Music Review // Tedd Hazard "Marshall Law" (Dirty Scoundrel Record Collective)

https://open.spotify.com/album/4can9fYZD78x0kLYjTasvp?si=BOGxsZkzS1SIIMM_Ihei_g

Acoustic guitars and the gritty voice of Tedd Hazard create the majority of the sound on "Marshall Law".   To call it folk punk could be an understatement, as it feels like it's more of just an acoustic version of punk rock- which can be heard from a Fearless Records compilation to that time Tim Armstrong was stuck in a tree (No, seriously, it's on YouTube for some reason)  Tedd Hazard has his own unique voice like Tom Waits but also these songs just sound like they are angry during the music itself- the way the guitar is strummed.

References within these songs include nods to Rey Mysterio, Rancid, NOFX and Propagandhi.   A more obvious reference comes out in a song titled "Cactus Jack" and, yes, that song is about the professional wrestler.   It's fun for me, though, to see the worlds of professional wrestling and music collide, as when I listen to music I often think "What wrestlers would enjoy this" and in this case I'd say Logan Black and Casanova Valentine.

From trolling online to punk rock being a term used loosely these days, this album has a lot of words and you should pay attention to them all.   More people within the punk scene need to make similar statements on how certain aspects of punk rock are not punk anymore.   In that way, this might be more punk than all of them combined for being corporate punk. 

"This Might Be Sarcasm" is an example of playing a huge show that is backed by big money and in that way there are certainly parts of these lyrics to take as tongue in cheek, though I'm not sure how far the satire extends.   During "Blue Screen of Death" I definitely laughed out loud at the line "I've got a date tonight with a girl I met online / I'm bringing a fucking shotgun in case things go awry" so there is some blatant comedy in here, at least to me (And in wrestling terms, we would say that line popped me)

There also exists this devilish waltz feel to the song "Blue Screen of Death" and it just overall brings out the fact that this isn't just an acoustic guitar + voice; some of these songs get electric and you can even hear a harmonica.    "Xenophobia, Warrior Princess" starts with the line "That's my purse, I don't know you", which feels more like a nod to the comedy (shout out Bobby Hill) but then "Molotov White Claw" seems like a song where we could have a more serious discussion.

The opening line of "Don't call me an Anarchist / I don't like labels" (on "Molotov White Claw") is rather bold.  When I saw the song title "Love Me, I'm A Libtard" all I could think of was the Against Me! song "Baby, I'm an Anarchist", which I quote to people constantly.   But, as an Anarchist, shouldn't labels be something you don't like?  This is something which my mind was just opened up to now- this thought process- and perhaps that is the most dangerous type of punk rock: the music which makes you think.