I'm seriously behind in my Rippling, especially new releases. So what better way to start the year off with three new killers from Brooklyn's Drug Front Records.
Born Loose - s/t
Born Loose is a 4 piece firecracker fronted by ex Candy Snatcher Larry May. I had the pleasure of getting my ears blown out by them over the summer and was really looking forward to this album. Fans of the Lazy Cowgirls will go for this band big time. Every song rocks hard and most of them are fast. Even the slower ones like "China Bus Express" and "Folds Of The Flesh" still rock with a strong New York Dolls influence. With a band name like Born Loose it's obvious that the Dolls & the Heartbreakers are a huge influence. My personal faves are the ones that have a lot of screaming like "Heart Attack" and "Step Up To The Plate (Be A Runaway)." The rude lyrics of "Sugar Pussy" show a low maturity level that I also approve of. The rhythm section of Shane Konen (bass) and Eric Robel (drums) are extremely tight and make fiery guitarist Suke work even harder. If you have a large collection of Sympathy For The Record Industry 7" singles that you've played to death, here's your new favorite band. Vinyl comes with a lyric sheet and a copy of the CD as a bonus.
http://www.facebook.com/bornloose?fref=ts
"Step Up To The Plate (Be A Runaway)" live
Two Man Advantage - Dynasty
Even though upstate NY is a lot closer to Canada, Long Island is the butt of a lot of jokes in NYC. There are also a lot of hockey fans on Long Island. Two Man Advantage have been blasting out their brand of beer & hockey fueled punk for well over a decade. This is what happens when you crank Poison Idea tapes while there's an Islanders game on TV. NoMeansNo have the Hanson Brothers as an outlet for their hockey fixation but Two Man ups the insanity level by a few notches. Their singer dresses up like the guy from Piledriver, another great Canadian export. None of this would matter if the jams weren't solid. Dynasty is 12 kick ass punk songs with great lyrics. Opener "Rookie Season" has great Zep inspired lyrics like "it's been a long time since I scored a goal." Their live shows are notoriously rowdy and they do a good job of capturing that on this album. The music is chaotic but tight and there's lots of miscellaneous screaming. Do you really need me to explain to you what songs like "Drink The Bar Dry," "When The Ice Melts Away" and "Hosers Sing The Blues" are about? My copy came in white splattered vinyl and has a full color SOD inspired collage on the inner sleeve, CD also included.
http://www.facebook.com/TwoManAdvantagePunk
Two Man Advantage - full live show February 2012
The Stags - s/t 7" EP
This 4 track EP is short, fast and to the point. Jim sings and is backed up by a kick ass three piece female band. Two minute songs are bashed out economically with very animated lyrics. The female backing vox are great. "Rock Hotel" doesn't seem to be about any of the metal or hardcore shows I saw promoted by Chris Williamson's Rock Hotel, but that's OK. "Moving On" is not a cover of Bad Co.'s "Movin' On" but that's OK, too. It comes in a nice sleeve on white vinyl. There's a download card that gets you 3 more jams.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Stags/249104148473829
The Stags live February 2012
Another good batch of releases from Drug Front. While lots of labels are cutting corners or putting out digital only releases, label head Dean Rispler seems hell-bent on overstock. Rumor has it he auctioned off some of his rare Americade test pressings to fund his label. Go to his website and do some shopping.
--Woody
http://drugfrontrecords.com
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