The Screwed “1977” CD

THE SCREWED are a new-ish local band made up of scene veterans. When I say scene veterans I am often talking about the hardcore scene. The folks that make up SCREWED are mostly from the original punk scene. So we are talking about the original punks. Cleave Anderson is on drums and was the original drummer for the BATTERED WIVES and went on to form TYRANNA, and most recently has been in the reunited VILETONES. Steve Koch played in the legendary DEMICS. You have probably played air guitar to “New York City” at least once in your life. John Borra was in A NEON ROME who I used to see at the Beverley in their early days. They too did a great version of “Pretty Vacant”. And Steve Saint is the singer from the SINISTERS doing some moonlighting and can pull off Johnny Rotten as easily as Pete Shelley which is a talent that goes far beyond karaoke. So these guys formed this band and started playing out and became a lightening rod for this local KBD era scene that has started to come out of the woodwork. Our show has been a major beneficiary of the SCREWED’s work as a lot of these bands have played the show and done interviews with Greg Dick. But “1977” was the original idea of these guys which was to get together and jam out some covers of the stuff that got you into punk. So this CD is made up of all covers from the BOYS to the CLASH, from the RAMONES to the VIBRATORS, from the JAM to the HEARTBREAKERS. There’s a lot of choice cuts on here and not necessarily the ones you would find on some retro K-tel package. A lot of thought and a lot of heart went into this. The SCREWED have started writing originals and continue to play out with all kinds of re-unions planned for the summer. I have heard some of the originals and I can say that the SCREWED have a lot to offer and it’s not just nostalgia tripping. Can’t wait. (Screwed Records c/o OPM Inc. P.O. Box 266, Postal Station ‘P’ / Toronto, ON / M5S 2S7 / Canada / www.myspace.com/thescrewed) - SP