PIG PEN

Pig Pen

Bleedin', Drinkin' and Stinkin'

Snot Rocket

I am amazed that a band like Pig Pen has the `nads to put out a genuine underground punk rock record. I mean, this is the kind of punk rock you'd have to search for back in the mid-1980s. (You'd have to search for it because punk rock wasn't that easy to find!)

I am immediately reminded of the Day Glo Abortions, the Pagans, and the Circle Jerks. If you're really hip (and probably "old") you remember the party scene in Repo Man. The one where Kevin's house is being used for a punk rock slam party and Otto runs into Duke, who just got out of jail... In other words, Pig Pen's music is very outsider. You don't belong to or in society if you like real punk rock like this!

Aside from the magnificent guitar solos, ripping melodies, and vocal choruses, the songs have both an ugly bite, and as I said before, the cruel wit of the Day Glo Abortions. "Fuck Food" is about waking up with a hangover and wanting a drink, "Crack Whore Barbie" is about, good grief, that's too harsh to print! "Dead Head Chick" is a nasty finger-pointing at hippie chicks, and it takes a bit of a dig at the late Jerry Garcia -- ha! Like punk rock is supposed to! Fuck hippies! "Out of the Nest II" and "Just Like Me" have the Southern California punk sound and plenty of white suburban youth cynicism/angst (yeah, they're southeast, I know!). Again, I'm really impressed that Pig Pen is playing the kind of music that defined punk rock for a lot of people. More power to them!


--David Lee Beowülf


- Ink 19 Magazine - David Lee Beowülf

Pig Pen
“Short Bus Sing-A-Longs”
(24-track CD-R, recorded at Morrisound Recording, Tampa, produced by Mark Prator and Pig Pen, Johnny Dweeb (vocals), Bob Noxious (guitars), Ridley (drums), ? (bass), 32:00)

The one thing I’ve always admired about these guys is that their piss-take attitude seems genuine in its f-you-ness, yet they always back it up on record. Granted, a track like “Your Girlfriend Is Ugly” doesn’t leave much room for interpretation or sonic alterations (tho’ I have this reoccurring fantasy about Paula Cole covering a version). But for all of its goofy, unkind metaphors and 2-and-a-half chord slash, the Pigs always seem to bring home the bacon- with a tenacity that draws strength from the hardcore. And just when I think they might be inclined for a more serious agenda, introducing a few social causes among the verbiage of “No Compromise” and “Court Ordered Sympathy,” it’s only a track away that the reckless idiocy of “Vaseline” or “Instant Asshole” surfaces to extend those middle fingers. Best track: “Jay Wrote This Song,” a blistering bullet, that shows that even when they’re out of lyrics, they’ve got lyrics. Ownership required.


- Focus Magazine