The chorus of “I.U.D.,” the lead-off track on this retrospective of one of Houston’s more notable punk bands, has haunted my for years since the supremely cool Scott Pellet (head honcho over at the Big Boys’ tribute site www.soundonsound.org) put it on a comp cassette of old Texas punk rock he’d made. The problem is I know it’s lifted from another song, one that has been on the tip of my tongue for years but just refuses to make itself known. No matter, I guess. What’s important here is that this is chock full of some very nice, very quirky (and let’s be honest, it would really be quirky if it weren’t quirky, considering where these kids were from) Texas punk. Songs about the aforementioned contraceptive device, the advantages of being uncircumcised, Siamese love, and yellow stains are the order of the day, and the music is a nice example of that sweet spot in punk’s history where attitude was more important than adhering to some rigid template. Nice history lesson here, one definitely worthy of attention.
–jimmy ([email protected])