SHAKE SUMMATION

Rip It Up, Issue 127, 1 February 1988, Page 26

SHAKE SUMMATION

Compos Mentis/Powerage ‘ Backlash’ (Out of Order 7”) A shared seven inch EP, six songs, two bands. Compos Mentis, recorded at Wellington’s Broadcasting House, sound clear and listenable, but ‘Rock Stars’ is the closest they get to a decent chorus. Lyrical conviction is where it’s at though, and boy do these guys hate you, Patricia Bartlett and the Chase Corporation. Powerage are your bonafide South

African punk group, so they’ve got plenty to write about, and their message through these three songs basically runs like the the titles: ‘This is South Africa,’ ‘Disgrace,’ ‘Lies.’ Pity they sound so out of time, like they’ve never played before, like mistakes galore, kids. Various Artists

New Zealand 7” Compilation (Onset Offset 7”) Small Wellington label Out of Order plan to compile further comilations like this one, which features five bands from around New Zealand. Two of the groups, Holocaust and Defiance, have disbanded now, the latter’s contribution being ‘Woman of Your Dreams,' which features some interesting guitar from Paul Reaper, Lord of Goblins and Wizards, but they don’t sound like goths, thank god. Of the other three, I'd probably only listen out for more from the Mindfuckers — you still can’t hear what they’re saying (though this offering, ‘Gunga Din,’ is recorded in a studio) but their songs lurch around like incompetent punk should. Acid Reign’s ‘Carnivore’ is badly recorded, but gruesome (“it’s neat to be a carnivore I hack, tear, slice, rip, munch and gnaw/ lick your fingers, lust for more”). Nazgul play the so-called metal-punk crossover, and all that means to me is that ‘Private War’ is mercifully short. (Both these singles are available for $4 from Out of Order, POBox 7414, Wellington South.)

Paul McKessar