Taxi - "Like a Dog" (Dead Beat, 2003)

You know, there’s a hype going on the last few months (in the good sense of the word and I’m part of it as you can see) about Giuda and their blast under the name “Racey Roller”! And how not, cause this pill’s probably the coolest piece of plastic in Rock & Roll for so many years (let's not forget Johnny Throttle's releases). It has the street wise almost hooligan strength of Cock Sparrer in their prime, along with almost every Junkshop Glam 45 that kicked ass (no wonder the front sleeve it’s a remonstrance of Bilbo Baggins’ glitter punk sparkler - in the vein of Little Richard, “Saturday Night”!) with maybe some added Iron Virgin nasty hard edged bubble (did I wrote all this by myself?..I mean, WOW!)! The sad thing’s that Giuda were not long ago Taxi, the BEST punk rock outfit came out of Europe the last ten years and with many kilometres distance from the second one! I know I’m bit steep most of the times here, but that’s the way I love things and believe me, at least this time every word I use has been chosen carefully (I repeat myself again, right..?). Anyway, Taxi had no glam bootboy statements (OK maybe a little but imperceptible), were a 100% kick ass punk rock gang with their minds totally focused on the good bands of KBD/Bloodstains comps and maybe Chuck Berry if the MAN was younger and a member of the Bad Brains.  And the Chuck Berry reference wasn’t placed there incidentally. Unlike many 1977 bands and their kids, Taxi had catchy and well hooked songs, just like the ancient art of rock & roll demands. And I always loved the way sang them in English or French (especially the last)! On “Je Tombe En Bas” and “Slot Machine” you think you’re listening to the Kids singing in their mother language (hope not making a mistake here and the Kids are from the German speaking area of Belgium…) and generally you have the sense that all these blasts are unique re-births of songs by bands like PVC, the Vibrators or the Rezillos (with the often expecting on this genre touch of Stooges). “Rabies is a Killer” it’s the definitive highlight of the album since it is a cover song from a completely unknown (to me...) glam new wave of British heavy metal act (Agony Bag), which btw looked like a troupe of transvestites in a mixed situation with the Droogs (talk about taste!). This is if I’m right their first and to my tastes the best release as Taxi. Never too late for Rome’s first rate hools!