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Pain

Midgets With Guns
1996
Birdcage

Pain - Midgets With Guns (Cover Artwork)

Review by: pwfanatic
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Published on February 11th 2003

I first heard of Pain on the local college station 89.9 KGRG. KGRG were such Pain fanatics that Pain even thanked them in the liner notes of one of their albums. Needless to say, what I heard on the radio when I first heard a song called “Square Pegs”, I spent a while actually trying to classify quirky Florida band known as Pain.

“Well, they have horns, so they must be ska.” Not quite. Granted, Pain does have a horn section, but they lack all of the other fundamentals of ska, not to mention I read a rant on their website where one of the band members says he hates ska, and that Pain isn’t ska. “Well, they are being reviewed for punknews.org, so they must be punk.” Once again, not quite.

So than what “is” Pain? I have come to classify Pain as, put simply, Pain. They are a genre all in their own with no rivals. Their second full length album “Midgets With Guns” showcases the talents and quirkyness of Pain excellently. The album begins with “Pose Ode” and the reason for why Pain is Pain. “Pose, pose, why do suppose that Pain is our name? Because that’s what we chose and life without Pain is a long endless chain of errors repeated again and again.” After the little intro of “Pose Ode”, Pain launches frantically into “Milk”, the tale of how not to get beaten up. The lyrics are one of the biggest aspects of Pain, they have sung about things from bottle rocket wars and being in a band to love songs of little people inside of us with guns.

“Square Pegs” begins with some guitars and horns and a little bit of “hey hey hey”. Like it says, “it’s the kind of song you want to bring home to your mom”, and it is true. I have yet to find a person that doesn’t like Pain – save for those who absolutely hate anything they perceive to be ska.

In the end, Pain is Pain, I have never found anyone who comes close. They are excellent live, and I am not sure if they are even being Pain anymore. But for an album that not only mentions Henry Rollens, but also Ash from Army of Darkness (as if there is anyother?!), the two coolest, most bad-ass guys in the universe, Pain is definitely the kind of music you want to take back to your mom. Also check out their two following albums, “Wonderful Beef” and “Full Speed Ahead”.

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Posted by Smithy on 2006-11-01 17:48:57

I've also seen them described as "smile-core" which I think is pretty apt!

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 7:55 AM (EST)

The first time I heard of Pain was at Bevil State community Colledge in Fayette A.L. I have been a loyal fan of the band ever since and have had the pleasure of seeing them many times. The more I went to there concert the more I wanted to go to there shows. They deffinatley are one of my favorite bands. And just so everyone knows it's not ska it's not punk its spunk, This came from the only female in the band.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, April 29, 2005 at 1:50 PM (EDT)

Actually Pain Is from Tuscaloosa Alabama, Not mobile, not GA and not FL. I used to be roommates with the trombone player Jason Reid

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, July 9, 2004 at 2:37 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Pain is from Mobile Alabama, my home city. and i felt like this album and the band needed a boost so here it is.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 15, 2003 at 8:38 PM (EST)
My Score:

Pain kicks ass! There is simply no other way to state it. I too first learned about them via the springman comps (a great source for good tunes.) This cd was no let down. Period.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 15, 2003 at 12:03 AM (EST)
My Score:

Pain totally rules, but this record isn't on Birdcage Records anymore, its on Springman now (they seem to have re-issued all the old Pain records, and have a few new ones)

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 14, 2003 at 12:23 AM (EST)
My Score:

I always thought they were from GA. They used to play them on local music shows here and they are on an atlanta comp. I guess AL or FL or wherever is nearby.

Posted by sk8punx4evr on 2003-02-13 21:47:25
My Score:

this score is for the album title.

Posted by pwfanatic on 2003-02-13 16:25:38
My Score:

wow, you are right. thanks for pointing that out.

Posted by pwfanatic on 2003-02-13 11:48:36
My Score:

really? i could've sworn they were from flordia.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, February 13, 2003 at 5:32 AM (EST)
My Score:

They are from Alabama by the way.

Posted by Le_MAD on 2003-02-12 14:32:40
My Score:

Good Pain review. Pain is good, I like Pain.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 at 6:54 PM (EST)
My Score:

"Ash from Army of Darkness (as if there is anyother?!)"

No sir, there is not.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 at 4:30 PM (EST)
My Score:

Ferfooksake, just because they have horns and they're white doesn't make them a ska band. Again, didn't this oversimplification die out a few years ago??? Are Snuff ska? Rocket From the Crypt???

--Cos

Posted by pope_schlomo on 2003-02-11 16:30:41
My Score:

Oh god. I just remember why I recognized that name before. They did a remake of the Jabberjaw theme song on Cartoon Network. And guess what? It still sounded ska!!

Ramo

Posted by pwfanatic on 2003-02-11 16:22:44
My Score:

yeah sorry bout the excessive use of pain. now that people have pointed it out it even frightens me too.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 at 3:02 PM (EST)
My Score:

This is real funny because it's pain. This band is a total joke. For some odd reason i can't help but sing along.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 at 2:26 PM (EST)
My Score:

Pain Rules. I heard them on the Springman comps and have been obsessed with the band ever since. The song "fight" is the best.

Posted by evildeadalive on 2003-02-11 14:21:41
My Score:

I wonder how many times you could use the word pain in one review. My guess is somewhere around 21.

Posted by pope_schlomo on 2003-02-11 13:44:22
My Score:

Pretty cool yet I don't know why they hate being called ska. It kind of sounds like it. However, it's skankin somewhat.

Ramo