Wow. Rudimentary Peni. The name pretty much says it all. This band is often lumped in with the anarcho-punk sub-genre, mostly because of the booklet that was included in the original pressings of their Death Church LP. However, RP is so much more than a Crass copy (cough, DIRT, cough).

This album is a compilation of their first two EPs: The self-titled, and Farce, which was released on Crass Records. Musically, this is pretty, for lack of a better term, cool. Most songs are under a minute, the instrumentation is fast and almost pre-grind, and the vocals from guitarist/singer Nick Blinko are "fuckin' insane!" On the first EP, Blinko screams, wails, mews, and produces pretty much any high-pitched, odd sound that you can think of. The lyrics are bizarre, mostly focusing on Blinko's mental problems (he has schizophrenia) and bassist Grant's left-wing politics. The apocalyptic nature of the music, as well as Blinko's obsession with death, places this album more in the "death rock" sub-genre.

The second EP on the disc, Farce, is much more musically directed. Nick limits his vocal style a little, making the songs sound more similar and much more generic. However, the lyrics on Farce are more political, making it seem more like the band has a defined "statement."

The artwork is some of the best, most terrifying ever. It literally gave me nightmares. It's like a Tim Burton drawing, but about a million times better. Nick Blinko is apparently recognized throughout the "outsider art" community. Oh, and on "Defined by Age," one of the lyrics is "the older generation or the youth of today," which always makes me think (in best New York accent) "Fuck yeah! Youth of fuckin' Today!" Anyway, Rudimentary Peni gets 8 stars, Farce gets 6.