Tuesday, February 21, 2012

No More Cops

Back in the mid-80's, I was branching out from listening to only metal, and starting to dig into some punk bands. It was all blind luck really. I liked loud, obnoxious music that would shock people, so bands with "shocking" names like Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, Suicidal Tendencies, and Dayglo Abortions...well, it seemed like a natural fit with my steady diet of Slayer, King Diamond and Kreator. One of the punk bands that I took an interest in, because of their name, was Millions of Dead Cops (MDC).

I didn't know anything about MDC, and took a shot in the dark with their Smoke Signals album...on cassette. I liked most of it, but with songs like Tofutti, South Africa Is Free, and Chicken Squawk, I was conflicted and didn't know what to think of the entire album. It wasn't easy for this Metalhead kid to digest.

A couple months ago, I was blasting through a playlist that included albums that I've rarely listened to, and Smoke Signals came up. I had forgotten about how good some of these songs are...No More Cops, King of Thrash, The Big Picture...great stuff. Punk rock that was on a mission to change the world.

Of course layout for the gatefold LP looks a lot better than the lousy cassette copy that I've owned for the past 25 years.

4 comments:

mcs said...

I honestly don't think I have ever heard a single song by MDC. I'm not so sure I should be admitting that though.

Dustin said...

Hey Mike, I have a copy of their split with Capitalist Casualties I don't want. You could have it if you gave me a few dollars to cover postage.

Mark-Sandwell said...

One of the first hardcore bands I discovered nearly a quarter of a century ago. I saw them in 2006 and they absolutely kicked ass. I was not expecting a band with 50 years olds in to be that awesome. That wiped the floor with every band that night that were on before them.

Mike said...

Thanks VxT, but I'll have to pass on the offer right now.