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H20 - Live: The Bowery Collection {MVD} As part of the neat collection of shows recorded at the legendary New York venue, CBGBs, this features H20’s first performance at the venue for a number of years. It’s pretty smoking stuff with highlights being ‘Everready’, ‘F.T.T.W’, 'I See It In Us' and a particularly impressive ‘Guilty By Association’. The band sounds tight, the banter is left intact, the recording is good. It has a vague bootleg feel - something I like greatly. During the latter part of the set it appears there are power failures with bass and one of the guitars dropping out, although the bass at least found some power for the final few tracks. I found a comment from vocalist, Toby Morse, a little odd though; just before '5 Year Plan' he asks who is vegan, before demanding a burger and starting "I'm over this vegetarian shit... but I'm still Straight Edge." It sounded very mixed (SxE mixed? Bizarre!!) and decidedly derogatory to those who are Vegan. Dunno about vegetarian shit... sounds like tough guy shit to me. It appears the hierarchy of NYHC is in attendance - CIV, AGNOSTIC FRONT and Jimmy Gestapo (MURPHYS LAW) to name three. True til death indeed!

THE HANGMEN - Spring Heeled Jack {Dislocate} I’m always very cautious of bands that hide behind a face full of make-up. It’s usually there to obscure the vacuous lyrics and/or absence of ability; think Slipknot, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, any pasty-faced Goth band et al. Only the MISFITS and, of late, SEND MORE PARAMEDICS do it with music forceful enough to overcome the gimmick. This UK trio has horror-clown imagery and, while the music may not be horrific, it’s not too convincing either. The lead track is a ‘Silly Thing’ style SEX PISTOLian romp while the remaining three tracks are Punkish rockerbilly kinda deals that hint to TIGER ARMY and early LEATHERFACE. The band are probably a lot more convincing live than in the confines of the home, but for now, I’ll leave them to play with their lipstick while I play ‘Earth AD’.

HARD-ONS - Most People Are Nicer Than Us {Boss Tuneage} Aesthetically, this appears very similar to the disc below both in name and graphic design but, aurally, this is a very different and, I hate to say it, a weaker album. Where the disc below mixed scintillating melodies with noxious guitar riffage, this dives head first into total guitar overdose. Sure, it has some stunning moments of classic HARD-ONS raucous rocking like ‘Being Broke Is Fucked’, ‘Punky No-No’ and ‘Bottom Feeders’ but they’re counted by ridiculous HC thrashers a’la ‘Spent The Day In Hell, Was Bored’ and the dreary guitar histrionics of ‘My Style Of Attack’ to name just two. The HARD-ONS was always a band in tune with its ‘rock’ mentality but moments of this are cringe-worthy at best and annoying as fuck at worst. Gotta say though, as a HARD-ONS fan, the best bits of this make for a killer 15 minute EP and are worth face-value alone. For the curious though, avoid and check out the disc below (not to mention the 'Love Is A Battlefield Of Wounded Hearts' album) and leave this until the HARD-ONS is firmly embedded in your musical preferences!

HARD SKIN - Same Meat Different Gravy {Oi!sold Name} Eight years in the making and these self-confessed cunts finally deliver the follow-up to the profanity-laden, hippie-stompin’ debut ‘Hard Nuts For Hard Cunts’. And what d’ya fackin’ know? It’s more of the same rumbustious, bellicose, laugh-a-minute Oi!. From the opening proclamation of none tougher that is ‘Hard Stuff’ through the turbo-charged blitzkrieg of ‘Who’s The Boy’ to the closing proclamation that mirrors that of the opening, ‘Skin Hard’, this is a corker. The joke has not worn thin and the fact that most of these songs, while lyrically setting out to offend in a tongue-in-cheek way, are solidly constructed and piss on most sincere Oi! bands is either tribute to Fat Bob, Johnny Takeaway and Nipper or blatantly shows up the tiresome limitations set by other Oi! bands on themselves. Imagine BLITZ, SHAM 69 and COCKNEY REJECTS with DICKIES humour and early SNUFF power with a hint of CLASH guitar licks thrown in and you got a fackin’ riot of Punk Rock and Oi! that’s as incisive as it is hilarious.

GIBBY HAYNES AND HIS PROBLEM - s/t {Surfdog} "I’ll be the Kaiser, you’ll wear the diapers," is the first line of lyrics from the latest HAYNES long-player and it heralds a total return to form after a few hit and miss solo ventures. Wall-of-noise guitars, subtle melancholic timbres, deranged lyrical mutations and psychedelic modulations that finger your brain from the earlobe in have replaced the electronica that infiltrated a lot of his previous solo work. It definitely has more allure on the noisier, guitar-drenched tracks when those ‘Gibbytronix’ vocals come into play, as on ‘Kaiser’, ‘Charlie’, ‘15000’ and the closing, dismissive, damning and combustible fuck-filled ‘Redneck Sex’. Whatever sounds Gibby feeds us, you never ever forget that you are entrenched in the wonderful, scary, hallucinogenic and surreal world of the great GIBBY HAYNES. Former BUTTHOLE SURFERS band mate, Paul Leary, produces and guests on a few tracks too. Is it Punk? Not when compared with ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE (thankfully!!), but it is if uncompromising, inventive and decidedly non-mainstream sonic assaults figure in your definition of Punk - just like the BUTTHOLES. Surfdog Recs, 1126 South Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024, USA

HATEWORK - Thrash ‘N’ Roll {Beer City} Beer City has released some awesome records recently so I guess things had to eventually falter - & falter they have with this slab of Thrash Metal. HATEWORK are from Italy & peddle an early Metallica/Slayer Metal deal. When it’s good, or at least improved, as on ‘I.D.T’ & ‘I Don’t Care’, it’s snapping at the heals Punk-influenced thrash & pretty corrosive. Generally though, this is generic Thrash Metal (complete with guitar solos & even a fucking drum solo on ‘Radio Madness’) with bad lyrics about boozing, headbanging (c’mon!!) & the devil. ‘War Again’ sees the band possessing a social conscience, but then it’s followed by a tune called ‘Gateway To Hell’ which renders any sincerity redundant. I bet the guys at Kerrap! will cream their black spandex over this.

HERESY - 1985-’87 {Boss Tuneage} First in a series of reissues for these legends of Britcore. There are 19 bellowing, grimacing slabs of gnarly thrash that kick off with the unreleased demo from ‘85. Then you get the 6-track flexi (whatever happened to the great flexi-disc huh?) ‘Never Healed’. Move forward 18 months, replace vocalists and there is a harder, less Metal approach to the band’s sound. Here you get a couple of unreleased practice tracks plus the blazing ‘Thanks’ EP. Soundwise, there’s a distinct DISCHARGE vibe, especially on the earlier, more lyrically apocalyptic tracks if mixed with something akin to the INSTIGATORS on speed! Great liner notes with a heap of pics too.

HERESY - Face Up To It! {Boss Tuneage} Totally remastered and rejuvenated version of HERESY’s only full album. It was around this time (‘88) that I can recall seeing the band for the second time and being really impressed. Successive sightings never let me down either and certain tracks on this album certainly brought back the memories - opener ‘Consume’, ‘Belief’ and ‘Against The Grain’ in particular. The remix has totally changed the muddy sound of the original - this is vibrant, cutting and fast as hell. I still hear a nod to the INSTIGATORS, which is something I never picked up before, only this time played via DRI. Besides the original 17-track album you get 12 unreleased tracks from various practices. Great place for the curious to start and those who own the original will be surprised at how fresh this sounds. The remix has certainly done justice to what was always a damn fine album.

HHH - Discographia Completa {B-Core} A massive double CD compiling 115 songs of primal HC from this infamous Spanish band. You actually get everything the band recorded (including two versions of the 'A Por Ellos' album - the released version and a pre-mix version) including demos, singles, compilation tracks and both albums!! The sound is undiluted HC, reckless in places with hints of Metal thrown in (some of you may know the band mutated into the HC/Metal Crossover band OVERTHHHROW) - think CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, DIRTY ROTTEN IMBECILES, SIEGE - fast, grizzled and cacophonous HC. There are a heap of highlights, but spanned over two discs the whole thing gets a bit one-dimensional. I prefer Spain’s other notable HC heroes, SUBTERRANEAN KIDS much more than this but taken in short doses this is impressive, pulverising HC Punk.

HILLBILLY NIGHTMARE - Dirt Rock Demons {Sonic Swirl} 11 tracks of dirty, noxious Rock 'n' Roll from this 5-piece outta Michigan. The name of the album is quite apt as this is the very definition of Dirt Rock. The guitars are thick and driven, the rhythm loose but relentless and the vocalist sounds like he'll bite your head off - but only after he's finished his bourbon and nicotine fix. As for sound comparisons - all the obvious - ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN, TURBO ACs, HELLACOPTERS etc. It didn't really thrill me to be honest - there are too many bands doing this stuff and this just did not stand out from the pile enough to get me spitting and kicking and swilling. I'm sure the band is killer live and I'm those with a greaser Rock obsession will love this, but I'd have liked it a little faster and a bit more spikey!

HORROR OF 59 - Screams From The Cellar {Sonic Swirl} Ho-hum… another band with 'Horror' in its name - and whatcha know? It's another band quite happy to rip the MISFITS. It's OK, proficient and really rather slick and polished in fact - 'Beware' it is not! There are also hints of the HARD ONS, but c'mon… 'Moonville Spooks'? 'Frankenstein Returns'? 'Graveyard Beyond The Woods'?? Haha!! Not exactly angry, embittered Punk Rock. What are these guys kicking against - the living??? Sure, the band rocks but Horror Punk of such a generic form as this fails to lift me off the sofa, let alone raise the dead.

HORROR STORY - Grave Robbers From Outer Space {Demon Nation}  Hmm… I really don't grasp the Horror-Punk genre. I mean, THE MISFITS have already defined it with both 'Walk Among Us' and 'Earth A.D.' Also, given my distrust of bands adorned in make-up (see Hangmen review above), I approached this 20-track slab from this New Plymouth 4-piece with less than expectant ears. What did I get? A convincing MISFITS-style slice of buzzsaw guitars and Danzig meets Vanian vocals. It's very much in the 'Walk Among Us' realms of tempo with some added rock 'n' roll guitar riffing. Gotta say though, some of the "wo-oh" backing vocals were way off the mark. 'Transylveiniac' stood out because the vocals really went for it. Other highlights include 'Tombstone' (which is also here in video form), 'Dead Of Night' and 'Blood White Wolves'. The band have European and American distribution, which should state that they do this Horror-Punk thing with suitable aplomb.

HORROR STORY - Rock 'n' Roll Frankenstein {Demon Nation} Oh, way more convincing than the disc above. This features two demos, the newest of which was recorded in early 2004, after the release of the disc above. It shows a greater individual identity with less reliance on the MISFITS sound, although that influence is still really apparent. Stand outs have to be 'Angelique' and 'Watch 'Em Die' that are clearly more confident, powerful and convincing. 'Bring The Fire' has a heavier feel and new drummer, Craig Psycho, seems to have added a bit of power and cohesion. Shame it's only 7 tracks. The final 8 songs are from a 2000 demo which reverts to the MISFITS basis and shares more traits with the disc above. It's OK - 'Fiends' in particular - but the stand out gear are the new songs.

HOSTAGE LIFE - White Jesus {Black Pint} First ever 7” from one of the most fantastic bands around in 2008. There are three trademark originals here. The title track is a blazing diatribe with lots of energy, great arrangements and Colin’s barbed, Keith Morris-esque vocal never sounding better. ‘New Drugs’ is a less-intense meander (for HO LIFE at least) while ‘Hostage Life’s Young Wards’ re-ignites the adrenalin fires with some tight stops, choice guitar lines and yet another killer HO LIFE chorus. The last track is an absolute killer take on WIRE’s ‘Mr. Suit’ that’s given a unique HOSTAGE LIFE spirit of its own. Totally killer stuff from a band I cannot recommend enough. Essential.