Pushin Too Hard is, as most of you may know, a great cover of the Seeds classic done in that typical So. Cal. punk rock way. Strange that you can directly hear that it´s an old 80´s Cali band yet it has a sound all of their own often marked by great a vocalist and enthusiastic instrumentation.

This was later reissued with a sleeve. Why didn´t the first press have one?

Country: USA
Year: 1980
Label: Posh Boy
Format: 7″
Songs:
Pushin’ Too Hard.mp3
Cover Girl.mp3

Here’s a little gem that I judged by the cover, and expected some we-just-bought-our-instruments-and-they-sound-like-this-punk by a bunch of snotty teenagers. Well, as you can hear by yourself this is not as snotty and amateurish as it looks, and I would say that it’s actually closer to power pop than to punk. Surprisingly well played and even an acoustic (social democratic progg) break in the song T-vald.

I was a bit disappointed when I heard it, except for the track Valen, but after a few spins it grew on me and now I think it’s almost as catchy as their second E.P., which is a pure power pop release, and probably has the only song about a girl who won’t comeback to her boyfriend even though he baked her a yummy apple pie. Geeze, that sentence was so long and informative that I can stop writing now.

Country: Sweden
Year: 1979
Label: Badliv
Format: 7″
Songs:
Valen.mp3
T-vald.mp3
Otrygg framtid.mp3

I’m more into good songs based around melody, arrangement(that dosen’t include a guitar god wanking around for 5 minutes), chord patterns etc then guitar riffs but sometimes they grab me. Here’s one example. City Slang is, hold your breath, 5:23!! One of the few rock(I don’t include symphonic rock or progg rock here since that’s a whole other thing) songs that I can sit through despite it’s Operatic length. Yeah it’s magic. Pure magic and I can understand why Swedens The Hellacopters based their whole catalog around City Slang. They did? You ask. Yes they did. 

Country: USA
Year: 1978
Label: Orchide
Format: 7″
Songs:
City Slang(stereo).mp3
City Slang(mono).mp3

Demented vocals fucking around with chainsaw guitars, you know you need it. Destry Hampton sounds even more demented then the singer of Mentally Ill, that should tell you something. Yet a band I know nothing about except that their one and only 7″ RULES and that they where from California. One person that you might recognize is the drummer Danny Mihm. Can anyone confirm it’s the same Danny of Flamin’ Groovies? 

Country: USA
Year: 1978
Label: Z’Bop
Format: 7″
Songs:
Angel Of Madness.mp3
Razor King.mp3
Paradise.mp3
Mean Boys.mp3

Here’s a timeless Swedish classic  7″ with some great punk for all us lovers of harmonica! Did I just make you throw up? All I can say about it is: never mind the harmonica, here’s Ravjunk! The b-side is a surprisingly good cover of the usually boring Dylan number. Oh, you don’t have to worry about the text on the label that says it’s at least 5 minutes long, it’s actually only 3.50 which is a shame.

Ravjunk recently got back together, so if you wanna book them for a gig in your shitty hometown, drop them a line over at their myspace site or visit their official website. Make sure to ask them if they got a spare copy of their highly collectable LP Uppsala Stadshotell Brinner when you’re there as well. I’m sure it’s the first time anyone will ask them that.

Country: Sweden
Year: 1979
Label: Sub
Format: 7″
Songs:
Bohman, Bohman.mp3
All along the watchtower.mp3