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Consistency is an often overlooked and underappreciated quality, so let me just say that I think it’s great we can pretty much rely on another great Bad Religion album every few years, almost like clockwork at this point. While not as nearly prolific as say, GUIDED BY VOICES or THE FALL, their consistency is still something to marvel at. Their third Lp since the return of guitarist and songwriter BRETT GUREWITZ, this one is more pissed off and even more politically-minded than usual. With song titles like “New Dark Ages” and “Requiem for Dissent”, it’s not hard to figure out where they stand regarding current events. Nevertheless, while I wish that the political situation wasn’t as dire, this does give them a lot of material. Musically, this one starts off with a song where GREG GRAFFIN’s voice sounds like it goes through a vocoder, but after that returns to relative normalcy with a bunch of fast songs and a few mid-tempo ones thrown in. Still, the main strength is this album’s passion in its outspoken criticism of the Bush administration and its policies.
This Film is Not Yet Rated (NC-17)
A great examination of the MPAA’s rating board, this documentary examines how and why the board was formed and tackles its obvious biases, such as the fact that violence is not frowned upon nearly as much as sexuality is. There’s also a sub-plot involving finding out exactly who sits on the ratings board (their names are kept confidential), but this is not nearly as effective as the rest of the film, which features interviews with various directors such as KEVIN SMITH, JOHN WATERS and KIMBERLY PEIRCE.
The Modernettes “Rebel Kind”
Having only heard a song or two of theirs before reading the interview in the current issue #60, I went to their MySpace page and heard this amazing song from their sole album, 1980’s Get It Straight. The other songs on the MySpace page are great, too, and I will be ordering Get It Straight very soon!
Recommended for anyone interested in locally-produced food and sustainable living, this book chronicles the life of a family who decide to live for one year on a diet consisting of nothing but food they’ve either grown themselves or obtained from nearby farms or at farmer’s markets. Although the premise is interesting, the more interesting stuff here is reading about how most of the food we eat gets made and distributed. If you don’t know much about this, it will completely flip you. Highly recommended!
An even mellower affair than Twin Cinema and more akin to CARL NEWMAN’s solo album (released under the name AC NEWMAN) The Slow Wonder (at times this feels like a logical continuation of where they were going with Twin Cinema) than any previous New Pornographers album, this will undoubtedly disappoint a lot of people hoping for a return to the garagey sound of Mass Romantic. Nevertheless, it’s still an extremely melodic and highly listenable album in the New Pornographers tradition, but just not as immediate.
Our own JACK RABID has described this late ‘70s Vancouver band as “hard as nails power-pop” and who am I to disagree. JELLO BIAFRA has called them Canada’s answer to THE UNDERTONES and while he’s not too far off, they sound more like BUZZCOCKS to my ears.
Yet another fine Lp from Lowe, this is in fact the fourth one in a row during his late-career renaissance that started with 1994’s The Impossible Bird and has continued through such gems as 1998’s Dig My Mood and 2001’s The Convincer. If there’s any complaint one could issue, it’s that this Lp is too similar to his early ones. However, I can counter that with the notion that consistency is to be commended and if you’re a fan of Lowe’s brand of country and soul along with his adult-oriented themes, you won’t be disappointed.
This band is perhaps most notable for counting NATE MENDEL, who would later become a member of SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE and eventually FOO FIGHTERS, as a member. However, this 1988 Lp shows that they were also an excellent, politically-minded hardcore band. The highlight is “Off Target”, an attack on right-wing misconceptions, which was also featured on the excellent State of the Union compilation in 1989.
This is ultra-fast but yet still catchy, politically-minded Dutch hardcore from 1984. Originally released on their own Vogelspin label, this record (along with their entire discography) was reissued by Alternative Tentacles under the title of A Dutch Feast… The Complete Works Of Balthasar Gerards Kommando.
This is great, ‘77-style punk from Seattle that still feels fresh and new, partially because of its extremely humorous bent. With song titles like “I Think My Baby is a Communist,” “Poor and Weird” and “Looking Through Gary Glitter’s Eyes”, how can you possibly go wrong? This compilation, as the name implies, collects their out-of-print single tracks. Unfortunately, this CD seems to have gone out-of-print, but nonetheless it’s still well-worth tracking down.
