I know it’s not cool to say bad things about a band after one of its members has died, so I’ll be gentle. Naked Aggression’s guitarist and vocalist Phil Suchomel died in 1998, before reaching 30 years of age. What we have here, “Gut-Wrenching Machine,” is a demo from 1996, when Naked Aggression was still a band. Honestly, though, what can I say? I did not like this disc, at all, and the recording quality is terrible. I know it’s only a demo, but it sounds really crappy. Actually, truth be told, the guitars sound pretty tough and crunchy, and they really shine through on most of the songs. But, the drums are totally buried, the bass is inaudible, and the vocalist, Kirsten Patches, is totally annoying. She sounds like a really cheap imitation of Exene Cervenka, but without the passion. Overall verdict: Phil Suchomel was a really good guitarist, but this album stinks.

The Stilettos are Dutch punk rockers who use The Didjits and The Supepsuckers as jumping off points for their brand of messy garage punk. The music is fast, aggressive, and entirely too distorted and sloppy, but some people are into that kind of thing. The drums hit really hard and serve as the star on “Making History by Repeating It.” The guitars are way too gnarled and grizzly for my taste, and I really don’t like screamed vocals sent through one of those megaphone microphones. Fans of garage punk will probably think that these guys are pretty good, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Anger Regiment will attract fans of the long lost Floorpunch, as three of Floorpunch’s members are in Anger Regiment. Where Floorpunch was a really exciting and energized band, Anger Regiment is formulaic, boring, and entirely predictable. Sometimes they sound like Burn, sometimes they sound like a slower version of Gorilla Biscuits, and sometimes they sound like a handful of their Bridge Nine label-mates. Absolutely none of the time do they sound original or creative. They play really basic NYHC with breakdowns, throaty yelled vocals, ultra-crunchy guitars, and a lot of attitude. If you miss Floorpunch, does come anywhere near this snoozer; if you’re looking for something to kick some shit to, then you might want to give this a try.

Yikes. I’ve heard some poorly recorded stuff in my day, but this is right at the top of the turd heap. The band is called This Robot Life, and their album, “Becoming Work Revolutionaries,” is basically unlistenable. The guitars sound like they were played through one of those corny handheld processors that Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme might use. The drums sound a lot like my three year’s “American Idol Children’s drum set” that sits in my basement, and the vocalists are quite amusing, without trying to be. They scream a lot and try to sound intimidating or emotional, but they just sound constipated. It’s hard to tell if these guys would be any better sounding with a better recording studio, but from what I can tell, this is some weak, tired, and disinteresting “screamo” stuff.

Holy Mackerel! The Showdown is one of [insert synonym for “brutal” here] Christian melodic metal bands that I’ve ever heard, and that’s no exaggeration. Much in the same way that non-Christians don’t care that Zao & Living Sacrifice are Christian, similar feelings will come about after listening to “A Chorus of Obliteration.” These guys have an ultra thick, crunchy guitar tone that sounds quite similar to Metallica’s guitar tone on “Master of Puppets.” The riffs that these guys come up with are really quite traditional thrash metal, sounding like updated versions of classic Maiden stuff (they also sound a lot like Enter My Silence’s guitar riffs). The vocalist is a really powerful barker, and he can sing, too, as he does from time to time. Some fans of Christian metal may liken The Showdown to early Underoath stuff, thanks to the vocalist. My only gripe with these guys would be how buried the drums are. He’s doing some really awesome stuff, but it’s hard to hear him! Overall, though, I must say that these guys rule, period.

Compared to the likes of SMALL BROWN BIKE, Norh Lincoln is a new band that hails out of MI with the will to destroy everything they find on their own way. “Truth Is A Menace” is their manifesto: fast songs of punk rock influenced by the 77 street punk fused with catchy pop melodies and great harmonies. It’s like Dillinger Four fused with Avail fused with The Explosion, but faster. “Truth Is A Menace” is a political disc, where you will hear tunes about serious things as on “Apology”, “Who’s Counting Anyway?” and “Four Walls Don’ Make A Home”. Fuck, I had this disc buried in a pile of shit as Simple Plan and Sum 41 and I disocvered this music after a month. Don’t make the same mistake I did, pick up this disc NOW!!

I never heard a hardcore band playing so fast, noisy, and yet melodic. Maybe Ink & Dagger or Planes Mistaken For Stars. But I must admit, Glass & Ashes are quite original for being so small. So I hope they will go big. Anyhow, the new LP on No Idea, “Aesthetic Arrest”, is a fist in your clean face. The disc is opnened by “Black Beneath The Eyes”, that will introduce you if the wonderful noisy world of GLASS & ASHES: fast riffs, melodic vocals filled with screams and a lot of angry verses. “Dead On Arrival”, “The Art Of Selling” and “Bloody Knuckles” are the best hardcore anthems of the disc, but the whole album is to be hear, especially for the high level of social aware content.

Things were going pretty well until the whiney vocalist for these guys started bellowing and shouting. I guess you could say that they kind of sound like a watered down version of major label era AFI, The Explosion, and All American Rejects. It’s dumb pop music for the sake of shifting units, as I know that these guys didn’t used to be nearly as vaginal as they are on “The Expanding Universe.” With that said, this Let it Burn record is a really safe and boring pop music record that would be better left alone.

This record from SOS is plagued by awful recording quality from the get go, and the lack of musicianship and interesting things to say doesn’t help much, either. I’m not exactly sure what these are trying to do on this self-titled EP, because there’s not much here: mid tempo drums and muddy sounding riffs, buried and inaudible bass, and a vocalist who sounds like he’s 10 feet away from the mic, screaming his head off. This is basically boring, mid-tempo rock stuff from Boston.

I remember how much I liked Rancid’s “Give ‘Em the Boot” when I first heard it, many moons ago, and what I loved most about it was that it said so much without really trying to say anything. The same can be said for this release from The Ducky Boys; it’s really simple, up tempo melodic punk rock, and even though there’s not fancy musically, these guys really know how to come up with some sharp hooks. Speaking of Rancid, I was reminded of them on more than one occasion while listening to “Three Chords and the Truth.” I must be honest and admit that I haven’t bought a Rancid album since “…And Out Come the Wolves,” but I know them well enough to say these Ducky Boys are a less punk. More rock version of Rancid totally worth checking out!