Soft Targets “The Rise and Fall of the Soft Targets”

(roostercow.com) Considering they have a mascot named Cassettey (one of the least beloved recurring Roctober comics) I’m surprised this band waited til they broke up to start releasing tapes. Despite the “Soft” in their name, as their song “Tromboner” impies, these very poppy sorta punks are synonymous with virility. Audio Viagra is what I call this cassette.

The Hecks/Nonnie Parry split cassette

(Exotic Aquatic) Heck yeah! Two bands getting weird enough that the entire thing is a lo-fo audio haze. I suppose NP is weirder, but Hecks jump around from sounding like such different bands from song to song that I’m gonna hang a weird hat on them too. 

Jowls “Russ Dan Jon” b/w “Carrier”

(Lafayette) This cassingle features dark, furious post-hardcore that sounds like chewing glass and grave tastes. Which is a good thing for dark, furious post-hardcore.

Strawberry Heritage “The Demo Tapes”

(Lafayette) Emo folk that tastes more like slightly bitter side of the road mysterious wild berries than store bought strawberries.

Vernal Pike "Good Morning Cruel World"

(No I in Punk) Angry hardcore (there really shouldn’t be any other kind) with youthful energy and genuine bile. The no fi cassette format serves the raw music well.

As Boredom Sets In zine

(ABSE) This is wicked punk --  a cut n paste zine that cuts out the text and pastes it over Xeroxes – with actual scissors and glue! And he actually reads the zines and listens to the tapes he reviews (I have interns skim them for me). And he actually cares about the bands he interviews. Aweome and punk as fuck!

Leather Pizza Party #2 by Ben Frazee

(chudlife.tumblr.com) If you require every panel of a comic to feature every orifice of a body being penetrated in every way imaginable while every bodily fluid known to modern science drips dramatically, then Ben F. is your new favorite artist! And if you want to see images of Jabba taking it hard and heavy three ways, I warn you...it can't be unseen!

Johnny Society “Free Society”

(Old Soul) Everyone on this is EXTREMELY good at playing musical instruments. My mother would suggest I stop there, but I'll just add that this almost sounds like a good classic rock rocking bar band. Almost like good. Sorry mom (and sorry Johnny...you are really talented!)

‘Twas The Night Before Hannukah: The Musical Battle Between Christmas and the Festival of Lights

(idelsohnsociety.com) While I'm sure the Idelsohn Society (who I'm pretty sure are not working on an Off-Broadway musical adaptation of the Protocols of Zion) would prefer this was reviewed a few nights before Hannukah rather than on day 5, it makes a great X-mas present as well, and if you're anything like my Jewish uncles, you'll probably want to buy this after the season when the price is cut. And perhaps this two disc box is more appropriate for Yuletide than Dreidel Days, because if there's any thesis offered here it's that everyone, especially Jews,  knows Christmas is more fun than Hannukah. Not to put down disc one, Hannukah songs sung by both super jews (early 20th Century celebrity cantors, a temple children's choir) and left-leaning non-jews (Ella Jenkins, Woody Guthrie), but it's not exactly a barn burning musical shindig (despite Mickey Katz delivering the funny and the Klezmatics turning up the heat). But disc two, in which Jewish performers perform Christmas songs, is a wild party, with Joey Ramone, Bob Dylan, Herb Alpert, and Benny Goodman bringing the cheer. While the best cut on here (if you put aside Lou Reed's spoken holiday greeting -- the word "happiness" has never sounded so maudlin) is a killer ethnic comedy routine about Jews celebrating Christmas, for the most part the Hebrews play it straight, with Dinah Shore giving it her all while receiving a tree-bound partridge, and Eddie Fisher seeming sincerely nostalgic for the Christmases he pretends to have grown up with. There's nothing on here as "c'mon, man, Jew up!" as that Neil Diamond "Silent Night" where he sings "C-h-r-i-s-t the savior was b-o-r-n-n-n-n" with as much agony and ecstasy as if he was being crucified himself. And obvious stuff like Adam Sandler is also nixed -- this is an exquisitely curated collection, with a beautiful booklet featuring essays by Greil Marcus, historian Jenna Weissman Joselit, and the Society themselves. Plus, there's somethong on here no one could fail to love: Sammy Davis wishing his international audience a musical merry christmas! Mazel tov Santa, you did it again!

Sweet “New York Connection”

(www.thesweet.com) Although Andy Scott, guitarist from the classic lineup, is the last glam standing, the new Sweet still sounds Sweet-recognizable. But you will have to have an open mind to dig this collection of New York-themed covers. I’m sure the current Sweet has been accused of being a Sweet cover band, but here they are more like a muscular, slick regular cover band, glamming up “Because the Night,” “Blitzkrieg Bop,” and “Sweet Jane.” But I like it! Hearing a guitar wailing through “On Broadway” is abso-fucking-ridiculous, and in my mind the joy of classic glam was the abso-fucking-ridiculusness of it all -- ugly Slade-sters wearing gay dress up clothes; grown men donning glitter and spandex superhero suits; 50s rock being repurposed for 70s drugs! The fact that their Dead or Alive cover and their Black Keys cover sound more like the Sweet than their Sweet cover (the title track) demonstrates the nuttiness of this album. I’ll be honest, opening with a great cover of “New York Groove,” that veers off the reasonable track by mashing up with that awful Jay-Z/Alicia Keys’ New York song was not to my tastes. But if I want to celebrate absurdity I should celebrate even when it makes my ears hurt. Bottom Line: I like this better than the Metallica covers albums, and these Sweetsers prove themselves still sweet!