Album Notes

The vocalizing is incisive and obtuse. You'll need the lyric sheet. The inadequate lexicon of language impotently provides the following words to describe this sophomore body of work: Tense, jovial, driving, caustic, jeering, stainless, enigmatic."

--X

This 21-song release is one of those CDs that penetrates your subconscious and grows on you. I keep humming the melodies from this mid-tempo rhythmic punk. A tinge of WIRE
comes to mind when I crank this disc."

--Maximum RockNRoll


The magic starts on track 6 ("Packet Switch"). The Husker Du-ish feel underscores the DIY production while a Ramones/Jerry's Kids influence permeates. Aside from "Pro Football", Civil War II cleverly rehashes the requisite punk rants, adds wry social commentary ("Butch," a song about our voyeuristic media) and explores wild inventiveness ("Daddy We Cloned The Cat" is a 21 second bombast while "Unpopular" kicks off with a talk show caller proclaiming, "Boston fans suck" followed by silence and then a laugh track superimposed over gruesome news reports). The explosive "Nike Tattoo" is a scathing indictment of modern consumerism that continues on "SYEM" (chorus: "Spend your money"). "Masterplan" is the closest to the Minor Threat/SSD style hardcore (chorus: "You wanna be right"). Of the few songs with a guitar solo, there is only one without the Black Flag My War era dissonant thrashing. At a shade over two minutes, "Pi" boasts a great riff and groove. A stand-out is the revved up cover of Devo's "Beautiful World," a sharp contrast to RATM's equally effective sedate version. Civil War II abounds with intelligent lyrics and raw passion. It's a keeper.

--Marc Friedman (The Noise)