Insults, The

Insults, The

S/t

Last Laugh

"Seems like no punk label can resist the allure of the obscure reissue these days, but Last Laugh has been dutifully excavating the graffiti-riddled stalls of punk’s history for many years now, generally coming through with more hits than misses. The Insults released two 7″s in 1979, both want-list staples of any decent punk collector, and Last Laugh hit the jackpot here, locating a 1980 recording session of unreleased tunes and releasing it here. I sure wish Maids or Cracked Actor were sitting on unreleased albums, but I’ll take it from The Insults as well, whose material on this self-titled LP is certainly good enough to have warranted a proper 1980 release. Wonder what happened! Opener 'I Hate…' blasts both teenagers and the band’s neighbors, a coulda-been punk anthem, and it’s not long until 'Disco Bitch' goes into lyrical territory that, well, I think I’ll leave you to guess. 'Trans Am' sounds like it should’ve been a Scientists a-side, whereas 'Dummies On Parade' directly and successfully lifts the melody from 'Holiday In The Sun'—it’s really quite remarkable how top-shelf these songs are. It’s a classic snot-nosed punk sound with a mix of energy and aloof nihilism that would’ve acclimated well to the burgeoning hardcore-punker scene. No liner notes to explain why this recording languished for forty years, but my imagination is filling in the gaps just fine—I’m picturing an infuriated RON RAT (vocalist) throwing the tapes in the attic after a drunken RICHARD SIKK (guitarist) threw up on the pool...