Starting in 1978, with a mix of hard pub rock like
Ducks Deluxe
and R&B-leaning punk (like
Vibrators
,
Eddie & the Hot Rods
, early
Clash
, and
999
), this greater Miami foursome led by brothers,
Eddie
and
Michael O'Brien
, was South Florida's answer to New London, CT's
Reducers
(especially) before they formed, and Minneapolis contemporaries
Suicide Commandos
. It was hard to believe this fast, garagey, guitar dance band had come out of a peninsula-stranded area of an old-person's snowbird state. New Yorkers knew them from breathless regular coverage in their local
Mouth of the Rat
, the greatest handwritten underground rock fanzine of the late '70s. So scenesters bought both their 7" records, 1979's
"Communist Radio"
and 1980s
"God Punishes the Eat,"
and thus turned out in force, to the band's surprise, when they played the short-lived
'80s Club
on E. 86th Street (run by a pre-
ROIR
Neil Cooper
). With only about ten minutes of music available on vinyl, the band played the rest of that equally inspired set, songs like
"Sub-Human"
"Hey Jackass,"
that one time -- until now, through this 59-track anthology. The entire gleeful overload-the-circuits speed and beer energy of American anything-goes punk, pre-hardcore, is here in spades (think
Real Kids
Angry Samoans
Neats
). And it just keeps going and going, with the addition of a rare cassette LP, EP, and four gig tapes. Don't miss
"Nut Cop,"
the quickest and neatest; but just a hit and run taste! ~ Jack Rabid