I’ve been lucky these past few weeks. Looking at all the talent compiled below I think I should also pat myself in the back for having such an awesome eye for cheap goodies. Read on and spread the word!

I searched and I searched. And then I searched some more and only after about fifteen minutes I was able to find a page about the Japanese rock and roll band Jet Rollers.  In the same vein of other J-rawkers who seem to totally ignore the rest of the world, the Jet Rollers webpage is totally in Japanese, which means that the only thing I understand is their song titles.  Last Saturday while checking the cutout bin section of a record store I used to visit frequently back in the day I stumbled upon the Jet Rollers’ first release, the EP Howling Chelsea (God Records, 2003). The copy was still in shrinkwrap and with a moniker like that, a cover like the one you see to the right and a price tag of $0.99 how could you go wrong? You couldn’t, that’s right! The Jet Rollers obviously bend to the feet of Johnny Thunders and The New York Dolls and in these six songs display some fucking rock and roll chops rarely heard since those final shows Johnny Thunders gave in Japan shortly before his untimely death. Energetic, melodic and sung totally in Japanese (despite some songs having English titles) Howling Chelsea rules an American style like few American bands have in the past couple of decades.

The compilation titled Manifest(o) is a gem dipped in sludge. Some excellent bands do the rounds in this 1999 release by the defunct label Infernal Racket. In it, we can find tunes by the mighty Israeli sludge trio Rabies Caste, along with early songs from current post-rocking gods Isis, ex-forward thinking hardcore gods Cave In along with a plethora of 90’s hardcore luminaries like Time In Malta, Burn It Down and Turmoil. But the most devastating songs come from the more unknown bands, like the awesome sludge/noisemakers of Superhighway Carfire (who put out a full-length titled Deffective Immediately in 1998 and another one titled Shell of a Man in 2002, both thru Infernal Racket), the underrated and recently reissued Cavity (the Miami band that at one point counted a Torche member in its ranks), and Baltimore Godflesh worshippers Meatjack who turn in one of their best songs in “You Fuck”; a distorted and saturated godly cake stomper.   Despite a few missteps (Stillwater blow chunks) this is quite frankly, one of the best compilations I have had the pleasure of listening to in like forever. And it only cost me $0.99.

Like the Jet Rollers’ Howling Chelsea, I found Skin Yard’s 1993 album Inside the Eye still in shrinkwrap and for the price of $0.99. Unlike the Jet Rollers, Skin Yard (pictured above) sucked a little bit. Famous for dishing out pretty average grunge rock at a time when the top of the heap was also dishing out pretty average grunge rock, Skin Yard is also popular for having a guitarist named Jack Endino. Yes, that Endino. For those not in the know Endino is a world renowned producer who is partly responsible for the scruffy grunge sound of early records by Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden. Issued by Greg Ginn’s (Black Flag) Cruz Records, Inside the Eye is a well-written record, stuffed with solid songs and some very interesting arrangements; “Undetow” is plagued by an infectious wah-wah guitar and though the vocals of McMillan do not have the range of a Chris Cornell, nor the unique softness/blandness of an Eddie Vedder, he is more than capable of carrying the tunes with certain attitude. Unfortunately, there is certain flatness and comfortability to the Skin Yard sound that is a bit too commonplace amongst decent bands that fail to break into the big time.

Not much of a pop punk fan around here. The genre is what it is, you know? It clearly says pop in it, so I’d be dumb to expect anything resembling the grittiness or roughness that I usually like with my music. Not to say that I don’t like pop either, but I’ll claim to be a purist here. I like some pop, but I do not necessarily like it when it is laced with punk or metal. I want my cheese pure man. That said, like most Swedish bands, 59 Times the Pain kinda excel at what they do; loads of hooks, super safe guitar driven hard rock, massive choruses that are stickier than a licked candy, and of course, cute ties hanging lopsided. Yeah, ties. Calling the Public (Burning Heart, 2000), which is the band’s last album before their 2001 break up, has enough amiability to it to place it along the work of the best American pop punk bands.  If that’s not enough incentive to get you interested in it, then you’ve come to the right place.  

From the soft and mushy end of the spectrum we go to the other much nicer crusty bitter end; one where shine does not exist, one where melody is almost an insult, one where hooks are served in nanoseconds and only if you can find them and one where nuances equal a kick in the balls. Yes, from Sweden bubblegum we go to raw Japanese hardcore. California’s Six Weeks Records have been putting out high quality no gloss punk and hardcore since the early 90’s. They are also one of the few labels actively putting out oriental and Latin American bands. Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to snap a copy of the Japanese hardcore compilation Six Weeks Omnibus Vol. 2 for only $3.99. This one ’s got it all and it actually covers quite the range; from the totally distorted and hiss saturated sounds of S.C.U.M., to the stuck in fourth gear 80’s nostalgic trip of Exhale. Others like Flame are mad and have such bark, while Civil Rights act like lunatics one second and chant communally ‘oohhhh, ooohhh’, in their Black Flag cover of “My War” on the next.  Gouka are fast and hyper aggressive and the vocalist sounds like he’s got rabies. Their five songs will have you foaming at the mouth. Top stuff. Opening up the record are three songs from Soulcraft who not only play at hyper speeds but also add nice rock and roll guitar lines. Do the Japanese absolutely rule the rock world? I think, yes. 

The following is without a doubt one of my best finds ever. I paid $6.99 for this wonderful three-disc compilation from the harsh bambinos over at SOA Records in Italy. But this is no lame one-track per band compilation type of shit. Hell No!. Old Days Nostalgia packs mostly entire EP’s and split release work from some of the most caustic noisemakers of our days. Included bands are Florida anarchists Assück, crusties Disrupt, short busters Anal Cunt, Italian sickos Cripple Bastards, Belgian legends Agathocles, California power violents Man is the Bastard, Finland’s now ass-kissed Rotten Sound and Rich Hoak’s baby Total Fucking Destruction. And those are the popular ones, along for the hellride are more obscure European and Asian bands like Society of Jesus, Dudman, Motorsaegenservice, Bloodred Bacteria, S.S.P., Gerogerigegege, Dogfight, Nagant 1895, Cracked Cop Skulls, Fucking Blood, 7 Minutes of Nausea, Obtrude, Dogmatized, End of Silence and Bloodsuckingfreaks. Still there? Come one now, you should be hunting this down on the internets! One spin of Old Days Nostalgia will make you shit blue.

I’ve about had it with all the gruesome pictures in record sleeves. Frankly, when are we going to grow up? Never? That’s ok I guess. Metal music is eternally damned to remain childish and as such, atrocities are bound to remain part of the genre’s folklore. But this one kinda puzzles me because the mid tempo tech metal in this album does not necessarily go along with the gore pictures of absolutely massacred faces inside the sleeve or the six decapitated heads displayed on the cover. Anyway, Worldly Separation (Dwell/Witchhunt, 1994) is the first full-length by Ontario’s Inner Thought who actually dedicate this weird prog/tech/thrash metal recording to ‘all the vicitms of the war in Yugoslavia and around the world’. Inner Thought is the band formed by guitarists Bobby Sadzak and Dave Hewson after their split from Strappado, the band that formed after the demise of the mighty thrashers Slaughter so you would have thought Worldly Separation shreds but nope. There are several other reasons why this record isn’t all that good; the mid tempo is boring enough, add to that programmed drums, occasional ghastly female operatic vocals, samples and what we have is a half cooked concoction of raw ideas.

On a much lighter and much better note is this release by The Infections of whom I have no information whatsoever but considering Kill… was recorded in San Francisco I’ll assume they hail from the Bay Area. Regardless of geographic birthplaces, Kill… (Rip Off, 1997) is a pretty bad ass garage punk record. Very energetic, very bratty, very in your face, very loud and very much in the vein of classic bands like the Dead Boys this record is quite relentless in its search for obnoxiousness and fun. Song titles go from “Zombie” to “Smash Your Face” to “Damage Your Health” and “Everybody’s Girl” so we all know their kind. Living proof that the US still has the power to produce quality high octane rock and roll.