Lollipop Magazine

Compulsion – “How Do I Breathe” – Review

December 1, 1995

Thick and melodic in a faux lumberjack kinda way. Guitar rock in between the fluf/Overwhelming Colorfast sensitive bigboy camp and Jesus Lizard.

Cock Sparrer – Run Away – Review

December 1, 1995

An exhaustive retrospective would be more in order than an EP designed for Cock Sparrer completists only.

Christian Death – Amen – Review

December 1, 1995

Christian Death just isn’t the same without Rozz Williams or Gitane Demone. But Amen isn’t all bad. A double live CD with extremely good recording quality.

Chris Haskett – Language – Review

December 1, 1995

Super-artsy, deft guitar playing with random sound bites and occasional cello and viola, released by Henry Rollins’ label.

Cheater Slicks – Don’t Like You – Review

December 1, 1995

At times, they out-Stooge the Stooges with their metal-grinder meets spin-cycle guitars. The harmonica and swampy rockabilly feel reminds me of Blues Explosion.

Chaos UK – Floggin’ the Corpse – Review

December 1, 1995

Among the inventors of crust. This is a marginally listenable live recording from ’83, four unreleased studio tracks, and outtakes from the UK/DK soundtrack.

Cause For Alarm – Warzone – split – Review

December 1, 1995

Within seconds, you know you’re dealing with old school NYHC. Fast, simple, thoughtful, and fuck-the-system (in an intelligent way, of course).

Black Grape – It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah – Review

December 1, 1995

In the late ’80s/early ’90s, the Happy Mondays were legendary for their debauchery. Is Black Grape as good as the Mondays? Better – by a long shot.

Under the Volcano – #27 – Review

December 1, 1995

A short, bitterly transcendent fiction piece entitled “Why I Ate My Wife” by M. Gira of Swans, and an interview. A fanzine, sometimes marshmallowy positive.

Out of Bounds – Review

December 1, 1995

Out of Bounds is a political ‘zine, and as ‘zines go, its viewpoints are not particularly beyond the pale. A lot of non-music ‘zine reviews.

Big Country – Why The Long Face – Review

December 1, 1995

Guitars replace them kick-ass bagpipes, vocal harmonies still stacked to the ceiling. Pure guitar pop. I kinda dig some of the songs, but I miss the bagpipes.

Agnostic Front – Raw Unleashed – Review

December 1, 1995

I considered myself a solid Agnostic Front fan until I listened to the same songs with various levels of crappy recording for an hour straight.

Vagabonds: A Thin Lizzy Tribute – Review

December 1, 1995

Whoever thought it would be a good idea for a bunch of shitty bands to cover Thin Lizzy tunes must be at least partially insane.

This Is Boston, Not LA – Review

December 1, 1995

Even though these bands would go on to release some landmark material, no one has before or since released a record of such concentrated explosive punk energy.

The Doom Generation Soundtrack – Review

December 1, 1995

This soundtrack takes the same route the Natural Born Killers soundtrack took – threading the songs in the order of the film, with bits of dialogue thrown in.

Taste – Review

December 1, 1995

Frantically inspired scratchings and wailings from the scuff zone. Ostensibly the best of underground aural abrasion, primarily from the USA and Japan.

Step Right Up: Songs of Tom Waits – Review

December 1, 1995

Without Waits’ grizzled vocals and persona, most of these songs end up sounding like anything else by the bands performing them.

National Lampoon’s Senior Trip – Review

December 1, 1995

A bit of indie rock, some punkabilly, some rap-a-long, and The Jayhawks. Digable tunes by The Muffs, Our Lady Peace, Matthew Sweet, 311, God Lives Underwater.

Japanese/American Noise Treaty – Review

December 1, 1995

This is NOISE. No fucking around – two full-length discs of music that makes Neubauten and Whitehose seem like Madonna. And that’s a compliment.

Trapped Instinct – Alarm – Review

December 1, 1995

If you remixed the Chili Peppers’ first album and added scratching and funky samples and replaced Anthony with Mike Patton, you’d end up with Trapped Instinct.

The Wives – Ask Me How – Review

December 1, 1995

These girls rampage through simple and balls-out tunes with great lyrics. Metaphors and curb-side story-telling abound, loving set to furious beats.

The Rugburns – Taking The World By Donkey – Review

December 1, 1995

I wrote with a black grease pencil in a crabbed and illegible script the lyrics to the first three songs I heard. It filled both sides of the sheet.

The Bottle Rockets – The Brooklyn Side – Review

December 1, 1995

The Bottle Rockets may sound a little too reminiscent of middle-aged mom heartthrob rock, e.g., the Bruces Hornsby and Springsteen. Look a little deeper.

Swank – The Swill of it All – Review

December 1, 1995

If you put Black Sabbath, L7, and Smashing Pumpkins in a blender, you’d have a good idea of this trio’s sound.

Space Needle – “Sun Doesn’t Love Me” – Review

December 1, 1995

Space Needle are not boring pop. They’re one of the most satisfying and challenging bands around, and if the pop’s there, it’s anything but ostentatious.