Tales of the Salty Bag

I'm not sure if Sweden is a peculiar place or if maybe they weird up their exports sometimes to mess with people. Either way, my wife went to Ikea this past week and brought me back a couple bags of Ikea chips..(which are a product of the USA..but really, if you're naming your chips fleshlight..err, festligt [wait, that means festive? in english, I thought it'd mean something to do with chips] it seems like they're at least trying to front Swedish). Every so often I return to The Shape of Punk to Come to see if I'm finally down like a clown..Charlie Brown..with the entire album. Each time, before returning to it I tend to think that there's something about it that I just don't get or am not into (hence it not being in my collection). So, about an hour ago I threw it on. The first song is an absolute rager, and at 7 minutes (for a hardcore song) that's quite a feat. They maintain rager status throughout the album, throwing in different world sounds, funk

 Billy Liar put out his debut LP, Some Legacy , on Red Scare last year. Some Legacy is full band punk rock (Joe McMahon's on second guitar, backup vocs..and produced the album) based around Billy's acoustic guitar. The music is mid to up tempo and somewhat bright, melodic with some harmonies..which is juxtaposed against Billy's fairly dark and dire lyrics. These are absolutely beautiful songs that when reading the lyrics come off as a form of therapy. Billy's gone through and, if the lyrics on this album are any indication, is still going through some real shit. Mental health is at the forefront of his lyrics, both his own and people close to him (noose is beautifully written and absolutely heart wrenching lyrics..backed by melody, harmonies and poppy music). The political and economical turmoil that Scotland is currently going through makes its way into the songs. This is an amazing album that if you want to take it superficially you can just bop along to the music..t