When people think of Northern California punk what do they think of? Green Day's early days? Operation Ivy? Lookout Records? The Dead Kennedys? Fat Wreck Chords? But of course, most people in the scene will mention Berkeley's 924 Gilman at some point. What they probably won't mention is the punk scene that has been around for decades about fifty miles north of San Francisco, which is about where Sonoma County lies. If you don't live in Northern California or haven't spent time there, then probably the only way you have heard of Sonoma County is by reading the label on a wine bottle. It's a completely underrated punk scene that has been overshadowed by 924 Gilman, but it's just as historically important. How so? Well, during the 1980s you could see bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, The Ramones, Operation Ivy and the Circle Jerks played at a venue called The Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma, CA (which is in Sonoma County).
Today however, the Sonoma County scene is thriving and the band M Section, a band that wears Mexican wrestling masked while performing, is proof of that. They put on one hell of a show (I saw them open for Leftover Crack last year at The Phoenix) and they maintain a DIY ethic by self-releasing their music. No label owns them or their music. Their full-length M Section Vs. The Immortal Jellyfish is definitely reminiscent of NOFX's earlier work, but with more hardcore-sounding vocals. And for a DIY band this album's production is very well done. It's clean, but nowhere near overproduced whatsoever.
The first track, "Occupy," starts things off with a bang. Perfect for a circle pit. Throughout the song the tempo is really fast and then slows down considerably and then tricks the listener by going back to the original speed. Another great song on this album is called "Jumbaco." It's worth mentioning that this song is where you can really hear how the guitarists in this band really shred and how well timed the back up vocals are. The song "Big Foot's Dick," while having an amusing title, also rocks. Yes the guitars shine on this song, too, but the song starts out with a bass riff that is pretty awesome and throughout the song the bass is doing most of the work by playing really complex fills.
If you are looking for something new, unique, and underground then check out M Section's M Section Vs. The Immortal Jellyfish.
Note: You can check the album out here, and 200 copies of it were made on CD.