Album Review: Rattled Minds by God Equals Genocide will renew your faith in punk once more.

On Rattled Minds - God Equals Genocide generate a slew of punk songs that are as provocative as their name. Punk is now an umbrella term that encompasses a lot of different genres having been watered down since the 80's, so much so, that Good Charlotte (and similar such crappola) was referred to in the mass media as punk... (excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit) and while, I will not turn this review into a 13 hour debate on what punk music is and what it is not, let's just say that the ten songs God Equals Genocide pumps out on their debut full length record sound like "authentic" punk to me. Danny from Pangea, Adrian from Cheeto Champ and Daryl from Birdstrike have managed to straddle, successfully, the fine line between fully inspired diatribes on personal, social and political issues and paying homage (subconsciously or overtly) to iconic bands like The Ramones, X, Social Distortion, The Dead Kennedys, The Sex Pistols, The Rezillos and X Ray Spex all the while creating their own sound.

Stand out songs for me are: Give It Up Front which is such a catchy pogo worthy head banger. Adrian and Danny's voices in unison are so damn tasty. Wasting Time with lyrics that every working man or woman can appreciate is an anthem for the ages. You're Different cooly plays with it's time signatures, swapping a charging beat to a furious double time and back again between verse and chorus. Why is just gnarly with a touch of psychedelia. Give Me A Break is probably the most mainstream sounding to me and despite the use of "fuckin" and at under a minute, could be a soundtrack for a Butterfinger commercial (seriously). A Place pulsates with a surf garage beat and half step chords. Walk Away is a song that pushes itself to the edge and then edges out further. The lyrics are as equally vague as they are poetic, "The big blue building welcomes you in.. just sign your name here and your life can re-begin." and "Too much, can't think, don't want, you've got stories, I know when to walk away."

Rattled Minds by God Equals Genocide has a lot going for it. The songs feel like they are played and sung with wild abandon. They are glorious in their trashy sound yet underneath they feel thoughtful and well crafted at the same time. The Album CD (for review) is equally constructed with care offering up pics and lyrics in this nice little booklet. Rattled Minds is also available on glorious vinyl. Go buy it. Crank it up and renew your faith in punk once more.

God Equals Genocide - Rattled Minds - LP on Razorcake / Dirt Cult, CD on Ghostbot Records


GEG is Danny, Adrian, and Daryl


Recorded by Andrew Schubert on November 2011


Mixed by Andrew Schubert and GEG


Mastered by Nik Karpen

Cover Photos by Todd Taylor