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(c) 2009 Pee Records
[rating:4/5]
This CD works straight out the gate! Damn The Empire is pissed. The world is going to hell. The government is fucked. The music industry is right down the toilet. The scene sucks. Prius owners are self-righteous pricks. “With Trends Like These…” doesn’t hold back on the anti-everything vitriol. I find it refreshing. This disc has something that a lot of punk rock has been lacking as of late, conviction. Damn The Empire means it without being smug or overly attitudinal. The band is fuming about meaningful timely issues, almost as if they were culturally aware with what is going on in America. … Here’s the thing though, they’re from Melbourne. It really serves to hammer home the homogeneity of the problems of the world (at least the Western World) Despite the gravity of the content, the band, thankfully, isn’t humorless. Tracks like 3. The Last Gasp Of An Entire Scene, Neutered and 12. This Free Music Download Brought To You Courtesy of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich let in some welcome cynical comedy. So here’s what you get 16 tracks of punk rock that is about as real as anything out there. I detect a lot of H2O and Down by Law as I’m listening to it. Of note, this disc was mixed at The Blasting Room. There is something magical about that place I tell ya. Cheers to Damn The Empire for a damn fine disc from Down Under and for uniting the world one punk rock song at a time.
–Jerry Actually
Loudog hails from Braunschweig, Germany. Formerly known by the less appealing moniker “cumshot”, the band changed names in honor of their appreciation of Sublime and late (Sublime) singer Bradley’s dog. Kito delivers 11 tracks of upbeat roots ska with a bit of punk edge blended in. If I had to draw some comparison I would say that Loudog sounds a lot like a more ska oriented Millencolin. I’d also say they remind me of another band and I’m not sure who it is. I’m gonna go out on a memory loss limb and say that they sound like Umbrella Bed. Prove me wrong. If they do or don’t sound like someone else, what the do sound like is enjoyable. As usual it is refreshing to hear sounds from outside of my continent. Of note, Kito is released under the Creative Commons license. So maybe some enterprising young sound systems can mash some of these tracks into a wicked dub mix, no? It’s your call, but I like it. That said, I would have scored it a higher than a 3/5, but I think some of the tracks could have had a bit more pep.