SS, The - 2002 - The Original 12'' (JPY)
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This live set was recorded at Kid Airac Hall on 3/27/1979, and the copy I have is a one-sided bootleg on 33 rpm. The MRR reviews included (as a transparent insert!) indicate that it was originally a 45 rpm two-sider. Except for the lo-lo-fi recording, this does not really bare resemblance to later Japanese hardcore like GAUZE or S.O.B. (although I have not heard THE STALIN, so maybe them?), and instead comes across as super-charged garage rock a la THE MIDDLE CLASS ("Out of Vogue" or "Love Is Just a Tool," especially) or later THE GERMS. The first half of the record probably will remind one of HÜSKER DÜ's Land Speed Record, while the second half opens with an incredibly catchy mid-tempo song that may or may not get fast, depending on when you think that particular song ends. They also have a song that sounds like 60's surf anthems like "Tequila" or "Wipe Out," if you can believe that. And, yes, there is an absolutely astounding cover of THE RAMONES "Blitzkrieg Bop" as an encore. Someone said it is faster than the SOB version, but I don't know about that. Anyways, this band was as fast or faster than any other band in the US or Britain at the time, and probably would have blown the minds of critics who were saying THE CLASH were "the only band that mattered" that very year. Unfortunately one cannot say this record was too influential, because it was released six years after the fact, but as a document of our punk heritage, and a fucking good time, it's hard to beat.
-BEN PARKER
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source KFTH (link)
