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Well... in my opinion, cow-punk has little to do with it (when I think of cow-punk, I think of X, Gun Club, Meat Puppets, etc...), although the roots influences seem evident. The term college-core I believe fits the Mats' music better. Among the sources of inspiration, in addition to those mentioned, I would add Big Star. I think the Mats did for American high school kids what the Boss did for blue-collar workers: poetry of the everyday. Key moments: Favorite Thing and Seen Your Video, two gems. The three splendid ballads are heartbreaking. There is room for a very wide range of emotions, which makes this album a masterpiece. You absolutely must also have the subsequent Tim, containing other gems, still in the spirit of bittersweet power-pop, but almost never predictable, always vibrant.

A record that I respect but (unfortunately) do not love. Don't ask me why: I wouldn't be able to answer you. Excellent review.

Small correction: Chicago is in Illinois, not in Michigan! :-) Honestly, I don’t see the connections with JD and Nirvana, while it seems evident that the Birthday Party were somewhat the starting point for the Scratch. What about these Texans? Four amazing musicians (who, not by chance, ended up playing with Albini and in the Jesus Lizard); brilliant, extravagant, unclassifiable compositions. The Greatest Gift contains all the tracks from their career (made up of two EPs and an LP, between '85 and '87), in chronological order, allowing us to notice their evolution. A band much more eclectic and imaginative than one might be willing to believe, and in some tracks even "sunny" and relaxed, hard to believe considering the cave-like premises! Anyway, THE GREATEST GIFT is an album that you absolutely must have!
(what a fool I had been: I only gave you 2! I raise the rating of the review by a point...) :-)

Irresistible record. In the series: how to do politics through music, without boring. Zero rhetoric, lots of irony. Perhaps the fiercest and most pyrotechnic rock'n'roll ever. Satirical cabaret and Brechtian theater in the form of beach-punk. Flouride's bass and Biafra's voice have set a standard, followed by many.

Great review! Anyway (since we were talking about D.Crash) the Germs remain essential. Between the two giants of DC in the early 80s, I prefer Bad Brains (HR's voice is terrifying). The fact is that MT ARE hardcore! Pure hardcore. If someone asks me for the best old-school hardcore band, I might suggest Black Flag, but the ultimate hardcore still belongs to MT (especially their first, legendary EP, while in the later works they developed and refined their style, heralding the era of Fugazi). Regarding straight-edge: it's not that MT didn't hook up, in my opinion; that doesn’t take away from the fact that they interpreted punk-hardcore in a healthier, humanistic, proactive way, compared to how it had been understood until then, stripping the genre of all its vicious and decadent components.

I compliment Sanjuro for the review, the "anti-Reagan" interpretation (the reference to Carpenter's film) is really intriguing: I had never thought about it, I'll reflect on it... As for the record, what can I say? I listened to it again just the other day... Do you know the underbelly of Frisco? No? Well, if you want to get an idea, listen to Generic! :-)

I'm not very convinced by the comparison to Van Gogh; however, the jab about Oasis is commendable. :-) A magical record, a daydream. Velvet Underground meets Pink Floyd. Gorgeous "Loomer," "To here knows when," "When you sleep," "Sometimes"; I find the concluding and acclaimed "Soon" a bit underwhelming.

mmm, are you sure Philosopho? I have it that the precursor of the garage is Pippo Franco, while Jerry Cala' is generally credited with the invention of industrial, but I could be wrong... I'm going to check what Scaruffi thinks and then I'll let you know... :-D

Yeah! Even Kosmo is crazy about Steve!!! You have such good taste in Canton Ticino! :-)

I didn't know Lino Banfi did "songwriter songs"; I thought they had included him in the post-rock melting pot. Anyway, masterpiece (and splendid review!).