Reviews:

The former Stains' first album might seem generic in its lyrics and music, but only in retrospect. In their day, MDC (along with a few others like Reagan Youth and the DKs) were braving uncharted territory in the US hardcore frontier: a HC band with unabashed leftist politics. The only US act to put out a record on Crass Records (their second 7" UK pressing), MDC took the ideology of UK peace punk and gave it the Texas punk treatment. Other than "John Wayne Was a Nazi," (their best song and a holdover from the days when they shared the funk influence of fellow Texans the Big Boys), this is simple, pissed-off hardcore with vocals high in the mix so y'all can make out (almost) every dogma-soaked word from Dave Dictor's mouth. Raging anthems like "Corporate Deathburger," "I Remember," and "Dead Cops/America's So Straight" caused quite a stir among US punkers who felt punk should be apolitical or nihilistic like the mass media told them it was (a little editorializing there). The latter song was the best, because it was a rare instance of a hardcore band addressing queer issues directly in their lyrics. Whatever may have happened later, and regardless of production flaws, this is a great set of songs with some exceptionally good lyrics on both the sociopolitical and personal/political side. What makes America so straight and me so bent?
-JEFF

***½ Stars (Out of Five)
I've heard a lot about the American hardcore scene, from Jello Biafra and others, but this is the first time a hardcore band has actually assaulted my ears on vinyl. And here's a message to all the British bands who go for the total thrash approach: MDC eat you for breakfast! This lot are so loud, so fast and so over the top that they make Discharge sound like the Spinners. Next time you walk past a man operating a pneumatic drill two feet from the speakers at a Motorhead gig next to a wombat being castrated with piano wire, stop and listen. This is what MDC sound like, and the lyrics match the noise. Try 'Corporate Deathburger' for instance: "The stench of humans rotting/Smells just like fish fillet/Your sign forgets to mention/50,000 starved today/Corporate deathburger, Ronald McDonald!" Then there's 'John Wayne Was A Nazi', 'American Achievements' and plenty more in a collection that is a must for the lobotomy brigades and the militant white noise faction. Personally, I'll offer principled support from a safe distance- it's not my sort of sound at all but these boys have got spirit.
-John Opposition, from SOUNDS Magazine (UK), November 6th 1982