v/a "Drunk Fools vs. True Till Death" compilation CD
[Läjä]
This disc offers up a whopping 28 tracks from four Brazilian bands in barely under 30 minutes! Starting off is I Shot Cyrus with some absolutely blazing hardcore/punk with tons of speed and energy packed into short songs generally lasting no more than a minute. The vocals are raging high-pitched yells, and the music is just fast, in your face hardcore with no frills. The band features members of Point of No Return, Infect, and Ratos de Porao, but they have their own sound in my opinion. They close out with a cover of SSD's "The Kids Will Have Their Say", and that might give you an idea of where they're coming from. They've got a decent sound going for them, too. Not bad. Merda is up next with their brand of raw hardcore/punk rock with totally over the top and insane vocals. Honestly the rugged recording with lots of sloppy distortion and really loud vocals doesn't really do the songs justice, but what can you do? I sort of like these songs a little more than what I've heard from Merda in the past, but it's still a bit dirty and messy for me to really get into. Jäzzus is similar, but more aggressive and grinding, with distortion all over the place, blasting beats, cackling vocal screams, and a chaotic sense of disarray to their incredibly short songs. It wouldn't be all that bad if the recording wasn't so rugged and sloppy, although I must admit that this style of grind is really not something that I ever truly get into. I can appreciate the humor value to some degree, but musically it needs something more to grab me. Closing things out is the Evil Idols, cranking out some rockin' punk with a lot of total rock 'n' roll riffs and raspy vocals that rest on the line between yelling and singing. They're not the tightest band on earth, but that's probably on purpose. They're fun and the songs are pretty memorable. I also like that the drums sound natural and the bass plays a large role, helping hold down the rough guitar tone and dry vocals. The sound works for their style, and the songs seem more memorable overall than what I've heard from their other work. The layout's really cool. Everything's in black and white with illustrations that range from crude sketches of moshing skeletons to tattoo-esque designs, and then there are a few pages for each band with additional artwork and lyrics for all of the songs. All of the lyrics are in Portuguese except for a few songs here and there, and all of the Evil Idols' tracks. I Shot Cyrus seems to be the most serious of the group, though all of the bands clearly have a good sense of humor. All in all this is a nice document of four fairly different bands, but I must say that I Shot Cyrus and the Evil Idols really save the disc from being a bit too boring. I'd love to hear more from I Shot Cyrus especially. Good work. (6/10)
Running time - 29:24, Tracks: 28
[Notable tracks: Por Que Viver Assim?, Deus Capital, Mamae Costura Meus Patches, Presos ao Passado..., Short Tale About Whiskey and a Lady, Rock 'n' Roll Riot]
Läjä Records - http://www.laja.com.br

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