Trouble Maker - Made In Oakland

DIY

 

I think I owe the guys of Trouble Maker an apology. I received their CD, “Made In Oakland”, quite some time ago but never wrote a review of it. Now I don’t want to start any problems with a...n angry mob of trouble makers, so the best way to apologize is with a review. So here we go!

“Made In Oakland” was released in fall, 2013 and contains a total of 21(!) songs. With a total running time of 37 minutes and 14 seconds you can already guess what is going to break and smash your face… trouble! Fast and angry hardcore-punk and thugrock with lyrics about drinking, fighting and then some more drinking and fighting. All this in a collection of brand new Trouble Maker songs along with tracks from the unreleased 2009 record “Smash Hits” and the 2003 debut album “First Impression”.

All in all this gives a pretty good impression of what Trouble Maker has been up to since their formation in 2002, and you get a good bang for your buck. On the other hand, it might give a little bit too much bang for your buck. Personally I think a good selection of the best songs of this collection being divided over a regular album and an EP here or there would have done the band much better. Now the topics alcohol, sex and violence are too frequent for even the rowdiest bastards and bar fighters out there that visit this page.

Still I’d suggest this record if you like alcohol fueled, aggravated, raw and violent hardcore-punk. Simply because “Made In Oakland” is the only Trouble Maker release available at the moment and still has plenty of good tracks on it like “No Regrets”, “This Is Oakland”, “Saturday Nite”, “Complain”, “Rough House”, “Power Trip”, “Dirty Cop”, “Cause For Alarm” and “Trouble Maker”. Next time I’d choose for a release where the quality beats the quantity and more variety in the song’s topics. But that’s just my opinion.