Record Reviews #5

Bright Ideas
Saturdays and the Turning Tides
Rocket Science Alliance

Great pop from Sacramento! Features Scott Miller (Bananas, Nar), Marie Davenport (Bananas, Karate Party) and Tim White (Knockoffs). “Cut My Hair” and “I’m Getting Ready” remain two of my favorites on this CD, along with the crowd pleaser “Casanova’s Memoirs” but I can’t say a bad thing about any of these 8 songs. Limited to 100 copies and produced by the infamous Chris Woodhouse, this is destined to be gone before you know it.
www.myspace.com/thebrightideas

Digital Leather
Monologue
Shattered

My first experience with this band was the Arizona Incest compilation, and then came some CDr releases, and then the single on Plastic Idol, which floored me. Digital Leather does some great, dark, synth punk. You could easily fool someone that this band was from the early 80’s, and maybe put out by Survival, Mute or 415 Records. I’m prone to “Black flowers from the future”, “I tell my sorrows to the stones”, “These Patterns” and “Fantasy boys”. Comparisons to the Normal, Units, and contemporaries Angry Angles are not far off.
www.myspace.com/digitalleather

Standard Tribesmen
4 Song 7”
Borox

Comprised of all the members of the Sores, this caught me off guard in a good way. It’s been sitting in my to-listen-to pile, and I regret letting it sit so long. Spray-painted sleeve, blank label, simple insert; the music is as raw and primitive as the packaging. Four bluesy garage numbers that will get constant rotation on your turntable. Standouts: “Riverside Strangler” and “Headache”.

V/A
Killed By Trash Vol. 1
P-Trash

Another record I’d really been waiting for. This Contains 20 Killed by Death covers! Being the Killed by Death freak I am, I had to have this. Standouts include Jeffery Novak doing the Mad’s “I Hate Music”, Carbona’s doing “Don’t Hide Your Hate” by Filth, Feelers doing the Gizmo’s “Amerika First”, Digger and the Pussy Cats nailing “Better off Dead” by the Wipers, and my favorite, Black Time and their “Son of Sam” cover originally done by the Chain Gang.

Great modern punk and garage bands doing trashy killed by death covers. This is one of the best compilations to come out so far in the 21^st century. I can’t wait for volume 2!!!