After bringing to life, or anyway to big public exposure, such bands as Ataris, Mi6, Antifreeze, Ozma and Useless I.D. to name a few, Kung Fu Records brings us the new pop punk band revelation from California, named Audio Karate. Personally I do not like karate at all, but, I guess for the sympathy of these four guys, or for their kung-fu attitude, I found their debut album “Space Camp” quite interesting.

Let’s say it clear now: there are thousands bands who play this genre and most of all are pathetic, everyone pose such big acts as The Ataris, Blink182, Green Day, and that stuff, but with Audio Karate this is a bit different. I mean, of course they have these songs about girls, and even tough the guitar player has enough guts to hang around with a Backstreet Boys t-shirt, I’d call this band one of the few breakout of 2002. “Space Camp” has only 12 songs - even if it is something like 40 minutes long - but they are quite interesting and all in all original and different from the majority of the pop punk around today. “Rosemead”, “Drama Club Romance”, “Hello St. Louise” are surely the three best songs off the album, inlfuenced by the sound of Ataris and the attitude of the Get Up Kids, at least in some lyrics and in some guitar arrangments.

The album then was produced by Trever Keith of Face To Face, so this should sound like a guarantee, and it is, as the sound seems very polished and the production very well-done compared to some other stuff I heard lately. If you want to check out some new pop punk talents, I think that right now I’d name Audio Karate as first.|carlo@staff.truepunk.com

After the successful album “Human Atom Bombs” of one year ago, Randy are back with a new six song EP on Burning Heart, an album that is pure political punk rock’n'roll and it features five brand new and unreleased songs. The EP was half recorded in Sweden and half in Canada, during their tour with Propagandhi last year, and the booklet is done in pure DIY fashion: lyrics written by hands with a lot of mistakes corrected with black blurs.

“Cheater” is the songs that open the EP and it is pure power: fast guitars and a catchy chorus, not to mention, a deep social involvmente, just like the following “I Don’t Wanna Work” and “Stepping Out”, which is the best tune of the whole EP, and it was already featured of the Fat Club Seven Inch from Randy. “Addicts of Comunication” comes next, and even if that was already featured on the previous full length album from these four Swedish punk rockers, it is always nice to hear some good vibes. “Dynamite” and “I Won’t Play That Song” come next and even tough these tracks will probably never become famous among fans of Randy, I think the both songs have good rhythms and pure straight in your face attitude.

If you never heard of Randy, go get their albums “Human Atom Bombs” and “You Can’t Keep A Good Band Down” full length albums, but if you do not want to spend too much money, “Cheater” is what you should be asking.|carlo@staff.truepunk.com

I must say that I have always been and will always be a fan of Dave Smalley and Down By Law, for some good amount of reasons: they were one of the first band to introduce me into the beautiful and magic world of punk rock in the 90’s, they did some albums and songs to whom I am very devoted, and then, they’re a living legend: who can stop them from putting out good music and doing shows? Nobody.

I really do not know why they felt the need to do this greatest hits album instead of a new ful length ( maybe due to the work of Dave with Dag Nasty), but “Punkrockdays: the best of DBL” features all of the best songs from more or less any Down By Law album, 19 songs, one unreleased and two videos to see on your computer. Anyway it is quite impossible to do a greatest hits of a band that is older than some of their fans, and in fact Down By Law let their fans voting through their website some time ago: and what came out is the answer of the people who love this band. “Indipendence Day”, “FLower Tattoo” and “Punk As Fuck” open the record, and I started wondering how they put so many songs off “All Scratched Up” on this: I know that record is the best from DBL, but six songs are a lot. “All American”, “No Equalizer”, “Ivory Girl”, Superman”, “500 Miles”, “Hit Or Miss” and “Bright Green Globe” are surely my all time favourite tunes from Down By Law, and I am glad this album has any songs I’d like to hear.

If you never got the chance to listen to a record from Down By Law, either because you are too lazy or too young, I think that “Punkrockdays: the best of DBL” is the best way to start knowing this band, also thank to the story that Dave and Sam tell in the booklet. Great band not to be forgotten.|carlo@staff.truepunk.com

After releasing a record as “Looking Up” on Fastmusic Records, after changing their name from Cooter to Auopilot Off due to some still not very clear reasons, the four boys from NY are back with some very interesting changes. First off, they signed to major label Island Records ( the one of Sum 41 and American Hi Fi to be clear), and they are releasing a new five song EP cd named “self titled”.

The EP starts off with “Long Way to Fall”, and it is quite good, good mid tempo and some catchy choruses, that stick in your ears the first time you listen to them. Also the following “Indebted” is not bad, but the real surpirse, the thing that make Autopilot Off a great band is the capacity of writing a tune like “Nothing Frequency”, the best they ever wrote. I wouldn’t wonder to see a video of this song of TV, with a single like this the band has the chance to be the next Sum41 thing for teenagers. Even “Wide Awake” and “Exit Signs” are pretty nice songs: the first is very Pennywise influenced, while the latter is more in the vein of stuff from “Looking Up”.

I still ignore the reason why a band like Autopilot Off put out this EP, which is so good I wonder why they did not release a full length record; the band says they did it in order to let young kids know the band without spending too much money for an EP ( which anyway cost a lot, I prefer buying ful lengths), in my opinion Island did this to see if the band is really able to sell, and my answer is “who cares?”, Autopilot Off rocks and this is enough.|carlo@staff.truepunk.com

“Mobilize” is the newest album from Anti-Flag, and this time it is not of Fat but it is on the band’s own label, guess how it is called, A-F Records.The albums is actually a double CD package: the first cd is the Anti Flag new album, with a bunch of new songs plus some live tracks recorded during some shows. The second cd is sampler of their record label, and it features 21 songs from pretty much any release A-F ever put out.

Let’s start from the first cd: Anti Flag brings us 8 new tracks, even if some of them were already know, as “911 For Peace”, downloadble from their site after the tragedies of 9/11, or “Mumia’s Song”, which was featured on some compilation I don’t remember. Some new songs that are very good are “We Want to be Free” and “Right to Choose” and “We Don’t Need It”, that will soon become anthems for the band’s live shows. Instead, among the live tracks, it is wasy to recognize the band’s most famous songs, from “Tearing Everyone Down” to “A New Kind Of Army”, “Underground Network”, “Die For the Governement”, “Bring Out Your Dead” and the sarcastic yet really happened story of “Spaz’s House Destruction Party”, featuring Spaz himself on vocals. The second cd is the A-F Records sampler: among all of the bands signed to this label, the most interesting are surely Pipedown, The Methadones ( featuring ex members of Screeching Weasel), The Code and Whatever It Takes, some good bands that are not famous at all but deserve to become.

In the end, I bet that if you’re a fan of Anti Flag you already own this, while I give the advice to pick this up to anyone who heard the band on some compilations and want to know more about these four punks from Pittsburgh, or to the ones who want to know more about the A-F Records, but remember that this package has 2 c, one with 16 songs and the other with 21 songs at the price of one album only, it’s a deal.|carlo@staff.truepunk.com

Mu330 has been around since 1998, and they can be rightly called the ska core pioneers; in these days they are releasing their seventh album, after the previous live record “Live Oh Yeah”. The new “Ultra Panic”features 17 songs of pure ska music influenced with punk-rock, nothing more nothing less, for a good half an hour of fun and dancing. Special collaboration on this album were the ones with Chaz Linde and John Paul Camp from Blue Meanies.Among the various songs, I could say that “Raw Fish”, “Oh My God”, “Lied To”, and the funny “Hey Now”, with good reggaie vibes and horns are the best tracks of the whole record. Anyway the songs are not just about fun: as all of the band on Asian Man, even Mu330 have a political and social involvement against racism, and songs like “KKK Highway” and “My Gun Is Broken” show this. Anyway there is stil lplace for pure fun tunes, as “Hi My Name Is John”, a funny story of a guy met trough Napster. If you like ska core, and bands like Reel Big Fish, Five Iron Frenzy, Mad Caddies, and Mustard Plug, you should already know Mu330; if not, go out and check “Ultra Panic”. Now. |carlo@staff.truepunk.com

Mu330 has been around since 1998, and they can be rightly called the ska core pioneers; in these days they are releasing their seventh album, after the previous live record “Live Oh Yeah”. The new “Ultra Panic”features 17 songs of pure ska music influenced with punk-rock, nothing more nothing less, for a good half an hour of fun and dancing. Special collaboration on this album were the ones with Chaz Linde and John Paul Camp from Blue Meanies.Among the various songs, I could say that “Raw Fish”, “Oh My God”, “Lied To”, and the funny “Hey Now”, with good reggaie vibes and horns are the best tracks of the whole record. Anyway the songs are not just about fun: as all of the band on Asian Man, even Mu330 have a political and social involvement against racism, and songs like “KKK Highway” and “My Gun Is Broken” show this. Anyway there is stil lplace for pure fun tunes, as “Hi My Name Is John”, a funny story of a guy met trough Napster. If you like ska core, and bands like Reel Big Fish, Five Iron Frenzy, Mad Caddies, and Mustard Plug, you should already know Mu330; if not, go out and check “Ultra Panic”. Now. |carlo@staff.truepunk.com

I’ll tell you what, there was a day when I use to love these guys. Back in the day I bought one of their first seven inches and thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Then I got their first album and there was a lot more of the same songs, but still good. Now it’s been how many years later and they still write the same fucking songs. Hey guys, it’s getting old. Nobody cares! I think they could release a new album of old songs and no one would notice anything. I’m sorry, but punk at one point in my life was all fun and games, but I grew up. I wish these guys would too. If I was the main man at Hopeless, I would give this band their pink slip. Their time has come and gone, with a few songs that stick in my head over the years. There are 20 songs on this CD and none of them are worth listening to again. So don’t waste your time, unless you enjoy immature songs or are still in high school. jrsone@staff.truepunk.com

Wow! An unsigned band that sounds way better than a lot of bands on Drive-Thru Records. No Shit! I enjoyed this cd ep as much as they enjoyed recording it. Speaking of recording, I wished it sounded a little bit more polished, but I know unsigned bands really can’t afford those fancy studios. That makes them more punk anyways. I really could see this band going places, outside of their hometown. I think the singer has some great vocal chords that in the right environment could really do some damage. On the musical side, they got their shit together and it’s tight. I would slap the ‘East-Bay Punk’ sound to their forehead. As a reviewer, I like to let the band know what I think and what could help them. Also let the listener in on it if it’s good or not. So with that said. I think the band name is very generic and I would advise changing it to something unique because your sound is different. Also I would not try selling this CD, but use it in hopes to land a deal with a label. The computer printed inserts just don’t cut it. Take it to a local print shop and get it done professionally. It may cost a little bit more, but it will look a hell of lot better. Also I suggest get it remastered, because the songs are too low. The best way to know that your songs are at the same level with albums is to compare your favorite album with yours. Just get the levels up higher and it will sound a lot better. The printing on the actual CD is good, so don’t worry about that. One last thing… loose the last track, it’s just too damn silly and no one will take you serious after they listen to it. For real! Now as for the listener, wait. That’s right, wait. This CD is a good listen right now, but if I were you, I would wait to see this band move forward in the production of their next CD or the remastered version of this EP. Trust me it will be worth the wait. I hope this will give you a nice push onto better things for the band and the only reason why I give a shit is because everything is there… the talent, good songs, tight sound and great vocals. Now go out there and make me proud. Oh yea, don’t forget me when your big. jrsone@staff.truepunk.com

Dude, this band fucking rocks! Damn good fast, punk/hardcore songs the way they should be. The only thing that sucks about this CD that it only has seven songs. I can see if you’re in band that writes really long songs and seven songs feels like forever, but this is fast as shit punk rock. Throw a couple more songs on it and release it as an album. That’s my only complaint with this band, but it might be the label’s fault. Who knows and who cares because it costs a lot cheaper than a full-length. So you really don’t have an excuse not to pick this mother fucker up. This CD is fucking awesome! I just keep the damn thing on repeat. Like I said it’s hardcore punk rock that clocks in at fifteen minutes. The vocals will cut you like a knife and the rest of the band will just keep rockin’ and watch you bleed to death. I hope their live show can live up to what I hear on this CD. I know that the next time they come through my town, I will check them out. It’s official… I’m a Survivors fan and I’m not talking about that lame TV show. The best song on here is the last one, ‘Where did we go wrong’. You don’t get any better than that. Get this CD! jrsone@staff.truepunk.com