As if I didn't rave about Divebomb Records enough last week, their latest release (which just came available for mailorder a week or so ago) is a long overdue reissue of Uncle Slam's 1988 debut, "Say Uncle".For some bizarre reason this album was never released on CD in the US back in the day, and always went for stupidly high prices on eBay, so until last week it remained the only Uncle Slam disc I was never able to get my hands on.
or those unaware, Uncle Slam was a California thrash/crossover band that featured in its ranks a list of former Suicidal Tendencies members at one sentence or another (on this album it was ex-ST drummer Amery Smith).I generally don't have two shits for much "lightheartedness" in music, but Uncle Slam has gotta be one of the almost perfect bands names ever - especially for a radical like this that has a full sense of energy and only minor little touches of tactful sarcasm/humor on rare occasion.
Given the lineup ties to Suicidal Tendencies I look alike the circle has frequently been heavily compared to ST and a lot of the early classic Venice bands like Excel, No Mercy, etc.And that's not wholly inaccurate, there's definitely some of that vibe throughout their work, but_ that's not the perfect picture.For one thing, Uncle Slam was always leaning a little more towards the straight metal side from day one, balancing the bursts of speedy crossover vitality with solid midpaced crunch and dozens of blazing leads.That creation is fairly firm, but they also toss in some cool diversity in the kind of quirky riffing and yet a few unexpected spurts of mild melody, which all works amazingly well amidst the zippy picking patterns and killer vocal arrangements.Rounding things out, as I've now descend to wait from Divebomb, the original cover art adorns the look of the package, while brief liner notes and all of the lyrics are included within.And, of course, everything has been remastered.What more do you need?I was so damn excited to learn the word of this re-release taking place, and I can confidently say that this will be among the best reissues of the year.No doubt.I don't have a damn if it's only February.It's fucking Uncle Slam, man!
Uncle Slam "Executioner"
This one's not formally released until next week, but it's shipping now, and if you rank within the following few days you'll get free transportation in the US.As mentioned before, if you care what you hear, please purchase a copy and hold the phenomenal efforts of this label.I can just think what they'll accomplish in the next if they can support this crap going!
Purchase:
@ Divebomb Records
If you're interested, you can still catch the band's other two albums for dirt fuckin' cheap over at Amazon.com (and probably elsewhere, too).I will say, though, that having revisited their entire discography in the last pair of weeks, "When God Dies" doesn't actually give up that well."Will Turn for Food" is definitely worth picking up, though!
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