I instantly liked this CD, from the stuttering drum intro and insistent one-note piano of the opening track, “Offer Resistance,” right through ‘til the closing “Handout,” with its almost Social Distortion-worthy blues melody. Thirteen songs in just over thirty minutes of hard rockin’ punk fun that’ll leave you begging for more. There was something familiar about the sound of this record which I couldn’t quite place at first, until I turned it off and found myself singing Deep Purple’s “Woman from Tokyo.” Not that the Black Furies sound like Deep Purple—there are no twenty-minute guitar solos, for instance—but there is something similar in the way they reinterpret three-chord rock’n’roll for the 21st century. The singer delivers with plenty of testosterone-powered passion, without trying to sound like he’s been gargling with gravel. He actually sings. What a concept. The guitar playing is both slithering and powerful, and works with the pounding rhythm of the drums to force you to get up out of your seat and start shaking. Highly recommended.
–brian (Take Root)