Capital Tax - The Swoll Package LP

MCA (1993)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late '80s and early '90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

There's very little that has been as exciting to me in recent years as finding one of those perfect, early 90s golden era records that I didn't know about.  It's like uncovering a lost artifact that totally captures a time and a place that's so very near and dear to me.  You can put Capital Tax on that list of more recent discoveries.

I have had this record sitting around in my 'to write about' pile for a decent amount of time.  I'm not really sure why it took so long.  Sometimes you just get distracted by the newer, shinier record that came in and then all of a sudden you're neglecting something that's just sitting right there.  Capital Tax shouldn't be ignored.  This is an album packed full of the sort of hip hop production that I love.  Lots of upbeat bass lines, thumping drum tracks, jazz horn loops and killer scratches in the breaks.  It came out in 1993, that's one of the high water mark years of hip hop production and this Capital Tax record fits right in.  

On the lyrics side, the MC duties are held down by TMD, Total Mind Devastator.  You've got to admit, that's a pretty slick MC name.  I dig it.   His gruff vocal delivery over the hard hitting beats make it so surprising that this crew was from Oakland.  Everything about it kind of screams East Coast style to me.  But if you're making an album this good, it's pretty irrelevant to me what zip code you get your mail delivered to.

It's so surprising to me how many great albums are still floating around out there waiting to be discovered.  This LP wasn't even all that much on Discogs.  But, they are cramming 58 minutes onto a single LP, which is a bit much.  This is one of those albums that I'd really like to see a nice double LP reissue for.  Hopefully someone steps up.

Capital Tax - The Swoll Package:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kkzIwhoCRcRGt5Ylhg5W7aIncuNx69P8U

The Gamits - Endorsed By You LP - Yellow Vinyl (/200)

Snappy Little Numbers / Fail Harmonic / Bearded Punk (2025, Reissue)

Endorsed by You was originally released back in the year 2000 and was The Gamits debut full length.  I know this, because i looked it up.  I've never been all that familiar with The Gamits.  I have a split 7" with them on it somewhere in my collection (I assumed filed under "G" or "M"), but I really don't remember it as it was part of a 7" subscription series I was in over a decade ago.  Before that I did know their name, but mostly from hanging around the Vinyl Collective message board in the mid 2000s.

Putting on this album is the first time I've heard much of anything by The Gamits.  I wasn't going in with any idea of what they sounded like, aside from the fact that I knew they were pop punk and I do have a good record by Discreature Comfort, the newer band fronted by The Gamits' Chris Fogel.  For whatever reason, despite my unfamiliarity with them, they kind of sounded like I thought they would.  Pretty good pop punk, with the occasional song or section of a song that has the sort of drumming that makes me nuts.

There's this galloping, super fast drum beat in pop punk that I most closely associate with NOFX, but creeps out into many, many bands (even ones I love like Snuff).  It's one of those things that immediately makes me tune out and think, "oh, it's this kind of pop punk."  And while that is definitely not the case for the vast majority of this Gamits record, when it does pop up, I immediately get frustrated.

And that frustration is mostly because I do like the bulk of this album.  The guitars have the big crunchy sound that I dig.  The vocals and choruses remind me a little bit of Hospital Job (though, due to when each of those bands were releasing records, it's actually the other way around).   At its core, it's a well done pop punk record.  It's just at its best when they slow things down just a bit and lean into the pop side of pop punk.  And if the occasional drum gallop isn't a weirdly specific pet peeve for you like it is for me, I think this is a record worth checking out.

The Gamits - Endorsed By You:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/endorsed-by-you-reissue

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah Soundtrack LP - Yellow w/ Gray Splatter Vinyl (/1000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

The third film in the Heisei Godzilla series was 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.  In addition to the return of one of Godzilla's most famous adversaries came the return of the man who in many ways defines what Godzilla soundtracks should sound like, composer Akira Ifukube.  But more on the soundtrack in a moment.

I'm definitely the sort of person that prefers Showa Godzilla movies, but there is a lot to like about many of the later entries as well.  That said, I do struggle to find too many positive things to say about Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.  Now, admittedly, I'm probably due for a rewatch as it's been likely ten years or so since I last watched it, but most of my memories are pretty negative.  

It has this really convoluted and kind of stupid time travel storyline that involves aliens tricking humans into bringing muppets back in time to stop Godzilla from being created and creating King Ghidorah instead.  The plot holes are larger than both monsters combined and It's really a slog to get through it.  The fights are fine and Mecha-King Ghidorah is a monster design I really like a lot, but as a whole, right up their as my least favorite of the era.

On the other side of the coin is the soundtrack and having Ifukube back is one of the saving graces of the movie.  His themes are appropriately dark or triumphant, depending on what mood needs to be set and I honestly can't imagine how much worse the movie might have been without his score holding things together.

The LP looks great, I really dig the artwork, though I do wish the art was more cohesive across the various LP releases.  It's great to have these soundtracks on vinyl finally, but in a lot of ways that only frustrates me more that the Heisei series wasn't completed.  As a reminder, the Godzilla vs. Biollante soundtrack should have been the one I wrote about this week, but it never came out.

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah Soundtrack:
https://youtu.be/gFKQ5QS6vIY?si=2JLiqknoNSEBm6o3

Godzilla vs Biollante Soundtrack - This Does Not Exist on Vinyl

This is just a quick missive to remind the world that the next Godzilla movie after The Return Of Godzilla is Godzilla vs. Biollante. Mondo/Death Waltz released Godzilla soundtracks all out of order jumping between Heisei and Millennium series and some non-Godzilla Showa kaiju soundtracks. Then, they just stopped over a year ago and they never did Biollante, the Heisei film that many would argue is the best of that era. 

Doing the soundtracks in order, I should be writing about Godzilla vs. Biollante tomorrow, but I can't write about a record that does not exist. I'll be posting the Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah write up Friday morning, I just wanted to call this omission out again. This also doubles as a plea for someone, anyone, to put this soundtrack out on vinyl. It's a hole in the collection and one that frustrates me greatly.

Kamakaze - Head On 2xLP + 7" (/750)

90s Tapes (2023) 

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late '80s and early '90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I still have piles of 90s Tapes reissues that I haven't been able to write about yet.  As I was going through some things, I noticed that I still hadn't gotten to Kamakaze, which had come out in late 2023.  This was the first official release for a shelved album that was supposed to have come out on Reprise back in 1995.  I'm not sure why it didn't get released back then, but if I'm being honest I probably wouldn't have heard it back then as '95 is when I was pretty checked out on what was happening in hip hop.

The production on this record was mostly handled by Marley Marl with a few tracks done by K-Def (who did one of my all time favorite beats on "Funky Child" by Lords of the Underground among others).  I think having Marley on beats mostly helps this album hold on to that sound that I prefer rather than dipping into the post 1994 style of production that I don't care for as much.  There are traces of that, as I don't like the G-Funk sounding keyboard whine on "Spread It Around" or the slowly, slinky sounds of "Da Rocks Ya'll" and "Goodlife."

But there are several songs on here that have good, hard hitting drums and an aggressive tempo that falls much more in line with the sort of early '90s hip hop that I prefer.  The tracks that are the ones that make this a record to keep on the shelves are the ones like "Snakes In The Grass," "House O' Hitz Crew," "Devastating" and the title track, "Head On." As far as lyrics and delivery goes, KL and Solo both sound great.  They've got gravelly flows that are engaging and are the type of rappers that I think would always excel if given the right beat.

For me, this isn't a top tier-untouchable lost gem of a record.  It's a really good album that is way better than a lot of records that came out in 1995 and beyond.  It's not perfect and there's a handful of songs that I don't dig all that much, but in general it's a solid album and one that I tend to enjoy more with each subsequent spin.

Kamakaze - Head On:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/head-on

Cyclo Sonic - Heathentown LP - Green Vinyl

Big Neck (2025)

Bandcamp says this came out on December 30th or 2024.  I don't think that can really count as a 2024 release can it?  You truly only had two days to listen to it before 2025 came roaring in.  I think you have to count this as a 2025 release personally, so I will.  And with that little bit of housekeeping out of the way, let's talk about the second Cyclo Sonic album.

When I wrote about their prior record in 2022, I mentioned that I liked their guitar riffing, but wasn't the hugest fan of the vocals.  On their second album, I still mostly feel the same, but there are improvements on both fronts.

As far as the music goes, everything sounds tighter and crisper.  Not in an overproduced sort of way, but the fuzzy chords have a little bit more shine to them now.  They just sound brighter and in turn, better.  From a vocal standpoint, there are still those moments where we tread closer to the glam side of things, with the track "Prethentown" perhaps being the biggest example on the album.  But most songs are upbeat, the good kind of aggressive with some catchy hooks thrown in for good measure.  I think this is an improvement on their debut.  

Cyclo Sonic - Heathentown:
https://bigneckrecords1.bandcamp.com/album/heathentown

The Return Of Godzilla Soundtrack LP - Clear Blue Vinyl (/2500)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2021)

When Waxwork put our their Showa box set of Godzilla soundtracks in 2021, I had barely finished opening the mailing box before I started thinking about what they could do with a Heisei era box set.  Unfortunately, that was not to be as Mondo imprint Death Waltz stepped in instead.  I would have preferred the consistency of Waxwork doing it, but I figured that Mondo does really nice work, so even though these will end up being more expensive in the long run, they'll still be nice.

My plan was to write about these in order of movie release date, so when Mondo started releasing the soundtracks out of order, mixing Millennium series with Heisei series, I figured I'd just have to wait a bit.  Well, here we are well over a year since the last Godzilla soundtrack was released.  Mondo never put one out for 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante or 2004's Godzilla Final Wars.  

I think it's incredibly lame that they never completed either series and I wonder if it had anything to do with the shake up a few years back where the founders of Mondo were forced out of the company by parent company Funko.  A dumb situation that reeks of the sort of corporate nonsense that drives me up the wall.

Regardless, I have already waited way to long to write about these Godzilla LPs and I'm ready to finally start filing them away in my collection.  So on Fridays for the next few months, I'll be writing about some Godzilla soundtracks.  Starting with the soundtrack to Godzilla's return in the 80's, appropriately called The Return of Godzilla.  At least in Japan, in America is was released as Godzilla 1985 and had scenes inserted of Raymond Burr posing and Dr. Pepper product placement.  The first time I saw Godzilla 1985 was whenever the first airing of it happened on TV.  I remember I was at my dad's house and it was shown during primetime, unlike the usual Saturday or Sunday afternoon showings that I was used to on channel 9 or 11.  I also remember a lot of Dr. Pepper commercials, including at least one that had Godzilla in it.

The movie itself seemed very fancy and flashy to me as technology in movies had certainly evolved since the last time Godzilla was stomping around Tokyo.  It never felt connected to those earlier movies to me back then (which in fairness, storyline-wise it wasn't), but as I've gotten older I hold a similar nostalgia for it as I do the Showa series ones.  But I'm burying the lead about the movie, and about the soundtrack; The Return of Godzilla is kind of boring.

Composed by Reijiro Koroku, the film's score is mostly dark, very brooding and only offers brief moments of respite from that dourness.  The Super X fight at the end is a notable exception as it has a fairly upbeat and triumphant military motif, but a lot of the soundtrack is just a downer.  The movie is kind of the same way. There's some good building smashing action, but it's done in such a heavy handed, trying to be serious manner that it zaps some of the fun out of things.  Don't get me wrong, I like the movie and the soundtrack at the end of the day, but I definitely rank them lower when compared to most Godzilla movies and scores.

The LP that Mondo has given us is good, for the most part.  I can't say I love the art on the cover.  While I like the idea, the execution doesn't do much for me.  Godzilla just looks weird.  There is a very cool pop-up Godziulla built into the center of the gatefold, but of everything Mondo bothered to actually release, this is the artwork I probably like the least.

This write up is probably way longer than most of the others will be as I had to set the stage a bit.  Next up on the Godzilla filmography is Godzilla vs. Biollante.  But again, Mondo never released that soundtrack so I'm going to have to skip it and go right to the movie after that next Friday.  I just hope someone, anyone (hey Waxwork!) releases the Biollante soundtrack on vinyl someday.  It's a glaring hole in the collection and really frustrates me.

The Return Of Godzilla Soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp7o1q38PjxHybeS3MHxg8uX7Wcdzyp3X

Mystidious Misfitss – A Who Dat? 2xLP + 7" (/500)

90s Tapes (2024, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

If you are looking for a hip hop group that has a name that is difficult to remember how to spell, Mystidious Misfitss might just be the group for you.  Their lone album, A Who Dat?, originally came out in 1995.  I didn't make much of an impact at the time, and from what I gather, that seems to be because their original label, Epic, didn't even bother to release the album on CD in America.  But had I heard this album, it's definitely one that I would have been into.

I know there is only a one year difference between 1994 and 1995, but I can't even begin to explain just how different hip hop production in those two years sounds to me.  It's like almost an entirely different genre of music for the most part.  Over the years I've learned that there were good beats still being produced after 1994, but I still find them to be on the rare side.  But for whatever reason, A Who Dat? is absolutely full of them.  

If you told me this came out in 1993, I wouldn't even bat an eyelash.  To the point where I'm mostly convinced this was recorded much earlier and the release just got delayed to 1995.  I haven't read that anywhere and have no proof other than the aforementioned nugget that this didn't come out on CD in the US, but this just sounds like that perfect, early 90s golden era sound that I love.  On top of the strong beats are 3 MCs that do a great job.  It's similar to other multi-person groups of that like Yaggfu Front, Pharcyde and maybe Leaders of the New School as long as you understand there's no one like Busta in Mystidious Misfitss.  There's a few too many skits, but that's not a problem unique to Mystidious Misfitss.

As usual, 90s Tapes sets the bar as high as high could be with this reissue.  It's a thoughtfully put together package with excellent artwork, great sounds and everything you would expect from them.  There's a reason I set an alarm multiple times a month to wake up in the middle of the night to buy their releases.  I don't deprive myself of sleep for just anything.  If you see one of these on Discogs or eBay or whataever and it's a nice price, go grab it.  Mystidious Misfitss created a great record that more people should hear.

Mystidious Misfitss – A Who Dat?:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/a-who-dat

Arcadian Starship - No Feelings 7"

Debauch Mood (2024)

Arcadian Starship is a group fronted by Shirahama, who was also in Sleeping Aides and Razor Blades.  They put out a full length a couple of years ago that I didn't get as the bits I heard of it didn't light my world on fire.  My understanding is that album was more of a solo endeavor, but on this 7", Arcadian Starship is reimagined as a full band.

Japanese powerpop/poppunk is often the best version of those genres, especially these days.  Arcadian Starship dabbles in both and I can hear the influence of the 90s UK scene, sort of like a Mega City Four, but it's filtered through a power pop lense that has echos of The Cute Lepers.  As you can imagine, this is great, upbeat music with lovely choruses and lightly fuzzed out guitar work.

It's so good, it really does make me want to give that first full length another chance, but more than anything I'm looking forward to seeing what this group does in the future.  A whole album of songs like this is something I would sign up for immediately.

Arcadian Starship - No Feelings 7":
https://debauchmood.bandcamp.com/album/arcadian-starship-no-feelings-7

Dr. Frank - Show Business Is My Life LP - 180g Vinyl (/200)

Sounds Rad (2024, Reissue)

It's taken me way too long to write about the Sounds Rad reissue of this Dr. Frank record.  It came out last year and is (sort of?) part of the Sounds Rad Mr. T Experience reissue campaign.  I'm eagerly waiting for the next entry in that series.  It's been a little quiet lately, but I keep hoping the next one announced will be Making Things With Light.  Maybe my favorite Mr. T Experience record, but definitely the one I would really like to hear a remastered and spruced up version of.

But today, we have the Dr. Frank solo record from 1999.  I remember after Love As Dead had come out there were already rumors and scuttlebutt about a Dr. Frank solo record.  Based on the recent string of acoustic songs on Mr. T Experience records, I had assumed that a solo record would be more of that with just Frank and a guitar.

What we got instead was a record of predominantly full band rock songs that to be honest, mostly don't really sound all that different from the Mr. T Experience records of the era.  I was really disappointed by this at the time and truthfully, I didn't really listen to the record all that often.  As the years went by, I didn't remember much from it aside from the "Knock Knock" song, which was admittedly fun.

When the reissue was announced, I was again kind of disappointed that it was 'taking' a spot from a Mr. T Experience album that could have been released instead.  But, I didn't have this on vinyl and figured it was time to give the album a shot again.  Especially as all of the Sounds Rad reissues have been excellent, and the die cut vinyl sleeve on this one was particularly cool looking.  And I'm glad I did, it's better than I remember it being and listening to it without a preconceived notion of what I thought it should be let me appreciate the record more for what it is.

In a lot of ways, I think it's an even stronger record than Revenge Is Sweet And So Are You, another one that I didn't appreciate as much at the time, but ended up enjoying more when I went back to it many years later.  It's more varied in sound and kind of has a ramshackle mix tape sort of vibe to it as opposed to the glossiness of Revenge.  And there are a handful of acoustic songs on here too, so it's not like that section was completely ignored or anything.

In hindsight, I should have given this album more of a chance 25 years ago, but I had less patience back then and was always looking for that next amazing thing.  A lot of times, I never found it and ignored some pretty good stuff that was sitting right under my nose.

Dr. Frank - Show Business Is My Life:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mFjGDEION3dzNaLpeg99Nt7EV_suLDB9k

Intelligent Hoodlum - Tragedy - Saga of a Hoodlum 2xLP

Hip Hip Enterprise / 25 To Life (2018, Reissue) 

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Following up on last week's write up of Intelligent Hoodlum's debut album, we have his follow up, Saga of a Hoodlum.  It was on this album, that he brought the name Tragedy more to the forefront.  It's also much easier to write about Tragedy than writing Intelligent Hoodlum over and over again, so we'll go with Tragedy from here on out.

I really dig the first record, but one of the shortcomings all these years later is that the 1990 production sound is a little dated to my ears.  I still like it, but I tend to need to be in the mood to listen to something of that era to really get into it.  Saga of a Hoodlum came out in 1993, which is right there in the middle of my favorite time in hip hop.  The production has caught up to Tragedy's rhymes and as good as his debut is, for me, this one blows it out of the water.

Yeah, I suppose a few of the samples are not exactly unique and if you can listen to "Funk Mode" without immediately thinking of Brand Nubian, kudos to you.  But that really doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the record at all, I'm too busy enjoying the beats and listening Tragedy uncork killer rhyme after killer rhyme.  This would be the last time Tragedy would put out an album until 2001.  I haven't heard that one, and do want to check it out, but more than anything, I lament the extended time off from 1990 to 1993 without an album.  in a time period where groups were dropping albums every year and innovation was at an all time high, I wonder what Tragedy could have done with another release in between the two that came out.

This album was not released on vinyl when it was originally released, so it's great that it finally came out for the album's 25th anniversary.  I didn't know it came out originally, so I had to backtrack and hunt down a copy.  Double vinyl is great and I really do like the new artwork, though I personally would have preferred it with the original.  Mostly because the art doesn't really fell like something that would have happened in 1993, it's too modern an aesthetic.  The original art might not look as 'nice' as this, but it's of that era and fits more with the music, I think.  Still, a great reissue and one worth looking out for.

Intelligent Hoodlum - Tragedy - Saga of a Hoodlum:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m8ujse4W-hHVq8z6V_kRs7IyRhgcmQviU

Clikatat Ikatowi – The Trials And Tribulations Of... Box Set - White / Black Splatter Vinyl

Numero Group (2025)

This is the last of the 3 recent Numero box sets I've picked up.  Like the Boys Life and Boilermaker sets before, Numero has done an fantastic job with this set.  It has all of the bells and whistles you come to expect from their releases: great artwork, great liner notes, great sound and a thorough track listing.

Clikitat Ikatowi is a band name that I think I first heard of when Mario Rubalcaba joined Rocket From The Crypt.  The band was no more at that point and I didn't back track and hunt down any of their records that I had missed.  I'm not even sure why, as I usually tend to do that.  But their scarcity or my unfamiliarity with them just made them one of those bands that I kept meaning to get to, but never did.  Numero did the hard work for me and have compiled all of their songs from their lone proper full length, an EP, their demo and compilation appearances.

It's another one of those instances where I wish I had been listening to this band all along.  I especially think that had I been able to hear them in the 90s when I was exploring bands like Unwound, Karp and godHeadsilo, I probably would have become very attached.  Honestly, they blow Karp and godHeadsilo out of the water and are every bit as compelling as the best moments of Unwound even if the sound isn't completely similar.  

They're also a band that shows quite a bit of growth from release to release.  While you can definitely tell they are the same band all the way through, they really coalesce into a tight knit unit by the time we get to their swan song, River of Souls.  Those songs have a tumultuous churning quality two them, while at the same time displaying a cohesion where you know the band is never going to lose track of the plot.  It's a sign of what a great band they were and what a jackass I have been for not listening to them all this time.

Clikatat Ikatowi – The Trials And Tribulations Of...:
https://clikatatikatowi.bandcamp.com/album/the-trials-and-tribulations-of

Intelligent Hoodlum - Intelligent Hoodlum 2xLP

 

90s Tapes (2021, Reissue) 

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Intelligent Hoodlum (aka Tragedy) is a name that for whatever reason I was pretty familiar back in the 90s when I was originally discovering hip hop.  I don't know why I knew his name though as I didn't have any of his records back then.  It would take decades before I actually listened to music, but it seemed like there was some sort of lore about him back them that I can't quite pin down.  This probably just reads as me rambling, but the point I'm trying to make is that I was aware of the legacy of Intelligent Hoodlum before I got my hands on his music.

This album originally came out in 1990, so it does have a sound that's probably a little dated, in comparison to the type of records that were being made in other years of the early 90s.  That isn't to say it's bad, in fact there's something that's equally charming and exciting about how the production was handled during that time period.  It feels like the beats on this album as about as cutting edge as they could have been in 1990 apart from your Public Enemys, Ultramagnetics and Tribes.  And it's over this production that Tragedy lets loose.

Lyrically, it's pretty obvious that this came out in the early part of the 90s, due to subject matter and some of the tropes that are leaned into.  But aside from that, Tragedy is among the upper tier lyricists of that type, especially as far as how his rhyme schemes flow.  Is he a Rakim or a Chuck D?  Of course not, barely anyone else is.  But in a time period where Kid N Play and Young MC ruled the roost, it's immediately apparent how much higher Tragedy floats.

90s Tapes handled this reissue and while I missed the boat on it when it originally came out in 2021, I was able to hunt down a copy at a reasonable price.  It's the best version of the record that is out there and while it may not be packed full of the bonus material as some of their other releases, they handle the album itself with the best possible care.  It's another stellar reissue.

Intelligent Hoodlum - Intelligent Hoodlum:
https://tragedykhadafi252.bandcamp.com/album/intelligent-hoodlum

Roach Squad - Roach Squad LP - Orange Vinyl

Little Rocket / Sounds of Subterrania / Waterslide / Rad Girlfriend (2025)

Roach Squad is a band made of Hugo Mudie from The Sainte Catherines, Alex Keane from City Mouse, Sim Robson from nowhere else that Discogs is aware of and Graeme Philliskirk and Frankie Stubbs from Leatherface.  Graeme and Hugo were also in Medictations with the late Dickie Hammond, and that group is what I see the most similarities to when it comes to the sounds of Roach Squad.  And that's a good thing.

When you have two members of Leatherface in your group, with Frankie being one of them, the odds are really stacked that I'm going to be interested in your band.  And Roach Squad does not disappoint, serving up the sort of gritty, melodic punk that in many ways is my absolute favorite kind of music to listen to.  It has that 90s UK vibe, with gruff, but melodic vocals courtesy of Hugo Mudie on 12 of the 13 tracks.  Now, while there is a definitely a part of me that's thinking to myself, "self, why is Frankie only singing on one of these songs," Hugo carries the vocal duties exceptionally well, just as he did with Medictations.

Frankie does step in on "I Wonder," which is a treat.  But the rest of the time he and Graeme are holding down the band with excellent guitar interplay, with those trademark riffs and dynamics that have made me a fan of this sort of thing for 30 years now.  It's a super consistent record from start to finish and while I wouldn't say that there's a specific song or two that stands above the pack, the pack of songs as a whole is pretty stellar.  An easy recommendation as one of the best albums of 2025 so far.  If you read this website even somewhat regularly, I cannot fathom you not digging this.

Roach Squad - Roach Squad:
https://roachsquad.bandcamp.com/album/roach-squad

Boilermaker – Not Enough Time To Get Anything Halfway Done Box Set - Blue Vinyl

Numero Group (2024, Reissue)

I was reasonably plugged in to a lot of music that was happening in the mid 90s.  I followed as much as I could and bought as much as I could afford.  Yet despite my best efforts, there are bands that slipped through the cracks for me and Boilermaker is one of them.  You'd think that being from southern California would have helped get them on my radar considering how much I tried to follow what was happening in San Diego, but it wasn't until many years after they stopped playing that I had even heard of them, let alone heard them.  Full disclosure, listening to this box set was the first time I have heard the vast, vast majority of these songs.

But it's records like this that I think the phrase "better late than never" was invented for.  Boilermaker is a pretty great band.  They're in that post punk, emo adjacent wheelhouse if you want to throw around genre specifications that don't really mean a whole hell of a lot any more.  What I can say, in my dumb way, is that they're a noisy rock band, that has just enough melody to make their angst palatable to me.  There are times, particularly in the vocals, that I'm reminded of fellow California cohorts, No Knife.  There are other times where the vibes feel more midwestern in nature, bringing to mind new label mates and last week's box set stars Boys Life.

As with most Numero offerings, this box set is a triumph.  Complete to a fault with all of their albums and an singles along with some demos and live material.  The box set itself is gorgeous with their usual perfectly executed liner notes book that helps tell the story of this band.  The closest thing I have to a complaint is that two of the songs are included on a bonus 7" that went out to the first 500 orders and those songs aren't part of the larger box set.  I have the 7", so I'm good - but it is a little strange to me that it feels like an add on.  I'm sure there's a reason for that, I'm just not sure what it is.  Other than that minor quibble, it's another home run from Numero.

Boilermaker – Not Enough Time To Get Anything Halfway Done:
https://boilermakernumero.bandcamp.com/album/not-enough-time-to-get-anything-halfway-done

T-Max - The Alleywalker 2xLP (/250)

 

Trumindz (2024) 

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The Alleywalker was originally meant to be released back in 1993, but for whatever reason (I looked, but couldn't really find any information about why) it wasn't actually released.  30 plus years later, here it is courtesy of Trumindz Records.  I had never heard of T-Max prior to this reissue popping up and I'm grateful I was in the right place at the right time when it came out so I could grab it.  It's sold out now and I would have been bummed out to miss on this one.

In some ways, I sort of feel like the only thing I need to say about this album is that it was supposed to come out in 1993.  It has the sort of beats and production that are kind of synonymous with that year and it's everything I'm looking for in my hip hop.  The tracks are fast paced, the bass lines are real head nodders and that aggressive snare drum crack hits right where it needs to be every time.  T-Max is from Boston, so you definitely get that golden era classic sound.

Lyrically, T-Max more than gets the job done.  I sort of hear a little bit of a similarity to Ed O.G., but that just might be my brain applying someone else from Boston to T-Max's sound.  Regardless of who is is or isn't similar to, he knows his way around a rhyme and lays out some standard, but excellent tales of life and of mic supremacy.  This is definitely the sort of album I'd recommend whole heartedly to folks that like that early 90s sound and are looking to check out something that hadn't heard before.  It's a bummer it's sold out, but it's definitely worth hunting for.

T-Max - The Alleywalker:

https://youtu.be/gokFivAkvMY?si=FopaPJf-UE35enQk

Jesse - Complete Discography 2xLP - 3 Versions (UK/US, Germany & Japan)

Little Rocket / Sounds Of Subterrania / Waterslide / Rad Girlfriend (2024, Reissue)

Jesse is the Frankie Stubbs band that released records for a brief moment in time between 1995 and 1998.  It was after the initial incarnation of Leatherface and the band Pope, before Leatherface eventually started playing again.  They released three 7"s, a Japanese tour split 7" with Hooton 3 Car and a full length album that capped things off in '98.  This new double LP discography compiles everything from those releases plus a previously unreleased bonus song.

Let's start out with the music, it's flawless.  The songs album is in rarified air for me as I absolutely love it and have been pretty obsessed with everything the band was doing since those 7"s first started coming out.  It's very much a band that makes sense as being a Frankie Stubbs band, it's not dissimilar to Leatherface or Pope enough to not appeal to fans of those bands.  But at the same time, I always felt there was something a little smoother about the Jesse songs.  

Maybe it's just that they are a touch slower and more melodic than some of the more aggressive Leatherface recordings that proceeded it.  But if you had heard The Last or the Pope record, if made a lot of sense that this is where Frankie was going next.  Just flawless songs and the only complaints I ever had is that I wish the LP didn't also have all of the 7" songs on it. and we had gotten 14 brand new ones instead of just seven.

OK, let's get to the variations.  First up is the standard version on grey swirl vinyl.  It was also available on orange, blue and white vinyl.  Not sure of the pressing information on each of the individual colors, but I'm not aware of any one of them being rarer or pressed in different numbers than any of the others.

Second, we have the Sounds of Subterrania version from Germany.  This one was pressed on good old fashioned black vinyl, but has alternate, screened artwork that is just spectacular.  The picture doesn't do justice to the flap, tuck in thing that closes up the whole package.  The cover art is taken from the Indestructible 7", which also happens to be my favorite Jesse song.

Finally is the Waterslide version from Japan.  This one is on clear vinyl, that is described on the Waterslide website as being "coke blue."  It also comes with a sharp looking obi that I'm a big fan of.

I don't buy as many duplicate copies of albums as I used to.  The variant game is a game I've decided is just too expensive these days.  But for an album as important to me as this one is and the three distinct versions that were made, I just couldn't pass them up.  But hey, I'm showing some restraint.  I didn't get all four different colors of the standard version.

Jesse - Complete Discography:
https://jesselrr.bandcamp.com/album/jesse-complete-discography

Boys Life – Home Is A Highway Box Set - Clear/Blue Vinyl (/250)

Numero Group (2024)

Boys Life was a band that I originally discovered while writing for my college newspaper.  In my dealings with Cargo records, they sent me a review copy of Departures and Landfalls and I was immediately taken with it.  While I tended to prefer the poppier strains of that wave of emo, something about Boys Life really connected with me.  Or I guess it's more accurate to say that Departures and Landfalls connected with me, for whatever reason, I never hunted down their other records the way I did for most bands of that era.

Luckily, Numero has done the hunting for me.  Which is a relief as that first album in particular was very rarely available and when it was always seemed to be priced outside of my comfort zone.  This box set solves that problem by gathering up both Boys Life full lengths along side of every other song from their demo and various 7"s.  There's even some live tracks as a bonus.

It's those first two albums that are the biggest draws for me and both sound fantastic as part of this set,  I've been kicking myself that it took me so long to finally hear the self titled one as it's really great and something I really should have been listening to for years at this point.  The singles/demo part of this box set is also outstanding.  A lot of those early songs did end up on the first album, but typically different versions, so I enjoy having access to everything.  Plus there's still a solid amount of songs not on either full length.  The live material is nice to have, but I'm not really a live record guy, so it's probably the bit I'm least interested in.

Of course, Numero comes correct with outstanding packaging on this release.  Everything is given the extra primo good treatment and the accompanying liner notes really are more of a book than just notes for the albums.  If there was a label to tackle this project, I couldn't think of a better one than Numero.  There are so many bands I'd like to see them give this sort of treatment to; Seaweed, Christie Front Drive, No Knife...but they could start by doing Chisel, who thus far have only had one of their LPs reissued on Numero Group.  Gimme a box!

Boys Life – Home Is A Highway
https://boyslife.bandcamp.com/album/home-is-a-highway

Bomb Threat - Bomb Threat LP

 

 90s Tapes (2024, Reissue) 

 Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Originally released on cassette in 1995, Bomb Threat was definitely not something on my radar back then.  It's another one of those misplaced relics that 90s Tapes has leapt in to rescue and give a proper reissue to.  It's a short album, clocking in at 25 minutes and really only has six actual songs, making it one of the rare single LPs in the 90s Tapes discography.  But it's still treated with the usual respect, looking and sounding great.

Bomb Threat is a crew and the album plays more like a compilation.  Five of the six songs are helmed by specific MCs or groups and it's not until the final track that the whole unit is credited for a song.  I don't know any of the individual groups or MCs on this record, but I certainly wouldn't mind hearing more from some of them.

As I've mentioned many times, 1995 is that line in the sand year for me with hip hop most of the time.  1994 and earlier is where my heart typically lies.  If a record came out in 1995 or later, it's more of a rarity for me to connect with it.  It does happen though, and Bomb Threat is one of those time, and it really boils down to the production for me.

There are great beats on this album, and while they tend to lean towards the mellower side of the golden era, they also lean close enough to that rougher early 90s sound to grab my attention.  This is particularly apparent in the first two songs.  "Phenomenal" by Bleak may not quite be phenomenal, but it's awfully good with a killer beat that Bleak runs roughshod over.  The other highlight for me is "Sabotage" which is attributed to Lifesavas & Sly Brown Da Hornet.  Again it's the production that seals the deal for me, though everyone on the mic gets the job done on this as well.

The rest of the songs are all good, there's nothing on here that I don't like, it's just those first two that tend to steal the show every time I listen to it.  I'm not sure if any of these guys have more material from the early to mid 90s but if they do, I'd love to hear it.

Bomb Threat - Bomb Threat:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/bomb-threat

Bambies - Snotty Angels LP - Smokey Gray Vinyl

Spaghetty Town / Wanda (2024)

This album was sent to me along with the Peawees album I wrote about a few weeks back.  I didn't know Bambies before getting this LP, but I'm pleased to make their introduction.  This band is from Montreal and I guess has been going since 2014.  Snotty Angels is their second full length, with their first one having been release on tape only, it seems.

I was mildly trepidatious before playing this, as snotty isn't usually a descriptor used for the bulk of the bands I'm into.  I can't tell you how many times I've put on a record where the music is promising only to have it ruined by someone who absolutely can't sing in any capacity.  Luckily, that didn't happen with Bambies.  While the vocals do certainly have an element of 'snot' to them, it's not to the point where the growl takes over and the tunes become painful.  There's enough melody still coming through to carry the songs and when you add in the backing vocals, we've got some nice choruses going on here.

Musically, this is some really nice jangly power-pop-punk-garage type stuff.  I'm reminded a bit of the the two Love Boat records that came out on Alien Snatch quite a few years ago.  There's also a bit of The Cute Lepers mixed in as well.  It's upbeat, the musicianship is on point and is just a generally enjoyable record.  A pleasant bonus with another record I was already looking forward to.

Bambies - Snotty Angels:
https://thebambies.bandcamp.com/album/snotty-angels

The Supersuckers - The Smoke Of Hell LP - Red Vinyl (/2000)

Sub Pop (2024, Reissue)

The Supersuckers are a band that I discovered around the same time as I discovered Rocket From The Crypt and the two bands often seemed like they went hand in hand, at least to a certain segment of fans.  As the years have gone by, it's felt like that cross section of fans has gotten smaller and smaller.  I think that is at least in part because of how the two bands' catalogs diverged around the late 90s.  I always thought that The Supersuckers started to embrace their metal influences more than their punk ones.  At least for me, that was more than enough to make me less interested in their other albums.

But I really do still like a lot of the early Supersuckers material.  La Mano Cornuda was my introduction to The Supersuckers and that album along with The Sacrilicious Sounds of... are the two of theirs that I always dug the most.  I never had The Smoke of Hell or The Songs All Sound The Same compilation album, but a buddy of mine in high school did.  So while I heard them back then, I then went decades without hearing them again.

I was excited when Sub Pop finally rereleased The Smoke of Hell.  Here was my chance to add the vinyl to my collection without paying the collectors prices that the original pressing of the album had been going for.  This version is on red vinyl and is a somewhat limited reissue with 2000 copies pressed.

All these years later, I think I see some of the things that I don't like about The Supersuckers more than I did back then.  Again, those pesky metal influences are there and while maybe they are sharing the bill with a louder, riff based punk sound..they are still there.  No aspect of metal has ever been anything I've been interested in, so for me, The Supersuckers are at their best when they're just barrelling ahead with simpler chord progressions and the catchy hook in the chorus.  I'm sure a lot of folks would argue about how catchy some of these songs are, but these guys have always known how to write a pop hook, they often just bury it under a cloud of whiskey and attitude.

Again, I'm happy to finally add this to the collection.  While it's not my favorite Supersuckers release, there's plenty of good stuff on it.  I'm still debating on whether or not I need to hunt down a copy of The Songs Still Sound The Same or not.  That one kind of completed the quadrilogy of the Supersuckers albums that I have interest in.

The Supersuckers - The Smoke Of Hell:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mCWoW4jMnbefNh13LkZKsLmsO9q8CTSWY

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese 30th Anniversary 3xLP

Rhino / Elektra (2024, Reissue)

I had made a point to call out Chocolate and Cheese in my end of the year post as one of the best reissues of 2024 that I just didn't have enough time to write about before 2024 concluded.  Well, here we are in April and I'm finally getting to it.  Perhaps a bit of a disservice to such a fine album, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

Ween was a group that was recommended to me by my friend Pat.  As I was getting obsessively into Beck at the time, he thought that Ween would also be up my alley.  Completely unheard, I went out and picked up Pure Guava as well as Chocolate and Cheese pretty much at the same time.  I vaguely remember getting them the same day, but at different stores, but we're talking 1994 here, so I cannot say my memory for events like that is still sharp 31 years later.  I loved both records immediately, though I gravitated more towards Pure Guava, which remains my favorite in Ween's catalog.

That's not to take anything away from Chocolate and Cheese as it has stood the test of time as being my second favorite Ween album.  It's not quite as sprawling and weird as Pure Guava can get, though it is sprawling and weird in its own way.  I think it plays a little bit better as an album and definitely has more cohesive songs in general, despite the dizzying array of styles throughout the album.  You go from the lounge inspired crooning of "Take Me Away" to the fuzzed out yelling of "I Can't Put My Finger on It" to the perfect pop of "Roses are Free" and "What The Deaner Was Talkin' About." And every single one of these fits perfectly in the context of the album.  Quite the feat.

This 30th anniversary edition is a triple LP with the third disc essentially being a new album of unreleased outtakes and a few demos.  You can, and I do, listen to it as a completely separate entry in the Ween canon and it holds up with most songs of that era.  This makes it absulotely the essential version of Chocolate and Cheese and I was happy to double dip on this one.  Boy oh boy, do I wish they would put out one of these for Pure Guava as well.

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m6KA_G_DkUhl9UwCPVH1JD4ovzP4Um6dI

Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda 3xLP

Fat Beats (2024, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

A few years ago I wrote about the bootleg version of this Organized Konfusion record and lamented that no one had been able to figure out a proper reissue.  Well, Fat Beats has corrected that with a lavish triple LP reissue of the second Organized Konfusion album Stress: The Extinction Agenda.  They really went all out by including the entire album, remixes, bonus tracks and instrumentals.  

The album itself is a classic, even if it's a classic that I wasn't aware of when it was originally released.  The slow, jazzy beats churn throughout the album while Pharaohe Monch and Prince Po unleash lyrical mayhem on every track.  These guys deal in hyper complicated, stacked rhymes that dazzle, but they never feel like they're showing off just for the sake of it.  All of the rhymes serve the beats and vice versa, making it one of those albums that fires on all cylinders.  I typically prefer my hip hop production a little more upbeat than what's on Stress, but everything just works. 

Hats off to Fat Beats for finally figuring out how to get this album back in print.  I do sort of wish they made a version where you didn't have to buy the instruntal versions along with the main album, as I don't often listen to those for any record really.  It mostly just makes this more expensive for me/. But that's a minor complaint as Fat Beats made a super deluxe version that sounds great and allows me to retire the bootleg version that has held this spot in my collection.  Now, who is going to step up and rerelease Organize Konfusion's debut?

Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kDvj6SIEh08bvffjPcDPsyD82D9ZsPojA

Swami John Reis - Time To Let You Down LP - Black Vinyl (/500), Yellow Swirl Vinyl (/1500) & Mystery Wax 7" (/136)

Swami (2025)

As the years have gone by and more music by John Reis has entered the world, I've found that I've had an increasingly difficult time writing about new records and finding ways to describe said music accurately or interestingly.  His bands have been such a gigantic part of my life for over 30 years now, and the sounds that he crafts are in a way part of the lifeblood that keeps me functioning day to day.  I realize that sounds a little heavy handed and perhaps kind of stupid, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that if there's a soundtrack to my life, John is absolutely one of its main composers.

Time To Let You Down is is third record as Swami John Reis including a one album detour as Swami & The Bed Of Nails.  Of the the three, this one is my favorite.  The first album, Ride The Wild Night,  was build on top of a lot of acoustic guitar and piano.  The second, All Of This Awaits You, was more electric with a focus on tight, economical songs. This third one probably has more in common with All Of This Awaits you sonically, but with a more diverse array of song styles.  There's tight, hook filled pop songs like "Prince of the Parade" right along side of slower, more deliberate songs with noisier guitar bursts like "Fed to the Dogs." 

There's so much to love here and it's definitely the record that has gotten the most repeated listens for me so far this year.  There's even a cover of the Kamen Rider theme song.  He'll be in NJ next week and I'm really looking forward to hearing these new songs live. 

Regarding the different versions released, the main release that's in stores is a limited to 1500 copies pressing on yellow swirl vinyl.  There are an additional 500 copies that are limited on black vinyl.  300 of these were sold via the Swami webstore and the remaining 200 copies are being sold on the upcoming tour dates.  And if you want to hunt even more, 136 random orders from the Swami webshop also received a Swami Mystery Wax 7".  These are 7"s that the Swami has affixed a label onto so that you don't know what it is until played.  These are typically older 45s and my copy ended up being "My Meloncholy Baby" b/w "Really Need Your Love by The Marcels.  A fun little bonus.

Swami John Reis - Time To Let You Down:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=uOIpCbqDL-w

Circle of Power - Circle of Power 3xLP

90s Tapes (2024, Reissue)

On Wednesdays, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

If you read the things I write on a semi-regular basis, you know that I have been singing the praises of the German record label 90s Tapes for some time now.  They have embarked on a reissue campaign of 90s hip hop that's probably unrivaled in our time.  They have been unearthing obscure indie albums, reissuing albums previously available as self released tapes and giving deluxe treatments to classic albums from the golden age.  Every release really could be considered a deluxe version as the quality of everything they put out is the best of the best.  Circle of Power gets the 90s Tapes reissue with a triple LP version of their 1993 self titled album.

Even though Circle of Power originally came out on Rumble Records, a label that only ever put out records by Circle of Power, its influence was felt enough over the years that I had discovered it well before 90s Tapes got their hands on it.  I had been hoping for a reissue for quite some time, as it's original release on vinyl was a promo LP with no artwork that didn't contain all of the songs from the CD version.  Getting triple LP version with the full track list (apart from a switched out intro that really is better than the original) and what appears to be everything the group released on singles and what not is even more than I could have hoped for.

Musically, Circle Of Power sit right in that sweet spot on early 90s hip hop that is everything I'm looking to listen to.  Upright bass lines, jazz influences, rugged drum beats...it's the sort of record that really only could have come out in 92, 93 or 94.   I love the production throughout and lyrically, these guys weave stories around the beats in a way that makes the end product even more satisfying.  There's so much skill on display here that I'm really confused as to why Circle of Power didn't get more of an opportunity to shine when they were active.  But that's OK, the album has been rereleased in its best possible version and I'm so excited to be able to add it to the shelf.

Circle of Power - Circle of Power:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/circle-of-power

Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy LP

Granary / BMG (2025)

If you were to give an award out for the most consistent rock and roller over the past 30 years or so, one could make a really strong argument to give that award to Bob Mould.  Plain and simple, he's a guy that pretty much always puts out good records.  Sure there were some that weren't quite as great as others and the less said about his forays into electronic music, the better - but, as a whole, he's got quite the catalog.

Here We Go Crazy is his latest album and it follows his string of upbeat, aggressive rock records that he's been consistently releasing since 2012's The Silver Age.  It's just as good as any of them.  Lot's of great songs, with poignant lyrics.  Bob's definitely got a lot to say about the state of the world these days, though he does it in a way that doesn't beat you over the head with a hammer about it.  It's still a record that's enjoyable to listen to and isn't designed to bum you out so much as to maybe give you a bit of hope that we'll get through it.

If there's a negative here, it's that this record is just as good as any of the other records he's put out recently.  Again, they are all really good, but I find that most of them end up sitting on my record shelf after that initial flurry of listens because it's a new release.  I think part of the problem is that if I'm really in the mood to listen to Bob Mould, I'll probably grab on of the Sugar records or The Silver Age.  Those are the records that really connect with me.  Here We Go Crazy isn't quite at the level of those, so I have a feeling I'll probably grab it if I want to listen to Bob Mould, but for whatever reason don't feel like listening to one of my favorites.

Comparisons to other Bob Mould records aside, Here We Go Crazy is a great listen.  It's got everything I'm looking for in a Bob Mould record with no disappointments.  I'd be shocked if it didn't end up being one of my favorites of the year.  Maybe he just needs to put out a few intentionally bad records to make me appreciate how good records like this one is.  

Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy:
https://bobmould.bandcamp.com/album/here-we-go-crazy-3

Zephr - Past Lives LP

Snappy Little Numbers (2025)

Zephr is back with Past Lives, a follow up to their debut LP from 2020.  It seems inconceivable to me that was nearly five years ago already, but time does fly.  I was glad to see Zephr made a second album.  I liked their debu well enought, but more than anything I thought it showed a lot of potential for a band that may have still been coming into their own.  Particularly given when that record came out.

The last time I wrote about Zephr I mentioned that, for me, they fit in nicely with the Dear Landlords and Off With Their Heads of the world.  They bring similar things to the table: Aggressive vocals, dynamic guitar work and these folks definitely know their way around a hook.  I did want to touch on the vocals in particular.  I had made a comment about their debut that I didn't like one of the vocalists as much because his singing sounded a little strained to me.  I don't feel that way at all about this new album.  Both singers to a great job of carrying the melodies, while still maintaining that gravel-y roughness that works so well for this sort of thing.

In general, I think this record is an improvement from their debut.  The songs feel a little more put together this time, and everything comes across tighter as a result.  I like some ramshackle rock and roll as much as the next guy, but Zephr has just the right amount of polish that makes their record sound really big, but never falling victim to an artificial gloss.  That's mostly just a dumb way for me to write that I think this record sounds really good.

Zephr - Past Lives:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/past-lives

Legion Of D.U.M.E. – '94 D.U.M.E. EP

Dope Folks (2011, reissue)

On Wednesdays, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

One of the things that I've been doing over the last couple of years has been buying old issues of The Source, a magazine that was essentially my bible when I got into hip hop in the early 90s.  I've been able to acquire all of the issues from 1990-1994 (those pre-1990 issues are impossible to find) and I've been reading them in order.  I've been paying extra close attention to the Unsigned Hype columns as I go through them, doing some internet sluthing to see if anything got released by any of the ones that didn't know of.

And that's how I found Legion Of D.U.M.E., who were featured in an Unsigned Hype column in 1992.  From digging around it looks like the group had self released a two song single in 1994 and then couple of the guys splintered off into a group called Darc Mind that had a few releases.  The only thing that really surfaced from Legion Of D.U.M.E. is this eight song 12" released by Dope Folks in 2011.  It's an eight song, 40 minute long 12" so while I guess it's technically an EP, it's a much more satisfying listen to me than a lot of those 4-6 songs ones that never feel like they settle into a groove before they end.  

Legion Of D.U.M.E. is a multi MC crew rapping over the perfect sort of beats that I love from this era.  Thick bass lines, cuts in the hooks and hard hitting snare drum cracks.  Perfect.  The lyrics that these guys are throwing around are also quite nice.  I think that if they had gotten a break back then, they'd be more fondly remembered by fans of the era.  I know that had I heard this in 1994, I would have absolutely loved it.  I love it now too and just wish there was more of it.

These songs make up a 1994 demo, but I can't help but wonder what songs were given to The Source in 1992?  There most be more unreleased songs out there or different versions at the very least because the article references two song names that aren't on this 12".  I for one would really like to get my hands on those and hope that someone out there can cobble together another Legion Of D.U.M.E. release.

Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard - Give 'Em The Finger

Rarebreed (2025, Reissue)

On Wednesdays, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Give 'Em The Finger is one of those records that I've been after for quite a while.  It's another one of those albums I stumbled across on a 'forgotten hip hop of the 90s' type list.  When it was originally released, it came out on a no artwork, promo LP.  I'm not a huge fan of those, but sometimes that's the only way you can get something on vinyl.  I just could never find a good deal on a copy.  Luckily we finally get a reissue.

Rarebreed, who reissued the Saafir record last year, are back with a full artwork, remastered version of Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard's debut album.  I was surprised it wasn't a double LP like most of the better hip hop reissues of late.  But while there are 14 tracks on here, the whole album is only 15 minutes long, so it's not an egregious amount of music to try to fit on a single disc.

As far as the music goes, it's a ver solid Golden Era record.  It originally came out in 1993, though the production doesn't feel like what was cutting edge in '93.  The bulk of the album was produced by Trackmasters, who worked with Chubb Rock and The A.T.E.E.M. record I wrote about a couple weeks ago.  These songs have a similar feel in that they maybe sound a little more like they could have come out in 1991 or early '92.  I know that probably seems silly when you read it, but you can't forget how quickly the sound of hip hop was changing and growing during that time period.  Still, I love many albums from 91 and 92 just as much as anything from 93 or 94, so it's kind of splitting hairs.  

No matter the year, Give 'Em The Finger is still a great listen.  Pudgee reminds me a bit of K-Solo and he sounds good throughout the record.  He even holds is own on a track with Kool G Rap, and there are plenty of MCs in that era that weren't able to do that.  This is worth giving a listen to if it floated under your radar.

Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard - Give 'Em The Finger:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mYKSZb30ykNkD6nl72wREuLDr9Ty1QEqY

Minutes - Minutes LP

Michigan Independents Network (2012)

When I stumbled across Minutes' sophomore release, Roland, I was blown away by their scrappy take on jangly indie rock.  Pretty much from that moment I started looking for their sold out, self titled debut album.  I looked and looked and looked and added it to my Discogs want list and just waited.  And waited.  And waited.  That stupid record never showed up for a decade.  Then one day, there it was on Discogs for $20.  I couldn't have bought it any faster.

Much like their album Roland, Minutes attack their songs with a reckless energy that reminds me a lot of Boat, with similarly successful results.  At it's core, it's a Pavement leaning sound, but with a little more punk enthusiasm that keeps everything trucking along.  I've had this record for a few months now, and while I certainly haven't listened to it as many times as I have Roland, I have listened to it enough times to proclaim it to be just as good.  It's a tricky find, for sure, but I really recommend trying to track down both records if you can.

Minutes stopped putting out records after releasing Roland, but several members went on to release a couple of records under the similarly unsearchable name, Out.  I can't say I dug those quite as much as Minutes, but all of them are worth checking out if you want to hear some 90s style indie rock.

Minutes - Minutes:
https://minutes.bandcamp.com/album/self-titled-lp

Da Homlez – Abandoned In Da Streetz 2xLP + 7"

90s Tapes (2024, Reissue)

On Wednesdays, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Abandoned In Da Streets was originally released on CD and cassette on a label called Noir.  A quick peruse of Discogs shows that this album and an accompanying 12" single may have been the only releases that the label ever put out.  The same can be said for this group.  I certainly never heard of Da Homlez back in 1995, when this was originally released.  I imagine they didn't make a lot of noise being on a new, independent label.   And to be honest even if they had gotten a sniff of exposure on Yo! MTV Raps or the Source, I wouldn't have heard anything about it in 1995 as I had moved on from those.

What I can say is that if I had heard Da Homlez back then, there is almost no way I wouldn't have immediately loved it.  Even though I am pretty sure I only bought one hip hip album in 1995, that one was the second Souls of Mischief CD.  Even as I had started losing interest in the hip hop I had access to, I was still taken in by Souls and Hieroglyphics.  And that's the niche that Da Homlez kind of slides right into.  Maybe they are not quite as left of center as Hiero, but they are mining a similar west coast vibe, particularly when it comes to production.  Another kindred spirit definitely being the first Pharcyde record.

Over strong, jazzy beats, the multi-MC crew trades killer lyrics back and forth.  For a lot of the forgotten classics of the golden era that I have come across in later years, I have often said that the production is great and the vocals are good, or fine, or don't get in the way.  That isn't the case with Da Homlez.  These guys are great and if anything their skill only elevates the beats even higher.

As usual, 90s Tapes does a flawless job with this reissue.  Everything looks amazing and sounds even better.  There's more than one reason they are my favorite reissue label.  There's the quality of the packaging and vinyl, of course, but they have done an incredible job of finding these hidden gems and making them available.  I am pretty confident I would have never heard of Da Homlez if not for 90s Tapes, and man is my record collection better off having heard it.  Highest recommendation if you can find a copy.

Da Homlez – Abandoned In Da Streetz:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/abandoned-in-da-streetz

Bum - Kidd Bitz (& Glazed Rookies) LP - White Vinyl (/500)

Hey Suburbia / Radiation (2025)

If you know me, you know that I think Bum is one of the greatest bands of all time.  Their album, Wanna Smash Sensation ranks among my very favorites ever and I spent years and years hunting down their various singles, EPs and other releases.  I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the same labels that reissued Wanna Smash Sensation in 2022 have come back with Kidd Bitz (& Glazed Rookies), a Bum singles and rarities compilation.

I'll start off with a minor quibble and that's the fact that this isn't an exhaustively complete compilation of Bum material.  Admittedly, I'm one of those guys that wants every song, note and fart that a band cranks out to be part of these type of things and while this one has a lot of great on it, it's not everything.  Some of it, I understand.  A lot of the 7" A sides in Bum's catalog are tracks that were on Wanna Smash Sensation, so we probably don't need those.  But there are others that aren't here and ones that are here that confuse me a bit, such as three of the eight songs from the Make It Or Break It 12".  Regardless, it's not as complete as I'd maybe want it to be (likely spanning a double LP), but there's a metric ton of great songs on here.

A word of warning, when you first put this LP on, the fidelity of the original 7" versions of "A Promise is a Promise" and "Wedding Day" is not the greatest.  It's also not the greatest on the actual original 7", so it's a source limitation, not a problem with the LP.  Once you hit the third song, everything sounds bright, full and delightful.  This compilation collects outstanding Bum songs from the At The Well 7", the Mrs. Rock and Roll 7", split 7"s with Innerface and Pingu, the aforementioned 12" and several compilation tracks.  Spanning their entire existence you get Bum originals and five covers (They did a good amount of covers in their time).

As a maniac record collector, I did have all of these songs on singles and compilations before, but what no one had heard before this LP came out were the three previously unreleased songs.  "1983" is a home recording by Rob Nesbitt from 1993 that is a good song and a nice way to close out side one of the record.  The other two "Everything I Say Is Wrong" and "You, Down Again" are full band, killer Bum tunes that would have been a crime to leave shelved for all of eternity.  It's really nice to be able to hear these two gems and for me, that's reason enough to pick this up.  

Let's be honest though, even if I had every single song on here, I'd buy this.  Of course there's the insane record collector thing creeping in again, but there's also the fact that it is really nice to be able to listen to all of these songs without having to go pull out nine different records or the old mix tapes I use to make to get at them.  It's an essential addition to my record shelf and it just makes me greedy for more Bum songs.  They should make some more of those...

Superchunk / Not Wonk - Split 7" (/300)

Merge / Bigfish Sounds (2024)

This 7" was one that I wasn't aware of until I just saw it on Superchunk's Disccogs page when I was looking up something else.  It's a split 7" with Not Wonk that was made for a Japanese Superchunk tour.   There were 300 pressed in total and 100 of them were sold at the Merge 35 merch table, according to an Instagram post that Mac made that I found this morning.  I wasn't at that show or at any of the Japanese tour dates and it's only through the kindness of my great friend Kazu that I have this in my collection. 

Both songs on this 7" are acoustic, with the Superchunk side being a version of "Hyper Enough."  "Hyper Enough" is probably my favorite Superchunk song, if I was forced to pick one, but at worst it's in my top three.  I'm not positive that it's the Superchunk song that translates best acoustically though.  It's significantly slower and delivered with Mac's vocals being a whole lot more gravelly than they were 30 years ago (it happens).   It's certainly not bad and it's an interesting take on a song that I have loved for 30 years, but I can't really see myself listening to it very often.

Not Wonk is a band from Japan and I have their first two albums, which I like quite a bit.  They've put out two more since then, but I don't have either of those.  Their contribution is an acoustic take on a song called "Asshole."  I'm not sure that there is a non-acoustic version of this one as it's not on either of the Not Wonk records I have and according to Discogs it's not on either of the ones I don't.  It's also not a Beck cover.  Like the Superchunk side, this is a slow song that while nice, isn't particularly exciting.

It probably sounds like I'm being negative about this record, but for what it is - a limited tour only 7" - it does everything it needs to.  Only crazy, completist record collector people like me are going to miss it if it's not in their collection.  But as a crazy, completist record collector, I am deeply and eternally grateful to Kazu for helping me keep my Superchunk 7" collection complete. 

The A.T.E.E.M. - A Hero Ain't Nuthin' But a Sandwich LP

Select (1992)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The A.T.E.E.M. is another one of those 90s groups that I discovered from digging around on one of those ‘forgotten hip hop records’ type lists.  A Hero Ain’t Nuthin’ But A Sandwich came out in 1992, which I can make an argument for being the best overall year of the golden era.  While I wasn't familiar with The A.T.E.E.M. themselves, these guys were connected with Chubb Rock.  He makes a few guest appearances over the course of the album, including the title track, which is probably the strongest on here.

Production on this record was handled by The Trackmasters, who had done work for others during this era like the aforementioned Chubb Rock, Leaders of the New School, Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap (Ill Street Blues!).  The production is also the strongest part of A Hero Ain’t Nuthin’ But A Sandwich.  Lyrically, the 3 members of the group (Rob Swinga, F.M. and HOT DOG) are respectable MCs, but they never really take command of any of the tracks in a way that makes them feel like anything other than journeymen rappers.  Nothing on here is bad and I would contend that most of it is good, but it kind of plateaus at good and never hits great.

But the production is a treat, the Chubb Rock appearances are a lot of fun and the rest of the album is totally serviceable.  I do like this as it’s from a period of time where most hip hop sounded like I want it to sound like.  It’s completely of its era and while it might not be in the upper echelon of records from 1992, it still has that sound that makes me keep going back to it. 

The A.T.E.E.M. - A Hero Ain't Nuthin' But a Sandwich:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kC8Nz0GCqa-kc8LHB81UZCC-irlaaxbjY

Ween - The Pod 2xLP - Brown & Cream Vinyl

Chocodog (2023)

Back in 1994, a friend recommended Ween to me because he knew I was really getting into Beck and some of the other weirder strains of indie and punk rock.  I ended up picking up Pure Guava and Chocolate & Cheese first.  In particular, I became obsessed with Pure Guava.  At a subsequent trip into NYC to go record shopping, I picked up the CD of The Pod from Generation Records (amazingly, still open as of now).  The Pod never really connected with me the same way as the others and while I still have that CD, it wasn't one of the Ween records I gravitated towards when I was in the mood to listen to Ween.

As the years have gone by, that initial opinion I had is somewhat still accurate.  It's still not one of my favorite Ween records and really cannot hold a candle to Pure Guava, Chocolate & Cheese, The Mollusk or 12 Golden Country Greats, I do find that it's a pretty fun album when I want to be reminded of why I started listening to Ween in the first place.

Since I'm not as intimately familiar with The Pod as I am those others, it's still something of a surprise when I put it on and start listening.  I can still be taken back by the goofiness of a song about pork roll (I assume they mean Taylor Ham), egg and cheese or the oddness of an entire song being someone ordering Mexican food.  It's still a tough listen at times as many of the songs are noisy and weird, but when those gems pop up, it's still rewarding.

I've never had this on vinyl, so it's a nice addition to the Ween collection.  This pressing is on wacky colored and what sure feels like 180g vinyl.  It's not advertised as 180g, but these are some think, heavy slabs of wax.  I'm kind of glad I waited so long to get it as this is definitely the version I'd want to own.

Ween - The Pod:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m29LtZ9U0OkNhLDwXIzlFtgI8OmcSBnbU

3rd Bass - The Cactus Al/Bum 2xLP

Def Jam (2024, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

For its 35th anniversary, Def Jam finally reissued The Cactus Al/Bum as a double LP on vinyl.  3rd Bass' debut album was in dire need of this treatment as the original version, and all reissues, of the record tried to cram 20 songs clocking in at just under an hour onto a single LP.  As you can imagine, it certainly didn't sound its best.  The hype sticker on this new reissue says it was remastered from the original analog tapes and whether it's that or just having less music per side and stretching this out onto two LPs, the record sound better than it ever has.

I'm really happy that this record is getting this sort of treatment.  I've always felt that 3rd Bass never really got sustained credit for how good they were.  They hardly ever come up when other golden era greats are discussed, but both of their records are great and hold up to most others released around the same time.  I mean, no, they're not Public Enemy, but both records are much better than I think most people remember.

In particular, the production on The Cactus Al/Bum is top notch for 1989.  I would put it up against just about anything that came out that year.  And as far as lyrics go, Serch has always been kind of a goofball, but an entertaining one and Pete Nice absolutely is among the most under appreciated of the early golden era to me.  Hopefully this reissue shines some much needed attention on what is in my opinion, a classic album.  I have it playing again while I'm writing this and I really does sound great.  Absolutely worth double dipping if you have any of the earlier single disc pressings.

3rd Bass - The Cactus Al/Bum:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nHAZh4VPksh1NjCgvM7FeaDVgf4jJc0T0