Sunday, May 04, 2003

Rubber City Rebels - Pierce My Brain (Smog Veil).
Dunno how many of you remember the Akron Ohio hype of yore, the net result of which was that it all but buried a couple o' great bands. And yep, the Rubber City Rebels was one of 'em. A fantastic split LP w/ the Bizarros on Clone from '77 and a lone full-length for Capitol three years later were by and large ignored and the band soon faded into obscurity. So it was a real surprise to learn that the guys have not only returned to the stage in recent years but even came up w/ a entire new album thanks to the kind folks at Smog Veil. And whatever you think about reunions the final question on any disc should be "is it any good?". The answer here bein' affirmative, as we're dealin' w/ a batch o' solid contempo p-rock tunes that shows this gang of rebels can still cut it, grey hairs or no. If you haven't been introduced yet, I'd suggest you first pick up some of their earlier works (also available from Smog Veil) to get some idea where these guys are coming from, and once you've come to grips w/ that (or if you've been diggin' 'em since whenever) you'll find that this new disc 'll sit comfortably next to the vintage stuff.
Why bother?; Greg Ginn planning Black Flag reunion (at least he's smart enough not to get Rollins involved). GO!
Joey Ramone's Birthday bash. GO!.