Welcome to Review Revue, where every Thursday I dig through the KEXP stacks to share DJ reviews and comments written on the covers of LPs (and occasionally CDs) in the ’80s and ’90s, when the station was called KCMU, the DJs were volunteers, and people shared their opinions on little white labels instead of the internet.
Hot on the heels of the Secretions comp, we have an album from one of its contributors, Coffin Break. A quick look at their discography will show that this band's flame burned hot and bright, with two LPs on C/Z Records and 2 LPs on Epitaph over the course of four years before breaking up . . . for a while. As far as I can tell they haven't released any music since 1992, but they have reunited and have been playing shows pretty regularly around these parts (in fact, we just missed their performance at the Belltown Block Party a couple weeks ago — sorry, Coffin Break!). This is good news for people who like things fast and loud (I assume our Sonic Reducer friends were already all over this).
Crawl was the band's third album in three years, and their first for big-time punk label Epitaph Records. As far as I can tell from (most of) the KCMU gang's reviews, they did their hometown proud.
"Glad to see another record from these locals! The first side starts weak, by the 3rd song, CB has earned my attention. Cuts 4-7 on the first side + 1-3 on side 2 are really solid. 'Mind Waltz' is by far the best song here. Close runners up are 'Registered' + 'Pray.' It's a shame that the anti-censorship tune 'Stop' is a blatant red dot. It'd be fun to mix a clean version of it for airplay! [Hmmm, what's the irony quotient on mixing an FCC-friendly version of an anti-censorship song?] CB hasn't lost their edge + they haven't cleaned up their sound much for the Epitaph label. It may only take 1 more album to get CB the attention that Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, + Nirvana have garnered. Maybe a little harsh for H - maybe not!"
"Lesse, hmm, from :Psychosis, to Rupture, to Crawl - next thing you know they'll be up walking!"
"I see nothing great about this + certainly think H is an undeserved compliment. M is fine for these guys."
"'Wiser' is a cool song."
"'Mind Waltz' is good."
This week's Review Revue spotlights Blubinos' Limited Edition EP. See what KCMU DJs thought back in the day.
This week's Review Revue spotlights the Seattle compilation Secretions. See what KCMU DJs thought back in the day.
This week's Review Revue spotlights the self-titled EP by The Grapes of Wrath. See what KCMU DJs thought back in the day.
