Recent Acquisitions
The Blood – False Gestures For A Devious Public: I think it’s supposed to be boot-stomping, stein-smashing bully boy oi, but it’s more in the vein of low-rent Damned (think anything Scabies or Sensible sang). Plenty of fist-pumping choruses, yes, but not enough frenzy to warrant clocking the hooligan next to you. Me teef stay in me head anothah day.
Heart Attack – The Last War: 1980 – 84: This disc offers up everything Jesse Malin’s first band ever recorded. I picked it up last weekend at that palace of agoraphobia, the Virgin Megastore. Jesse’s proclivity for pop shines through twenty-some odd tracks of thin punk din; it’s clear he was destined for something beyond the CBGBs hardcore matinee. Hard to tell if “Everybody Wants to Rock and Roll” and “KGB” are parodies or not. I guess I don’t really care (not at this age, anyway). This ain’t exactly Reagan Youth, but it’s probably worth a slot in your mighty NYHC CD tower.
Motörhead – Bomber: Was this really their follow-up to Overkill? Thank God Ace of Spade was next. I’m sorry, Lemmy, my first impression is weak. Maybe it’ll grow on me, but I don’t know if I can set aside that kind of time. I have road trips to take that demand butt-ripping, snot-drying, cock-popping, whores-at-the-gates-of-hell rock. Bomber just ain’t got enough. Pound for pound, it’s more hangin’-out-at-Wendy’s-after-midnight rock.
Leonard Nimoy – The Way I Feel: Originally released in 1968 (and downloaded from some truly obnoxious blog not even worthy of linkage). Spock turns “If I Had a Hammer” out like a thirteen year old prostitute on the Lower East Side. “Where It’s At” is the complete opposite of the Beck hit – modest, insightful, and lacking robot voices. Of course, there’s plenty of uncomfortable crap, such as the sticky opener “I’d Love Making Love to You,” but that’s par for the course and you know it. On the whole, it makes for great background pap, which is something Shatner’s oeuvre will never be able to say for itself.
