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CAMPAIGN - Enemies {Muckman} Debut album from this five piece outta Atlanta, GA and it’s a fine slab of melodic and anthemic Hardcore, fusing a mix of SNAPCASE/ AVAIL style ‘core with the melodic prowess of BOUNCING SOULS and GAMEFACE. Highlights would be ‘Chorus Of Defeat’ that’s as catchy and instantaneous as anything GAMEFACE has recorded while ‘No Place Lower’ has a neat swagger coupled with a brutal M8 breakdown. There’s plenty of "woah-woah" 7 SECONDS stylee backing vocals too; check out ‘Clear A Path’. Considering this lot have done a number of EPs in the past, this is a cohesive and structured album that’s got lots of bluster for the more HC minded but enough melodic accessibility to appeal beyond that - especially in light of the closing title track that broils on a stellar TRAGEDY-esque riff but swaggers with confidence. (17.10.15)

CAREER SUICIDE - Machine Response {Deranged} This has been a highly anticipated album here at the House Of Scanner. Toronto’s CAREER SUICIDE’s first album in a decade and needless to say, it’s another benchmark in jaw-droppingly efficient Hardcore Punk as it should be - short, snappy, Metal free, pointed, catchy and on-fucking-fire! Rather than just rehash their classic sound of previous records however, this does see some progression, be it a dabbling with feedback-drenched guitar work a’la SICKOIDS while ‘Total Neglect’ features spacious guitars that brought to mind ‘Metal Circus’ era HUSKER DU. Elsewhere ‘Blank Expression’ has a real ‘77 feel while both ‘No Walls No Curtains’ and ‘Taking You With Me’ both feature quirky, spiky riffs and duke it out for album highlight. That classic CS sound is evident throughout though, be it opener ‘Cut And Run’ or the taut rage of ‘Borrowed Time’. That supremely snotty vocal of Martin Farkas is still evident I’m pleased to say. This is a band that has always delivered and this is no different. It shows progression but retains all the sneering, rampant, untouchable Hardcore of old. Album of the year? A real contender!! (09.11.17)

CASTRO - The River Need {Boss Tuneage} Debut album from this band made up of some notable names from the Norwegian Punk scene. Have to say, the sound appears to have changed between the release of the debut 7" below and this. Where that evoked the likes of IGNITION, this album only matches that sound on the surging opening track, ‘Our Loss’ and on the title track. Elsewhere, it’s a fusion of riff-heavy rockers like ‘Starling’ and ‘Back To Basic’ and subtle, almost frail songs that develop musically into muscular and impressive soundscapes. Highlight has to be ‘Indigo’ that pivots around a massive riff but has verses frail and delicate. ‘Detective’ follows a similar line and brought to mind TEXAS IS THE REASON in terms of structure. Vocalist Katja frequently reminded me, particularly on the more subtle parts, of PATTI SMITH, something I certainly didn’t hear on the single, or in her previous band, LIFE BUT HOW TO LIVE IT. The CD includes the tracks from that debut single. An impressive slice of muscular, post-Hardcore that’s epic in its breadth and destructive in its delivery. (08.05.15)

CASTRO - s/t {Kong Tiki/ Boss Tuneage} Debut release from this new band outta Norway that’s notable as it features ex-members of ANGOR WAT, ISRAELVIS and Katja, the vocalist from LIFE BUT HOW TO LIVE IT. We get three tracks, pressed on an orange 7" with the lead track, ‘Nocturnally Yours’, certainly being the highlight with some wonderful guitar and strident vocals. The next track, ‘(Your) Hidden Agenda (Is So Obvious)’ is faster and more insistent but lacks the musical dynamic of the first track. The flip, ‘Glass House’ is a longer song with a breakdown that’s more suited to something like TRAGEDY than the IGNITION/ HDQ feel of the other side. For a debut release however, this is a convincing and satisfying listen from some well known names. An album is imminent and, if this is any guide to go by, it could be well worth looking out for and will no doubt be another chapter in Norway’s impressive Punk annals. (14.02.15)

CENTURY PALM - Valley Cyan {Deranged} Beguiling 7" from this band outta Toronto, Canada. The band features synths, a sax and a violin amongst the usual instruments and the lead track comes on like THE CURE mixed with RED DONS and a hint of JOY DIVISION. It’s a jaunty, impressive pop song with dark Punk undertones that I played three times in a row on first listen. Flip the disc and you get some discordant sax-infused noise a’la STOOGES ‘Fun House’ era before the JOY DIVISION influence becomes even more apparent. Then there’s a burst of wailing noise and back to JOY DIVISION vibes and... it’s over. Interesting stuff, the lead track especially impressed and if an album full of those kinda tunes, with the odd diversion into the b-side territory here was released, we could be looking at a gripping, cathartic release laden with tension and drama. As it is - one to watch. (09.12.16)

CHANNEL 3 - Put ‘Em Up {TKO} PODCAST PLAYED New studio gear from these Cerritos, CA legends is always welcome and this is the band’s first full studio album since 2002 ‘CH3’. It continues the cracking pace set by the 7"s on Hostage Records with ten tracks that display those classic traits of CH3 Punk, laden with stunning choruses and delivered with passion. Plenty of highlights too be it opener ‘Model Citizen’ or closer ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ that are both classic takes on what CH3 do so well. Elsewhere you get the moody slow-burn blues of the title track, a ballad in ‘Half The Day’ and a scintillating return to the band’s more HC roots in ‘The God That You Deserve’, which also offers some pointed observations about religion. Best tracks though would be ‘Water And Time’ that comes on like a roughed-up CHEAP TRICK, and ‘Not That It Matters’ which has smoking lead guitar lines, an excellent vocal performance and a soaring chorus. Only two complaints really: Two more songs would’ve been great, and the album’s cover looks overtly aggressive - like some boxing obsessed Oi! album in fact. Bar that - fucking great stuff once again. (26.12.17)

CHELSEA - Anthology Vol.3 {Westworld} And so, rather thankfully, the trio of triple-disc sets comes to a close with this capturing ‘The Alternative’ from ‘93, ‘Traitors Gate’ from ‘94 and the reformation album ‘Faster, Cheaper And Better Looking’ from 2005. After the blasé bollocks of the set below, ‘The Alternative’ actually manages to rekindle a bit of spirit - possibly due to the return of guitarist Nic Austin. It’s a shame ‘Traitors Gate’ returned to the (lack of) quality standard of Vol.2 as the comeback album, ‘Faster, Cheaper And Better Looking’ is the band’s best since ‘Evacuate’. It includes Tony Barber of BUZZCOCKS fame on bass and a return on guitar of James Stevenson who not only played on the band’s early classics but totally steals this album with some impressive guitar work. It includes a couple of totally fantastic nostalgic gems in ‘45 rpm’ and ‘If We Knew Then’. Also unlike Vol. 2’s lack of bonus tracks, this set features a whopping 19 bonus tracks. There’s a cover of THE CLASH’s ‘White Riot’ among them too. If you got Vol.1 and want more, head here and leave the rather cumbersome Vol. 2 to last. (06.11.16)

CHELSEA - Anthology Vol. 2 {Westworld} Spanning the albums ‘Original Sinners’ (‘85), ‘Rocks Off’ (‘86) and ‘Underwraps’ (‘89), this is pretty much the pits of CHELSEA’s recorded output. ‘Original Sinners’ is a rather ploddy effort, picking up some soft-metal chugging riffs and AOR blandness on the single ‘Valium Mother’. ‘Rocks Off’ fairs no better - possibly even worse with the ambitious but ponderous ‘Fools Paradise’ that could be a Meatloaf ballad. It’s saved by a couple of ROLLING STONES covers - not that they are particularly well done, but they’re just ten times the quality of the CHELSEA songs. Thankfully, ‘Underwraps’ is an improvement, opening with a passable take on THE CLASH’s ‘Somebody Got Murdered’ and ‘Come Let The Good Times Roll’ that features Topper Headon. Even though it’s the best album here, it would be by far the worst on the collection below. No bonus tracks (bar a STONES cover)... You’d have to be a total CHELSEA obsessive to want to buy this, or have so much surplus cash it’s not true. Good on ya if you are the former, if you are the latter.... I hear the Bahamas is nice - and you clearly have the cash to visit. (26.07.16)

CHELSEA - Anthology Vol 1 {Westworld} Fucking hell - what’s this? Some kinda CHELSEA renaissance going on here? Apparently Westworld are re-releasing all of CHELSEA’s nine albums, plus bonus tracks on three, three-CD box sets. If ya didn’t know, CHELSEA was a late-70s UK Punk band and, as you can guess having recorded nine albums, have been going on-and-off ever since. This set is probably the ‘essential’ one as it collects the 1979 debut, ‘Chelsea’, 1980’s ‘Alternative Hits’ and ‘Evacuate’ from 1982. All of the band’s popular ditties are here: ‘Right To Work’, ‘I’m On Fire’, ‘Urban Kids’, ‘No Escape’ and plenty more. There’s a selection of bonus tracks, be they demos or alternative, single versions. These are pretty much the same versions of the original CD re-issues that Captain Oi! put out about 15 years ago, although ‘Alternative Hits’ does score a few additional tracks the Capt Oi version didn’t. Soundwise? Somewhere between the UK SUBS, THE BOYS and THE LURKERS. Get the picture? Solid, melodic UK Punk that didn’t quite have the fuse of some of their contemporaries. If ya curious, this is definitely the place to start with ‘Aternative Hits’ in particular probably being the definitive CHELSEA release. (05.02.16) 

CHELSEA - Saturday Night Sunday Morning {Four Worlds Media} Who would’ve thought that a decade on since ‘Faster, Cheaper And Better Looking’, CHELSEA would return - and return with a pretty damn respectable album at that. I’ve never been the band’s biggest fan, but this sees vocalist Gene October and original guitarist James Stevenson cranking out 13 tunes that are not hackneyed attempts to revive ‘77 glory daze, nor the sound of tired old men. Opener ‘About Time’ sets the tone well with a swaggering, big chorus and October sounding in fine form (which is not always the case!). From there ‘Johnny Has No Respect’ is a more vintage sounding track echoing ‘Urban Kids’ while ‘You Never Listen’ could’ve easily fitted onto the ‘High Rise Living’ EP. The title track has a ‘Ring Of Fire’ vibe but disc highlight has to be ‘We Don’t Believe You’ that’s got great vocals, a bit of a sneer and a decent arrangement. I kept hearing a fusion between early SENSELESS THINGS and ‘Silly Thing’-era PISTOLS throughout the album. A decent return - are few less guitar solos could’ve made all the difference. (16.11.15)

CHEWED UP /CASUAL NAUSEA - split {Uncomfortable Beach Party} With those band names and the graphics of this split album, it’s a safe bet to say this ain’t gonna be in the Gaslight Anthem mode! These are two newish British bands that fall distinctly into the more Crusty/ D-Beat side of Punk. CHEWED UP is first with six songs that fuse a barked, LEFTOVER CRACK vibe with the distorto-rage of DISORDER and the intensity of STAMPIN’ GROUND. CASUAL NAUSEA is the new band put together by Ed Ache (ex I.C.H and currently in THE DOMESTICS) and delivers dual-vocalled, sharp, bitter Punk... A bit like CHAOS UK fused with I.C.H while playing the first PARTISANS album. Each band has a few highlights; CU scores with opener ‘Advice’ and ‘Cyclepath Pt.2’ while CN get kudos for ‘Bored To The Bone’ and the closing ‘The Milk Is A Metaphor’ (with it’s sampled Malcolm McLaren intro!) that probably steals the album and could easily have been on the I.C.H album. Good stuff that’s resolutely Punk without resorting to any shite Metal breakdowns or being revisionist. CN is the better band for me, but the two bands make a good pairing. (16.10.15)

CHIXDIGGIT - 2012 {Fat Wreck} Haha - this is fucking brilliant! Visually taking a lotta piss outta Rush’s pompous ‘2112’, this is a single 24-minute epic song detailing every stop Canada’s CHIXDIGGIT played on their 2012 tour, including a day off! It flows incredibly well too with ‘Piacenza’ and ‘Groezrock’ being joyous while ‘Day Off’ really does evoke the pleasure of having a day off!! The songs from Germany seem a little more sedate before climaxing in ‘Berlin’, then the band is ‘Going Home’ to a veritable Metal rock out!! ‘Calgary’ has a vague Country vibe and then they get on the home straight through ‘San Francisco’ onto ‘Vancouver’ (which is probably my favourite here - it’s that classic RAMONES meets CHEAP TRICK sound that they do so well). ‘Seattle’ brings things back down before the tour ends at ‘Victoria’ which is, fittingly, one of my favourite places I have visited in Canada. A very clever and very witty EP that comes in single-sided etched vinyl. Fans of the band will love this - I did!! (12.08.17)

CHRON GEN - This Is The Age {Westworld} Um... This is really fucking weird!! 34 years on from the release of ‘Chronic Generation’ comes the full-album follow-up and from the opening low baritone vocal of ‘Jump’, it’s clear this is a very different band. Those hoping to hear something akin to the ‘Outlaw’ or ‘Puppets Of War’ EPs are in for a shock as this is a much more varied and subdued album. Think TV SMITH’S EXPLORERS mixed with MEN THEY COULDN’T HANG and a bit of a Hard Rockin’ Dire Straits!! Somehow though, Glynn Barber has managed to make a convincing album laden with well-crafted songs, if one quite unlike any other CHRON GEN release. Highlights include ‘Love This City’ that comes on with the swagger of LORD OF THE NEW CHURCH, the acoustic double hit of ‘You Took Your Time’ and ‘Kiss The Girls’ the latter of which emphasizes the MTCH vibe, closer ‘I Don’t Care’ which I am sure TV SMITH would’ve been happy with and ‘Ready To Overreact’. While on first play this sounded rather lacklustre and bland, successive plays do bring out some initially hidden depths. (06.11.16)

CITIZEN FISH - Manmade {Bluurg} After a bit of a hiatus from the recording front, Dick Lucas is back with a new CITIZEN FISH record - and a lovely one it is too. A dark grey marble vinyl 10" that features five tracks which, more than than any other CF release, reminds me of the grooves of CULTURE SHOCK. The lead track is a catchy, up-tempo but not fast tune and is repeated with a dub mix at the end of the record (again, echoing that CULTURE SHOCK comparison). Elsewhere we get the excellent ‘World Gone Mad’ with an insistent brass lead melody and something that could lay claim to being the band’s best track. The band sounds relaxed but confident, virtually rolling on a groove instead of skanking to a Ska-Punk prerequisite. Dick’s lyrics are, as always, great reading - witty and sarcastic yet with genuine issues behind the wordsmithery; there seems a big emphasis on green/ environmental issues here too. This is a limited edition release too, so get in quick if you want one (and you should). It comes with a free download code. The only negative is it could’ve done with one more song - otherwise, pretty faultless stuff again. (28.09.15)

CLOSET FIENDS - s/t {Fat Wreck} Regular readers will know I’m a bit of a sucker for acoustic stuff, be it BOB DYLAN and NEIL YOUNG through to those unplugged Punks like TIM BARRY, CHRIS WOOLLARD and MIKE NESS. So, I had high hopes for this acoustic EP from Sam Sadowski but, it has to be said, this is pretty piss poor. You get five songs that span a total of 15 minutes played on what sounds like an out of tune guitar with a string missing and sung by Marge Simpson with occasional bursts of harmonica and banjo. There’s not a single song I could listen to without cringing but the ‘vocal’ performance on ‘Poppy Flu’ was particularly unbearable. ‘Bridge Kindling’ is probably the best song here that motors along on some decent guitar swing and it also probably has the best vocal performance - but that’s not a mark that would be hard to hit given the other four songs. (24.07.16)

COLOR TV - Meat Wagon {Deranged} Four-track 7" from a totally new four-piece to me outta Minneapolis, MN and it’s one of those EPs that starts fantastically and then each successive track makes you think it’s better than all has gone before! ‘No Reason’ is the speediest track here, coming on like early STEVE ADAMYK BAND while ‘Total Strangers’ pivots around a bangin’ chorus. The title track does deserve its place as EP opener being a bright, up-tempo slice of RED DONS-esque New Wave-ish Punk. Disc highlight for me though is ‘To Death’ that’s a bit slower than the other tracks but really shows depth to the song writing and an urgency that only OBSERVERS/ RED DONS have managed to do so easily. While the band already has a distinct sound, there is enough variation and individuality about each of the four songs here to suggest a long player from the band could be an absolute stunner. Yeah, you got it right fucko- I like this a lot!! Includes a lyrics sheet and download code. (23.09.17)

CONGELLIERE, TODD - Wrong Side {Recess/ Lauren} Ltest release from the maverick talent that is TODD CONGELLIERE (you know - FYP, TOYS THAT KILL, UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND). These ten new tracks (played at 45rpm on 12"s of deep red vinyl) are an eclectic but fascinating fusion of GRANT HART and NEIL YOUNG, but injected with the spirit of JAY RAETARD while trying to harness the sound of BIG STAR (circa ‘Third’) and BEACH BOYS (circa ‘Pet Sounds’). From the one-note droning riff of the opening title track leave any and all expectations at the door - just sit back and let Todd entertain you. Highlight is ‘I Like The Lights Off’ that emphasises the Neil Young vibe, while ‘Doodle Trash’ is laden with discordant grunge and production tricks. Other highlights include ‘Some Are Fake’ that’s driven by some honky-tonk piano, ‘He Ain’t Right’ that could be a TTK track and ‘Turn A Cheek’ that’s another piano-laced barn-dance hootenanny. If you’re new to the world of Mr Congelliere, this is not the place to start. But, if you already revel in the surreal soundscape he creates so easily, then this is another record to transport you to that joyous parallel reality. (24.03.16)

Hit HERE for material reviewed prior to 2015 including:
CHANNEL 3 (2 reviews), CHIXDIGGIT, CHUMBAWAMBA, CITIZEN FISH, COCK SPARRER, CONCRETE SOX (2 reviews), CRAVATS, CRAZYHEAD, CROSS STITCHED EYES and THE CROWD (2 reviews)