Reviews

Holy Shit! Not My Tempo EP

Almost twenty years on, and Milwaukee’s HOLY SHIT! only seem like they are getting faster on the eight-track Not My Tempo. Midwest hardcore sensibilities come out on “Learning How to Fight,” with Eric’s double snare taps dominating the verses. DIE KREUZEN comparisons are not out of line here (not just the geographical similarities), and they still can’t seem to write a simple track if their lives depended on it. “Climbing Up Butter Wall” with the weird ass time changes, “Shut Up Matty” with the herk/jerk in the verse, the churn of “BBLLOOWW,” it all puts you on edge and refuses to let you just rock. HOLY SHIT! are about making you feel weird. Extra points for making every non-sonic aspect of all of their records seem like an adolescent attempt at “baby’s first punk seven inch,” with lyrics about stupid friends and doing stupid shit and high school-caliber cover art pretty much across the board. It’s all part of the charm…and also, Tony is so out of tune in “Narrow The Goal,” that it hurts my brain. See? Even after I talk about how great they are, HOLY SHIT! still leave me with a nice “fuck you,” and I appreciate that.