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Drop The Needle: Boston Punk Anthology
Released by: Trev Records
Released on: October 1, 2013.
Released by Trev Records, the upcoming compilation Drop The Needle: Boston Punk Anthology is dedicated to Alec Steere aka “Smegmaâ€, who was a part of the Boston punk scene in the early years as the vocalist for Leper and then later Smegma And The Nunz. He was hit by a train and died in 1999.
So with that said, it makes sense that the bands included in this rad collection of authentic punk rock obscurities, would revolve around Steere's music in some way. How do they all connect? Smegma And The Nunz guitar player, Chuck Stilphen, and drummer, Walter Gustafson, played with Gang Green's bass player, Glen Stilphen, as Mallet Head. Chuck and Glen also played with Scratch and Celebrity Death Certificate, also represented here. So it's all a little incestuous in the way that local punk rock scenes tend to be, but fitting as a tribute to someone that all of these guys would have interacted with.
The complete track listing for Drop The Needle: Boston Punk Anthology is as follows:
Bourgeois Lad (Smegma And The Nunz) / Joke's On You (Smegma and the Nunz) /
The Original Let's Drink Some (Gang Green (1985)) / First Nickel (Celebrity Death Certificate) / Dead Reckoning (Celebrity Death Certificate) / Wayside (Scratch) / Centralia (Scratch) / Give And Take (Mallet Head) / Mother Sunshine (Live) (Mallet Head) / El Monstro (Scratch) / Insanity (Smegma And The Nunz) / Napalm Sticks To Kids (Smegma And The Nunz) / Nuns Of Guatemala (Smegma And The Nunz)
Interestingly enough, this CD (or in the interest of full disclosure, MP3 provided for review purposes by the record company) marks the first time that the original 1985 version of Gang Green's Let's Drink Some Beer has been released since it's vinyl debut (it might have appeared on cassette as well?). For a lot of fans, this'll be one of the main reasons to check this disc out as Gang Green are obviously the best known band featured in the collection and the track is a killer.
Punk and hardcore fans will want to give the rest of the album a listen though, as it's pretty great stuff. The two Celebrity Death Certificate tracks on the album are fast and noisy and obnoxious in all the right ways, and if they get a little bit 'rawk' at times, hey, they've never been released before. The three Scratch tracks sound a little more metallic at times than purists will probably want them too but whatever, they fit well here given the connections even if they're definitely the weakest songs included. Centralia is the longest track on the disc at almost six minutes long, it almost sounds like it's going for a grunge sound more than a punk or hardcore sound.
Mallet Head's two contributions are catchy and fast, the live version of Mother Sunshine having never been released before and therefore of interest to fans. Again, it's more rock than traditional punk but it makes sense that it's here.
The best stuff though, outside of that Gang Green track, is hands down the material from Smegma And The Nunz. All five of the tracks here are noted as unreleased recordings made between 1982 and 1983. This sounds way more like what you'd expect off of something called a Boston Punk Anthology, it's fast and nasty and raw just the way that you'd want it. Bourgeois Lad and Jokes On You are hands down the two best tracks on the disc and straight up traditional punk/hardcore. Insanity is more of a brooding noise track with a lot of feedback and weird guitar sounds on it while Napalm Sticks To Kids features some really bizarre, snarly vocals from Steere and more weird guitar noise. The last track on the disc, Nuns Of Guatemala, is a bit more rhythmic and upfront, the drums are faster and more pounding and the vocals less relenting.
All in all, a pretty interesting compilation that offers up a whole bunch of unreleased and obscure stuff for the first time. The Scratch and Mallet Head stuff belongs here only because of the musicians involved, not so much because of the music itself but the other material fits really well and there's a lot to like here. Some liner notes or a write up of some sort on Steere would have been a nice inclusion and there isn't anything of that sort included here, at least not in digital format anyway. The same can be said about some background info on the bands - but hey, let's not nitpick, it's the music that matters on releases like this anyway and on that level this release is very welcome indeed.
For more info on this compilation check out www.bostonpunkrock.com
