Listening to a “retrospective” like this and trying to shed light on the subject can be a daunting task. Between these 2 CD’s there is almost 80 songs. I think I have heard like maybe a couple of these tunes on compilations and wonder if I’m the man for the job. As a punk band KILL THE HIPPIES deliver high on the entertainment value. The lo-fi production of even the most recent output (of which each disc starts out with and chronologically moves backward) kind of adds to the appeal of this Kent, Ohio 3-piece. It sounds like this band recorded mostly on 4 tracks if not 8 at times. Some of the super early stuff sounds like it was recorded with one mike or a boombox. Almost every other song has a DEVO influence with the pistons cranked. The twangy guitar and gangly bass also bring to mind “Pink Flag” era WIRE, TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS, and a slight bit of MISSION OF BURMA. Make no mistake; the group are definitely way more on the punk tip in spite of some of the new wave, no-wave noise and post-punk sounds they emit.

The songs are split writing and vocal wise between P.P. Envy (Melissa on bass and vocals) and Morte Treehorn (Matt on guitar and vocals). P.P.’s bass is very nice and gangly in the only way a picked punk style Rickenbacker bass can ever be. Morte’s axe slinging always has a bit of overdrive along with the twang to give it the edge it needs. They play with musicianship that far exceeds most of theirs punk peers. Song-wise the first of the 2 CD’s fares just a slight bit better. The first disc contains tracks taken from 7" singles/ep’s and CD compilations. Galvanizing the over-the-top obnoxiousness with a heady degree of catchiness are highlights such as “Flags and Gas”, “Jerked Off by Strangers”, “I Look for Trouble”, “Holiday in World War III”, “My Pussy’s Gonna Make You Hot, My Cock is Gonna Drive You Crazy”, “Destroy All the Musicians”, “I’m Gonna Puke on You”, “Neon Toilet”, etc.

The second CD is full of outtakes, practices (some with overdubs) and stuff released on cassettes and CDR’s. (Wheel Chair Full of Old Men Records, the label that distributed this group’s early cassettes, put out one of the best compilation CDs of the mid 90’s in my not-so-humble opinion, “Orchestral Manures in the Dork – a Compilation of Complete Shit”.) The lyrics are included for the fist disc and the words for this disc are available from the band’s website, I believe.The sound quality varies in the same fashion as the other CD and includes fun such as “Totally Dull”, “Price Gun”, “Sierra Madre Cinco”, “Little Retarded Boys”, “Dead for Days”, “We Are the Cancer”, etc. Given the amount of tracks between these two discs, trying to digest them all at once may be a hard sell unless you are a punk die-hard. About a half hour of this stuff goes a long way, but it’s good rockin’ none-the-less. These days I find it hard to care but Kill the Hippies deliver the goods. This group proves that contemporary punk does not have to suck. This stuff does not sound too dated and is far from boring.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: www.rocknrollpurgatory.com/killthehippies

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