Day Care Swindlers
This Is No Way To Make A Living
Vile Beat
Hey, another straight ahead Nuevo Punk band! Drums, Lead, Bass and No Song Over 3:12, coupled with Band Photos that feature Dark, Out Of Focus shots of Knees and Drum Sticks; all the pieces are here to make this band a LA scene favorite, circa 1981. But, it’s 2004 give or take a decade, so I’m not getting a strong relevance resonance here. How do the songs sound? No new ground plowed here, mostly gripes about work and school and politics, although lurking around cut 15 is an interesting little ska-influenced number with audible lyrics and the fun title “Spy vs. Spy.” Later, the Stones anthem “Paint It Black” gets a competent cover, which is easy enough with the proto-punk chord structure in the original.
It’s a half hour sonic assault from this 3-year retrospective album, with the better material at the end. If nothing else, it shows that even an obscure punk band can grow up and learn there is more to music than turning everything up to 11 and charging ahead. Have I evolved as much since 1999? I like to think so, so maybe there is a common thread here. Check out cut two, which demands, “I just want my 15 minutes.” Good, they read Warhol as well as Marx, and I’ve got that going with them as well. It’s clean enough to get college airplay, dirty enough to be fun at a live show and squarely in the middle of the pack. Keep working it, guys; you’re getting better everyday in every way.
Vile Beat Records: http://www.vilebeat.com/
