Circus One Big Joke 12″
I don’t know what it is about clowns, but I love them. I’ve got a small collection of clown paraphernalia peppered throughout my home, and have a low-key obsession with the lucha libre trio Los Payasos. So imagine my excitement when the new CIRCUS album came across my desk. I initially thought the band name and clown motif were surface-level gimmicks, but no. The theme permeates throughout the entire record. CIRCUS plays your typical hardcore akin to bands like FROSTBITE and NEW LOWS, and while the music is tight and quite good, it’s the lyrics that bring it to a whole other level for me. Featuring such classic lines as “Bozo motherfucker / Got a bone to pick / Forty clowns deep / As the tiny engine rips,” as heard in “Clown Car Pile Up,” and “You honk the honk but you will never walk my walk,” from the track “Silly Prison,” CIRCUS continues to maintain the classic balance of insidiousness and innocence that we’ve all come to known from the storied history of our favorite, face-painted buffoons. Fantastic stuff here, even for those who suffer from coulrophobia.