Archive Review: The Pagans’ The Blue Album (2008)

Formed in the industrial wasteland that was late ‘70s Cleveland, Ohio, the Pagans were the result of the same disturbing musical zeitgeist that spawned the Dead Boys, Rocket From the Tombs, and Pere Ubu. Although their original run was short, but explosive – they first broke up in ‘79 – the Pagans have crawled back up out of the gutter more than once over the past 20 years, always fronted by growling vocalist Mike Hudson and buzzsaw guitarist Mike Metoff.

The Blue Album is the result of one of those reunions, the Pagans captured live in some dive in Madison, Wisconsin in ‘88. The sound ain’t half-bad, considering the crude recording, and the performance is the epitome of raw power: drunken, sloppy, and loud, with plenty o’ feedback, distortion, attitude, and crackling energy. More than a mere archival document, The Blue Album offers a balls-to-the-wall, first-gen punk-rock experience. (Smog Veil Records, released 2008)

Review originally published by Blurt magazine...