Labels: Drunken Sailor
Review by: MH
The last time I got sent something with 50-ish songs it nearly broke me. This time Japan’s A Page Of Punk deliver 49 songs on this record and it clocks in at less than 30 minutes. It kind of blows my head off. I mean, I’d barely blinked and I was already on track 11. I can’t help but smile and laugh while I’m listening – there’s an 8-second song on here which is a short count (they like counting!) followed by two words. I can only think of a Kyuss song called “Yeah” that is shorter at 4 seconds. I’m sure someone else can tell me a load of others. It’s rabid and manic and they tear through the LP like crazed loons. Amidst that blistering pace they still manage tackle various political and social issues in these tiny time slots. Also, some of the lyrics are priceless – see “Popunk” for starters. They then go and take me by surprise on the second half of the record with a few longer songs (one is an epic 1 minute and 45 seconds long) and they also sing in their native Japanese on some of the latter songs. I don’t quite get through all 49 songs in one sitting but it’s kind of ridiculous, explosive and genius all at the same time. I’d have definitely gone to see them play live if I’d been in the country for their UK tour recently as this is quite something.