THE TARDS - Guillotine CD review

THE TARDS - Guillotine CD
Self Released
Genre: Thrash/Punk
Rating: 4/5

Years ago the Punk Rock n Roll record label, headed by Long Gone John, Sympathy For The Record Industry (aka SFTRI) had a release by a band of the same name titled I'm Just Like You. It was an 8 inch release instead of a 7 inch, get it, and the cover had this "tard" looking individual giving the middle finger salute with both hands. When I saw the name of this band the thought that maybe they were the same crossed my mind. According to their discography they're not, but? These TARDS hail from good o'l Kansas City and play hard rockin thrash punk on this their second full length. I've never heard their debut but on Guillotine THE TARDS are far from your typical retro S.F. Thrash wannabes plus their punk style is reminiscent of some other bands I've been into for quite a while.They're like a Confederacy of Scum punk band with a variety of old thrash influences like Master of Puppets era METALLICA, especially on "Makin' It Don't Mean Ya Made It". It almost sounds like an ANTISEEN song with a thrash pedigree. The singer and guitarist Keegan Smith even sounds kinda like Jeff Clayton of ANTISEEN. Other songs like "Suicide am I" add some NWOBHM influence but on "Give Me the Guillotine" it's more hard rockin punk. I need to contact these guys and see if they knew COCKNOOSE, a infamous Midwest act. (I did and they do) "All the Way to the Grave" is total hard rockin thrash punk with metal soloing by Mike Smith. In fact he's all over this release sending you into fits of air guitar fits of excitement. They also win song title of the month with “Tear Out The Seats and Mosh.”

Myspace: http://myspace.com/thetards