To get straight to the point, the Blind Pigs blew me right out of the water like no other punk band has done since "Maxwell Murder" and "Roots Radicals" by Rancid opened my eyes a number of years ago. Brazil's Blind Pigs are a street punk band much in the same vein as Rancid (my eternal measuring stick). They similarities don't end with the genre. The Blind Pigs self-titled recording sounds so good it could have come from Epitaph. And the digipack artwork is slicker and more vibrant than all but a select few US punk bands. Vocalist Henrike boasts a mohawk that rivals Tim Armstrong's from the "...And Out Come the Wolves Days". The other band members each have their own completely different style.

I really don't want to give the impression that Blind Pigs are punk rock clones. They aren't by any stretch. Sure, this punk rock genre has been going strong for decades, and the more creative it gets, the more likely it is to be put in a subgenre. Blind Pigs are working class punk rock to the last bead of sweat of their brows. But their energy and enthusiasm is unparalleled. Both the guitarists and the bassist contribute background vocals to make sure that the adrenaline-rush anthems never stop coming. In fact, there's eighteen of them, none over two minutes, like a more melodic, Latin-accented version of the Casualties. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite song, because each is wonderful and there is not a single one weaker than the others. Fortunately their mp3 pagewill give you a head start.

This will go down as one of my most cherished punk albums of all time.