Personal Best

Of all the punk records to come out of the 1990s, "Personal Best" comes closest to actually recapturing the sheer passion and rage which originally spawned the movement two decades earlier; where other bands whine on endlessly about running out of beer money or losing the right to skateboard in the park, Team Dresch confront real issues — bigotry, oppression, religion, self-worth — with a sense of conviction and immediacy that lays to waste everything in their path. For an album that lasts less than 25 minutes, "Personal Best" is a draining, relentless experience — it explodes on contact, the cumulative result of years of pent-up anger, frustration and desperation finally allowed release.