Beowülf

2 ¢

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/1541461-Beow%C3%BClf-2-

Year Of Release: 1995

Review

I know, I’m writing about a CD, not a vinyl release. I don’t think this album was ever pressed on vinyl. I remain hopeful that one of those shonky labels in Europe will take a run at putting an unofficial pressing out at some stage. I hadn’t really heard of Beowülf before a friend (RIP Fat Greg) gave me a copy of this CD to listen to some time in 1995 or 1996. I was a big fan of Suicidal Tendencies, so enjoying an album from one of the founding bands of the “Venice scene” probably wasn’t going to be a real stretch. But I was surprised by just how much this album kicks arse. The music is fast, the lyrics aren’t overly taxing, and there’s some positive messages buried in there.

You might be familiar with the title track 2 ¢ – it was featured at the start of the Tank Girl movie. I can’t for the life of me work out why it wasn’t included in the soundtrack. As tempting as it is to blame Courtney Love (“Executive Music Coordinator”), I don’t think it’s entirely her fault (if at all). There’s some chatter about possible limitations of soundtrack length at the time (because most everything was being produced for CD, rather than vinyl) but I don’t know if that’s it either. It might have been a licensing issue, or a result of the band somewhat imploding following the release of this album. It all happened before everyone’s business was all over the Internet, so there’s not a lot of information to be had about the real story.

In any case, this is a cracking 40-something minutes of thrash metal / punk rawk. Standout tracks are the aforementioned 2 ¢, Throw Your Rock, Bullet Hole, and Life Ain’t, Life’s Only. But this is really a no skips album. A little hard to get hold of, but worth it if you can find it.

Rating: 9/10