There are certain bands that fill a certain niche and feel no need to venture outside it. The Cliftons fall into a style that harkens back to "Blood, Guts, and Pussy" era Dwarves. It's quick, short, and obnoxious. It's not the soundtrack to the people's revolution, but it'll likely annoy your vegan girlfriend.

Your Best Sucks is an interesting album. I guess you could call it "modern hard rock", but this isn't Nickleback. There's punk and metal underpinnings to Piss Ant's sound. I'm not sure where the Jone Jett comparison comes from, because vocalist Josi Kat has more in common with someone like Adri (The Voids) or Dinah Cancer (45 Grave) than Ms Jett. I suspect that they go over really well in clubs on the Sunset Strip. Drinking party metal? Sure, why not. If your music collection is strictly punk and hardcore, then you might want to pass on this however if you're not afraid to stick your toe into strange waters, you may just like Piss Ant.

Unfortunately, this street punk/oi compilation has more misses than hits. Other than the tracks by The Business, Pressure 28, the music is second rate at best (though "Cutting A Dash" and "Cowshit Under My Wheels" are entertaining as minor novelty songs). The poetry tracks are utterly forgetable. Both Joey Teen and Jimmy Mack come off a poor man's John Cooper Clarke. If you're looking for a good oi comp, pass on this one.

Jeez, what a load of self-indulgent crap. I'm actually kinda impressed that someone could do a compilation with an equal level suckiness straight across the board. Bad bad bad!!!

UK Thrashcore is the order of the day on this collection of out of print material from Voorhees. If you like your music fast and angry, this is definitely gonna be your cup of tea (stein of ale?) Get it while ya still can.

Upon first listen, I was disappointed. Everything was technically "better" than their first album, but it lacked the scrappy immediacy of their debut, and so I filed it away in the to-be-traded-in pile. For some reason I decided to give it one more spin before I traded it off, and I'm glad that I did. I guess I just needed some time to appreciate it. This is definitely in the rock and roll vein, as opposed to straight up punk rock (though admittedly the track, Who's To Blame, is a flailing rocker.) It's an uneven release but when the band decides to drop the hammer, they bring it down hard. I suppose comparisons to The Distillers and Civet are inevitable, but Fiction Reform are their own band and they do what they do very fucking well.

While this isn't the monsterous rager that their "Thou Shalt Not Kill" EP is, Antidote's latest release is a good solid slab of early style NYHC. Even with the gang chants and breakdowns, it avoids the "tough guy ghetto" that many bands fall into. If I had any complaints, it's that I expected the lyrics to be a bit more sophisticated as these are guys that've been around the block a few times. Still, if you're looking for something that sounds like some lost NYHC record from 1985, then this is the one for you.

Along with Slime and Canal Terror, Daily Terror were one of the more popular German punk bands of the 80s. Like many German punk bands of the time, Daily Terror had an Oi/punk sound. If you like that style and aren't put off that the songs aren't in English, then I would highly recommend this collection of rare and unreleased tracks from this great band.

Rather than go total crossover, Gang Green's 1986 album, Another wasted Night, would be one of the better attempts at melding hardcore punk with a strong AC/DC influence (fellow Boston outfits SSD and DYS would not fare nearly as well). Tracks like "Alcohol", "Skate To Hell", and "Another Wasted Night" were full-on party anthems and the album still stands up well 27 years later. 1997's Another Case Of Brewtality tries capturing the spirit of Another Wasted Night but with mixed results. The party anthems are still there but lacks the wreckless abandon of the Another Wasted Night. However there's still some quality material. All in all, you get some pretty serious bang for your buck on this two disc set.

Someone obviously left their NY Dolls and Heartbreakers albums out for their sons to find. This is some seriously straight-up unadulterated Thunders worship, and yet it stands on it's own as definitely a great solid rock & roll album that bristles with a punk rock sensibility. You can't put your arms around a memory but you can get your hands on this album. LAMF indeed.