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So, was it worth the wait?

Yes. The full-length video accompaniment to Hellcat Records' "Give 'Em the Boot" sampler series met my expectations. After a brief introduction from Joe Strummer and Tim Armstrong (Joe does all the talking, while Tim stands by with a grin on his face), a live recording of "Ruby Soho" kicks in and sets the pace for the rest of what's to come, which is a quality collection of punk rock, ska and psychobilly music.

The sound quality is crisp and clear, and the expertly-shot live footage is filmed from multiple angles and corroborated flawlessly into one dynamic, fluid sequence that is truly a pleasure to watch. The first non-Rancid offering is Tiger Army's "Never Die," which alternates between shots of a massive, churning circle pit full of mohawks and the band blazing furiously through the song in a way that will get your adrenaline pumping. All of Hellcat's finest are represented, including the U.S. Bombs, Dropkick Murphys, F-Minus, the Slackers and Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards. To be honest, before I bought this DVD, I wasn't familiar with a few of the featured bands, yet I watched their performances without hitting the "Next" button because they're just that well-done.

The live performances are interspersed with a diverse grab bag of goodies from Tim's private stash, which include the outspokenly pro-union Dropkick Murphys serenading a group of striking stagehands, the painting of a mural for the late Joe Strummer (keep an eye out for Steve Buscemi), and the members of Rancid jamming a Stooges song backstage with none other than Iggy Pop himself.

Of course, Tim Armstrong's own Rancid is given ample coverage in this DVD. The acoustic renditions of "Roots Radicals" and "Rats in the Hallway" sound surprisingly good and are played as background music for montages of travel and backage footage. AFI fans will delight in seeing Davey Havok stepping in to help with vocal duties on a rowdy live performance of "Radio." Of all the Rancid live cuts included, my favorite is the extended version of "Maxwell Murder," during which Matt Freeman takes center stage and demonstrates why he is among the most respected bass players in music today.

The Hellcat DVD is a "bare bones" offering, meaning that it contains the feature movie and nothing else -- no commentary, deleted scenes, extra interviews or other options. However, this DVD is packed with so much good stuff that you won't notice or care. If I had to pick one thing to complain about, it would be the lack of anything related to Choking Victim or Leftover Crack. Outside of that, the Hellcat DVD will satisfy both veteran Hellcat fans and newbies who want a sample platter of the many great acts this label has to offer. Clocking in at just under 80 minutes, this DVD leaves you wanting more, but not in the sense that you've been cheated out of your money; you'll be hoping that Tim has another one of these in the works.



People who liked this also liked:
Colin of Arabia - Illegal Exhibitions of SpeedOperation Ivy - Operation Ivy [reissue]Government Warning - No ModerationOperation Ivy - Operation IvyCleveland Bound Death Sentence - Cleveland Bound Death SentenceThe Killigans - Brown Bottle HymnalBlack Flag - DamagedCrimpshrine - Duct Tape SoupPoison Idea - Feel the DarknessNegative Approach - Total Recall



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    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 11:47 AM (EST)

    oh yea:
    Another band they could have taken off:
    Nerve Agents (Damn people! this is not talent! ITs not even punk.. but boy does it suck)

    oh yea and if u need more proof that Freeman's a bass wizard go listen to WhiteKnuckleRide.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 11:45 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    Man this DvD was the shit man! I fuckin love it!! Never die, julia, gargoyles, good rats,radio.. etc. man its like all good. and btw F- sucks, what the hell r all u talkin about? see:

    Bands they could have taken off the dvd:
    F-
    US Bombs (man this video of them sucked so badly, and ive seen em live!)

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 30, 2005 at 6:31 PM (EST)

    He didn't have cancer, it was "just" a serious infection.

    Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 5:02 PM (EST)

    What kind of cancer did matt freeman have? I bet it was throat cancer because dude has the worst voice ever. He sounds like Dan from Spazz getting his balls pummeled by a 3rd grade special ed class.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 12, 2005 at 9:49 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I was at the gym (because I'm not gonna lie, I needed to get back into shape), and for anyone unfamiliar with like a Gold's Gym or Planet Fitness type place, they have a music video network that plays fantastically shitty music. You know, like all the pop/rock one hit wonders no one remembers with a top 40 thrown in. Makes my ears bleed. Anyway.

    One time I was at the gym, and I heard a song familiar to me that I enjoyed. That song was Ruby Soho. I look up and sure enough, there's goddamned Rancid on the little Globo Gym TV tower they got going over there.

    Kinda made me lose all respect for them.

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 12, 2005 at 6:47 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    4 below

    Posted by Anonymous on Monday, December 12, 2005 at 6:46 AM (EST)

    score is for matt freeman. respect goes to out to the guy! to get through cancer, and fucking kill it on bass like he does.. dude, you have to respect that!

    Posted by BTown on 2005-12-11 20:37:56

    You mentioned it was cheap.
    How cheap?
    What should we expect the price to be?

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 11, 2005 at 8:35 PM (EST)

    "96% of you guys are so fucking ridiculous that it makes me embarrassed for you."

    I'm sure they give a shit.

    Posted by david_arquette on 2005-12-11 11:15:15
    My Score:

    Score's for Hellcat Records.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 11, 2005 at 10:23 AM (EST)

    the only band that gets more than 1 is rancid. get over and stop commenting "COOL BAND I LIKE GETS ONLY ONE SONG? THIS DVD SUCKS."

    to the guy who said,
    "No Hepcat. No Gadjits. No Distillers (not surprising, that). No Horrorpops. No Pietasters" -- the horrorpops are on it. the gagdits and the distillers haven't been on hellcat for a couple of years.. they probably wanted to showcase the bands still on the label not give bands they dropped 2 years ago any part of their dvd.

    to the guy that talked about how much he loved F-... they broke up fuckass. and the reason their song was so short was because their songs ARE SHORT! ever actually listen to them? dumbass.

    96% of you guys are so fucking ridiculous that it makes me embarrassed for you.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 11, 2005 at 9:01 AM (EST)

    "Don't like or care about this label..."

    you cared enough to bitch about it. maybe you just like to bitch?

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 4:57 PM (EST)

    One Nerve Agents song, and it's a fucking cover.

    Booo.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 8:58 AM (EST)

    unfortunatly, the Slackers only have 1 song...And I Wonder

    Posted by swingline on 2005-12-09 22:43:06

    needs more us bombs.. and strummer

    Posted by iheartadam on 2005-12-09 19:42:07
    My Score:

    So I'm sitting there next to Lars, and he leans over and says "msshshmurhmphmpmrmrmrmrrmlaaaaaatkctkctkctkctkc" which was funny because I actually haven't seen the sun rise over the cliffs of Kawaii, and the next thing I know I'm on the dvd with him and he's totally kissing my arm.

    Posted by tylerdurden8136 on 2005-12-09 18:50:54
    My Score:

    i got this dvd maybe two months ago, really great stuff. would have liked more horrorpops/tiger army/nekromantix videos but whatever. still worth the price.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 6:17 PM (EST)

    matt freeman is an extremely talented bassist.

    still think the best bassists are norwood fisher and les claypool, though.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 5:20 PM (EST)

    Don't like or care about this label...

    I think it's sad that they used the image of a band that's not even on the fucking label anymore and is relegated one very short song to put on the front of this, as if it's what Hellcat is all about.

    There's a reason F-Minus left Hellcat... Maybe only Brad Logan was fed up with Epitaph, who knows? They still aren't a definitive "Hellcat band" because they're only band at all like that that Hellcat/Epitaph ever signed or released.

    -Will

    Posted by sickboi on 2005-12-09 16:59:13

    Matt Freeman is actually extremely talented.
    Tim's lyric's and arrangements are pretty good too.

    Lars....umm....Lars is good at getting tattoos.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 4:54 PM (EST)

    Matt Freeman " is among the most respected bass players in music today"? Stop making shit up. Nobody gives two shits about him

    Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2005-12-09 16:43:22

    "Wow this is the first Rancid project in years without Scrappydoo/Skinhead Rob to ruin it, but I guess they replaced him with Davey Havoc"

    They play Red Hot Moon and there's a Transplants song on it, so not really.

    Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2005-12-09 16:42:55

    Skajester - The Horrorpops are on it.

    Brandon - F-Minus is done I'm pretty sure. The bio on the AT site says it, and the Theives Like Us site said it too, and someone posted on here that he talked to Brad and he confirmed it. It makes me sad to type this, because I'm wearing my F-Minus shirt :(

    Posted by ElVaquero on 2005-12-09 16:36:49

    This is absolutely one of the best music DVD's I own. There will be at least like 5 or 6 moments that will be so incredible for every person.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 4:35 PM (EST)

    Wow this is the first Rancid project in years without Scrappydoo/Skinhead Rob to ruin it, but I guess they replaced him with Davey Havoc

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 4:25 PM (EST)

    are the pietasters on this?

    Posted by skajester on 2005-12-09 16:14:43

    No Hepcat. No Gadjits. No Distillers (not surprising, that). No Horrorpops. No Pietasters.

    I understand wanting to showcase the label, but why not show bands from the past, as well as what's going on now?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 3:36 PM (EST)

    I'll definitely have to go with the mob on this one: More Nerve Agents and F-Minus performances chumps.

    And whats this I hear about "no coverage of Hepcat". Talk about crap!

    Posted by BrandonSideleau on 2005-12-09 15:31:28

    Hellcat pretty much blows....I mean, F-Minus is the only active band on the label that I like.....and I'm not even sure if they are still even ON Hellcat..........as they haven't released a record in a while and Brad is concentrating on getting Blacknoise records up and running....they might move there or possibly even AT since they have a distribution deal through them. That would be cool, AT is one of the most eclectic, respectable labels out there and Hellcat had become a cheap hack label.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 1:32 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    "corroborated flawlessly"? That's absolutely pathetic. Please check the meaning of a word before you feel as though you can use it.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 12:14 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    I thought this dvd is great. im a big rancid fan, so i was happy w/ the amount of minutes that they were on film. Only 2 complaints really, is NO HEPCAT!! WTF!?!?!?!?!? Also, the DKM footage is from the St. Paddy's day concert........weak. I would've appreciated seeing footage from like 3-4 years ago when they were still playing little clubs w/ the stage about 2 feet off the ground.........kinda like the U.S. Bombs clip.

    "The dvd was hella short and i don't like the black & white picture of some of the videos."
    Funny, this dvd gave me a new appreciation for the black and white.

    The Black and Blue still suck though.

    Posted by jamalxbearings on 2005-12-09 10:21:34

    I just ordered this last night for a friend's christmas present, it better get me laid.

    Posted by Xine on 2005-12-09 09:01:44

    Wow. That's fucking hAwT. I can't wait.

    Posted by iheartadam on 2005-12-09 07:19:20
    My Score:

    Jeez. 'm in a video too. Scott filmed it. Look for Adam kissing my pubic bone.

    Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2005-12-09 06:51:36

    You're fired!!

    Posted by givemeamuseumandillfillit on 2005-12-09 06:51:25

    Is Skinhead Rob on this one?

    Or did he not pass the auditions?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 1:54 AM (EST)

    first 1000 copies get a free shampoo bottle, and temporary 'Skunx' tattoo (for best results, apply to forehead)

    Posted by Xine on 2005-12-09 01:45:11

    Mock away, iheartadam. Nothing's stopped you before.

    I'm so used to it anyways.

    hELLcAt pUnX!!111

    Posted by bhp_factor on 2005-12-09 01:35:36
    My Score:

    the bands were awesome. btw anyone has the tabs for the acoustic version of roots radicals and rat in the hallway?

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 1:31 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    the bands inside were awesome. btw anyone has the acoustic tabs for root radicals

    Posted by gladimnotemo on 2005-12-09 01:27:20
    My Score:

    I guess, from what I understand, Rancid was supposed to have their own DVD, which would have been the best case here. If it's advertised as Hellcat, they should focus on a more elecletic mix. I used to worship this label, but they still have some really good bands for being on Epitaph (F-, F-, F-). I should probably get this used soon.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 1:16 AM (EST)

    How many/what songs do the Slackers have on this?

    Posted by iheartadam on 2005-12-09 01:09:56
    My Score:

    Must....refrain....from...obvious....jokes....will....not....moc k.....so...hard....fingers...want....mockage....Lars....now....ge ntly....nibbling....fingers....still....must....not...type...insu lts....

    Posted by Xine on 2005-12-09 01:02:19

    I'm in the acoustic "Roots Radicals" montage. Look for Lars kissing my arm.

    I agree though that there was too much Rancid. They just need to come out with their own DVD already. I would've loved to see more from Horrorpops, Nekromantix, Nerve Agents and more Joe Strummer.

    Posted by andrew13 on 2005-12-09 00:57:28
    My Score:

    to much rancid related stuff
    and way to much davey havok
    him ruining classic songs is the last thing i wanted in this
    but it is decent overall... just wished it had more Joe, DKM, US Bombs, and Slackers...

    Posted by SalsaShark on 2005-12-09 00:51:42

    When I was first saw this cover, I swore it was a guy.

    Anyways, I really want to see this for Tiger Army, The Nerve Agents and The Mescaleros.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, December 9, 2005 at 12:47 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    The Slackers have more musical talent than all the other bands on Hellcat combined.

    If you disagree you are wrong.

    Posted by joeg on 2005-12-09 00:42:57
    My Score:

    there it is.

    Posted by joeg on 2005-12-09 00:41:40

    score is for f-minus and erica on the cover. too bad they only get 1 song on this so their appearance is all of 45 seconds.

    Posted by BrandonSideleau on 2005-12-09 00:32:55

    Joe Strummer, F-Minus & The Nerve Agents would be the only reason I'd even look at this thing....but since they are most likely very overlooked and limited....I think I'll pass. I can't stand Rancid, AFI & DKM....so the inclusion of those three alone will keep me far away from this DVD. I do like the pic of Erica though LOL

    Posted by psychoos231 on 2005-12-09 00:18:37
    My Score:

    The dvd was hella short and i don't like the black & white picture of some of the videos.

    The Joe Strummer tune was amazing though.

    Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2005-12-09 00:12:40

    I want more from the non-Rancid bands; F-Minus and the Nerve Agents in particular.