Often lost in the shuffle of east side, west side, bay side,
bi-coastal, ol' school, hard core, and countless denizens of corner painters of
a now era or other, is the fact that American Punk, before it became synonymous
with sunny blonde superstars and scream till you get your way tactics, was a
hard knock against societal short sight and a fight for rights. There were no
blurred lines between Pop or Emo or Aggro or what have you, just the working
class DIY style that decried change, much like the mighty UK pioneers of the
day; one united voice of a generation that stood for all who stood below the
dividing line, championing a cause through aggressive shout out's, and "Oi!"
first popularized by the second wave of troops who one bettered the oppositional
stance originally undertaken.
Previously out of print, "Volume 2" is back to raise the level yet
again, with eighteen of the most torrid Punk groups ever assembled. GMM, proud
providers of state of the art thug rock for better than 160 years, is the safe
haven for Street punkers' last stands and second comings; their take no
prisoners attitude and extra wattage goes further than the glorified thrill
seekers that often equate to new school "Punk" but haven't quite the
same legitimacy to their title.
This is no slouch collection mind you; you better know your shit cause they
ain't givin' you much outside the songs that'll both get ya pumped and make ya
deaf. We're a little thin here with the contents that only include a handful of
select lyrics and space wasting band photos and funny fill-ins. Okay, cute, but
why not break it down to the core for the fan, do a little debriefing, name the
record, rag rag rag… ya get the picture. So just go to the GMM site anyway,
you'll find 'em all there anyway! Pist And Broke's the only group to appear
twice here, first on "Ireland" and later "Dortmunder Union
Boys"; that's two and eighteen for anyone counting. Says a lot for them,
apparently.
There'll be many age old stand by's of a the familiar fist for many a jaw to
duck under-The Rogues' "Get Out Alive," smashing(!), Anti-Heroes
"OI," The Wretched Ones, Niblick Henbane (they just sound Punk!), The
Templars, long overdue heroes of the NY underground, sadly gone the way of the
sewer; Fight songs… nothing but fight songs, friends. It's an intensity
befitting an upstart Black Flag and road rage personified, plugged by a dominant
political slant that's equal parts pride and contempt; So rally around the
"Troops of Tomorrow" for a Saturday night sing along, and blow out a
few windows, drums, Reagan era holdovers, and earn your scars with this debt
settling collection manufactured in the good ol' U.S. of fucking A!
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