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These are some reviews we've received from our first release, various live shows, and the American Upstart compilation. In no particular order
Pitch Weekly/Online Echo Reviews StreetPunk 2000: The Midwest Oi!
Fest
El Torreon -- Saturday, May 27, 2000
By Reviewed by Jeff Brown
Back by popular demand for a second
year, the Midwest Oi! festival landed
at the elegant and ever-evolving El
Torreon ballroom. Saturday was the
first installment of the two-day event,
which took place last year at Gee
Coffee in Olathe. Seven bands shared
their blue-collar, working-class,
shaven-headed shenanigans with a
rather packed group of mostly
harmless malcontents and
beer-drinkers.
Did he say beer-drinkers? Yes, El
Torreon, home of persistent
harassment by the boys in blue, has
finally skirted certain pesky laws and
obtained a dance hall permit and, for
the very first time, a catering license
that allowed the venue to serve liquor
during StreetPunk 2000 in a spacious
beer-guzzling area. With alcohol for
sale in generous Big Gulp-size
proportions, the evening went by
rather swimmingly.
First to take the stage was Crosshair from Dallas, who seemed to be a cross
between spirit-of-'77 Clash and second-wave California punk. Each song was
prefaced by a dedication: "To all the local fans who fed us," "To all the
motherfuckers calling us Nazis," and "To all the fake-ass skinheads who shop at
Hot Topic" were among the most memorable. Fans circled the stage but remained
rather complacent. It wasn't until The Brassknuckle Boys, who mixed a touch of
hardcore with British pub-punk, had come and gone that the crowd started to
show real passion for the music.
The first group to inspire/benefit from the audience's enthusiasm was Kansas
City's very own Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, who kicked the crowd in the chest
both figuratively and, one occasion, literally. After an overly amorous fan bit her
on the leg, singer Liz Nord booted the insolent idolater square in the breastplate.
No real violence erupted, but the pit really took to the quartet's super-charged
anthems, especially its cover of Lords of Acid's "Pussy." The fact that
three-fourths of the band happened to be female added immensely to the
testosterone-fueled environment. These ovarian warrior princesses got the crowd
fully ready to spin and twirl on the concrete dance floor of this former garage.
The next four bands (Youthful Offenders from Manchester Conn.; The Booked
from Corpus Christi, Texas; The Authority from Orange County, Calif.; and
Forced Reality from New Britain, Conn.) were the evening's real Oi!sters. These
groups targeted young, drunk, blue-collar skinheads with sing-along choruses ("Oi!
Oi! Oi!" being the most popular) and pleasant background vocals (mostly
"Whoa-way-ohs" and "O-whey-ohs"). By this time, the pit had taken off, even
though the crowd around the stage was shrinking. It seemed that the beer garden
had more appeal as the night wore on, and some in attendance decided to start
their own show, probably after imbibing a few colon-busting big beers. Of course,
those who dared to bring ultraviolence into this garden of Eden were promptly
banished and hustled out the door, with a mess of fans following the fray for
added emphasis.
Thankfully, no real brawls broke out, and the crowd went back to drinking and
occasionally bellowing along with the bands. Around midnight, the evening came
to a close, a mere six hours after it had begun. And let me tell you, six hours of
anything is quite enough. The crowd shuffled out into the parking lot looking a
little worse for wear, but most in attendance were probably ready to return the
next night and do it all again.
Pitch Weekly El Torreon Show, Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2000
Reviewed by Robert Bishop
As she took the stage and surveyed the audience, Sister Mary Rotten Crotch singer Liz Nord's first words were "I have never played to such a large crowd in all my life." And if you think she was kidding... well, you're right. El Torreon offered only about 30 souls for the band to save on this evening, but God knows Sister Mary tried like hell.
The group, including Aaron Riffel of Mi6 standing in on bass, ripped through one song after another. The onslaught, powered by Amy Farrand's explosive drums and melodic backup vocals, was interrupted only when the group's members paused to indulge in genuinely amusing banter. Noticing that the audience wasn't doing much more than standing around, perhaps in fear of the No Dancing policy in effect at El Torreon due to the silly laws of man, Nord took them into her confidence. "Y'all can move," she said. "We won't tell the fire marshal."
Danger lurked ahead for Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, as guitarist Alison Saunders broke a string. During the pause while said string was being replaced, the remaining Sisters first offered the crowd various witty remarks. However, after Farrand reminded her cohorts that telling jokes on stage was a no-no, the group, sans Saunders, worked through an improvised number quickly titled, "Ass Fucking." While Farrand and Riffel slapped together a groovy beat and a funky bass line, Nord grinded around, screaming the song's title or other non sequiturs such as "prosthesis."
Nord, who became the Sister who sings fairly recently, had to look off a cheat sheet for the band's cover of Lords of Acid's "Pussy." Later, she hopped off the stage and mingled with her devoted followers during "Spank Me Jesus" and "Fuck You and Your Neighborhood."
"The set's almost over and I'm just getting comfortable touching myself," Nord said, doing so. Then, after "Club a Club Kid," which was "dedicated, as always, to El Torreon," the wild ride came to an end. Even though there weren't that many people around to see it, Sister
Mary played like the house was packed, putting on a loud, fast, and furious show.
The intricate power-pop quartet Onward Crispin Glover had the unfortunate task of having to follow the Sister Mary girls (and boy). On a lower key than Sister Mary, the band still mustered up considerable amounts of energy while it was playing, though long silent breaks for tuning in between songs made it easy to get distracted in the sparsly populated venue. Near the end of the band's allotted time, its singer said, "This is usually the part of the show where I say, 'Hey, who wants to buy me a shot?' But I'm shit out of luck tonight." And while a drink might have been nice, a few hundred more people in the audience would have been even better.
MaximumRockNRoll April 1999
Skip Sunday school this week kiddies, here you got raunchy Catholic chicks gone punk (plus Brother Dave on skins) from Kansas City, MO. These sisters spit out 7-loud and snotty commandments in the name of sex, raw meat and rock 'n' roll. The most righteous of the bunch is "Club a Club Kid for Rock 'n' Roll" which explores the evils of techno. Convert, fuckers. (DL)
MaximumRockNRoll April 1999 Bruce Roehrs column
American Upstart Records presents SISTER MARY ROTTEN CROTCH recorded live at Davey's Uptown Ramblers Club in Kansas City, Missouri on October 17, 1998. Besides rockin' originals like "Little Slut" and "Carnivore", these ladies offer great covers of "Bullet" by the MISFITS and "Loud, Proud and Punk" by the BUSINESS. Favorable comparisons to that great female band MAN'S RUIN from Atlanta, Georgia could be entertained. This live recording indicates that Hannah, Alison, Liz and (drummer) Dave are a club act that would hold your attention. Perhaps we'll be lucky enough to get some studio recordings by SISTER MARY ROTTEN CROTCH in the future.
American Upstart volume two issue one
This 7" is these recovering Catholic girls first release. It's a live recording and the sound quality is surprisingly good. 7 songs on here, of which "Club a Club Kid" has to be my new favorite song. Also covers of the Misfits "Bullet" and "Loud, Proud and Punk" by the Business very nicely rendered with female vocals. Girl garage punk at its finest, that is sure to bruise some fragile male egos. Can't wait to hear more stuff from these ladies in the future. Till then remember "Club a club kid for rock-n-roll, techno music will steal your soul..." Couldn't have said it better myself. Jake
W.H.O.L. Music Reviews Special Edition #C03
Also shocking the local scene has been Sister Mary Rotten Crotch. The Catholic school girls have gone bad - - but there's no confessing. This unique approach to live music will leave you offended and ready to fuck. Take it on the chin, cause these folks can pack a punch.
Flipside Number 118 May/June 1999
What do you get when you take a guy drummer dressed as a priest and three girls (guitar, bass, vocals) dressed as catholic school girls? The answer is Sister Mary Rotten Crotch! They play some raw '77 style unpolitically correct punk. Song titles such as "Smell My Finger" "Club a Club Kid" are prime examples. This 7" was recorded live. Not the best live recording, but certainly not the worst. I look forward to hearing what S.M.R.C. turns out in a studio. This record is also on red vinyl and is done by the oi zine American Upstart. - Freddy Flipoff
Punk Planet issue #31 May/June 1999
Sister Mary Rotten Crotch win two awards: stupidest name and stupidest lyrics. A sample: "Wanna guess where I have been? Come on, smell my finger." This EP is a live show, and although the recording is pretty good, that barely helps. The music is trashy old style punk rock with little melody. It's unfortunate they spent so much putting this out. (SM)
MaximumRockNRoll June 1999
V/A American Upstart EP
Just when I thought I hated all new street punk and oi bands along comes this fine little EP, and hot damn if it doesn't kick much ass! Side A starts off with a bang courtesy of the band BRASS TACKS. Their sound owes as much to LITTLE RICHARD and CHUCK BERRY as it does SHAM 69, and their song "Skinhead RocknRoll" is fucking awesome! Raw, catchy and powerful. I was floored! Up next is SISTER MARY ROTTEN CROTCH who turn in a decent pogo punk tune, that, in both sound and lyric content, brings to mind SNAP-HER, mixed with the EJECTED. This is pretty good, but I thought the songs on their debut EP were better. On the B side, TERMINUS CITY kicks things off by serving up the tune "Backseat". This sounds like a punked out version of "Johnny Be Good" or GEORGE THUROGOOD doing punk, and I loved it! It's good to see some American bands drawing on these influences as opposed to trying to sound like any number of English bands for a change. Finally, KOSHER closes things out with a great tune called "BOTTLE CAPS". this ounds like a way raw DEVIATORS, whose first EP kicked much ass, or a less English wannabe RADICTS. Catchy, but gritty, with a cool sing along chorus. Again, great! This is by far the best new batch of bands and songs to appear on a single release in quite some time and gets the highest recommendation from moi. Available with American Upstart Vol. 2, #1. (RM)
includes 7 tracks
Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, Little Slut, Smell My Finger, Bullet, Club A Club Kid (For Rock 'n' Roll), Carnivore & Loud, Proud and Punk
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