Really Red - "Teaching You the Fear" CD ...

I have to give a big thanks to Empty Records for reissuing "Teaching You the Fear," the debut album by Houston, Texas' Really Red. Originally released by CIA Records in 1981, the album still stands the test of time 23 years later.

Much like the Big Boys, Really Red’s musical roots are punk, but the band's sound isn't generic hardcore. It incorporates rock, funk and a unique exploration of post-punk style. The opening "Too Political?" sets the album's tone with its cutting post-punk lead-in with PIL-esque guitar leads before jumping into a power rock groove that bands such as Naked Raygun would perfect in the mid-'80s.

Lyrically, the band had its share of political thoughts and focus on racism ("Teaching You the Fear"), apathy in the scene ("The Fee") and indifference to world culture ("Starvation Dance"). It's worth noting that the political tone of the album doesn't seem cheap or silly in retrospect. In fact, the call for political and social awareness seems an appropriate response as ever in the midst of G.W. Bush's reign and the religious right's growing presence once again.