Return of the Read Menace

(AK Press/Honest Don’s)
by Scott Hefflon

Following AK Press/Epitaph’s Better Read Than Dead, Honest Don’s teams up with AK Press to release this 25-track, 75 minute CD filled with punk, rock (emo, indie, and singer/songwriter), and good, free-thinking sentiments. A few covers and some otherwise unreleased (or rare) tracks make Return of the Read Menace worth picking up (aside from the fact that it supports a damn fine and necessary organization). J Church covers ELO’s “Tightrope,” No Use for A Name do the Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments,” and Propagandhi cover the Cro-Mags’ “Hard Times.” Originals from Screeching Weasel, Pitchshifter, Quixote, …But Alive, The ‘Tone, Robb Johnson, Ron Hawkins, Randy, Endeavor, Rhythm Activism, Chumbawamba, The Weakerthans, Wat Tyler, Hot Water Music, Avail, The Levellers, Atom and his Package (doing “Hats Off To Halford,” the wonderful drum-machine-and-cheap-Casio ditty applauding homosexuality in heavy metal), Discount, Submission Hold, Moral Crux, DOA, and Cooper. There’re some great song here from faves as well as bands you’ve probably never heard of, and hell, you’ll be supporting AK Press, the most respected anarchist publishing company in America. Go get it, punk!

(PO Box 192027 San Francisco, CA 94119)