For Those Whose Hearts and Souls Are True

Modern-day street punk seems to have thwarted any attempts to popularize it as other subgenres of punk rock have been. Then again, it'd be quite entertaining to see what kind of purveyor of this descendent of Oi! would make it onto a popular stage. The Hudson Falcons help to bear the standard of street punk, defined in their terms as "working class punk rock & roll." Their second full-length features an altered lineup, bassist Craighton Fischer and drummer Ben Glotzbach having somehow joined the cause while the band was in Indiana. The music is still a muscular, energetic mix of leftist politics and punk-rock & roll. The Falcons seem still to be writing tracks on their favorite themes, mainly those involving workers' rights, pride, etc. Although, as with the first album, the lyrics do tend to get a bit violent — see "Scab," with such lines as "Tire irons and baseball bats/You try to break the union we'll break your head." The songwriting has improved from the first album, here highlighted by "Requiem for a Patriot" and "I'm a Worker." Great version of cover tracks abound as well (see "Stay With Me," "Open All Night," and "Johnny Law"). All in all, this is a worthy follow-up to their powerful first album.