My So-Called Band

Under the Volcano- Sept./Oct. ‘04

I’ve never personally met My So-Called Band’s vocalist/bassist, Chris Peigler, but he seems to be one of the most dedicated, enthusiastic, and idealistic members of the Punk community today, judging by his entertaining articles that often show up on the Razorcake website and especially by his groups musical output the past couple of years. I distinctly remember reviewing MS-CB’s debut release for Flipside in the Late 1990’s, whereupon I mercilessly lambasted its musical content with an un unwavering torrent of caustic and insulting commentary. Chris good-naturedly sent a MS-CB t-shirt to me soon after the review was published, and thus began a long distance friendship of the sort where written correspondence and email messages are routinely exchanged. During the ensuing rapidly passing years, Chris always eagerly mailed the latest MS-CB CD to me, and I truthfully confess that the songs have become consistently more energetic, more infectious, and definitely more Punk along the way. Weapons of Mass Distortion (the wittiest, most laughable title yet!) is an 8-song blast of kinetic rocket-propelled rhythms, scorching Johnny Thunder-style leads, and snotty emotion-tinged vocals. The lyrics are volatile meaningful tirades against mindless Internet Junkies, systematic class warfare, political imprisonment, the Orwellian and fascistic Patriot Act, voter complacency, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. My vote for the most rockin’, bone-rattlin’, tune in the batch overwhelmingly goes to “The World I Know”; It bleeds the eardrums dry in a mere instant! If My So-Called Band continues to raucously progress at the frenzied rate they’re going, they’ll soon surpass several of the bands that inspired them to take up the Punk cause in the first place. You gotta admire such tenacity and Spirit! (CD-EP)
-Moser
- Under the Volcano

Well you don't need to be politically savvy to realize from the title of this album alone that there are some charged songs within this disc. Quite refreshingly, the members of this band are actually older punks, not a bunch of spiky haired kids with major label contracts. These guys have been in the scene for a while, and that is evident in their classic, no frills-style.

Chris Peigler and Ryan McGinnis each penned and sang half of the songs on this eight track album. "Fortunate Suspect" and "Rachel Corrie" are probably my favorite Peigler tracks, each focusing on recent events that haven't gotten enough attention - such as the plight of the hundreds of people detained in the US after 9/11 with no charges and then, months or years later, released with nary an apology, and definitely no assistance in putting their lives back together. The story of Rachel Corrie is perhaps even more infuriating - I'd encourage you to read up on that, or at least hear this song, which boils it down for you pretty well.

Ryan McGinnis thrusts his anger not only on the government, but also on popular culture. In "WMD" he berates people for caring more about what's happening on "Survivor" than what's happening in the real world. In "Message Board" he pours out his frustration at the hundreds of thousands of kids so addicted to message boards that reclusive behavior removes the need for social skills (that's quite an accusation coming from a punk). The excellent sing-along "Patriot Act" belts out with energy and speed and is guaranteed to be a favorite. This album could have come out in the anger of the early 80's if it weren't so distinctly relevant to today. The recording quality is obviously not as crisp as something GGGarth Richardson would spin, but even that gives the disc a sense of credibility. The black and white, plain paper insert with the disc contains a pretty cool story, and the simple style screams for days of DIY rather than studio over-kill. This is a great listen, musically and lyrically. A must-have.

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Punk's popularity may ebb and flow, but My So-Called Band could give a shit. Chockfull of righteous three-chord mayhem from guitarist Ryan McGinnis, Kevin Gavagan's pummeling drums and the
liquefying bass-lines of founder Chris Peigler,Weapons of Mass Distortion finds the band more inspired than thay've been since 1997's self-titled debut. Not suprising, perhaps, given the
incompetent clowns in the Oval office, but Peigler and Co. don't stop there - cell phone toting SUV drivers, soul-less suburbanites and computer message-board junkies also get the well deserved evil eye. Songs like "Killed by Classwar," "Patriot Act," and "WMD" may leave little to the imagination, but then the time for being coy and cute has pretty much passed when it comes to political music. Peigler's voice may lack a lot of range, but there's no doubting his - or this
record's - convictions.

John Schacht - Creative Loafing,Charlotte

Charlotte, North Carolina’s most beloved punk rockers (well, by me at least!) My So-Called Band are back with a new 8-song mini-LP,
and once again I am mightily impressed. This time My So-Called Band quite literally wear their influences on their sleeve;
the cover of the record features a big pile of all their musical equipment and a bunch of records that have influenced them.
With gems like DOA’s Hardcore ‘81, Smogtown’s Beach City Butchers, the Damned’s Machine Gun Etiquette and the Adolescents
blue album how could this not be good?

If you were to take all of those records and put them in a blender with a heaping helping of late 60s/early 70s pre-punk
guitars a la the New York Dolls or the MC5 you’d have a pretty good approximation of what My So-Called Band sounds like.
The song structures tend to be hardcore-basic, but the tempos are more mid-paced and the riffs always have that tell-tale
rock and roll flair. All this adds up to make Weapons of Mass Distortion a record that is both cohesive and diverse enough
to remain interesting all the way through.

While there is a great deal of sonic similarity running through every song on the disc, the band’s two vocalists and songwriters are so different that this monster sometimes starts to sound as two-headed as Husker Du’s later albums.
Guitarist Ryan McGinnis tends to write songs that are extremely topical (“Message Board” and “Patriot Act” are about exactly what you might expect them to be about) and he has a very distinct cadence and uses lots of end rhymes. Bassist Chris Peigler, on the other hand, tends to writer longer, more complex lines that work well with his more storytelling-oriented lyrical style. While my personal tastes lean much more toward Peigler’s style, just like those Husker Du LPs I mentioned the contrast in styles makes for really interesting listening.

With eight songs in just over twenty minutes, Weapons of Mass Distortion is pretty much the perfect length for a punk rock LP, and for that reason alone this probably serves as your best introduction to this underrated group. This style of DIY poppy punk isn’t for everyone, but if you’re the type who generally likes to have your ear to the ground you certainly need to be aware of these guys.

Posted by Daniel on June 10th, 2004 05:28 PM - DFBPunk.Com

Due to the name and nature of this band and their album, I was ill spirited when popping this disc in and in high hopes of listening to a few songs and taking it out. This was not the case. My attitude was completely off and this band can most definitely be labeled a good band. Using the styles of emo, punk, and indie to display their talent, these guys put out a good CD with a nice arrangement of styles, structure, and enthusiasm. What else could anyone ask for? (CMax)

- Impact Press

When I opened the envelope that brought this CD to me and read the bands name, the first thing that came to mind was an Ataris cover band or something. Much to my surprise I was dead worng. If I were to compare this band to someone, I'd have to say Selby Tigers or something out of the early NYC punk scene.

My So-Called Band is a fresh slap in the face for all the younger kids in the scene with stagnant music dominating "punk rock" in the past couple of years. Of course I'm talking about the Good Charlotte's and Sugarcults and bullshit like that. You can barely escape it anymore. It's good to know that we really do have a choice with what we listen too.

'Always Something There To Destroy Me' features 16 sweet sounds of the punk rock. One of my personal favorites is track 3 'Punk Rock Elitists'. All the songs have that same early NYC sound though. I wish more bands could be like that, level the playing field and all.

- Tony
- PunkandJunk.com