Friday March 29th 2024

No Good – “Citizen’s Arrest”

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No Good – “Citizen’s Arrest”

 

No good will come of this.

It looks like you’re up to no good.

They used to be great but now they’re- No Good.

No Good is a hardcore/punk band from Maine. Just like Uncle Spudd, a band who I have seen and whose last album was one of last year’s best. And old Maine favorites- USA Waste.

This band reminds me of all of them with their mix of hardcore and punk but in an original mix- also, they sound a bit like Boston’s Kermit Fingers. And they throw in a dash of metal or hard rock here and there, but no heavy hardcore leanings to bog it down in drenched testosterone.

And though all three bands are different they all feel like a breathe of fresh air to me. It might be the wide open spaces up there or their might be all the moose sightings of them copulating with homo-sapiens in the mountains. A rumor, that I vaguely hope to be true.

But this is wild, passionate punk and hardcore music- that bands sounded like before both genres were reduced to mere cookie-cutter presentations, when both genres had songs that were too wild to be tamed by tags and frames of reference.

No Good is really good! There’s no macho posturing, no angst ridden hand wringing, no boys club bantering, no belly button evaluating indi- it’s like that old candy, Good’N’Plenty. A horrible tasting candy but one that Thrash’N’Bang stole it’s name from (were in court about this now and it doesn’t look to be going good in our favor. We may be required to change our name to Bad’N’Empty.)

But let’s take a chomp out of this:

“Circulation starts with a buzzing, mosquito guitar riff that is soon joined by a rockin’, smashin’ rhythm section. This instrumental tune has Bat Man Theme like licks, energetic rhythm guitar thumps- out of The Velvet Underground catalog. This tune is like a surf instrumental played by a combination of Black Flag and The Velvets. Call it Black Underground if you must but I call it one great, slammin’ instrumental number.

“Tipper Gore” is the wife of a famous politician, Al Gore, who fought to put warnings on labels of cd’s to warn teenagers that their meek little ears would be soon corrupted by naughty language. After a few-two hit accents we move thusly into a deep, headbanging groove that then roars forwards in a fiery, punk beat. And this is all before a bit of vocals descends upon us! Lots of unison singing and chorus singing with a short hardcore passage springing up later. This tune is like four great songs condensed into one.

“Minor Case Of Tyranny,” starts with a mellow, guitar lick that wouldn’t be out of place on a Jefferson Airplane album in the sixties. Then the whole song explodes with the drums doing double time. This song is played too fast and the vocals are too emotive and that may be why this is such a wonderful, emotional song.

“Wallet Thief” is another great punk song with explosive energy and vibrant vocals. With a chuggin’ reggae like verse and a hoarse, early English punk vocal, this song really connects with it’s hard-hitting, intense playing and guitars that sound like robots gone insane.

“Party At The Murder House” and “Lobotomy” are both thirty-two seconds long. Both are old school hardcore, like Angry Samoans, and both are really great.

A short guitar lead introduces “Catholic School” to an all out hardcore rush of blasting beats, tommy-gun vocals and back up vocals screaming bloody murder. They bring the beat up, to a funkin’ rock groove but that’s soon alternating with the hardcore, headlong thrust. Towards the end it, surprisingly, moves toward a solo-less moderate rock part. This song makes me feel, holy and blessed. And Jesus told me to choose it as my favorite on the album.

Some grinding chords lead “Orange Pill,” in, but soon we’re into a rockin’, struttin’, energy fueled punk song which reminds me a lot of the early great, Boston punk band La Peste. The vocals are doubled and shouted and there’s a ton of energy like a micro burst of sound assaulting your ears.

No good will comes of this.

Sure, this is a great, punk album. A great first release. But this will only get their hopes up, perhaps cause them to turn a blind eye to the American scheme, I mean, dream. This might be their downfall leading them into a life of addiction, crime and poverty. ‘Cause, come to think of it, that’s where this music all led me.

And it might look like they’re up to no good but they have crazy, creative songs full of wild fun and energy. One’s that dare to go out on a limb and then cut it off. One’s that strike hard and true and strong. One’s that might give you a reason to live again and not throw in, all the cards.

Me, I’m gonna hang outside the local pool hall and hope the truant officer don’t see me. Yeah, maybe I’ll play nickels against the sidewalk, or maybe bum a few cigarettes.

And if an officer in blue asks me, “What I’m up to.”

I’ll answer truthfully- “I’m up to No Good, that’s what I got onto. They play some really powerfully, potent punk music.”

And tell him- it’ll be a crime not to listen.

(Slimedog)

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