D.O.A.
Bloodied But Unbowed

That the female gender is superior, in every way, to the male gender is evident from countless clues, more or less significant. One of the most trivial, and therefore very obvious, is that never has a gentle maiden, as far as is known, boasted of her talent in producing sounds by emitting air through the oral cavity, not originating from the lungs via the trachea, as in the case of the voice, but from the stomach through the esophagus, sounds vulgarly defined as "burps."

Such a philosophical and anthropological premise, just to say that the pack of animals reviewed here (all males, ça va sans dire) dared years ago to create even a track paced in burps, delicately titled "«I Don't Give A Shit»."

So, dear dirtbags, garage band members and otherwise, if you need a reason to buy this disc, perhaps you don't know it, but you already have it: in "«Bloodied But Unbowed»," at track no. 8 is precisely the aforementioned "«I Don't Give A Shit»." And if that's not enough for you, know that it is well accompanied by other gems of delicacy such as "«Rich Bitch»" (it's called an escort, guys, it's called an escort), "«Fuck You»" and "«Fucked Up Ronnie»"  absolute must-haves!

Just like the rest of the program, made by drawing heavily from the first two works of Canadians D.O.A., a true institution of '77 punk, still active today.

"«Something Better Change»" is the phenomenal debut album, released in 1980 after a period of apprenticeship in obscure local groups (the seminal Skulls, first and foremost), and it is a successful crossover between the warm and epic sounds that made early '80s Californian punk great and the rough, dry, and paced sound that fueled the flames of London in 1977, not without moments of respite in which what is inevitably exalted is the tension that permeates the entire work (extraordinary in this sense "«2+2»," "«Woke Up Screaming»" and the aforementioned "«Rich Bitch»").

Decidedly less varied and more trivial, but even monolithic for its compactness and heaviness, the subsequent, exceptional "«Hardcore 81»," a programmatic title like few in the history of rock, which opens with the extraordinary "«D.O.A.»," one of the most underrated anthems in hardcore history, followed by authentic classics, among which it's worth remembering "«Slumlord»," "«M.C.T.F.D.»," "«Smash The State»" and "«My Old Man's A Bum»." 14 tracks in total, compressed into just over twenty minutes, following the classic styles of emerging hardcore punk, which also do not disdain unsuspected openings and melodic surges (just think of the 50s rock'n'roll piano punctuating "«Unknown»").

More trivial is "«Hardcore 81»," no doubt, but it is precisely here that the greatness of D.O.A. can be found: knowing how to alternate moments of gaiety and total goofing off with tracks of impressive socio-political awareness, especially "«The Enemy»" and "«Watcha Gonna Do?»: speaking of the latter, who doesn't think of the Stiff Little Fingers dealing with "«Johnny Was»" or "«Doesn't Make It All Right»?"

Anyone who, at the time, missed the original vinyl release now has the opportunity to make up for it, considering that all (or almost) the hidden wonders in "«Something Better Change»" and "«Hardcore 81»" have been brought to light in "«Bloodied But Unbowed»,"a monument to an antagonist punk rock of other times.

Paraphrasing Sofia Loren in an old advertisement... ACCATTETEVILLO!