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Coming in April…go to SquidHat Records Website or Facebook Page and see what these great musicians are all about…
REVIEW – The year of 1977. I begged my parents to take me to see “ Star Wars” on opening night. Our president Jimmy Carter warned the Americans that we should cut down on how much oil we use. While Elvis Presley died from a heart attack on the toilet. Apple introduced us to its first computer. We saw the completion of the World Trade Center. While a 9 year old me was listening to my sister’s album collection and discovering different types of music. Which brings us to the genius mind at Squidhat Records and that roster of impressive musicians who dive into the deep water head first and middle finger in the air. I have reviewed a huge bulk of the label’s material, and I have to say by far, this is one of the best albums they have put out. The Dirty Panties doing The Talking Heads “ Psycho Killer” is so odd but yet it works. I am one of the biggest Joy Division/Warsaw fans Unfair Fight doing “ Warsaw” is incredible. I think if Ian Curtis was alive and on anti-depressants he would get into this version. This is better than the whole Joy Division tribute cd. What about a song that you would not expect from a band on a punk tribute? “ Bad Reputation” by Thin Lizzy as done by The Civilians.
It gets the spirit of the band and just has fun with it. The shock to this is that they did not go after the top ten songs of that year. No love for Rod Stewart or Abba. Think about that for a second, a punk version of an Abba song. For me, two songs stood out in 1977.. One was “ Blinded by the Light” by Manford Mann..which my mother would spank me, because I thought the song lyrics were, “ wrapped up like a douche in the middle of her thighs”. (I was a kid…I did not know what any of that meant) The second is covered on this and it is “ Turn to Stone” by ELO as sung by Frank and Deans. (Off record, Out of the Blue by ELO is an album that I play more today than I did then) The negatives are easy, there is not one song on here that is filler. I will say that they do a great job of covering the year 1977. I will always argue about songs that should have been on here, but the sad reality is I am not sure what songs I would take off to put them on there. These tributes they do are just so outstanding and gives the listener a new found passion for music. The best thing about this cd, if you like the covers the bands like The Gashers, Negative Nancys and etc. go seek out the originals. This is a Vegas music scene who has an orgasmic love affair with putting out cutting edge music. While paying tribute to the ones who paved the roads that they now bring havoc upon. Every band on this record should take a huge bow…they made a great tribute.
