Reviewed by Robert Sliger
Released: 1980 The Reactors World War Four Genre: Punk Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Bite the Hand Hard To Be a Rebel Membrane Weekend Serviceable yet unremarkable straight-ahead punk from San Bernardino California headed by charismatic Pagan Myth guitarist/vocalist Elizabeth “Dash” Frost. If you’re familiar with Dead Kennedys, The Germs, Buzzcocks, and early Siouxsie and the Banshees, you’ll get where this is coming from right away. Derivative? You bet. So was a lot of other punk records of the time. But they also may have inspired other songwriters. Check out the chorus melody on “Hard To Be a Rebel.” If Bobby and Larson Paine didn’t lift that for the wildly successful (on the West Coast, at least) “Johnny Are You Queer” it’s one hell of a coincidence. The album is properly raw and unaffected, the lyrics cover the expected subjects: anger at the cops, personal angst in an uncaring world, and the threat of war. Dash (1953 - 2018) was a capable and passionate singer: full throated and magnetic. The rest of the band (Mike Rodriguez, bass; Tony Bramble, guitar; Rob Vasquez, drums) get the job done in the DIY spirit of the genre, but bring nothing new to the plate. I would have loved to see Frost play live back in the day, but oddly The Reactors were never on the bill at the punk shows I attended.
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