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Mighty Quinn Mighty Quinn & the Oakland Ronin Review by Gary Hill The easiest description here is to say that this is punk rock. Everything you love and everything you don't like about punk rock is present on this set. It's raw and aggressive. At times it reminds me a lot of The Dead Kennedys. Other things come in closer to mainstream pop rock sound. There are even moments that make me think of Red Hot Chili Peppers. All in all, this is a solid set when you have your heart set on some pounding punk. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019 Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

Track by Track Review

The Nu Punks With a punk edge and some catchy hooks, this is a screaming hot tune. There is a real hardcore sound to this in a lot of ways.

Meet the Ronin This earns a parental advisory. It's a hard-edged cut with a lot of hardcore punk built into it. Yet, there is a bit of a hip hop thing at times here. This is driving and unusual.

Kilt Kimono I dig the hard-edged riff that starts this. The vocals on the cut are a bit distorted and distant. This has plenty of that hardcore edge to it. It also gets a parental advisory.

Head First (Ronin Remix) I love the fast paced hardcore grind on this stomper. It's screaming hot, raw and so cool. The guitar solo on this is purely on fire.

BFF A cool riff that's almost metal opens this. The cut screams out from there as it evolves to more of a punk grind. A sound bite has a disclaimer that sounds like it could come from the latest drug ad.

Squash It The vocals are largely spoken. This has such a killer hardcore aggression and texture. They drop it down to just bass for a measure that lends something cool to it for a moment. This seems to be an indictment of wealth based societies. This is tastefully noisy and angry. It's one of my favorite tunes here. It's just so fierce and reminds me just a bit of The Dead Kennedys.

Rebel (Ronin Remix) This gets another parental advisory. It has a bit more of a mainstream punk edge. It's rather catchy at times. It's a classy cut.

Town (Ronin Remix) While this has a lot of that punk edge, there is almost a pop rock groove. Some of the backing vocal textures reinforce that. I could see comparisons being made to The Red Hot Chili Peppers on this number.

Love Vs Bankers (Ronin Remix) More of a mainstream rock sound is at the heart of this. Yet, it's tweaked with more pure punk weirdness. This gets another parental advisory. It's a mean cut with a lot aggression in both the vocal delivery and the guitar solo sound.

Anxiety (Ronin Remix) The guitar based movement that opens this again makes me think of the Dead Kennedys. That is reinforced when the vocals join. This is a powerhouse hardcore number. This is very short.

L'oakland (Ronin Remix) Another that feels quite a bit like The Dead Kennedys, this almost seems like a continuation of the previous song.

Mickey Got Married (Ronin Remix) Furiously paced and rocking, this is another cool punk number. It is raw and yet oddly catchy.

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