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ruined records

  • all bad all the timeAll Bad All The Time – Mad Brother Ward and The Abrasives (Ruined Records)

    You have to feel sorry for Punk Rock. Nobody can work out when it was born, so you can’t celebrate its birthday. It’s obviously of advanced age, so it seems a bit woolly around the edges. Everybody claioms to know what it is, yet nobody can agree on a definition.

    You’ll know that Mad Brother Ward is Punk Rock as soon as the stylus hits the groove on “All Bad All The Time” and that opening sustained guitar note plunges into Downstroke Heaven. There’s no mistaking the anger in Mad Brother Ward’s delivery, either, as he launches into lyrics about self-loathing and this fucked up world. 

  • wasteland bluesWasteland Blues – O.C. Rippers (Ruined Records)

    Ocean County, New Jersey, is a 40-minute drive from the Ashbury Park foreshore of Bruce Springsteenand a million miles from his $5000 concert tickets. The same goes for the music of O.C. Rippers,whose 16-song “Wasteland Blues” album is a million times more exciting.

    It’s the vinyl version of the 2021 debut CD and if you hang around the I-94 Bar you’ll know the modus operandi: Equal parts Dead Boys, Stoogesand Candy Snatchers (especially) with songs that mostly last less than two minutes and are spat out at breakneck pace (for the most part) with venom.

  • happy hours air travel clubHappy Hours Air Travel Club – O.C. Rippers (Ruined Records)

    From what can be worked out their online footprint, OC Rippers are your typical punk rock band circa the 2020s: Feet firmly planted in their home turf (New Jersey), they’re not out to win friends or influence people and aren’t embarking on any world tours any day soon.

    They’re not fussed being pigeon-holed because their influences are as varied as the quality of cocktails in a beer barn. They’re also realistic about their chances of hitting the heights because they’re aged (at a guess) in their 40s and not named Taylor.