Music Reviews

Kill Your Idols

Funeral For a Feeling

Side One Dummy

It’s been a long time since I listened to good hardcore music. When done right, hardcore is the raw essence scraped from the bottom of the soul. But when it’s done half-hearted, it sounds like a bunch of spoiled teenagers whining over a racket. Kill Your Idols definitely belong to the former category and not the latter.

This album runs roughshod over most of the competition today. Where most people these days equate punk music with someone mewling over a lost girlfriend, Kill Your Idols raises the battle flag and throws such sentiment back into your face. This album is about the bullshit that people throw at you. Subjects range from phony rules in a dysfunctional society, (“Young (At Heart)” and “I Will Defy”) to a track that celebrates the life and legacy of the man who coined the term rock n’ roll, Alan Freed. Kill Your Idols reserve their harshest criticism for those who would dare subvert the hardcore ideals that they espouse, and on tracks like “The Seen” and “Fashion Statement,” these guys go for the throat.

As with any good hardcore album, this one ends way too soon. However, this album is chock full of enough raw goodness to satisfy the most ardent hardcore fan or even the casual listener wanting to hear how it’s done right. Yet be prepared to move when you listen to this album. Whether you scrub the tub or grab your skateboard, relentless music like this won’t allow you to stare out the window.

Side One Dummy Records, 6201 Sunset Blvd., Suite 211, Hollywood, CA 90028; http://www.sideonedummy.com, http://www.killyouridols.net


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