The Chrome Kickers

Fun, fast, and filthier than the men's room at the old Peabody's, the Chrome Kickers were punk before most of the genre's current practitioners were even born. Members cut their teeth in various local outfits in the early '80s, and though the band has gigged steadily around town for the last five years, it just got around to releasing its debut.

Street-punk enthusiasts will find the wait worthwhile; this is no futile attempt by old farts to recapture past glories. Old-school buzz-saw guitars, sandpapery vocals, and brutal lyrics recall the days when punk was an unglamorous lifestyle not sold in malls. Songs like "The Gates of Hell" and the appropriately titled "I Want Violence" would be furious enough to be mistaken for hardcore, if not for their superb melodies.