"Handouts" is one of the better songs from the album, and they throw in a few extras to round everything out.

"No Use" is a fast punk rave that is a long ways from the usual BTJ sound. Playing with the old days, I suppose. And speaking of old days, they re-record a track from their first album. As a joke, it's kinda funny. I think that's what it is.

Of course, there's a hidden track. They even tell you it's there, which doesn't make it so hidden, does it? You're supposed to enjoy it, so go ahead.

I didn't think it could happen. Not to slam Roadrunner (really), but Buzzov*en is a little far out for their roster. There isn't a straight-ahead bone in any of the members. How would they fit into the wondrous metal marketing machine that is Roadrunner?

I can't answer that, but the album rules. It manages to capture even more of their live feel (talk about amazing) than their Allied stuff, and the moderately clean production suits Buzzov*en's style perfectly.

You haven't heard of them? Bullshit. I first heard of the live show about two years ago. When I finally caught it at CMJ, I was suitably impressed. Stunned, actually.

Rising from the outer reaches of hell, Buzzov*en haS come to pillage. Maybe if you offer your soul, the boys will let you off lightly. Buzzov*en demands attention. You won't be able to resist.

Like the title suggests, this is a collection of singles from 1988-1993. But most of the mixes on the disc are new, just so you don't think you're being ripped off.

Instead of merely claiming to be influenced by the German experimental electronic movement of the seventies, Clock DVA has been around long enough to be an influence all unto itself. The liners seem to claim that Clock DVA is somehow personally responsible for the new wave reaction to punk. This has some truth to it, but I think the case is a bit overstated.

If you're not familiar with Clock DVA, the songs are much more actively theatrical and "arty" than what you're probably used to. Relying less on beats and synthesizers to create moods, Clock FVA merely comes right at you. What's said is what is meant to be understood. And the music is still very interesting.

What really is amazing is that Clock DVA can manage to still be experimental and so damned prolific, over fifteen years into its existence. This taste should get you nicely warmed.

"So that's the Jane's Addiction rhythm section's new thing?" my friend asked. "From what I hear, they didn't have much to do with the band's music."

"Then it just might not suck," I said. The only thing that raises a red flag quicker in my mind than "featuring ex-members of Jane's Addiction" is "featuring ex-members of Whitesnake". Eew.

The positive thing I can say is that I listened to the whole album without cringing much. Porno for Pyros absolutely drove me up a wall, what with Perry Ferrell's self-absorbed pile of shit and all.

Yes, this is masturbatory to an extreme. The name of the band has something to do with their approach to music. Most of this is disjointed rambling, held together by mundane riffage. It's not a garish failure like PfP, but maybe you should at least aspire to something. It sure sucks to try this hard to end up dull.

After considering what to call this, I finally had to settle on the completely unworthy "electronic". There are elements of techno, though with an admittedly ambient overwash. And Pupka Frey (the man who is Din) throws a lot of other things into the mix.

And then there are tracks like "Space Jelly", which have more than a passing reference to funk. Oh, that fluid bass!

A master of subtleties, Din is a collection of all I mentioned and a lot more. There is a pleasant texture to the music, and you'll never get to the center of it. Alright.

Surprise, surprise. Dave Smalley pissed off the last version of DBL and got a new crop of folks to pitch in.

They do more than a passable job, although things do get a little dreary by the end. It seems Smalley may have run out of ideas a little early. The Proclaimers over is kinda funny the first time, really dumb the second.

I can't imagine DBL holding court another time. Smalley should do what Chrissy Hynde shoulda done years ago: go by your own fucking name and leave the other name behind. This isn't a band, really. So let's not fake it.

They found a real punchy sound in the studio, but the music is still out at sea somewhere.

This is so bombastic with so little substance. I love the feel Scott Sargeant got in the booth, but the songs just don't grab me. Only that fat, thick, whomping sound.

It really is a shame to waste such talent twisting the knobs behind these songs. But it happens. I don't think I've even been quite so taken by a production job and yet disappointed by the music itself. Hunh.

About five years ago, Fates Warning was one of my favorite bands (around the time of No Exit). Their two subsequent releases disappointed me, mostly because they music seemed to lose its edge, the musicians more interested in creating linear songs.

That trend continues on Inside Out, with Fates Warning as accessible and easy-listening as ever before. I'm not sure why they haven't ridden a mellow tune to stardom a la Queensryche yet, but my guess is that Metal Blade doesn't have the bucks EMI has.

Despite my slagging, I do like this album. It just doesn't challenge me like early FW, and that continues to bum me out. I think this is a little better than Parallels, but not by much. Old fans are the hardest to satisfy, I know, but maybe there's something to that, after all.

Not a new album, re-mixes of songs that Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb originally put together some seven or eight years ago. If you know your FLA history (probably better than me), you know Bill put out a good number of tapes before FLA got a deal. This disc says none of these songs were on those, but they are from that period of time.

It is a little dated, with more than a passing reference to Kraftwerk, which is hardly surprising. Within the constraints that such music had set for itself back then, though, Leeb and Fulber do have some nice experimental touches.

This is an interesting look back. Some of the songs are more up-to-date than others, but in this genre fads have come and gone quicker than Vanilla Ice. Some of the more prescient songs would even stand well as new music today. Dig through and see what you can mine.

I tossed this on. Soon my stereo was making a noise that sounded vaguely like a car wreck. So I turned it up. Alright!

One caveat to this glorious display of noise: the production really sucks. I can't hear one instrument clearly, though the vocals aren't completely godawful.

In this case, however, terrible knob twisting just might have helped add to the wondrous chaos inside. No one can claim that there is old world craftsmanship going on here, but man, does it rock!

I guess the way to start is by asking a question. Do you know what the Jesus Lizard is? If not, proceed directly to your station's library and find out. You could just play this disc, but I think you need real seasoning.

Those who answered yes may continue. If you've seen their live show, I should tell you they still haven't managed to translate that experience onto disc. Yet. This is much the same sound as they got on Liar, which is to say clean. Yeah, there's the requisite hollering, but everything is modulated oh-so-nicely.

In other words, it's the new Jesus Lizard. There are some new songs for you to burn into your head (including an interesting deconstruction of "Low Rider"), but no new ground has been broken. Somehow I don't think that will stop me from loving it.

I loved the 7", I loved the advance, and the disc only makes things better. Kepone have a sense of rhythm that completely shreds its competitors.

It's the speed that really does it. Kepone takes a hardcore attack and merges it with that keen Chicago noise thing (of course, they're from Richmond, a town I've slammed before), not forgetting to add just a pinch of punk melodic sensibility. Um, it's really very good.

Looking back at this year, I think I've had two or three favorite albums of the year so far. Hell, that's better than Joel Siegel, who seems to see the "Movie of the Year!" twice a week. But I refuse to cheapen that declaration, so I won't make it any more. This is one of the best albums I've heard this year, and with the potential I sense, them Kepone boys could be real rock gods real soon.

Take Rollins, add gruffer vocals and more metallic riffs. Keep the same moronic bass line. You get Madball.

Well, that's not entirely fair. Madball keeps the beat rolling better, and even occasionally comes up with a song I like. Yeah, it's really hard to find an original riff or beat, but sometimes this stuff does rock.

Not enough, though. It's even pretty good in spots, but I can't find something in the music that will make me remember Madball. That's the final test.

Saw a review of this album that marveled at the "new-found jazz sensibility" on the disc. I guess they missed the last record.

Stylistically five thousand light years from Hell With the Lid Off (except for the occasional times the vocals just drop off the map), this album takes the funky grooves of Welcome to My Dream and then mellows further.

As always, the message is damned subversive, highly cynical and dead-on. And there are the occasional hit-single types, like "If I Only Had a Brain", which I heard twice on the Michigan State station when I was in Lansing a couple of weeks ago. Suppose I did accidentally get my shit together?

And if you haven't noticed yet, MC 900 puts on a great, low-key show. When I saw him, he had a dj, a drummer and a guy who alternated between bass clarinet and saxophone. He played trumpet a lot. Yes, it was fantastic.

This is fun, loopy and also quite engaging. Not to mention mentally arresting. Somewhere in here you can hear God shoot up. At least, that's what I heard.

Yeah, so I'm a few months late here. You folks didn't tell me I fucked up the name of the label in the charts. We're even.

Um, did it strike any of you that these folk are nasty latter-day White Zombie clones? Hell, they even included remixes that don't save the songs.

Why copy something that really sucks? Because you can make money. And I hate people like that. I'm sure they swear they believe in their music. I sure don't.

Once they were perhaps the sloppiest band with a record contract. Now the sound and playing are clean, but all the early spirit still crams though. At times you wonder if the center will hold together, and it always does.

This is a little looser than their last album (which had an official name and a less-sensitive one), both lyrically and musically, but still on the sharp side of the line.

Crass, insightful and a big wad of fun. I'm so pissed I missed their show last month (I thought it started at 10; I was wrong). The perfect blend of tuneage and pissed off punk angst (even with a couple of songs about those who have, ahem, "moved on"). Positively glorious.

Just in case you thought the momentary downtime between Front Line Assembly side projects was getting a bit long, here's another.

Very hard techno (this stuff is more than merely aggressive; it draws blood), Noise Unit is often heavier than regular FLA releases, but with this incessant techno beat plowing everything underneath.

A big change from other, more ambient, FLA sides that I'm more familiar with. I think their experience re-mixing Fear Factory shows up here, because the is a nice use of guitars (not all the time, but well-placed) and as often as not the vocals are rather strained. It sounds like someone's pissed, and that's a new trick in this genre. I was expecting something good when I cracked the case; it turned out to be great.<

Mid-tempo pop with the occasional wonderfully crashing guitar. Hooks to the hilt, and a satisfying punch. Nice linear guitar work that can't help but knock in your skull.

Just a wonderful two-song gem. One Hit Wonder has at least two good tunes here, so maybe the name will be nicely oxymoronic.

I like these guys. They ask for an honest review. I think they meant it, too, 'cause they signed their form letter "Love".

If you ever wondered what a progressive metal band like, say, Into Another, would sound like if it decided to tread lightly into the doom/death metal waters, you might find it with Possession.

They work a little too hard at constructing the music; once they find a groove, they too often shift gears again. But Nyk Edinger throws his voice from singing to growling through a few octaves. I like that a lot. I also like the varied instrumentation and the willingness to try new ideas out.

There is work to be done, but I think Possession would be better off just relaxing and going with the flow, like they did with much of the last song, "Have No Fear". Good music, well-produced. Fun to listen to.

No, the two songs are untitled as well. As a matter of fact, without the little "made in Canada" stamp, you might be confused as to which side of the disc is up.

While I generally like to tear down the cult status of bands (enough Pavement shit, okay?), I like Slint. Perhaps mostly because they don't exist anymore. That makes the folk truly ideal.

Why this disc? Well, there were these outtakes, see…no I mean it. And all those little Slint freaks out there wanted to hear them. But does that mean they're good, or even worth the cash outlay?

Not to my ear. Two long and not particularly noteworthy songs don't cut it for me. I still like Slint and consider Spiderland to be one of the greatest albums of all time. But I think it's time to move on. This is not worthy.

I really likes their single on Hell Yeah! a while back, and this continues that feeling.

All-over-the-place punk that makes sloppy a big understatement. The Smears aren't much for technical grace, but more in the mood to blast and rip their way through a nasty world.

Many will compare these women to L7, mostly because of their gender. But I think the Smears do owe a lot more to L7 than other female punk stalwarts like 7 Year Bitch and Lunachicks. At times the Smears get awful heavy and just plain threaten speakers with eruption.

Completely uncrafted, the Smears have managed nonetheless to put together an amazingly entertaining set of songs. After a few beers, it gets even better.

A couple of sparsely-produced pop songs are the latest in the DD bands vs. the World 7" series. The Swamp Zombies follow their usual formula: interesting melodies run through a swamp-country-pop wringer. Very pleasant.

Now, to be honest, this is fluff. But very tasty fluff, so you'll hear no complaints from this side.

Are they pop punk or just punk-influenced pop? Is there a difference? I'll quit asking questions now, since the bio claims they don't play either. Fair enough.

Thug Angels crank out great songs for a summer evening, beer at hand. Since that's exactly my situation at the moment, I love the stuff. This is a sampling of four songs from their upcoming full-length, which is titled New Rome.

If you feel the need for music that makes you smile (pretty often for me), Thug Angels are a pretty good fix.