The Booked - Harbor City Rock and Roll (Music video)

Awesome song from their 2012 album called On the attack. Has that distinct sound of other Texas bands like Roots of Exile. (Review and upload comming according to the 3-year rule i have)
Purchase the album at Cadre

The booked - Demo (2005)

Tracklist:
01. Keep up your guns
02. Barratry in Oak Park
03. The next crusade
04. Taking it back
05. Shut down the NEA

Got this demo sent to me by thedeadcomedian (many thanks) who i think got it from the singer Trey Garcia.

Remember The Booked? The softoi sounding band who released a great CD and a split with Squiggy in early '00. I have always thought the band dissapeared in 2001 (i know some members went to play in Capital Crimes) but somehow i missed out on a lot. The band actually keept recording some songs and "released" this demo around 2005.

Continued to look for some other info on them and realised that they where actually still together! As a matter of fact they have just finished recording new songs some months ago.

The only thing that annoyed me with their old album was the lack of intresting subjects and lyrics. Seemed that every song was about being tough and workingclass and active in workers rights (the last thing i want to listen to after working hard labour for a week).

Seems a lot has happened with both their sound and lyrics on the way. They are probably still a bluecollar band and they probably all work hard all week but this time around they dont feel the need to talk about it in their songs.

They still play a sort of softoi mixed with rock'n'roll (think Hudson falcons) but with a lot more diversity in both lyrics and the pure sound of their songs.

Best songs ont the demo are The next crusade (patriotic war-anthem), Shutdown the NEA (about weeding out liberal teachers with political agendas) and Barratry in Oak Park (aint got a clue what its about but it rocks).

Dont know if its just me but shouldnt these guys have a record deal by now!?!?! Stop handing out "4 records a year" to old and tired MTV punks/reformed football hooligans and give these old fucks a shot at fame instead. Seems a bit of that a great sounding band only gets to release a record every 12th year or something.

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The booked - Feel the pride (2000)

Tracklist:
01. Intro
02. Northwest united
03. The union
04. Knock out yer teeth
05. Red and yellows
06. Feel the pride
07. Crucified
08. Hero
09. Way of life
10. Boys night out
11. Refinery
12. The boys
13. Strike against corporate America
14. Riot at 811

Released by Radical records in 2000.

The group formed 1998 down in Texas by some good old boys and football-fanatics from the country side.
They took the name from the old football-term (no its not called soccer) of "being put into the book" that happends when a player commits a major foul against another player.
The band consisted of Trey Garcia (vocals), and his brother Bryan Garcia (guitar/vocals), Ray Solis (lead guitar/vocals), Danny Chapa (drums) and "The deuce" on bass.
Imidiatly after grouping together they sent out their first demo and got spotted by Radical records to join their 1999 tour in the south and later got booked (hehe) for the Road rage tour from Texas to NY (though their van never made it to New York but actually died on the way).
In 2000 they went into the studio to record their first and only release (except their split with Squiggy a year after) though their has been some rumours of a second re-union lately so hopefully their band aint dead yet.

This is a wierd album to say the least. I absolutely love the first half of the album but after track 8 it all goes sour, real sour.
Musically its a more streetpunk sound with some Oi! influences. They are bluecollar from top to bottom and most of their lyrics are about the life of the workingman and being proud of your way of life, country and class background. The cover is one of the best i have ever seen and sums up their attitude about pride quite well.
Best tracks are Feel the pride, Crucified, The union and Hero. I would have loved to give this album a higher grade but thanks to the last songs it gets a weak 7.
7/10

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Squiggy & The booked - A case of pride (2001)

Tracklist:
01. Squiggy - Bring 'em back
02. Squiggy - Extinct
03. Squiggy - Anti-social (Skrewdriver cover)
04. Squiggy - Main st. USA
05. Squiggy - Wartime victims
06. The booked - Pride & honor
07. The booked - Stand our ground
08. The booked - The underground struggle
09. The booked - We are rebellion
10. The booked - Pancho & Lefty (Townes Van Zandt cover)

Released by Squigtone records in 2001.

The last album by Squiggy (before re-uniting in the late 2009).

This time Squiggy teamed up with The booked from down south Texas. Not really the same bands musically but their minds are set on the same thing. To bring back patriotism and workingclass values into punkrock. From the cover to the sleeve its all constitutional and star-spangled but thats no reason to actually like the stuff right. So what about the music?

Bloody great! Squiggy never seems to let me down on any of their records and not on this one either. Starting of the record with Bring 'em back a militant anthem for the workingclass about the movement of production and factories to other countries with the lyrics "You told us stories that we wouldnt believe, while you sold our fucking jobs to the japanese".
Another track by Squiggy that is above the rest is Main st. USA that really shows how much better pure musically they have become over the years. And a cover track from Skrewdriver's punkyears cant really go wrong.

The booked playes more of a streetpunk Oi! focusing more on choruses and catchy guitartunes and as much as i liked their album from 2000 and their bluecollar mentality its only about 2 tracks on this split that are good in my ears. Pride and honor and We are rebellion, both dealing with the life of a workingman are well worth listening to.
Be sure to check out Squiggys new recordlabel and their upcomming albums that are to be released in 2010.
8/10

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