The Mistreaters “Playa Hated to the Fullest” 2003. Estrus Records. Limited edition clear vinyl. Milwaukee garage punk and hands-down my favorite local band from that era. I guess it was singer Christreater’s birthday this past weekend (Happy birthday, Schulist!) plus he (and some other MKE folks) opened a new vinyl-forward bar in our neighborhood on Saturday which I cannot wait to check out.

Playa Hated to the Fullest is the band’s second (and final) LP and their first (and only) album release on a “big name” label (their 2001 EP Personal Space Invader was also on Estrus). I love this record so much and while my memories of the early 2000’s are super-hazy, I recall their shows being absolutely wild (the guys have all calmed down a lot since). The record is buzzy and dense, loud as fuck and FUN. My top track is the ass-shaking “Juan Burguesa.” Also excellent are the album opener “The Other Man” plus the angular, JSBX-esque songs “Stranded” and “Dude Squad.” The songs are all original except for two covers: the creepy “She’s My Witch” originally by Kip Tyler (1958) that features Deanne Iovan on vocals and Jim Diamond on sax (Diamond also recorded the album at his Detroit Ghetto Recorders studio) and “Good Thing” by Pearl Dowdell (1970). Also notable is the record’s closer “Ol’ Sugarfoot” which caps off the LP with a wall of crashing noise from the “guitar army” courtesy of The Dirtbombs: Diamond, Ben Blackwell and Tom Potter, plus Baseball Furies’ “Styles” (Aaron Orlowski). You can listen to the entire record here.