Five LPs from a SouthBay or OC punk band? It’s almost unheard of. As a matter of fact, I can think of a handful. I’m sure there’s more. The Circle Jerks’ VI LP (not so good), Pennywise’s Straight Ahead (proficient), and TSOL’s Disapear (I’m not counting the Joe Wood ones, and, strangely, their latest, Divided We Stand is better than Disappear), FYP’s Toys That Kill (excellent, excellent stuff), and the Minutemen’s 3-Way Tie (For Last) (not their best, but far from slouching and I’ve got a soft spot for D. Boon). OC and the SouthBay breed a special, more resilient fuckup. Bands just usually can’t stay together and tend to crack from member’s jail visits, egos, addictions, old-fashioned wig-outs, or any cocktail of the four. For a band to keep it together when the lead singer’s fixated on skate parks and rattles on about pharmaceuticals better than your average neighborhood Sav-on white coat, the wheels should have flown off this dysfunctional wagon long ago. No so. For all the yahoo, numbnutty attention OC gets, it’s still nice to hear that neither dank and rank rock’n’roll nor the first wave of English punk have been abandoned for designer t-shirts and empty caskets of nostalgia with “1977” spray painted on their lids. The Smut Peddlers keep blapping along with a wacky-assed lead singer with a heart of gold and a short attention span, gun-rattling guitar work, and a wrecking ball, rock solid rhythm section. Coming Out’s a good listen, neck and neck with their last full length, Ism. My only complaint? Since I have the Exit Plan 7” and their self-titled 10” that preceded this album, only half of the songs were new to me.
–todd (TKO)