THE MONGROLLS "Truth or Dare" CD

The things that appealed to me about punk-rock are pretty basic. Varied, but verily basic. Two of the most basic concepts are that ANYONE can do punk-rock and it doesn’t take TALENT to do punk-rock, it takes ample amounts of DRIVE, CONFIDENCE and ATTITUDE. Thankfully, I excel at being ANYONE (check), having no talent (double-check) and having ample amounts of that other stuff. (FUCK YOU! -- See what I’m talking about?). That’s why when THE MONGROLLS Truth Or Dare arrived at the famed, SOCIALS MANOR aka Neus Subjex Compound aka Mt. Tufff (yeah, 3 f's in TUFFF) it was indeed music to my ears.

On Truth or Dare you are instantly attacked with sound... Surprise you fuck... You have been out maneuvered without noticing. You are surrounded on all sides. You will die soon but stand strong, your being taken out by the best of them. There is honor in your death after all. Remember all those Killed By Death records? Killed by Death (KBD)#'s2 and 3 were bought by myself on the same day back in 1990. I knew they would be good. Those records molded my impression of music more than any two records have since. If not for KBD records, specifically #'s 2 & 3, things would have turned out terribly different. I had that 'feeling', a 'hunch' that day with those records that could only he described as a Spiderman type of spider-sense... Well, Greg Mongroll, DBA THE MONGROLLS is the embodiment of everything KBD stands for philosophically... Upon immediate delivery if Truth or Dare, I had that hunch. That tingle... Was a brick being thrown at my head? A masked villain behind me pointing a revolver at me? Well, it was danger. Danger in the form of music... The Mongrolls Truth or Dare.

All that bullshit I slang back in the first chapter about punk-rock concepts is in Truth or Dare, that whole KBD unstoppable ripping punk shredders thing plus a lot more shit that I could go on and on about that you obviously understand to the degrees needed... That, OR your job is to read through things like this searching for and assessing threat levels of outlier thinkers such as myself or The Mongrolls. Congrats! You hit the gold mine. You have found the center of resistance. Welcome... See, I am not without my paranoia’s but 'dusting-off' will take the edge off this descent, so pardon me a moment...

Phssssst.

There. Ahhh... That’s the stuff!

That’s better.  So now... Where were we? Oh yeah...Truth or Dare is one of those efforts. Greg Mongroll has paid attention to all those records and listened to what all those fucking freaks have said and taken it upon himself to leave his unmarked package in a discreet corner of a public building doing his part for the cause. Listen and hear on Truth or Dare eighteen (18) KBD punk rager’s with a 90's pop-punk influenced Wimpy snarl (THE QUEERS) mixed with a more RAMONES charged version of THE MAD or THE EAT... The Mongrolls are for punk revivalist who dig what they hear with THE SPITS and THE REATARDS... With a few of those tracks being from UNNATURAL AXE, MENACE, LOLI + THE CHONES and THE MINDS. Bouncing punk with mean drums, mean guitars and mad, struggled wavering vocals. Crazy mad as well as angry mad... Both kinds of mad! I will go ahead and throw in a THIRD kind of mad that I necessarily cant identify right now. A yet to be discovered mad that cant be seen as anything productive to 'normal' society hence, right at home with punk-rock.

Some people feel they have moved beyond bands or sounds like The Mongrolls but don’t get cocky you sons of bitches. You can wake up one day and find that the ones you discounted as meaningless leave behinds have got your fucking head on the end of a rusty spear, and drinking all your expensive beers (1) Rule number 203 of punk-rock is 'Don’t underestimate punk-rock' songs like "Telephone", "Johnny’s Dead Again", "I Tell You" and "Not Right" don’t get mad, they get even.

The Mongrolls capture a certain glory that many, even punk-rock fans new and old will just miss out on. The Mongrolls could easily be dismissed for any of the reasons that I think makes them unique, dangerous and just as important as any other bunch of anti-heroes. I believe that, I really do. We, fellow believers need bands like The Mongrolls to keep us viable... To tell us that it’s still ok. To tell us we are not alone. To tell us there is there is hope. Preaching to the quire is ok. It gives us the power to move forward... Truth or Dare is a chapter in the bible of punk-rock that tells you your life does in fact suck. Maybe even sux at rimes- that’s like SUCK multiplied! But at least it has a fucking great soundtrack.

The Mongrolls on facebook

Read The Mongrolls interview with Greg Mongroll on …Thwart!

(1) I have been know to pour parts or even whole drinks out for 'the heroes that cant be here'