Screeching Weasel

Some people are born to be punks. Joey Ramone, Richard Hell, Jesse Michaels, Me, Jello Biafra, etc. Ben Weasel is definitely one of us. He was most likely kicking a four-four beat in his mother's womb, and when she finally squeezed him out, he had both middle fingers up, a smart-assed smirk on his face, and his little baby hair was somehow spiked in a mohawk.

"Major Label Debut" is a 6 song EP of some of the fastest, most obnoxious material Screeching Weasel has to offer. "The Last Janelle" cracks the 1000 word/per second barrier, and "D.I.Y." might be their fastest song ever, with possibly the best lyrics ever written directly towards major labels. "Compact Disc" is more of the pop-punk side of SW, and "Hey Asshole" tops off the vulgarity of the album. One of the best Screeching Weasel songs in the last 5 years is "Racist Society". The lyrics, the harmonies, the catchiness, it all comes together for 2 minutes of punk perfection. "Nightbreed" ends the EP with an anthmetic chant for all those goody-goodies who are scared to come out after dark because of people like us. "We live here today, we live here always always."

Everything about "Major Label Debut" screams punk rock. No emo, no keyboards, no love songs, no slow songs, and nothing over 3 minutes. Just fast, loud music with excellent lyrics and no bullshit, just the way I like it.