Leftöver Crack

Leftover Crack return their fire-stoked railroad spike to society's eye with the subtlety-banishing Fuck World Trade. The spike's iron cooled after 2001's Mediocre Generica, and little was heard from the New York squatter punks. But World Trade makes up for lost time -- it's provoking and nonconforming in double and triple amounts. "Clear Channel (Fuck Off!)" is a rallying cry even without its East Coast hardcore rumble, while "Life Is Pain" and "Gang Control" return to the scraggly ska-punk sound that's the band's strongest side. As a vocalist, Stza is, well, limited. But to spit vitriol and passion, you don't have to be the Velvet Fog. His pained whine leads the boys through a host of hyper upbeats and amplified hardcore choruses, and the kicker is that this record is more melodic than 99 percent of what the punk-pap army offers. ("Rock the 40 Oz." and the acoustic lead-up to "One Dead Cop"'s main progression are both highlights.) Leftover Crack are street-level revolutionaries from their lyrics, to their cover art, all the way through to their energizing, uncompromising music. While their message can be both visually and sonically bludgeoning, its candor is refreshing in an age of middling media, partisan politics, and social second-guessing. It's real revolution rock. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide