Razor Boys Cut Through the Decades

Perhaps the best local release I’ve heard so far this year actually dates from the late ’70s. But the thing is, HoZac Records’ newly issued LP of unreleased recordings from Razor Boys, a sleazy staple of the Atlanta scene from that time period, could play back-to-back alongside cuts from ratty present-day Atlanta rockers like RMBLR, Biters or Dinos Boys and nobody would raise objections. On the contrary, anyone paying attention would jump to their feet and demand to know who the killer new band is.

Yes, Atlanta 1978 is that immediate, that raw, that alive. And of course, the aforementioned segment of the current rock scene is populated by young dudes (mostly dudes) who are sorta fascinated by that time, that sound and that look, when punk and proto-punk were swappin’ fluids with glam, metal and power-pop, and it was all rock and it was all cool. It wasn’t mainstream commercial shlock and pap. It was too dirty and untamed for that. It was underground, and it was electric, and alienated, and tough, and occasionally tender, and sometimes just fucking hilarious too. Just like today. Except that probably even less people care nowadays.