., Voice by Ani DiFranco, I Heard A  Man Talking by the late Studs Terkel and  Jackson Browne on You Know The Night. All backed up exquisitely by Brother Wasserman. A tip of the hat to Woody and Rob.
323094
All the songs in this album are great! Definitely the best album of a great punk band. I know a lot of people who started to like punk rock after listening to that record. I think this is a great place to start!!
2025064
Help these poor punks out! They need money and fans, quick! Their record is great, but they still tour in a van. Help them get a bus, or at least an RV. You can see the record got 5 stars, so not much more needs to be said.  The songs are tight and make you bob your head. If you like punk rock, or  at least think that you do, this is a good album to buy. It rules!
4753892
John LeLand called it on this one, way back in '84-- "many bands have rolled around on this mat, trying to nail it down.  Squirrel Bait renders them all irrrelevant."

This disc-- which also contains their eponymous debut-- is fabulous.  Loud, dense punk rock, with complex drumming and enough interesting rhythmic shifts and smart arrangmenets to keep the ear interested.  Kurt Cobain idolised these guys, and guitar god Bob Mould once called this his favorite record of the '80s, and it isn't hard to see why.  Indeed, in "Rose Island Road," SB have written a youth-is-gone tune as good as Husker Du's "Celebrated Summer," which smartly avoided metal party-rock cliches by acknowledging that one can only celebrate what disappears.  Peter Searcy's vocals bridge the yowl of punk and grunge with smart pop sensibility and the lyrics are elliptical and intriguing.  The guitar work is masterful and drummer Ben Daughtry is simply sensational here-- fluid, complex, groovy and massively heavy.

Essential punk/grunge/guitar-rock/whatever.
2525938
I loved every bit of this book. Its a deep look at activist underground punk bands in the 1990s, with a breakdown of the main issues in the scene (animal rights, religion, straight edge and social justice) plus interviews with the many of the most influential (if obscure) bands. What I liked most was how the band members looked back at their activism and dissected what worked, what failed, what values they still hold, and which values they discarded (and why). As someone who has held and still holds some very strong ethical beliefs, it was fun to see how other people struggled with the same ideas and how those ideas have evolved over time. For a scene that was mostly straight, white and male, the author goes out of his way to include a very diverse range of people among the 100 or so interviews. The book inspired me to acquire, no joke, probably 200 albums and at least five other books. I underlined dozens of passages. Excerpts: Revolution needs to be creative to capture the imagination longer than the fuse lit by fury will burn.  Greg Bennick of Trial. I think sobriety has a lot to offer explicitly revolutionary groups. Its much easier to fight when you don't have any extra challenges, like addiction, inebriation (and the drama that comes with it), or raids from the authorities.  Brian Dingledine of Catharsis. Grade: A.
3484144
No Sex Pistols, no punk rock.  It's that simple.  When Bollocks came out, it ignited a movement and became THE standard to which all other punk rock records were held.  The Pistols are the trunk of the punk rock tree.  Everything else is just a branch:  Nirvana, Green Day, The Clash, Gang  of Four, Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys, everything.  If you like music with  attitude, this is your record.  Bollocks is protest music in a league with  anything by Bob Dylan or Public Enemy.  Period.
2278416
Wire's *Pink Flag* is one of the truly fascinating items of "DIY" culture; as one of those bands who began as 'punk' yet were able to continually grow and absorb changes in musical culture and other aspects of the *Zeitgeist* Wire's rep perhaps shouldn't be so closely tied to this debut album yet it is, and rightly so, a talisman for people who were just waiting for something interesting and intelligent to hit the radio. Like the Minutemen (one of countless bands who could hardly have flourished or even existed without Wire's contribution), they who 'lived up to their name', Wire were originally masters of the ultrashort song; hardly any of the tracks on this record are longer than two minutes, and when they are you hardly notice the difference between them and 45-second items.

They were not quite as young, loud, or snotty as bands like the Pistols and the Clash who outsold them, but here Wire contributed several 'standards' to the punk canon: R.E.M.'s cover of "Strange" is perhaps the best known remake, but these songs were so 'loved' among punkers that in the 80s a band, Ex Lion Tamers, formed to play *Pink Flag* note-for-note (they would open for Wire, then having remade themselves as a quasi-electronic act). If you lived through any of the time when "indie" was not a comedian's punchline about affluent Brooklynites, perhaps even dreading the arrival of another band with another name like "Guided by Voices", listening to this may be somewhat therapeutic -- a bestowing of certain order to seeming 'nonsense', religion among the savages, as it were.

Though there is much more to explore in the 'post-punk' underbrush this is an excellent place to start with "militant dysphoria". It's got a good beat but you won't dance to it.
758038
I'm surprised how good this album is every song is awesome and if you've ever seen the "My girlfirend's dead" video it's hilarious. The Vandals might be the poor man's NOFX to some people except they don't really have that many political songs any more and Nofx still nudges some social/political songs into their records. The vandals are pure fun and great old school pop-punk. Best songs:"I know huh", "cafe 405", "an idea for a movie", and "eurobarge".
1605061
Originally released on an Atlanta punk club's eponymous label--"688 Records"--drivin' n' cryin's debut record is a great example of college rock in the 1980s.  While the aesthetic is similar to that of the Replacements, and the whole sounds as though recorded in someone's bathroom, Kinney's remarkably mature writing makes it essential listening for fans of the band or its leader nearly twenty years later.  The top cuts include the title song, the punk thrash of "Keys to Me," the Garage/Folk/Psychedelia of "Another Scarlet Butterfly," and the blue-collar anthem, "Stand Up and Fight for It."
1920441
In 1990, there were literally only like 3 Christian punk outfits that existed and Crashdog was one of those pioneering bands.  Like any great punk band should, they started a reveloution.  You may think a band that plays punk and is Christian would be an oxymoron, in fact, the opposite is true.  Standing up for your faith in a world filled with atheism and naysayers who say religion is no longer relevant is about as against society's norm, non-conforming, and controversial as the old school, hard-edged punk rock on Crashdog's retrospective, 8 Years To Nowhere.  While lyrically, there are religious implications, this punk band makes many strong political statements as well.  Crashdog was a true punk band, not swayed by the pop punk populariy of Green Day or Blink 182, but sticking to the dirty, attitude filled rawness that defines the punk genre.  There are generally no melodic vocals that you can hum to like the above bands but rather lots of yelling!  This is true old school punk, and if you like bands such as Black Flag and Minor Threat, you'll LOVE Crashdog.  It is often noisy, underproduced and angst filled, living up to every punk staple that makes it great.  This is a fairly decent retrospective of all their work, unfortuntely, like most 'best of' CD's it really fails to capture some of the best songs because of the limited space on one disc. I wish it included Vent and Ichtheology, but of course, Mudangels is my favorite album. 8 Years is whats is left, the others are out of print and my old Crashdog cassette tapes have either died or are on their last leg. Punk hasn't died or been forgotten since the Sex Pistols, it is my sincere hope that you won't let the spirit filled punk of Crashdog die or be forgotten while this album is still available on Amazon.  Buy it today!
688143
To me, this is timeless punk-infused rock music. It is simple yet fantastic, and I feel like, looking in hindsight now, that the Humpers were waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy ahead of their time. Maybe they would have been bigger if they were five/ten years later to the party, but fortunately, we have this preserved for years to come. Personally speaking, my favorite album by them.
1348508
This album is punk through and through, I don't think many people would disagree with me on that.  Even though it came out in 1995, I have yet to find a punk fan that dislikes it over all these years.  Songs such as "Peaceful Day", "Perfect People", "Freebase", "Try" really bring the energy level in the room to a feverish pitch.  Pick this up if you want to hear hard,in your face punk.
4440518
A must read for punk and rock and roll fans!
3281377
Looks to be band's second of two (so far) titles. Tunes here I dug the most were the in-your-face "Howl Ya Doing?", "Unreasonable Things", "Doll's Eyes" and the rocking "Watch Your Step". Only downside to this CD is it brief duration - clocking in at just 27:24. Nonetheless, it's still good 'alternative punk'. Line-up: Michael Thursby - lead vocalist, Lorraine McGurty - guitar, Bill Angry - bass & vocals and Chris Callahan - drums. Influenced by the likes (as well as would likely) appeal to fans of MC5, Social Distortion, Rancid, Fear and possibly Black Flag.
2352188
After what could be best described as a rocky beginning, (band members quitting albums the first day, breakups, reunions, severely flopping albums, etc.) Bad Religion returned to the punk rock scene just when it seemed all the steam had run out of hardcore.  Minor Threat was gone, Bad Brains had become a funk-metal combo, Black Flag was. . .late career Black Flag, and it seemed so-cal punk was destined to be a memory from the early 80's.  Written over just a few practices, (in preparation for a reunion show at Gilman Street) Suffer was fast, loud, political, brainy and, most importantly, MELODIC.

After hinting on Into The Unknown and Back To The Known what their melodic capabilities were, Bad Religion released the full force of Greg Graffin's amazing voice (and who could forget the oozin' ahs?) on the world with this album.  Beginning with the battle cry of "You Are The Government," ("I make a difference too!") all of side one shakes you with its melody, wakes you with its message and all-but breaks you with its fury.

A range of socio-political topics are covered, with everything from drug addiction ("Forbidden Beat"), to questioning dogmatic thinking ("Best For You"), to America's empirical foreign policies ("Part II The Numbers Game").  Rather than sounding preachy and dated, these songs are universal, timeless and empowering.

The remastered edition available now is worth the re-purchase for anyone who has an older copy of this timeless classic.  The first time you hear the back-up vocals behind Greg proclaiming "You Are The Government!" the beautiful production is apparent.

If you don't own this album already, shame on you.  Get it now, without question, because when the world stops turning, so will you!
1836423
"This Town" 4/5
"Generation Genocide" 3/5
"The Story Of '53" 4/5
"Shop Floor" 3/5
"Crossfire" 2/5
"One Way St." 3/5
"Violation Detonation" 2/5
"Lessons" 3/5
"Interlude" 4/5
"Saturday Night" 4/5
"Richmond Resurrection" 3/5
"Old Bones And Dirty Coffins" 4/5
"Hourglass" 3/5
"City Streets" 3/5
"Initiative" 3/5
The debut from Universal Records' punkers Jersey is a promising album. The band is actually from the west coast, even though their name(and their sound)may suggest otherwise. That sound i mentioned, sounds similar to the punk Operation Ivy taught many bands to play. Though this is nothing we haven't heard before, these guys should probably gain some new fans with this release.
Overall rating: Three stars