Sounds like LES THUGS meets BUTTHOLES meets GUN CLUB. Powerful blues-based rock’n’roll filtered through an ’80s outlook. PERE UBU on speed? NOMAD-itis? It rocks, though not as insane as the 7″ers.
Sadly, this pretty much proves that this band is over-hyped. While their first 7″ was promising, this record is fairly bland and sounds like “product” rush-released to take advantage of the “buzz” in England. The only really good song here is their cover of Vic Goddard’s “Ambition.”
Scott says they sound like a cross between psychedelia and a trebly FLIPPER. Dogtowne says they’re pretentious pretenders to the VELVET UNDERGROUND’s second LP. Whatever, they do combine pop tunes with incredibly abrasive guitar noise and feedback to produce a highly listenable product.
With the signing of JMC to a major comes a predictably toned-down sound. While the title song is cool in its pop way (they’ve discovered Phil Spector?), and “Head” is a fairly noisy tidbit, “Cracked” is way too tuneless and dirgelike, and the second version of the title track is way wimpy. There’s still some edge here, but it’s fading fast.
Their first album contains three previously released tracks and eleven newies. And like their other recent material, this new stuff contains numbers that melt perfect simple pop melodies with a wall of guitar noise—a sublime combination only approached before by the VELVETS.
Title track is one of their haunting and beautiful ballads, while the flip features a nasty cover of BO DIDDLEY’s “Who Do You Love” and an awesome song, “Kill Surf City,” that sounds like a SUICIDE gone apeshit. Hot.
Three more quite VELVET-y songs , with only one “hit,” having any bite. I think I’m sick of this band’s current mellowing. Liven up, guys.
