PROTEST THE HERO
Fortress
(Vagrant)

CALDERA
Mist Through Your Consciousness
(Radar Swarm)

DISMEMBER
S/T
(Regain)

SEX MUSEUM
Fifteen Hits That Never Were
(Locomotive)

IN FLAMES
A Sense of Purpose
(Koch)

ASCEND
Ample Fire Within 

(Southern Lord)

PAINT IT BLACK
New Lexicon

(Jade Tree)

MORE REVIEWS

Here is a bit from a boiling scene that’s been heating up for way too long.  A rather regional band that has been hard at it for so long (since 1985) I know they go way back to the backyard of my long term memory. I know I read a couple of pieces about them back in the day when I didn’t even speak English and I learned my A’s, B’s and C’s about rock and roll from year old issues of Metal Hammer and Heavy Rock magazines. From a time when genres were clearly differentiated, when it was almost an offense to dig bands from outside your genre realm.  There weren’t many ways to get a hold of Sex Museum’s material back in the day. The internet, believe it or not, didn’t exist and I was way too little and ripe to realize that I enjoyed sitting in front of a computer and rumble on about shit for hours. But life moves in circles, and over a decade later I hold a copy of Sex Museum’s latest historical compilation. An album that is not about metal, is not about hardcore, nor grind nor death and that lyrically isn’t even about offending the weak souls. This is almost the opposite.

As history have it (and for verification of that you may have to ask a Spaniard), these Madrid bread rockers were digging 60’s garage/punk rockers so much that they decided to head on their own DIY style self-producing their first debut titled Fuzz Face (1987).  Since, Sex Museum have released twelve full-lengths including Fifteen Hits That Never Were, which for the occasion has the band re-recording some of their most representative songs. 

Fifteen Hits That Never Were presents a pretty comprehensive overview of their career, including classic tracks from 2000’s Sonic, 2001’s SpeedKings, 2006’s United and a couple of cuts from others plus one new song (“Wassa Massa”). This digipack is the perfect way to get introduced to Spain’s best brand of straight up rock and roll. The songs are not as rambunctious as one might expect, but Sex Museum were never about that, their punk edge keeps certain order, with chops and quality in playing and songwriting ruling over guts and visceral approach.  In some parts, they even display several classic rock traits, such as the keyboard work peppering the mid tempo of “Something for Real”. But principally, Fifteen Hits That Never Were shall be shelved alongside releases from The Hellacopters, as they keep aligned in the same guitar-oriented territoriality.

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