Asslunch – “Demo”
Asslunch – “Demo” – Rude, Crude, and full of attitude, is the first thing that comes to my mind when I listed to this demo. Asslunch’s “Demo” has the same confrontational style of say The Meatmen, with probably even less talent. This demo is filled with raging minor-chord guitar bashing, speedy and raw drumming punctuated with his manic four –four stomp with short frantic rolls whenever possible and the bassist trying to keep up with it all while the lyrics are bellowed out about Jehovah’s Witness’s, Cherry Bombs & Kidney Stones. Some of it is funny, some of it almost sounds serious and it’s all one not-so-long blast of raging energy. As such things go, it’s not really all that tight or reasonably well played & the songs kinda sorta have some hooks. Whichever way you look at it their band is strangely entertaining in a raw train wreck kind of way, but if you’re looking for nuance your pretty much out of luck. Then again, if you’re looking for any type of nuance in a punk album, you’ve obviously been misinformed as to how this punk rock stuff works.
The Bloody Turncoats “demo” – A guess this is some form of folk punk? I really can’t figure it out. It sounds like a mix of Celtic and gypsy punk music maybe played with a banjo of some sort? It’s not necessarily bad; it’s just a little different than what I might choose to normally listen to. My assumption is that the guys in this band have a lot of facial hair, wear flannel shirts and smoke the marijuana. The unique sound of the guitar (or banjo I don’t know) adds a certain degree of depth and intelligence that differs from the usual indie/folk sound. The lyrics and rhymes along with sprawling instrumentation eloquently express the mood of the demo songs deep rooted feeling of desperation, anguish, loneliness. Whether that’s the intent of the music is unclear, but it definitely gives me that feeling.
Trophy Wives – “In Heat” – The title of the band is fantastic, but that’s the last good thing to report on this band. The songs are boring; they have no real initial intent or personality to them. They lag excitement and if they're trying to be emotional they lagged that too. The songs all sound like they have the same riffs with little variance or it’s just the singer’s voice that doesn’t change much, either way it ‘s more interesting to play 1 person go fish then listen to Trophy Wives- “In Heat”.
Southpaw – “Stand for something” Ballistic Riffs; heart pounding double time drums, and chugga chugga choo choo guitars that create an obvious NYHC sound. Southpaw takes that late 80’s /early 90’s NYHC sound and creates a matrix of old school influence with the speed core thrash influenced sound of Thrash Metal. Instantaneously you can hear influence of the old favorites likes Gorilla Biscuits, Underdog & Madball Blended together with Slayer, Megadeth & Pantara. Vocally the singer’s voice is a high pitched assault of lyrical aggression in your face with every breath.
Zooparty – “You are here” - I guess this release is more Indie Rock then Punk and it makes me want to shoot myself when it's late at night and I'm not thinking clearly. It isn't that this album sucks, it's just ... boring. Rehashed Indie rock chord progressions, an indolent "punk" attitude, the same sentiments spouted on countless "Born to Lose"-themed records since Johnny Thunders. If this is what I have to look forward to, fuck living forever. I don’t know maybe it was the anticipation or expectation an album touting the inclusion of such punk notables such as; Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) playing guitar on “Smile” or Brian James (The Damned) playing lead guitar on “Smile”& “Zooparty” and the entire thing being produced by Glen Matlock I 
Sadplant – “Happy Learned How To Putt” – This self produced release shows a lot of promise and it is definitely different than most of the stuff you’ll hear out there. “Happy Learned How To Putt” is a skate punk fashioned album filled with Punchy choruses and catchy beats. The drumming and bass is extremely tight on this album and helps set them above others of a similar genre. 
The Ridicules – “Don’t Try” – I was so happy when I saw this CD was ready to be released. I’ve been following The Ridicules since the 1st time I heard them 2-3 years ago (I think). Anyway, The Ridicules have finally released a full length that every fan of weasel influenced pop punk should own. “Don’t Try” contains some great (re-mastered) songs I’ve reviewed in the past, “Last Night”, “Give Up” & Beer Goggles. All of which are amazing songs on their own, but when you combine them with these other previously unreleased songs, create easily one of the top 3 albums of 2008 (and the year is just a quarter of the way done). From the opening track, “Insomnia” through the entire CD to “Break Up Song”, “Don’t Try” is a basic up-tempo pop-punk album of clean, simplistic rhythms working the songs forward with high octane riffs, jumpy bass lines, snares that jump out of your speakers with a pop that subconsciously get your head nodding and feet tapping. 
Sexhead – “I Abuse” – These fine young men of the musical group “Sexhead” hail from the great land of Montreal, Canada. Like many other Canadian bands Sexhead kicks a lot of ass and doesn’t take prisoners.
Goldfinger – “Hello Destiny” As far as sell out punk bands go, Goldfinger is right up there at the top. In my opinion they have always written and performed boring, three minute slices of VH1 radio rock. The punk music community is still being haunted by the 90’s MTV experimental phase of transforming fringe punk bands into popularity such as Goldfinger, The Offspring & 311. The instrumental piece of the band was good at what they do, but what they do is generic, vocally the singer sounds like any band on your local alternative rock or top 40 radio station. The record is easy listening melodic that has a problem putting together a consistent set of material or a sound that keeps my attention. There really isn’t anything catchy or even thought provoking about one song on this album and the hard rock aspect falls flat on its face.