The RATBOYS - "Cash, Gas and Trash" is now avialable.

The Ratboys are coming and you better run for cover! Take a hard rocking outfit and mix wild vocal work, loads of distortion, all- out raw energy, a ballsy bad attitude and voilà: Cash, Gas, and Trash. The Ratboys . . . infectious lyrics, solid guitar riffs, and more than a passing nod to 60s garage rock . . . with a shitload of 77 snottiness thrown in for good measure. Solid from top to bottom, the Ratboys debut album was recorded in three days of blood sweat and beer at "No Hype Studio" and in the boys' own rehearsal room. Not that the Rats give a fuck what you think, still if you care to listen, you're going to be treated to a tutorial on what can be done with a three-minute song. Every cut distinct and guaranteed unforgettable. Thick, crunchy guitar riffs, energetic bass lines, and vibrant drumming pounding relentlessly into your brainpan with atavistic power. No fancy frills. No overproduced arrangements. No fancy packages. These Rats don't need no stinkin' coverups, as they got nothing, absolutely nothing to hide. That's for combos that haven't a clue as to how to do what comes naturally to our Boys, i.e., R-O-C-K!!!

Track List:
1. Backseat Angel
2. Ratboy
3. Bubblegum Attack
4. Hollywood Summer
5. Coconut Jane
6. Goin' Back To School
7. The Things You've Done
8. Never Get Enough
9. Tomorrow Is Gone
10. Help Me
11. Manson Family
12.Trash Avenue .

Get it at

This is released on BRUTARIAN RECORDS.

Parallax Project - Oblivious - 2002

Parallax Project was supposed to be a loosely organized, shifting collection of musicians. That's what founding member Michael Giblin envisioned when he set out to create his first solo album, 2002's "Oblivious". But like Rocky and Post-It notes, where you're headed and where you end up are often two different things. In assembling a band to promote the album, he ended up with a crack live unit that drew upon a collective love of 60s Mod, 70's new wave, and Elvis (the skinny, mousy British one. -Kool Kat



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The Outnumbered - Holding the Grenade Too Long - 1986

Jangle-punks the Outnumbered formed in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1982 by singer/ guitarist Jon Ginoli and singer/ bassist Paul Budin, who first met while both were reviewing records for the University of Illinois' student paper The Daily Illini. Teaming with lead guitarist Tim McKeage and drummer Ken Golub, the group played their first show that Halloween -- inspired by local heroes the Vertebrats, the Outnumbered set out to fuse the melodicism of the Byrds with the energy of the Ramones, quickly emerging as a favorite on the local underground music scene. They recorded their debut LP Why Are All the Good People Going Crazy? for the Homestead label in 1985, scoring a college radio hit with "I Feel So Sorry Now" and touring the country in support of bands including the Replacements, The Violent Femmes and Soul Asylum. Holding the Grenade Too Long followed in 1986, but as their popularity seemed to plateau at the cult level the Outnumbered disbanded a year later; a third LP, Work...Buy...Die, was issued posthumously on the local Edible label in 1988. Ginoli later relocated to San Francisco, where he formed the pioneering queercore band Pansy Division; an Outnumbered retrospective titled Surveying the Damage appeared on Parasol in 1998.-AMG



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The Incredible Hangovers - Pleasure! Pleasure! - 1990

There just were a couple of guys, let's say twenty-somethings, hooked to what they thought was real music: twangy guitars and beating drums and something important to say or - in our case - sing about. They were sure about the fact that it could happen since it had happenend before:
Equipped with some talent in putting things together - things like a catchy tune, a suitable hook line and a couple of guitar riffs - they made their way from out of the cellar to the nearby venues and - since the people seemed to like what they did - even furtheron to the villages surrounding their hometown. Local papers started to print their pictures and advertise their concerts and by and by more people came to listen and more and more writers wrote about what they had heard.



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The Pills - A Fistful of Pills - 2004

Since 1995, The Pills have been Boston's preeminent power pop faction, blending a hard-hitting guitar assault akin to the Smithereens with the rapid roar of the Jam. A Fistful of Pills finds the group more forceful than ever, with the addition of one-time Shods and Mighty Might Bosstones guitarist Dave Aaronoff. The tight, bluesy blast of "Hang On Tight" starts the commotion that evolves into the quirky roar of "Butterfield 8." Fascinations with early Cheap Trick and the Knack abound, if the blistering "Good Thing Going" is any indication, and the undeniable, spirited delivery of tracks like "Brand New Pair of Eyes," and "Rock & Roll Heart" prove that whether it's bassist Corin Ashley, or guitarist David Thompson handling the lead vocal chores, the results are usually good. "Rub My Eyes" is even brilliant, recalling 1970s nuggets by the Records and Bram Tchaikovsky, but the thirty-second shot of "Continental Breakfast" is pretty disposable. The countrified "Ballad of Don Crawford" affirms suspicions that there could be more to the Pills in the future than just skilled, easily digested mod rock. Just the same, the bulk of A Fistful is a blast. Now take your medicine.-AMG



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The Muffs - The Muffs - 1993

The Muffs leave the garage behind and retrogress to caves for this self-titled release. Shattuck tries almost too hard to sound grungy and amateurish, then blows her cover with some cool melodies on "Everywhere I Go." There's a certain charm to the group's 3-chord riffing and primitive rhythms (provided by the male half of the quartet) that seems to have most appeal when driving a vehicle beyond the posted speed limit on a hot, sunny day. -AMG



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Mondo Topless - Get Ready for Action! - 1998

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The Paybacks - Love, Not Reason - 2006

The third time really does seem to be the charm for Wendy Case and her latest lineup of the Paybacks -- their third album, Love, Not Reason is the band's tightest, hardest, and most satisfying effort to date. Made after Case's self-confessed retreat from a longtime alcohol addiction, Love, Not Reason has a tight focus and sense of discipline that eluded her earlier work, and there's a maturity in songs like "Dumb Love," "Stranger in the House," and "Shotgunn" that demonstrates hard-won street smarts without getting in the way of her rocker's instincts; these songs are full of lessons learned but bear no regrets, and tough love drips from every pore of this music. But most importantly, Love, Not Reason rocks like nobody's business; Case's fierce, passionate vocals can caress or tear at will, she and lead player Danny Methric lock their guitars like dueling swordsmen (cue up "Painkiller" to hear some truly fierce soloing), and drummer John Hafer and bassist John Szymanski make for a hard-kicking rhythm section that drives this music like it ought to be on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Merging the swagger of hard rock, the no-compromise commitment of punk, and a very '70s sense of melodic thunder, Love, Not Reason demonstrates the Paybacks are one of the few bands on the Detroit scene whose work can stand beside that of their fabled forefathers of the Grande Ballroom era, and anyone looking for an aural dose of high energy will find it right here.-AMG



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The Cells - We Can Replace You - 2002

The Cells' We Can Replace You is for folks who like walls of guitars -- thick, rich guitars. The group's music can, at times, fall roughly into the punk-pop or power pop spheres but, more accurately, this is urgent, hook-ridden hard rock with a wide appeal. The album storms out of the gate with the chest-thumping, clotted-cream riffs of "Silver Cloud," and then plunges headlong into the furious, hook-ridden attack of the Cheap Trick-esque "All Be Happy." The vocals of frontman Cory Hance have an appealing, adolescent quality, whether he's whining at you like your bratty little brother or snottily drawling extra syllables into words like early Liam Gallagher (particularly on "Fluff," which could be a first cousin to Oasis' "Supersonic" or "Acquiesce"). This is first-rate, muscular rock, and the only misstep here seems to be the anthemic (replete with acoustic guitar opening) rocker "Spaceman." But as long as the trio (and whatever bass player has been rented for the moment) keeps the guitars revved up and Hance keeps up the punkish whining, this is appealing rock of the highest order.-AMG



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