Most people here know my opinion of Superjoint Ritual: Their first album was pretty good. However, their recent one was shit, and there’s no way around that. Now they’ve released a DVD that showcases their playing at the famous NY club, CBGB’s.

First thing you’ll notice is the lack of options in the menu. This, of course, means that there aren’t many extras, unfortunately. But onward to the main feature!

Firstly: Everyone looks really fucking dirty. The place is crammed from wall to wall with dozens of people (lots of hardcore kids and whatnot, a few classical metal heads, and I could swear I spotted a Slayer shirt or two somewhere.). The setlist… is rather unfortunate. Five songs from A Lethal Dose of American Hatred and five songs from Use Once and Destroy, including my nominee for The Worst-Ass Slow Song Since Jet’s Last Single, namely, The Destruction of a Person. To be honest, this would have been a better setlist.

Sickness

The Alcoholik

Antifaith

Ozena/One Song

Waiting for the Turning Point

Superjoint Ritual

The crowd is really enthusiastic, luckily for them. You won’t be, unless you enjoy hearing Phil scream ‘Trust me’ for what will feel like six days. Luckily, the other songs are pretty well chosen, and well performed. Phil sounds a bit more like a haggard, cranky old man live then he does on record, but he’s still quite the sight on stage, thrashing around like he’s being electrocuted. The other band members are remarkably tight, especially the drummer, who makes only a couple of mistakes throughout the ten songs we’re treated to. The pit is full of hardcore dancers, including the, in Phil’s words, ‘motherfucker in the orange shirt,’ who puts on one hell of a show in there. Nearly as entertaining as the boys themselves, so that he gets personally acknowledged by Phil himself. There’re many stage divers. Really, it's a pretty damned good live show, with Phil's odd stage banter in full form, including his famous ending words: "Eat pussy 'til your jaw breaks, or if you can't do that, just get yourself fucking wasted."

The included extras are as follows: A fucking weird video for Dress Like A Target that is quite entertaining, and that I recommend for watching. A series of tumbling TV sets serve as the main attraction, and you might just ignore that horrible shout-along chorus so you can watch the TVs. The other extras are a fairly standard video for Waiting For The Turning Point that is essentially like the live show and a hilarious interview with everyone in the band in which you notice that Phil has lost his god-damned mind and gone crazy paranoid, and that he loves boxing.

Finally, do I recommend this DVD? Only if you’re a SJR fan; otherwise, it wouldn’t make any sense to watch. They are a particularly good live band, however, so if you’re still lukewarm on them, catch them next time they pass through your hometown.