Amen

How many endorsements from super famous rock stars does it take to give credit to an authentic punk band in the 21st century? System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian should be enough for Amen. The band, led by former competitive skateboarder turned punk preacher UK cover boy Casey Chaos, left such an impression on Malakian that he signed Amen to his own label, eatURmusic. The resulting recording, Death Before Musick, is the band’s fifth full-length CD. The disc follows the rules of classic punk rock, à la the Sex Pistols and Iggy Pop, to the letter. Guitarists Rich Jones (formerly of the Black Halos) and Matt Montgomery take basic chords and drill them into every nook and cranny left empty by Chaos’ wrath. With a super-human reputation as being a band that can single-handedly convert even the most pristine in the live music arena, Amen only gives up glimmers of that brilliance on this disc (the shine off "Bring Me the Heads” is literally blinding). I do give Amen credit. But the one thing they get the most credit for is bringing back punk minus the pop. For that I say "can I get an Amen?”