Mutations: The Many Strange Faces of Hardcore Punkby Sam McPheeters This, in the business, is what we call a “headscratcher.” On one hand, there is a ton to enjoy in Mutations, but I’m not sure what the goal of this book was or if it tries to accomplish anything. If you were to ask me now what it’s about, I’d say it’s several stories and observations from a minor (?) player in the 90s hardcore scene. But if you were...
WHO: Nice Guys WHAT: Self-titled WHY: I’ll gladly say that Nice Guys are the best band in Boston and fight anyone who wants to challenge that. Remember, this isn’t exactly the same band from 5 years ago. They used to stick to the EP format and sounded raw and sloppy as they should being a weedcore band. Nowadays they’re a tight proggy hardcore punk band and have finally bestowed their debut LP on us. It’s punk rock blast, fast, spastic,...
Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have Toby David A. Sinclair I’ve come to appreciate the format of popular science books the more I read them. The good ones are written by pros in the field, who actually have a science degree and do research in an established institution, so you know, their reputation in academia is at stake. David Sinclair’s book Lifespan: Why we Age and Why We Don’t Have To, unfortunately, looks suspiciously like a scam book....
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Fat Possum’s vinyl reissue of Wild Gift by X. As good as Los Angeles was and as important as that album would ultimately prove to be in the presentation of X, the band’s debut album will ultimately always play a supporting role to the band’s sophomore long-player, Wild Gift. Now, it’s important to note that Wild Gift would not, could not have happened had the groundwork not been laid by Los Angeles,...
WHO: The Bombpops WHAT: Death in Venice Beach WHY: There probably hasn’t been a band more ready to be the new NOFX. They’re on FAT, their albums sound like they should, and they’ve even stood in for NOFX in their videos. But while it’s easy to write off such a band as being a derivative of a derivative, they quickly showed that they’ve got the genre figured out well enough to make a great record in their debut Fear of...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Fat Possum reissued pressing of the Los Angeles LP by X. It might not be the first thing that fans think of when they’re looking at punk rock and trying to decode how the genre has evolved, but the fact is that the breed which was borne of Los Angeles in the late Seventies and early Eighties drew from a very deep well of inspiration – arguably a deeper one than...
Dual FormVarious ArtistsStones Throw & Leaving Records Every now and then we get thrown a curveball here at Ground Control and we’re better off for it. We listen to a lot of music, and when an album impresses us out of the blue, we pass the savings onto you, dear reader. Knowing nothing about this Stones Throw/Leaving Records compilation album, we put it onto our weekly rotation and haven’t been able to take it off. This merits and inquiry. Dual...
The Essential Chomsky (New Press Essential)by Noam Chomsky, Anthony Arnove (Editor) What can I possibly say about Noam Chomsky that hasn’t been already said or said better than I possibly could? And whatever can be said probably underrates him. We can try to communicate the importance of reading and understanding Chomsky, but we’d still fall short of truly explaining how much we can gain from him. Oh, to long for such a time when the elderly were actually full of...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Hawaii EP 12” reissue by Young Canadians. Punk bands have been called dangerous and have been accused of challenging every establishment with which they come into contact, but the truth is that such claims are often pretty overstated. Really think about it, reader – as rough and tumble as The Ramones, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Television may have looked, there wasn’t much in the way of content in any...