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The Lucky Stiffs

Gold in Peace, Iron in War (2006)
Pirate's Press Records

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Contributed by: GlassPipeMurder
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on January 12th 2007

The Lucky Stiffs, or “un-Lucky Stiffs” as punsters would have it, are a San Francisco punk band, pure and simple. Falling somewhere between street punk and pop-punk the Stiffs provide a decent, if not entirely memorable full-length debut offering in Gold in Peace, Iron in War.

The most impressive thing about Gold in Peace, Iron in War is the cardboard album case, dressed in embossed metallic printing on the cover and grandiose artwork on the inside, which comes with a high-quality foldout poster complete with instructions for wheat-pasting on the back. Unfortunately, this glossy professional artwork production seems to have come at the expense of the album’s sonic production, which is quite amateur-sounding by comparison. As soon as the drums and bass kick in on the first track, “Masquerade,” it’s apparent the poor production is as much a part of the record’s sound as the gravelly vocals or the palm-muted guitars.

Some of the best hooks on Gold in Peace, Iron in War are found in the middle of the album on “Walk,” “Wish You Well,” “Anza 9” and “Vacant City.” Vocalist Greg de Hoedt doesn’t show off the best range on Gold in Peace, and seems to be trying to make up for it with overly dramatic vocals. The album closes with the 55-second hardcore scorcher “This Is Mine,” which is good but seems a little out of place.

With this, their first full-length, and having already scored a split with the Bouncing Souls, the Lucky Stiffs have nowhere to go but up. Yes, the album's production is poor, and yes, it could use more hooks, but with the band’s work ethic and dedication, the Lucky Stiffs are bound to make a name for themselves -- barring too many more “un-Lucky” circumstances, of course.

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SilentStorms (January 18, 2007)

Anytime.

GlassPipeMurder (January 18, 2007)

thanks for the score.

SilentStorms (January 18, 2007)

"read the review, silentstorm.
it's pop-punk by means of street punk with palm-muted guitars, gruff, dramatic vocals, poorly recorded but with some catchy songs.
which probably means you won't like it."

I read it again, but all I see is vague terms like pop punk, street punk, palm muted guitars, gruff and overly dramatic vocals (which you just told me were dramatic), and poorly recorded with catchy songs. That is NOT A REVIEW. That sounds like at least a hundred (probably in the thousands) of other bands. And just because a band includes those things in their music doesn't mean I won't like them. Jeez, it's constructive criticism bitch. That was an insult though. Just so you know. Write a better fucking review next time. Score is for you.

GlassPipeMurder (January 18, 2007)

read the review, silentstorm.

it's pop-punk by means of street punk with palm-muted guitars, gruff, dramatic vocals, poorly recorded but with some catchy songs.

which probably means you won't like it.

Anonymous (January 17, 2007)

they are streaming the whole record on there website.

SilentStorms (January 17, 2007)

I have no idea what this sounds like. Please review the actual music next time. Pass.

AphasiacIIC (January 15, 2007)

the songs i heard were great, but yeah its not raw-- its poorly recorded

skajester (January 14, 2007)

It's not "raw." This albums sounds like it was mixed by some kid for a high school audio / visual project.

Ianw (January 12, 2007)

Too often people confuse "poor production" with "not being compressed so hard that the audio sounds like its being played by a keybord, by robots, in a void."

Anonymous (January 12, 2007)

It does have that "recorded in a basement" feel.... but I wouldn't dismiss this or any record based on production value... if that was the case I would have to hate most of my record collection pre '93

Anonymous (January 12, 2007)

I heard that this was the worst produced record to be released in years. How bad is it?

Anonymous (January 12, 2007)

I love the production, sounds like old 80" Black Flag. Not this"how loud can my record be" shit. Fantastic