(DL36) CRIMINAL X - Ernie Else is a
Police Informant
A bunch of
own songs but also a cover of Screeching Weasel (I wanna fuck) and one of Bo
Diddley (Pills) and they do both really well. Their own music is a rather
aggressive and fast variant of punk rock. I like the attitude they have and that
they've got the pace as much as they've got. The disc goes too fast, I think and
I can put it on again. The fun with the record is that it's newly recorded
(2016) but I think their punk sound breathes a lot of 77-punk in a beautiful
way. They sound dangerous in the way I want punk rockers to do. So why not try
to listen to Criminal X because I think as saying that both you who like 77-punk
and Dead Kennedys will love this. Attitude in the fingertips is it anyway and as
said why not give this a chance because you will not be disappointed I think!
Ett gäng egna låtar men även
en cover av Screeching Weasel(I wanna fuck) och en av Bo Diddley(Pills) och de
gör båda riktigt bra. Deras egna musik är en ganska aggressiv och snabb variant
av punkrock. Jag gillar attityden de har och att de har fått upp tempot så pass
mycket som de har fått. Skivan går för fort över tycker jag och jag får sätta på
den en gång till. Det roliga med skivan är att den är nyinspelad(2016) men jag
tycker att deras punksound andas mycket 77-punk på något härligt sätt. De låter
farliga på det sättet som jag vill att punkrockare ska göra. Så varför inte
föröska få lyssnat på Criminal X för jag tror som sagt att både du som gillar
77-punk och Dead Kennedys kommer att älska detta. Attityd ut i fingerspetsarna
är det i alla fall och som sagt varför inte ge detta en chans för ni kommer inte
att bli besvikna tror jag!
Skrutt Magazine 8/10
(DL36) CRIMINAL X - Ernie Else is a
Police Informant
A Chesterfield based punk band here
with no airs and graces just 4 noisy disgraces who have beaten around
the block, plucked and fucked with gusto and are still at
it...regardless. Some may call it a form of madness, some may say it is
a passion in the blood and there are even those that say (on the
grapevine) that the fuckers need locking away at her majesties
displeasure. And so here I am with many tracks to textually molest and
hopefully come out with something akin to the truth, the arthritic
digits are still crossed.
We get started with a song known as 'Criminal Sex', a tasteless roll out
that begins with a '5 Minute' tick threat before guitars peel and the
mid-paced drive comes. A tale of the disturbed, the sinister element in
your social safety knickers, the fingers in your fanny pie of freedom -
or something like that! The abrasive gruffness and the direct drill of
the ditty has the most basic spiked essences ideal for the aging punk
noodle and the angry potent forthrightness has an appeal that needs
little up-close and personal scrutiny. This opening belt has no
head-popping moments of originality and is far from the cream the
cacophonic cat got and, after years of reviewing noise and having my
head immersed in the genre, I couldn't care fuckin' less. It does what
it does, sometimes the frills are not needed. '1984' cements the style
of the CD, thumps and skids before ploughing forth with old school
direction and uncomplicated lyrics then bangs the output right in yer
mush. The drum beat is incessant and drives the guts of the band into a
full on fizz-bang of fired up tightness that is nothing short of
frenzied fury - the crew are old enough to know better, thank fuck they
don't!
'Feedback Problem' appropriately twinges in before sourcing a sonic pool
of tonality that has few ripples and an average amount of cruddy
cacophony. This is the tamest song thus far and comes and goes with very
little impact. The acidic edge and general snap of the wanking wires is
just not there and this is a definite motion meander that comes out
neither stinking of shit or indeed roses - I class it as middling sir,
middling. 'Drug Squad' bands another nail into the previous songs coffin
by being a quite wound up number with a snagging chorus hook not to be
easily freed from. The tribal drums that open proceedings prepare the
lugs, the slow ascension of string screws enthuse and the feisty
delivery, when coupled with the swift running time, make this punk rock
to roll around the palate many times over - if you choose to spit or
swallow then that is your choice, just make sure you suck off the sonic
shaft first!
Next up and 4 dashing dissections. The assessing scalpel is flashed and
'America', is a song that pummels away at the half-baked head of the US
of A and all those who voted in power the Satsuma-tinted twat as well as
all those who believe the deviant dream. A swift swinging number that
has cuts of hard chopping and a middle plod detonation of foot-stamping
authority amidst the general flow. All usual stuff and as snarled and
snotty as the bastards in the pit will want it - not bad. 'Gangster'
whizzes along and operates on a repetitive routine that incessantly
wraps around itself and builds up an impetus that is bog-standard and
without alteration but which does the job at hand. 'English Schoolboy'
creeps with malevolence and has a Sub-sy edge akin to something that
told us 'You Don't Belong'. This offering has deep resonations and
shakes its ass with a groovy conviction. The effort doesn't overstay its
welcome and keeps the CD moving in the same confident direction. The
last of the fast four is just idiot bullshit done in the crudest style.
The song 'I Wanna Fuck' was originally a Screaching Weasel cold turd and
here it stays just as chilled. I suppose it lacks any shock value and
has no depth or musical insight - it is what it is and hey, even though
I rate this as 'shite' I know many goons with gonads on fire who'll love
this - it's a man thing I think!
'Steal Yer Car' is idiocy that repeat slaps with sound relish, easily
gets beneath the attentive skin and is a cacophonic catalyst to get a
decent reaction. Again, the intrinsically basic elements are used and
fused but done so with such passionate and head down fervour as well as
a good level of adhesion that even this critical cunt enjoys it. A
stabbing song, one that cuts deep and wrenches the guts - lovely! 'Hell
Of A Long Time Dead' is a bursting song that encourages you to get up
and go for it and remember you won't be here forever and so best make
the most of it. If you can do this and harm no-one and leave a decent
mark that enthuses others I reckon it is sound advice. Mind you, if you
are one of the massed selfish fucks in this life for your own experience
and ego then go fuck ya. The song jumps straight through the starting
tape and thunders along the tuned turf with the ass whip forever
brandished and a regular foamed up gallop maintained until the last push
for the line that sees the juiced up jockeys gasp home - good on em' the
feisty fuckers.
3 left and 'Prostitute' opens its legs, gets itself fucked with a rip
roaring shag of sound and left in a heap to contemplate selling ones
soul to the dirty devils for a bit of cash and, more than likely, a
quick fix afterwards. The song is in and out and shakes it all about,
something akin to one of the dipped todgers the whore under the
spotlight gets regularly shafted by - bah, it is a sad old world. 'Town
Mentality' is another swift sizzler, it deals with the pin-sized minds
who live and dwell in the insignificant land of nowhere where tiddling
fish make minor waves whilst falling out with genital-challenged minnows
in the same sloshing swill. I have lived in some right shitholes and
seen some real small-time shits make a mess of a situation that should
be blissful - what the fuck is wrong with these folk? The tub-thumping
invokes rages here, the fuzzery niggles out frustration and this
simplistically arranged song may lack depth, may lack experimentation
but is bread and butter punk we will be chomping on forever more - and
why that is I cannot explain - something in the blood I think! The fuck
off comes with a cover (not the most ideal way to finish in this DIY
gits opinion) and is a well-known ditty we have all pinged and pogoed to
over the years. 'Pills' has been done by many bands throughout the
spiked ages and I have to hold my hands up that this is a decent effort
and has the bouncing verve and general rock and roll gusto we have
always been attracted to. I should have a dig here but I would be going
against the gut so I sign off, drop me trollies and waggle my privates
to a fine, invigorating finish.
Look, this is a run of the mill punk CD and that isn't a bad thing. I
run my mental digits over much music these days and it is always a
pleasure to get back to ground zero and appreciate the roots that have
always turned me on. Like I say, it is the liquid that runs in the veins
that one must trust and for me you have to make up your own mind. I hope
I have been fair here, I hope that I have got many a point across and I
hope you invest some time, have an aural peek and perhaps invest - it is
all hope!
www.fungalpunknature.co.uk
(DL36) CRIMINAL X - Ernie Else is a
Police Informant
I fucking love these guys!
Sham 69 and The Exploited had a deranged
love child and the coppers named it Criminal X.
First track, “Criminal Sex” you’re
thinking these guys just might be completely insane with lyrics like “Herpes,
syphilis, he’s had the lot, he’s caught them off his mum, he’s had his brother
and sis, he’s been up his father’s bum” (I was laughing my ass off on this one).
Then you’re wanting to know where this is
going next, and they surprise you with “1984” a politically charged throw down.
“Feels like 1984, police are on the streets, Corruption in the government, their
fighting for their seats, Everyone wants a riot, and everyone’s on the dole, No
more Tory Government, the police are out of control” Then you realize they are
serious, and it’s one great song after another.
The songs are short and to the point, it
feels like a brilliant mix of Oi and HC Punk. I haven’t heard many bands that
can pull all this off so well but they have it down. The songs can be catchy and
easy to get into.
In short Criminal X is a great band. Call
it Oi or Punk or what the fuck ever, the bottom line is it’s just damn good
music. This is a band I’d love to see live, and I am glad to have them in my
collection. Give them a go, you won’t be disappointed.
By Craig LeSieg
www.punkhouse.net
