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Midlife Crisis - Cranked Up Really High E.P. 7"

Long Gone Loser (AU)

I loved the first Midlife Crisis 7” single and was stoked when this turned up in the mail. On lovely gold vinyl, this 4 track slab or punk rock featuring the all-star line-up of Urrke T (Mary Slim), Dregen (Backyard Babies), Mans (The Maggots) and Robert (Hellacopters), was always gonna be killer – regardless if the songs were good or not. That line-up alone should get mouths drooling. There’s no originals, it’s just 4 guys getting together and playing killer punk covers from the late 70’s. They are all smokin’ versions too! Just real good solid punk rock with a great sound and excellent playing. Here we cop Slaughter & The Dogs, PF Commando, The Outsiders and The Menace. I had never heard some of these originals so the good thing about this single is, like the first one, it got me searching out the original bands. That’s a good sign. This is really great! I love the title track, it’s a balltearer and well worth the bucks alone. Awesome!

Maximum Rocknroll (USA)

An all-covers EP by these '70s-loving Swedes. Slaughter and the Dogs, PF Commando, The Outsiders, and The Menace all get some righteous homage. Usually I would cringe at an all-covers affair, but with the abundant energy, swagger, and attitude that these eye-lined hairbears impose, I can't help but be won over. Hopefully next time I'll get to sample a big dirty helping of their own material. (SD)

Sleazegrinder (USA)

So hey, dig this: Midlife Crisis is a supergroup comprised of Dregen from the Backyard Babies, Robban from the Hellacopters, and a coupla dudes from the Maggots and Maryslim. I didn’t realize that until I read the hype-sheet; the cover just looks like a buncha rehab-bound hard-luck types. So Midlife Crisis get together whenever-it-happens to bash out some loose-limbed, raw-boned covers of their fave punk rock songs, and there’s a quartet of them here, including, as you might have guessed from the title, Cranked Up Really High by Slaughter and the Dogs, Vital Hours by The Outsiders, and…some seriously obscure shit from The Menace and FF Commando. Odds are, unless you are record collector scum, three outta four of these will sound brand new to you, and the Dogs track is suitably snarly so, you know, right the fuck on!

Degeneration Overdrive (Canada)

Sweden's superstar studded project band the Midlife Crisis have birthed a second single for everyone's enjoyment. The recipe is the same this time around, 4 punk rock covers putting to shame the originals and as the name of the E.P. suggests: Cranked up really high!
Pure energy unleashed from Dregen's signature style guitar coupled with Roberts fantastic drumming makes one reminisce of the days when they shared the stage so many years ago, essentially the years best buy for any Hellacopters/Backyard Babies fans. You better run to the post office to make that certified checks cuz I guarantee this will sell out fast!
Flo

Lowcut Magazine (Denmark)

2nd EP from Urrke T (Maryslim), Dregen (Backyard Babies), Måns M (the Maggots), and Robban (the Hellacopters) and it's another 7" of covers of classic late 70s punkrock bands. "Cranked Up Really High" (Slaughter and the Dogs), "Raggare" (PF Commando), "Vital Hours" (Outsiders), and "I Need Nothing" by Menace. The boys seem to have a great time with these tunes, which get injected with a more cockrock-ish feel to them. The cover of the old Swedish punks PF Commando is probably my fave of the four tracks. Nothing sensational, could be funnier and more interesting if they covered songs from other artists than within the KBD punk rock'n'roll scene, or played them completely different. But still it's a great introduction to these old acts, and you might wanna track down the originals.

If you dig: Slaughter & the Dogs, PF Commando, the Outsiders, the Menace

(Good, solid effor.)

Written by Jens
Friday, 19 September 2008 11:32

dagensskiva.com (Sweden)

Trevliga bekantskaper

En tanke som dykt upp flera gånger senaste månaderna är vad som egentligen kommer hända efter The Hellacopters för trumslagaren Robban, en av mina favorittrummisar. Är inte särdeles bekant med fler band som mannen i fråga är involverad i, men jag antar att han, likt resten av medlemmarna i The Hellacopters, har sina projekt vid sidan av.

Och då ramlar Midlife Crisis ner i postboxen, där Robban (här under namnet Rock Animal) sitter bakom skinnen och ackompanjerar Urrke T, Måns P Månsson (Mono Manson) och Dregen (Dr3g3n). Gott så, även om Midlife Crisis knappast känns som en heltidssyssla.

Receptet är hursomhelst samma sak som på föregångaren Ask Not What You Can Do For Your Country…, nämligen fyra gamla punkstänkare från sent sjuttiotal som har fått nytt liv. På sjutumsvinyl så klart.

Den här gången är det Slaughter & the Dogs (Cranked Up Really High), PF Commando (Raggare), Outsiders (Vital Hours) och Menace (I Need Nothing) som avhandlas och resultatet låter som man kan förvänta sig; lagom skramligt, lagom skitigt och framför med stor kärlek.

För mig enbart tidigare okända låtar ska medges, men icke desto mindre trevliga bekantskaper. Vital Hours är favoritspåret, med sin medryckande refräng, även om en dänga som Raggare så klart alltid passar på en förfest.

6/10

Tomas Lundström