NORTH SIDE KINGS
"Organizing
Our Neighborhood" (Thorp; 2004)
Reviewed by Mike SOS
Resembling The Sopranos as much as Madball, Arizona's favorite mobsters have returned with another demonstration of audio violence. "Organizing Our Neighborhood" marks the return of North Side Kings, and it delivers the kind of pull-no-punches, angry, and aggressive pit-style hardcore you'd expect from these heavy hitters.
From the chugging riffs of "Right or Wrong" to the punkier hardcore of "A Family Affair," this 12-track disc is like eating a seven course Sunday dinner in Brooklyn: you may be stuffed as a pig, but the food keeps on coming, and you keep on eating, because it's so damn good. Substitute Grandma's macaroni for NSK's brutal metalcore blitz, and you'll gorge yourself on some of the finest brutal NYHC, meshing Hatebreed, Sick of It All, and Sheer Terror.
For more information, check out http://www.northsidekings.com.
Reviewed by Mike SOS
Two of the heaviest hardcore bands join forces in this split CD featuring cover songs from the underground.
Appropriately entitled "Allied Forces," this CD begins with the bruising British outfit Stampin' Ground, whose choice of covers include songs by Judge, Agnostic Front, and Bay Area thrashers Vio-lence. Without a moment to catch your breath, Arizona's North Side Kings enter the melee with six choice cuts of their own, covering bands such as SOD, DRI, and Suicidal Tendencies.
A highlight is North Side King's delicious cover of the theme song from the '80s action show "The A-Team," hardcored out for your moshing delight. If that doesn't get your blood boiling, then both band's versions of the Cro-Mags classic, "Malfunction," surely will.
For more information, check out http://www.thorprecords.com.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2000 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised: 15 Apr 2024 16:12:39 -0400.
