Viva Dictators features seventeen tracks covering the entire history of this New York band. The band started out in 1974 as one of the prime proto-punk bands and released three albums till their break up in 1978. Listening to this live album the band hasn’t suffered much from the thirty years of punk rock ‘n roll. The album was recorded at recent reunion shows (their first ever reunion show dates as far back as 1991) at Maxwell’s in Hoboken and the Bowery Ballroom in New York.

The sound of the album suits the raw punk rock perfectly. One thing that struck me was the fact that these thirty year old songs sound amazingly modern. This again proves that this band made high quality music and was probably way ahead of its time. This release makes me anxious about the soon to be released album with demo’s, non-released songs and rarities dating from the 1973-1978 period.