Destructors “Sex, & Drugs & Rock & Roll,” "121212 (Raknorak)," Destructors/Beverley Kills split EP, Destructors/Ziplock split EP, Destructors/Astronauts CD, Destructors/PMT split CD, v/a "This is Peterborough Goes Forth"

(rowdy farrago) As is their wont, the Destructors released another slew of CDs in 2012, mostly splits, culminating in the epic "121212" CD, the last of their annual day/moth/year records (the Satanic "060606," the computer-esque "101010," etc.)  Of course, I advocate they release "131313" on January 13th, 2014, but that's just my opinion. Anyhow, I guess it might have seemed obvious to do  a Mayan-inspired apocalypse CD, but despite being obvious, they really pulled off an end of the world pub rock opera that's rousing, angry, and joyous (they seem pretty happy America is burning). The other solo release this year is themed to cover sex, drugs, & rock n roll, and the sex stuff is kind of awkward, uncomfortable and forced (remind me to never sleep with a Destructor), the drug stuff was intoxicating and rock n roll stuff rocked, expecially “King Rock.” Decades of Oi-power have given the Destreuctors a leg up on the competition, and if you see split releases as Battles of the Bands (as I do) the Destructors have never lost. The Astronauts split is one of their most elaborate yet, with a lushly illustrated booklet. But the Astronauts themselves fall a little flat, though their flat weirdness seems to be purposeful. They remind me of the 80s d.i.y. British quirk punks that the Messthetics compilations celebrate. The pub rock power of the Destructors, however, blows them away, with their track “I Did It All By Myself” standing as a petulant punk rock “My Way.” I suspect, however, they may wish they had waited a little longer before recording their tribute to Jimmy Saville. I bet their lyrics would be a bit different with the new details available. The split with Ziplock is a fairly even fight, as the Z’s growl through three burners, and get 50 bonus points by having a drummer named Robot. But the Destructors counter with an actual pub rocker about pubs, though they should lose points for doing a George Bush song years after their Obama song (which the Astronauts cover on their split). However, I’m shocked to announce that for the first time ever, the Destructors have lost a Battle of the Bands…the winner is…Beverley Kills. The female band has amazing vocals on their killer track “15^th Street,” with Georgie singing so exquisitely that they really can’t be beat, plus they do a Little Michael Jackson cover! The Destructors make it very close by making one of their boldest cover song choices ever…they cover The Destructors first record from 1982! Nonetheless, beauty tops the beasts this time. By the way, I suspect they knew we were going to give the Battle of the Bands to one of their challengers, because they thank a hundred fanzines in their liner notes and leave us out even though we’ve reviewed 100 Destructors releases! So we lose this battle of the printed word. Boldly their next opponent is another femme fronted band, PMT, who are superb, with super great drumming and buzzsaw guitars augmented with perfect Brit girl rocker vocals, including chant stuff on "Hangover, Pt. 2" (not about the movie). However, the D's play some good "D" this time and win this one by going garage rock! A cover of "Hey Joe" is awesome, augmenting some fine pub punk  The band has also released a fourth volume of their This Is Peterborough compilation series, delivering a punsihing Motorhead-esque track themselves and making room for stand out tracks by local yokels that include the lo-fo charm of Dog Town Rebels, the weirdo exploration of the Astronauts, and the gruff greatness of the Ruined.