Man, you’ve gotta love real punk rock. And I mean the real stuff; fast paced, sloppy, angry and in your face, with a real “who gives a shit” mentality. Not that DIY PC “love everybody” stuff that we have today. I know that this is a departure from my usual thoughts on old vs. new music, but today’s punk can’t compare to what was coming out twenty and thirty years ago.
Believe me, I’m just as surprised that I’m writing this as you. Before this blog got rolling, my exposure to punk rock of any sort had been pretty limited. Andrew Jackson Jihad, a fairly popular modern folk punk band, was my gateway into this genre. Soon enough, I had ordered 15 albums from DIY label (oh the irony) Plan-it-X Records (in their defense, this cost me around $20). Excited for what I thought would be more awesomeness in the vein of AJJ, I started to discover that punk music kind of sucks. It was pretty much just pop music played faster and louder. I decided not to write a post on any of these records, because I had the same feelings about most of them, and I didn’t want any crunchy DIY’ers coming after me. Now, my last.fm recommendations are filled with bands like Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains and Wingnut Dishwashers Union; modern punk that I have no interest in.
Anyway, my point is that punk is way past its prime. Circle Jerks had it down. Lyrically, they’re a lot better than what I was expecting. They don’t hit you with anything too thought provoking, but it’s more than just b.s. about love and being nice to everybody. They’re best when they play fast, which is most of the record, fortunately. Ten out of twelve tracks are under three minutes in length and leave little time for picking up on exactly what is going on, which is kind of how punk should be.
Swole Ear 
Glad you enjoyed, Swole Ear. Now check out both the movie Repo Man and the soundtrack and enjoy the Jerks doing a Vegas lounge version of this song.
We must have a psychic link because my 19 year old progeny said that I should suggest Metronomy and I kept wondering when you were going to get to early R.E.M. (I like the first E.P. best, myself).
Now, if the Progeny and I may lay a couple of suggestions on you, Talking Heads “Fear of Music” (his) and Frank Zappa’s “Apostrophe” (mine).
We enjoy the blog and believe it or not there are several more Montrealers following. Keep the blog coming!