Mischief Brew - This Is Not for Children

2015 release, the fourth album from the Philly anarcho-punk/folk troubadours. Mischief Brew celebrate their fifteenth year not with a champagne toast, but by barreling into the bar and slamming down This Is Not For Children, their debut on Alternative Tentacles Records. Recorded at Permanent Hearing Damage by Steve Roche-who recorded many of the band's early releases including Songs From Under the Sink-it breathes and bleeds a tough spirit that could only have been born in the streets, bars and empty warehouses of Philadelphia, PA. These ten songs plow forward, picking up where The Stone Operation left off in 2011, but with less of the chaotic ornamentation that one might classify as "Gypsy-punk" or "pirate folk." Quite simply, these were written in a South Philly garage with three instruments, and for the most part, that's all that was needed to complete them. Sure, there's a little acoustic guitar, violin, junk percussion and even glockenspiel... but at it's heart, this is a punk album. Mischief Brew lyrics have always been a carnival funhouse. Here once again, everyday idioms and images are cleverly twisted and turned into songs about gentrification, workers' rights, squatting, baseball, drinking, growing up, and horror movies-finishing up with a heartfelt tribute to lost friends.