Siren - Becoming Wheels (1997, Day After/Cool Guy)

This is going to be my last punk rock salvo for the week (possibly awhile) but it's a corker.  Siren were Cali punkers that never quite make it to the Warped Tour - and all the better for it.  Commandeered by longtime Maximum Rock N Roll columnist Brian Zero, Santa Rosa's Siren gave the melodic hardcore thing a go in the mid '90s, bearing a similar sonic penchant to Bad Religion, Dag Nasty and Avail, but often times their sheer velocity bested that lofty trifecta.  Zero's indigenous spin on sociopolitical concerns, coupled with his soaring, commanding timbre (damn near glass shattering at times I might add) proved to be the band's calling cards.  Unfortunately, Siren didn't make significant inroads beyond the newsprint fanzine realm, but they had chops to die for, not to mention more integrity than you could shake a stick at.  Becoming Wheels is a dense, wall-to-wall barrage of power punk, blending circle-pit catharsis with intellectual and metaphorical acumen.  This half-hour of power is comprised of ten blistering originals, and a cover of The Brains classic "Money Changes Everything."  Siren's 1991 In the Absence of the Sacred 7" ep is available here.  Original copies of Becoming Wheels might still be available through Midheaven. 

01. Becoming Wheels
02. What Progress
03. Dirty Pockets
04. Winding Up
05. Countless in Supply
06. Die Cast Mottos
07. Marble Cities
08. Potlatch
09. Foolish Things
10. I'd Like to Know
11. Money Changes Everything

Hear