Labels: onion flavored records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Onion Flavored Records is one of my favourite labels at the moment, in that they consistently are putting out records that I am enjoying. Not ones that I am spinning all the time, but ones that are just flat out good. Sexy are the band behind the latest record that I have acquired on this label. They crank out 12 (I think) songs of punk rock on here, the production is shabby, the band sound half cut and the music is storming. Just super fun, melodic punk rock played by a bunch of dudes in a room. Nothing more to it. Bands like this always make me think of Crimpshrine, even if they don’t sound exactly like it. It’s the shambolic nature of the vocals and instrumentation that gives rise to that comparison, like little attention was paid to that side of things – almost as if the guys in the band just turned up at someones house, and that person happened to have some kind of recording equipment that may or may not work properly, and the band then jams out their songs in one take and they put a record out. That’s how it feels, and that’s how DIY punk / hardcore should be, don’t you think? Despite this impression, the band certainly is well capable of playing their instruments and blasting things out, as the retro-sounding and rather catchy “Pink Elephants” proves. My favourite song is super poppy “Smoking Popes”, which is still clouded by the fuzzy production but really busts out.
So yeah, not much more to say. Really cool and fun record that sounds like it may fall apart at the seams into a bunch of rowdy drunks having a fight, but somehow they save it til after the recording was done. If you’re into Crimpshrine, Grabass Charlestons or Dillinger 4 before the first LP when they had no concept of the word ‘tight’, then you’ll probably enjoy this. Good stuff! I wish they had left the live track off mind you.