Rancid Vat – Rancid Vat vs. The Rest of the World (Steel Cage) Nice 25 year retrospective of the obnoxious, ugly punk/heavy rock band. This features their 3 best frontmen – Steve Wilson, The Cosmic Commander of Wrestling and The Texas Stud. This is punk played simple yet wild. Misanthropic yet sarcastic. Not for the easily offended or those expecting the usual fare.

DISC I – LA & Portland era

((((1)))) Straight-ahead gut bucket punk. Raw & slicing guitar tone.
(((2))) Repetitive, pretty funny with loud vocals & cartoonish backing vox.
((((3)))) Ramblin’, rollin’ take on Albert King’s “Evil” mixed with Elvis’ “Trouble”. Classic lines like “I’m evil – my middle name’s Lou Reed”.
(((4))) Noodling guitar, nice diss on guest lists
(((5))) Twangy, early punk sounding number about John “Wadd” Holmes. Different from their “Burger Belsen” LP version.
(((6))) Silly, twangy song about well…the title says it all.
((((((7)))))) Awesome ultra nasty guitar tone! Great vocals from Steve, Marla & The Whiskey Rebel.
(((8))) Loud rawk n’ roll, maan!
((((9)))) Loose, surfy anti-Mormon vibe (though Rancid Vat hates ALL religious equally!) has a slight no-wave sound to it.
((((10)))) Off-kilter, jagged, wild sharp chord and lines like: “woke up this morning…with nothing but hate for the human race”. Sick
((((11)))) Sludge Flipper-like rumbler with demented harmonic & wailing guitars.
((((12))))) Loud, classic, catchy as-hell drunk as hell punk.
(((13))) Slow rollin’, weird & wild psych/funk mixed with hard rock.
((14)) Twangy, just “there”.
(((15))) Like early 90s “noise rock” ‘ala Jesus Lizard, Shellac but about 7-8 years before the fact.
(((16))) Obnoxius & swaggery rawk, nice bass sound.
(((17))) Weird mix, interesting shifting structures,
(((18))) Noisy, feedback freakout with over the top chaotic volumous rock.

DISC II – Hostile City & Texas-era

((((1)))) Trippy, improv space rock with the great ranting from the Cosmic Commander Of Wrestling. Fred “Sonic” (Smith) meets “Nature Boy” Ric (Flair)?
(((((2))))) Heartpunchin’, ugly, heavy rawk ode to Philly (FCC “motherfuckers” sung once)
((((((3))))) A sonic salt to eyes – chairshots to the ears. This is the REAL ROCK’ N’ WRESTLIN’ CONNECTION, HUMANOIDS!
((((4)))) Freaky, ugly fast take on Hank Thee First
(((5))) Raw, riff-heavy Stooges gone on a gonzo hate vibe. (*WARNING: full of racial slurs, though more like a misanthropic version of a Lenny Bruce bit*). Cover of the band Puke, Spit & Guts.
(((((6))))) Slow & punishing ode to the great heels (bad guys) of the square circle
(FCC 2:05-08 “Jesus sucks Gods dick…”)
((((7))))) Strummy, great classic R n’ R riffs, awesome title & lyrics: “Be a man – break up your band!” (FCC “Motherfucker”)
(((8)))) Slow to start, sludgey cover of the Alice Cooper classic.
((((10)))) Funky, steady cover of the Black Oak Arkansas classic (also done by Killdozer).
(((((10))))) Great cover of the Portland area wrestler “Beautiful” Breugard’s early 70s track.
(((((11))))) Solid version of the Sonics minor hit.
((((12)))) Punk as fuck, confrontational lyrics.
(((((13))))) Straight up bad-ass ode to the 16 time “woo!” world champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Great samples from his mid-80s’ prime. Woo!
(((14))) TOO MANY FCCs – SKIP IT!
((((15))))) Fast punker about psycho Satanist, acidhead, Ricky Kasso. (FCC “shit” sung once)