Despite the fact that this New York act has been around for a damn long time and has a ton of releases out, I've never heard a complete Kill Your Idols record until this showed up in my mailbox. I've read a million interviews with the band in various zines over the years, and I've heard scattered songs here and there, but for whatever reason I never paid attention. I don't know why, because even though I'm not blown away by this, it is good stuff. Straightforward hardcore with a little bit of a punk edge both musically and vocally (the yelling definitely has a gruff sort of attitude to it, sounding like a UK sort of style to me, maybe like a more hardcore version of The Exploited), with simple chord progressions, rocked out lead breaks, pounding basslines, and a solid sense of pissed off attitude. Hell, with a song title like "Only Dicks Don't Like Black Flag" you've gotta like these guys at least a little bit! Opener "Blown Up, Burnt Out" kicks in right away after a moshy intro with a lot of high energy speed that represents their style well, "20 Bucks" is a mere 14 seconds of fury, the title track throws in just a little bit of melody to the rhythms and is almost catchy in a way, "Miserable and Satisfied" is short and to the point with a killer bass intro, "Don't Call Me, I Won't Call You" has some melodic lead lines that are far more blatantly punk influenced, and "15 Minutes" is a little darker (without losing the speedy tempos of the majority of the material) with some cool dissonance that I'd like to hear more of. They cover "Still Pist" by The Pist as well, and it fits right in with their original material. The production's fine. The bass tone is absolutely fucking perfect and the vocals sound really good as well (Perhaps lightly distorted? Whatever it is it's intentional and I like it.), with the drums inching out as a little bit taut and the guitars maybe barely too crisp, but it's heavy and clear without sounding metal so I'm not complaining. The design looks nice on this one, consistently using high contrast imagery with black, white, and bright red coloring. The lyrics cover a range of topics from personal issues to scene commentary (of which there seems to be plenty), more specifically dealing with attitudes and judgmental behavior and that sort of thing. A lot of the songs definitely get more involved than average though, despite the blunt and to the point delivery. It's nothing groundbreaking but I can appreciate the approach. That's actually how I feel about the whole record. It's nothing new, but there's a good sense of energy and I appreciate what they're doing. It's a good listen.
[Side One Dummy]
Running time - 28:39, Tracks: 15
[Notable tracks: Intro/ Blown Up, Burnt Out, From Companionship to Competition, Miserable and Satisfied, 15 Minutes]
Side One Dummy Records - http://www.sideonedummy.com
