Wrangler Brutes Zulu

Sam McPheeters is a fucking legend. While serving time with the pivotal late 80's/early 90's hardcore band Born Against, he (along with guitarist Adam Woodrow) helped to redefine punk and hardcore in a way that no other American band really had at that time. They were one of the first bands to call out the scene at large on its double standards and questionable practices. Aside from writing some of the most ugly, noisy records that were ever released, McPheeters has inspired a legacy of musicians, lyricists, label owners, and zine writers to hold the scene to the same standards that the scene holds the rest of the world too, no matter whose feathers get ruffled in the process. After the demise of Born Against, McPheeters started the Men's Recovery Project, which succeeded in weirding out hundreds of kids at a time nationwide, and then sort of fell off the face of the Earth for a while. He has now resurfaced, alongside former members of Southern California "buzz" bands Le Shok, Monorchid, and the Nahtzi Skinz, in Wrangler Brutes. Does McPheeters still have it after all these years, or are we seeing another scene dinosaur attempting to flex what little credibility they think that they have left after all these years In Wrangler Brutes' case, the magic is most definitely still there. Musically, Wrangler Brutes play noisy, ugly hardcore punk rock with a slight tinge of indie rock absurdity. There are more than a few obvious nods to the Dead Kennedys (i.e. the guitar lead in "White Out"), which is a band that really isn't stolen from enough in recent times. Wrangler Brutes don't really fall in line with anything going on in modern hardcore, which is both commendable and refreshing. The last decade has been one of growing and maturity for McPheeters in a lyrical sense. While his trademark howl/scream hasn't faltered in the slightest bit as the years have passed, the way in which he is conveying his message has changed. It doesn't take a literary genius to see that McPheeters is not happy with the current state of our country, though he isn't shoving his message down your throat like he was during his tenure with Born Against. He tends to filter his messages in an often silly sounding manner. Whether it is done to make light of some very serious issues (i.e. the war against terrorism, the president, the economy) or if he's using the absurdity as a way to emphasize the message he attempting to portray is yet to be known, but the style makes for some very thought provoking punk rock. Bottom Line: Sam McPheeters has made a smashing return to the realm of hardcore and punk with Wrangler Brutes. He has assembled a group of musicians that know how to play well and write innovative music, and he hasn't lost his touch one bit. A lot of people would probably find this record to be annoying or even offensive, which is only further proof of how awesome it is.