Mazinga's "Chinese Democracy Manifest: Greatest Hits Vol. 2"

Back in 2002, Chris "Box" Taylor was playing bass in Scott Morgan's Powertrane when they played their "Ann Arbor Revival Meeting" show in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the show that was the energy model for every show my "proto-punk repertory band" Stoogeaphilia ever played. That was only a side project for Box, however; since 1995, he'd been playing guitar in "cosmic punk" outfit Mazinga (not to be confused with Wanz Dover's '90s Denton space rock outfit Mazinga Phaser) with vocalist Marc McFinn, bassist Big Tony Fero, and drummer Donnie "Downtown Detroit" Blum (Von Bondies). 

Chinese Democracy Manifest: Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is Mazinga's first full length since 1999's self-titled debut, proving that rock and roll is a distance, not a speed event. For a crew who can claim the MC5, Stooges, and Sonic's Rendezvous Band as "local acts," it's unsurprising that this record explodes with turbocharged high energy, spearheaded by Taylor's fuzz-and-wah drenched rifferama, propelled by a piledriver rhythm section, and capped by McFinn's primal yelp. 

The ten songs here are mainly short, sharp shocks, with only opener "This Is Fine," "Lobot's Task" (a fine workout for Box), and closer "I Quit" (replete with head-spinning tempo changes) breaking the three-minute barrier. "All Rise" and "Rock 'N' Roll Jihad" were recorded in the late Stooge guitarist Ron Asheton's basement studio, with Box playing through Ron's Marshall amp. (When we were in Ann Arbor back in 2002, the late Powertrane drummer Andy Frost gave us the rock and roll tour of the town: "There's Pioneer High School...there's the MC5 house...there's the Up house...there's the Scott Asheton memorial bridge [where the Stooges drummer accidentally peeled off the top of their equipment van]...and there's Ron Asheton with his guitar, crossing the street to the Blind Pig!" Days gone by.)

A must-hear if you dug Aussies like Radio Birdman and the Celibate Rifles, or Scandinavians like the Hellacopters and Gluecifer, as well as the midwestern OGs.