Off!

This album as well as The Bermondsey Joyriders (see other review) tell quite a remarkable story between them. On the face of it these are two quintessential punk outfits, one has origins in London 1975 - 77 and the other is based in LA and has all the angst and brio of a true 1977 punk outfit except that they are as NOW as The Kardashians.

Back in the day the general opinion was that Punk was a new start - a year zero - for music and was quickly going to transform and the advent of New Wave and then Power Pop seemed to bear that out. Under the skin though the punk ethos never went away and it rears its head in thrash metal as well as in the US Punk-Core scene. The original US Punks were more musical than the UK bands but they have degenerated into the likes of Blink 182 and Bowling For Soup. On the positive side though there has been a Californian scene that stays true to the UK model. So that brings us to OFF!

Under 16 minutes and 16 tracks, all written by the team of Keith Morris (vocals, ex=Black Flag) and Dmitri Coats (guitar) and played with an incredible attack and charge. There is nothing here I haven't heard before but the playing is excellent and the self belief is almost graspable.
Morris vocals are the main weapon but the whole thing bristles with anger and power