Adult Film Makers s/t CD 2.5 Stars
Demonbeach • P.O. Box 6693 • Raleigh, NC 27628-6693 • www.demonbeach.com
Good garagey 60’s rock from an ex-member of Pipe. Dirty guitar riffs, 4-on-the-floor drum beats, and Jagger-esque vocals make me think a lot of the Rolling Stones and maybe even the Cramps…no drum machines, no keyboards, no pretending, just 9 songs of straight ahead rock and roll. They even throw in an Iggy Pop cover.
Ed Burgess, Graphic Manipulation, 4 color, 4 panel booklet 1.5 Stars
A video still with some Photoshop filter work. Obviously done at low resolution. The photo on the back is colorfully artsy but given that this does seem like a fun band, I don’t think the rest of the package captures enough seriousness. (SH)

Aloha "That’s Your Fire" CD 4.5 Stars
Polyvinyl Records Company • Post Box 1885 • Danville, IL 61834 • www.polyvinylrecords .com
Aloha sails though this well-crafted, extraordinarily paced debut, with great songs and strange instrumentation. The drumming is jazzy, with strong, solid bass lines that give grounding to vibraphone, synthesizer, and guitar. The vocals are sort of like John Doe, but smoother. The sound eludes description, the closest comparison I can come up with is fIREHOSE at a clipper pace; it moves in a similar way, like sailing or wind...
Design: “Need Aloha cover art or photos? For ready-to-use, high resolution, pre-scanned album cover art and band photo files go to: www.polyvinylrecords.com/presskits.” Thanks, Polyvinyl, but I don’t have a computer. . . (RN)

Black Kali Ma “You Ride The Pony (I’ll Be The Bunny)” CD 2 Stars
Alternative Tentacles • P.O. Box 419092 • San Francisco, CA 94141-9092
These guys do what they do really well, but what they’re doing is 2 parts Motorhead and 2 parts Lynrd Skynrd. Not my kind of recipe, but if you’re hungry for something different…
Sam Floyd, Cover Art, Jason Rosenberg, Design, 4 color 6 panel fold-out 1 star
This is one of the most disgusting record cover’s that I have ever seen. Pink, orange, yellow, green, and a couple of animals straight out of MacPaint. Intentional or not—it’s straight-up busted.(SH)

Botch “We are the Romans” CD 3.5 Stars
Hydrahead Records • P.O. Box 990248 • Boston, MA 02199 • www.hydrahead.com
David, David, Tim, and Brian create an atmosphere of demolition and destruction with repetitive techy guitars, calculated beats, stop-start breaks and bottom of the lungs vocals. Words like, “Support this, support that, once again it’s only an act...” reinforce the sincerity of these 4 Seattle guys who drive the listener through song after song—where most new school’s “face-value” ethics only disappoint. Powerfully creative and refreshing math-metal keeps this volume of songs in my stack of most listened to.
David Knudson, Designer, 4 color, 8 panel gate fold digi-pack 2 Stars
Hydrahead Records’ dedication to releasing attractive records has always gained my respect as an organization, but this release’s art leaves a bit to be desired. Although the designer’s intentions, by using only a couple heavily saturated colors, might have been to convey a feeling of unease, it’s kind of like sitting down to a plate of just green beans and rice—no color, just a stomach ache. (SH)

Bright Eyes “Fevers and Mirrors” CD 5 Stars
Saddle-Creek • POB 8554 • Omaha, NB 68108 • www.saddle-creek.com
Only once or twice a year is a record this compelling released. Conor Oberst’s song writing abilities greatly exceed that of most contemporary solo artists, aesthetically relying on the hand-strummed minor chords and melodic dissonance created by his acoustic guitar. Lyrically, he convincingly demands that we wander into his world of travel, heartbreak, neuroses, and depression. Upbeat and scary at times, slow and lulling at others, Mike Mogis and Andy Lemaster lend their hands with percussion, keyboard, and vocal accompaniment to fill out the songs. The recording quality is great and the sampling and vocal tricks are an area that Conor usually exceeds most expectations, proving his mastery of the equipment. Really, there are not enough good things to say about this album. Released by a label that has been pumping out tons of great bands lately, you should check out what’s going on in Omaha.
Zach Nipper & Robb Nansel, Designers, 8 Panel CD Accordion 3.5 Stars
The front cover is great. There’s a oval shaped die-cut revealing a mirror on the next level down. A deep burgundy wallpaper is used for the background image throughout the entire booklet, and while I view it as fitting and relevant, the lyrics are in thin, sans-serif font that is about 3pt, making it extremely difficult to read along. It ended up like this because of the large amount of words to these songs, but I still wish that I could more easily read them. The mirror, however, is damn impressive. (DL)

Built to Spill “Live” 2xLP 4 Stars
Up! • POB 21328 • Seattle, WA • 98111
If this record wasn’t a live release, it probably would have gotten 5 stars. Amazing songs, including a great 20 minute Neil Young cover, but almost all of them have been previously released. Catchy, guitar-based, poppy indy-rock with vocals reminiscent of (guess who) Neil Young. The interplay between these four musicians establishes this band as one of the few groups that pushing their genre to new places. It’s great to hear them pull off the songs in a live context, as they do all the tricks almost flawlessly.
Tae Won Yu, Design + Photography, LP Jacket 4 Stars
Heavy contrast between the black and white photos and cool blue-grays give the cover a smooth feel. All the names are hand-drawn, and the back consist of a collage of colorized photographs, perfectly complimenting the somewhat quirky, yet heavily-stylized musical style. Almost reminiscent of some of the older Sonic Youth albums, it’s nice to see an album that doesn’t feel like the designer went to the computer before having an idea about the content. (DL)

Cross My Heart "The Reason I Failed History" CDep 1.5 Stars
Dim Mak Records • PO Box 14041 • Santa Barbara, CA 93107
Melodic pop with the occasional chugga-chugga breakdown that really breaks down to the credit of the singer, whose vocal stylings are a combination of Queensryche and Live. The bass lines are the strong point, typical with this form of music, good “More Than A Feeling”-type riffs high in the mix. It sounds very radio-friendly, for all you closet Bush fans.
Brian Roettinger, Designer, 4-panel CD booklet 2 Stars
The cover has nice muted oranges and good texture (crackled paint), though it looks better on the actual CD with more contrast. The placement of text and use of font is weak and without any apparent structure, better on the cover than the inside of the booklet, however. Also, no lyrics are printed, something I consider an inexcusable offense. And, no, I didn’t, and most people wouldn’t, take the time to write Dim Mak to get the lyrics. (RN)

Cross My Heart “Temporary Contemporary” CD 1 Star
Deep Elm • P.O. Box 36939 • Charlotte, NC 28236 • www.deepelm.com
Well, I have to admit that I couldn’t finish listening to this record. I think the Jimmy Eat World “Clarity” record is awesome too guys.
John Szuch, Layout/Design, Madeline Gallagher, Cover Art, 4 color , 6 panel fold-out 3 Stars
At least it looks good, right? I’ve really been getting into pastels lately so I guess I’m a sucker for that right now. Good clean look to it. I guess it’s supposed to expose their sensitive side.

Cursive “Cursive’s Domestica” CD 2.5 Stars
Saddle Creek • P.O. Box 8554 • Omaha, NE 68108-0554 • www.saddle-creek.com
This album has the potential of growing on me but didn’t necessarily get my attention from the get-go. Somewhere between Karate and Built to Spill, Cursive’s Domestica is 9 very polished and mood-invoking pop testaments to this bands longevity. Disturbingly calm, smooth, and tricky tunes keep you from ease while mopey, “uninterested with the world” vocals start playing tricks on your own self-confidence. If this is indeed what marriage is all about, I don’t want anything to do with it.
Justin Kozisek, Robb, Cursive, Layout & Design 4 color, 8 panel fold-out 4 Stars
Very impressive. It really makes a lot more sense after listening to the album a few times. Straight from a movie poster from the Independent Film Festival of your choice. Good photography, text placement, and the tightest line screen on a 4 color CD silkscreen I have ever seen.(SH)

Division of Laura Lee / Impel split 7” 3 Stars
Carcrash Records • PO Box 39 • 46221 Vänersborg • Sweden
Sweden’s DoLL play mid-tempo rock music that is, at times almost too much so, comparable to Drive Like Jehu. Compared to their other material, this song pulls them a little away from the Jehu reference while still maintaining a solid rock feel. Having only one song, this feels a bit like a teaser, as leaves you wanting their entire album. Impel reminds me a lot of Strikeforce Diablo, with the occasional guitar complexity of the last Refused record. The vocals seem somehow out of place in that they don’t flow well, making this side far less interesting.
Hook & Lato, Design, 7-Inch Jacket 2 Stars
The record physical looks nice, but at this point the design aesthetic should be made into a stock-template. Blurry picture of guy playing guitar for the bottom 3/5, while the remaining room houses the bands names with a condensed sans-serif font. It does however use one color well enough to trick you into thinking it was two. Lifetime put out a few records like this that are the most notable. (DL)

Electrolochmann Give Me My Eat LP 3 Stars
TranSolar Records • P.O. Box 23529 • 10127 Berlin • Germany
Ahlie Schaubel (vocals and guitar, additionally, vocals in the Monochrome Collective) has one of the most fabulously catchy voices to grace the air in recent memory. Her voice carries the four piece through melodic pop songs in varied languages, though unfortunately, rather unvaried tempo, ranging from a slow sway to a moderate head bop. The tedious tempo is the downfall of this record, the guitars are appealingly sparse and minor and the bass has effective, though perhaps overused, progressions.
Helm Pfohl/Julia Kühne, Bureau der Form, Designers, LP jacket, flat insert 4 Stars
TranSolar records are, without exception, well designed. Sterile interior photographs and comparative tones create a suave atmosphere, a coldness whose front is melted only by the warmth of a cute little drawing of a beaver. (RN)

Engine Down To Bury Within The Sound CD 3.5 Stars
Lovitt Records • POB 248 • Arlington, VA 22210 • www.lovitt.com
Engine Down have mastered the sappy ballad with this record. It doesn’t break through to any new genres, but they make good use of pre-existing interpretations of “emotive” music and combine these influences into easy-listening, pretty songs. The musicianship is solid, the lyrics are romantic and simple, and they move through the quiet-loud formula gracefully, though not particularly powerfully. The vocals are sing-song and reminiscent of later Jeremy Enigma, without the dramatic range.Engine Down, Design, 6 pg CD Booklet 3 Stars
Sparse and arty two color design that relates well to the conceptual package of space, abstractness, and observation. My main complaints are that the serif font is too thin on the cover, and when used to display the lyrics it’s almost unreadable. (RN)

The Exploder “West End Kids Crusade” CD 3 Stars
Dim Mak • P.O. Box 14041 • Santa Barbara, CA 93107 • www.dimmak.com
This reminds me a lot of Bad Guy Reaction. Another Richmond band from back in the day. Hell, maybe it’s some of the same people. I don’t know, but I do know that this record’s pretty alright. Not all that special but consistent. 6 songs of full on emo-rock. A little bit of Jehu, a little Sleepytime, and a little Angus Young for good measure. Hard hitting drums, big guitars, and crackily screams make this not too shabby of a purchase.
KT Thomas, The Exploder, Layout, 3 color, 4 panel fold 3 Stars
Blue, black, and red. Good color combo. Thick black lines plus the Upper/Lower san serif gives this that new school contempo look. Clean and simple. I like it. (SH)

Five Eight “The Good Nurse” CD 2 Stars
Deep Elm • P.O. Box 36939 • Charlotte, NC 28236 • www.deepelm.com
This album seems interesting enough, I guess, but it sounds so hollow to me. The guy’s vocal melodies and singing inability really starts to get on my nerves, but the accompaniment of slide guitar and strange instruments makes up for that in a Built to Spill or Neil Young kind of way. Not too terrible of a record, but there’s a only a few people that can pull this type of alternative rock off and I’m not convinced that Five Eight are living up to their potential.
Terry Rowlett, paintings, 6 panel fold-out 3 Stars
This has the look of an old thread bound library book. The paintings on the cover look really nice and reinforce the cover’s nostalgic look. Great consistency overall with one of the coolest CD silkscreens I’ve seen, but I’m a bit disappointed that the cover “red” and the back tray “red” don’t match.(SH)

Hacksaw s/t CD 1 Star
SpectraSonicSound • P.O. Box 80067 • Ottawa, ON, Canada • k1s 5n6 • www.spectrasonic.com
I didn’t finish listening to this one either. A terrible version of some Rollins Band shit. I didn’t even know people still listened to that kind of music, let alone play it.
Andrew Draper, Design/Mechanics, 4 color, 6 panel fold-out 1 Star
Although the photos in this look good, the rest of the layout directly reflects the music—a grunge font plus some “manly” trucks and machines. I guess it’s a “post-hardcore thing,” I wouldn’t understand.(SH)

International Noise Conspiracy “Survival Sickness” LP 3 Stars
Burning Heart Records • Box 441 • 701 48 Örebro • Sweden
Dennis LyXzén from Refused resurfaces as the lead singer in this band. Before Refused’s last record, I had never heard of a band getting so much flack for ripping off not the music, but the style of another band. While that record, The Shape of Punk to Come, was heavily compared to the Nation of Ulysses, the International Noise Conspiracy are finding themselves unable to now avoid the comparison to Ian Svenious’ new band, the MakeUp. Ironically enough, the comparison is again because of their style rather than the actual music. INC play old garage punk very along the lines of the Stooges or the Headcoats, but with a super left-wing political slant. It’s party rock for the revolution and the insert attests to this, filled with neo-situationist text explaining their songs in an anti-capitalist/commodification light (which comes off a bit suspect when you consider their label is owned by Epitaph and their band has ads in all the major Spin-type magazines). This is almost a guilty pleasure to listen to. Very positive and against the status-quo, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to get around their influences and their own ironic position.
Design, LP Jacket 4.5 Stars
Three colors: Black, Red, Yellow. Very blocky color spots on a black background accompanied by black and white, 1960s era drawings of style people. They use only one font, a condensed sans-serif, throughout the cover. From some reason unbeknownst to me it carries the feeling of anti-establishment package, which compliments the content well. It’s hard to describe but graphically conveys a secure, sound design. Second only to an amazing Monochrome LP, this is one of the best looking records I’m reviewing this issue.

J Church “One Mississippi” CD 3.5 Stars
Honest Don’s. POB 192027. San Francisco, CA 94119
It’s been 5 years since J Church released their last LP, and now they’re back with a new lineup that includes Jawbreaker’s Adam Pfahler on drums. Although their music is traditionally overly-formulaic, they always seem to pump out sing-along, poppy songs that make you overlook this. Kelly Green’s (great) vocals appear on two of the songs and help vary the feel of the album which is much more produced than their previous material. The production really shows in the pop smoothness, which makes J Church sound a little less distinctive. Still though, the lyrics shine as usual as Lance Hahn tells us stories that place us in his San Franciscan environment of unemployment and physical ailment. The people in this band have been responsible for literally decades of great and influential music, making this record more than worthy of checking out. It’s a good pop record that always sounds like J Church, but points to subtle influences by Social Distortion and They Might Be Giants (subtle influences I say).
John Yates / Stealworks, Design, 8-panel CD accordion 3.5 Stars
I’ve always respected the hell out John Yates’ ideals, design, and books. In this CD, Yates chooses four photos with muted blues (1 per panel), and brings out the starkness of each photo by placing a vertical, solid black bar across 1/3 of the photo. Individually, each panel well-compliments the lyrical tone and thematical substance of the record. Together, however, they lose the power that the individual images carry. Each panel as a large poster would be ideal (but obviously unrealistic for the format). I’m not a big fan of the “typewriter” font that is exclusively used in this design, but it seems to work well enough. The photos are so nice that I keep thinking about how nice they would be individually on a wall, very large.(DL)

MC Paul Barman How Hard Is That? 12” Single 5 Stars
Matador Records • 625 Broadway • New York, NY 10012
Wow, this is an incredibly vast improvement over his full length. His outrageous wit is way funnier when applied to lifestyle instead of sex, and his phrasing and style have gotten more refined, legitimate as opposed to novel. The production is phenomenal, both songs have great samples and beats.
Garland Lyn, Designer, LP jacket 5 Stars
The cover is hilarious, bold color photos and well-chosen fonts. Props to Andrew Jeffrey Wright for the photography. (RN)

Monochrome “Laser View from the Inside” LP 4 Stars
Trans Solar Records • PO Box 02 35 29 • 01027 Berlin • Germany
This German 6-piece is always recorded so distinctly that I can recognize them from just a few notes of any song. I think that 3 Mile Pilot may be the only other band I can say that for. FYI: Germany’s Monochrome is the band Dawnbreed with the addition of female vocalist Ahlie Schaubel. Flowing between German, English, and French, Monochrome romances the listener with sparse guitars, super-catchy vocals, and solid drum beats. This record is crafted in such a unique way that it will appease almost any fan of pop music, but still contains enough grit to entrance the listeners of hardcore. Very Recommended.
Helm Pfohl / Bureau der Form, Designer, LP Jacket and 6 panel 8”x8” booklet 5 Stars
Helm Pfohl is responsible for all the TransSolar design, which is almost always exceptional. This LP is solid gray with all print in metallic silver. There are no pictures or images, and the minimalist design is pulled off solidly. Inside, the oversized booklet is designed so flawlessly that it looks like it should be showcased in a design magazine. If you’re into design, you need to check out some of the records and posters this guy has done.

The No WTO Combo Live From the Battle in Seattle CDep 4 Stars
Alternative Tentacles • PO Box 419092 • San Francisco, CA 94141
Jello Biafra, Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), and Gina Mainwal unite to play protest songs against the WTO, live in Seattle. As one would expect, all the songs sound like the Dead Kennedys, one actually is a DK cover and another is a DOA cover. In addition to the punkity rockity, there is some engaging spoken word by Jello that left me feeling empowered. This is a very informative document for those who weren’t there, especially for those curious to know how an aged punker interpreted the event. Included in the package is a booklet with written accounts of Jello and Krist’s experiences at the protest, information about the WTO and a fairly extensive contact list for more information.
Shepard Fairey, Designer, 28 page CD booklet 4 Stars
Standard Shep Fairey (Andre the Giant, Subliminal) excellence, his style is recognizable with its obvious Soviet Socialist propaganda influence and bold super-saturated colors. The booklet is also laid out well, simple and legible, with good photographs of the protest. (RN)

Noam Chomsky “Case Studies in Hypocrisy: US Human Rights Policy” 2xCD 5 Stars
Alternative Tentacles • POB 419092 • San Francisco, CA 94141 /AK Press • www.akpress.org
Noam Chomsky is considered by many to be the quintessential left-wing USA political commentator of our time. He continues to release book after book, speech after speech, and recording after recording- often in conjunction with Alternative Tentacles and AK Press (two of the few independent organizations that can actually touch this stuff). This CD set is amazing, filled with the quality content that you would and should expect from Chomsky, this time on many tangents within the two broad categories of US Human Rights and US-Iraq Policy. My only complaint is that Chomsky is a bit difficult to fully absorb in CD format. The flipside of this, however, is that you can listen to it if you have to take a long-distance trip in your. This is almost 2 hours long, so be prepared to sit down and listen.
Design, 4-panel CD Booklet 3 Stars
Nice looking package, though this isn’t really the idea with this release so much. Heavy use of red/white/blue in conjunction with our national mascot, the bald eagle.

Phillipé “The Essence Continues” CD 3 Stars
Flower Violence • Ralf Bock • Augartenstrasse 15 • 68165 • Mannheim, Germany • www.flowerviolence.de
“Fender Twin” guitar kicking , whispering, yelling, Germans. Phillipé’s great song structures, hooks, and eerieness are sure to grab the attention of any Nation of Ulysses fan. 12 songs that seem to be made for each other really make this a “start to finish” album.
O. Hengel, Cover Mechanics, 4 color, 6 panel fold-out 3 Stars
It has this really creepy quality about it. Not in a bad way, but in that “USA’s Silk Stalkings” kind of way. The inside photo overlapping the fold with that bonus white space has tragic potential but was pulled off quite nicely.(SH)

PlanesMistakenForStars “Knife in the Marathon” CD 3.5 Stars
Deep Elm • P.O. Box 36939 • Charlotte, NC 28236 • www.deepelm.com
When I first heard of this band, I believe I was in Northern California. And maybe because the comments I received were delivered from V-necks and empty back packs, I got the impression that Planes Mistaken For Stars were just another weak, shoe-gazer, post-rock, Sunny Day rip off. But when my band hooked up with them for a show right outside of their hometown of Denver, I was shaken. After the show, the singer/guitarist guy gave us some t-shirts and cd’s and we went on our way. Now granted, this 5-song CD doesn’t capture all of the energy I so intently witnessed in Colorado, it does display some great, fast paced, Lifetime-style hardcore that I think we’ve all been missing for a while now. Raw, gritty, straight forward…punk rock has some hope yet.
CD 3-fold booklet 1 Star
Black + white with a skull and the name of the band. Design through undesign? (SH)

Quetzal The Messenger Lies Bleeding CD 4 Stars
Conspiracy Records • P.O. Box 269 • Antwerp 1 • Belgium
Winding, technical bass and guitar lines break into anthemic hardcore, taking the youth crew to calculus class. Three members sing, sometimes meeting in eerie harmonies. The lyrics are good, paranoid personal-as-political type content that, as sung, make me want to shoot out some electric eyes instead of closing my door.
Design, Twelve-panel accordion booklet 4 Stars
The cover is a monochrome olive photo that folds out to small poster size. It begins to look a bit like a pattern on fabric, a nice effect. They use some kind of chicken scratch handwriting font throughout, great for consistency and recognition, but really illegible and ugly. The jewel case is clear and the back tray cover is printed with a cool fish-eye photo where the CD fits in. (RN)

Rodeo Boy “How Is It Where You Are?” CD 4 Stars
Sit-n-Spin • 8 Market St. • Wilmington, NC 28401
I think the first thing I noticed about this record is how the vocals and every instrument really has room to breathe. That gives a good organic, down to earth, “I know where they’re coming from” kind of sound. So while making you feel right at home, Rodeo Boy’s 11 song “How Is It Where You Are” shows you what it means to write good songs. Quirky guitar picking, lazy solos, solid back beats, and James’ nonchalant vocal style put this in my “feel good/feel bad” rock category. Any mood you invent, they have a song for it—and you can relate with every one.
Greg Walston, Rodeo Boy, Design “4 color, 4 panel fold” 3 Stars
Nice photo and color scheme on the front, but the back leaves a bit to be desired. I can’t tell if it was just printed bad or if it was by design. Overall good looking though. (SH)

Soeza s/t 7” 1 Star
X-Mist • POB 1545 • 72195 Nagold • Germany
Up-temp rock with a party feel, which is largely attributed to the horn. There’s a lot of singing and it’s mixed at a relatively low volume which is a bit frustrating. There are a bunch of jumbled things going on that make me anxiously nervous, thinking that Soeza hasn’t yet made the record they seem capable of.
Design 7-Inch Jacket 1 Star
The sticker on the 7” bag is the only place “Soeza” is spelled out, which works sometimes, but in case the actual print on the jacket isn’t in possession of the type of design that warrants this. The lyrics are impossible to read, fluctuating between font sizes and italics. There wasn’t too much thought put into the design here.(DL)

Song of Zarathustra “Discography” 10" Picture Disc 5 Stars
Blood of the Young • P.O. Box 14411 • Minneapolis, MN 55414 • www.blood-of-the-young.com
As the story goes…3000 years ago, Zarathustra was a prophet of the world’s first monotheistic religion. He spent about 10 years of his early adult life in solitary retreat in a mountain cave somewhere in ancient Persia—the area we now call Iran. During this time he received revelations of the oneness of all existence and the clear light of pure mind and composed many songs to express his insights to the people of his land… Even though the band do not hail from an Iranian mountain cave, and in no capacity ramble on about the oneness of all existence, they do pull off the most powerfully contained violence to make even Zarathustra himself proud. I listen to every snare hit and every scream on the edge of my seat—just waiting for a breath in between discordant guitar bend after another. Combined with subtle keyboards and machine gun drumbeats, this record makes The Locust look like a flock of seagulls.
Color Picture Disc + 10 page booklet 2 Stars
I just went and totally rocked out to these guys and picked up the second pressing of this 10" that is now entitled “Discography Volume I” and comes with a cover. It has that new school degenerated look but is done really well. The record itself has a Halloween-type skull on side “a” and what looks to be the x-ray of a human skull on the flipside. A genuinely evil looking record. (SH)

This Machine Kills / Envy split 7” 3.5 Stars
HG Fact •401 Hongo-M • 2-36-2 Yoyoi-Cho • Nakano-Ku • Tokyo 164-0013 • Japan
TMKills play melodic hardcore with an occasional youth crew part, reminding me a bit of Shoulder. I haven’t listened to music like this in a while, but they pull it off so fantastically that I get riled up listening to this. Super positive lyrics and energy from a fight the man angle. Japan’s Envy play powerful, incredibly tight hardcore that has a similar feel to TMKills. The lyrics are more abstract but it’s also a good listen.
Design, 7-Inch Jacket 3 Stars
Two thumbs up for both bands transcribing their lyrics into Japanese and/or English. Lots of grays and reds worked into a an abstract image on the front. I can’t quite figure out why TMKills starts off with a capital letter and nothing else on the cover does, but overall a nice looking record.

Treadmill “Stand Up For” LP 3 Stars
Two Friends Recordings • Haldenstrasse 8 • 73730 Esslingen • Germany
Berlin’s Treadmill play mid-90s post-hardcore somewhere between Helmet, Quicksand, and Lifetime. Although the style has been done many times, catchy melodies and vocals make this a fun record to listen to. I don’t know if you can get this record anywhere in the US (I think it pressed an absurdly low amount in Europe), but it’s great and highly recommended for fans of the style.
Christian Wu, Designer, Oliver Helbig, Photography, “Gatefold LP Jacket” 4 Stars
The picture choice is well suitable for the general mood of the record: three giant photos, all containing water scenes of some sort. The bright, bold colors of the photographs make the design comparable to that of Shellac’s Terraform. Nice consistency with the unusual, yet well-readable, sans-serifs. I hate to make the vast generalization that Germans tend produce a good amount of the quality design out there, but they do. Treadmill has their own font that I haven’t seen before, so the attention to even the smallest details really shine here.(DL)

Valina Into Arsenal of Codes LP 2 Stars
Conspiracy Records • P.O. Box 269 • 2000 Antwerp 1 • Belgium • www.conspiracyrecords.com
Apparently, these three mathematicians failed Algebra One. Their songs are too jagged to be particularly listenable, stop-start to a questionable degree. Occasionally, they add in (predictable) pretty parts that are generally (generically) decent. The vocals are good, interesting patterns with a sort of J Robbins type of intonation.
Loud Grafix and Sound, Design Firm, Gatefold LP 2 Stars
Gate fold. . . for no apparent reason. . . photos of seaport industry, superimposed binary code, old maps, terrible script font. . . trite concepts that could have been further explored and better executed. To their credit, however, they used a great plug and outlet icon on the label of the record. (RN)

World Inferno Friendship Society “All the World is a Stagedive” 7” 4 Stars
X-Mist • POB 1545 • 72195 Nagold • Germany
This is an exceptional band in that W/I are pulling off a style of music that few will dare touch. There is a huge instrumentation lineup going on here that creates two explosive, party sounding circus-style songs. Dramatic pitch shifts in singing, tempo changes, and great lyrics. The sound reminds me a bit of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, but done from a much crazier, paranoid, modern interpretation.
Design, 7-Inch Jacket 3 Stars
Very art-deco feeling. Good job with a 20s advertising feel, but it is what it is: nice looking but nothing special. (DL)

World/Inferno Friendship Society East Coast Super Sound Punk of Today! CD 4 Stars
Gern Blandsten Records • POB 356 • River’s Edge, NJ 07661
If you could imagine Freddy Mercury’s ghost possessing Glen Danzig, but thinking that he was possessing the body of a circus ringleader, that would be the sort of demonic voice that dominates the W.I.F.S. This band is not like anything else; it is very obviously a circus band, has the anthemic quality of Queen, sometimes the dirge-ish rock of the Cramps, and great, cynically political lyrics. As a singles record, it flows well and is totally listenable.
Design, Sixteen page CD booklet 2 Stars
Collage and old photo manipulation is an appropriate compliment to this band’s whole schtick. They have a spread of old flyers in the last two pages, which is a cool bonus, but in general, the design is fairly sloppy and the text isn’t very readable. (RN)