…i was initially listening to this thing and shaking my head in boredom, the songs were moving at a dull, midtempo plod and, overall, it was reminding me of the Fuckin’ Flyin’ A-Heads “Swiss Cheese Back,” both in terms of overall disinterest and in terms of being a record i really wanted to like but didn’t. It wasn’t until someone counted off “one-two-three-four!” between songs that i realized i was playing the fucking thing at the wrong speed. But it seemed so real! Anyway, while this does, in fact, sound much improved at the correct velocity – speedy, poundy, echoey mid-90’s Illinois garage ((although i suppose the fact that this was recorded in their basement, not garage, might cast some aspersions on the validity of that whole label)) – but, to be honest, crazy Sgt. Pepper mutilation cover art notwithstanding, there aren’t a super-gigantic amount of reasons to recommend this to anyone other than a devout Justin Champlin/Nobunny completist or someone with an unquenchable thirst for lo-fi garage rage. I mean, it’s cool and all to listen to – the band is definitely rippin’ it up on occasion – but it mighta been cooler as a cassette you dubbed me than an actual fancy-pants album. There really aren’t any Okmonik-like bits of catchy, repurposed genius or anything like that, if that’s what you’re looking for. Then again, i’ve always wanted to know what it might have looked like if the Rip Offs spun around to face the camera when they were pissing on that cop car, so there is, indeed, that. BEST SONG: “Hey Hey Sugar” BEST SONG TITLE: “Pussycat Burglar” FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: Group photos taken by Brad X, who owns a functioning Roy Clark cocktail pinball machine, and if Roy Clark didn’t keep the “cock” in “cocktail,” who did?
–norb (Certified P.R.)