Strychnine - Oakland Stadtmusikanten (2003)

A loose, fun live set recorded on the final night of Strychnine's 2002 European tour, Die Oakland Stadtmusikanten: Live in Bremen, Germany is 20 tracks (with amusing stage banter) of straight-up post-hardcore punk. Not quite melodic enough to fit in with Green Day and the rest of the Oakland punk contingent but not as strident or self-important as many hardcore bands, Strychnine is in many ways a throwback to the days of early West Coast punk bands like the Avengers and the Weirdos, groups where humor and aggression go arm in arm. (Truly, any band with a bass player named Joe Fucko is not taking itself too seriously.) Most of the set list is devoted to songs from the band's first two albums played faster and sloppier, but over a quarter of the show is devoted to sloppy covers from a surprisingly diverse list of influences, ranging from X (a ragged take on "We're Desperate") to the Sonics (unsurprisingly, a version of the Seattle garage kings' powerhouse "Strychnine") to Willie Nelson, whose "Gotta Git Drunk" fits perfectly in its new role as a Replacements-style barnburner.