Maybe in ten years we'll slip East Los Presents... into our players, smile, and try to tease out the hints of promise that were more difficult to hear back then. East Los Presents... may someday be Union 13's Land Speed Record or Sorry, Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash-- hardcore punch without any semblance of restraint. Sort of like a routine East LA arrest.

Until then, this band of Hispanic, East LA punks are just a bunch of angry, maybe bored, youths. That comes through loud and clear. What's missing, of course, is any attention to melody. After all, this is a typical punk debut ("On your marks! Get set! Go!") And then there's the required, constant haranguing about the state of things ("Fuck Society," "Country Full of Lies," etc.).

With the exception of "Regrets" and "Over the Hill," which are almost catchy, Union 13 channels its energies into thrashing about just for the sake of being punks. For 30 minutes East Los Presents... can be fun, but what about tomorrow? Of course, in the way of progress lies songcraft, so we'll have to wait to see what maturity brings for Union 13.

-James Coyle