A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the vinyl reissue of Streets of San Francisco by the Swingin’ Utters.
Continuing our coverage, we come to Streets of San Francisco, probably the most important release in the Swingin’ Utters catalogue. I’m going to start off by making it clear that I absolutely adore this album, that it’s one of the greatest street punk records ever released, that it’s a perfect example of a band putting all their ducks in a row regarding the songs and sound they used to get their feet wet and that almost undoubtedly all the “hits†are here. Finally, it’s probably the album that got them noticed by everyone in the first place. It most certainly did that for Fat Wreck.
I’m glad they never made another album like it.
For a band who went on to season and finesse their sound later, it’s remarkable how well Streets of San Francisco has aged in the twenty-one years since it was first released. Play its surprisingly long track listing front-to-back, and you might confuse this album for a Swingin’ Utters best-of; partly because these are staples in their live shows and partly because the band got so much right in their first proper full length. Of course I’m talking about “Storybook Disease,†“Jackie Jab,†“Tied Down Spit On,†“Teenage Genocide,†and “Catastrophe.†All hits, right? Also, these are just the first five tracks on this album.
And that’s what makes Streets of San Francisco so special: it came, it conquered and it never looked back. The Swingin’ Utters made a proper street punk album through and through and, after they got that out of their systems, went on to develop their sound into the amalgamated beast it has become. Fat Wreck has reissued this album on vinyl and yes, you can still snag the colored pressing on their site. Streets of San Francisco is a classic punk rock album, and a finer one is hard to find.
Artist:
https://www.facebook.com/swinginutters/
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Album:
Colored vinyl still available at the Fat Wreck store:
http://www.fatwreck.com/record/detail/636
