Hunchback: They’re all over the place, yet homogenized, which is a good trick that not a lot of bands can pull off. “16 Tons” reminds me of the Spits coupled with Atom and His Package—without the overt goofiness of Atom, but in that barely catching your breath, keeping the narration going in a higher-pitched male voice way, so more like Armalite—and those full-on pre-launch-into-the song parts of the Tyrades. That equals awesome in my book. They even do a non-hoser version of “Too Drunk to Fuck.” Nicely played. The Trashies: Spits sung through a shopping cart of glass recyclables; bumcore with broken, plain-bagged, Fisher Price-tuned synthesizer. The really weird vibe I get? I bet the Trashies could play a pukey, cigarette burny basement show one evening and a progressive art museum the next and fit well in both. Tell me how the fuck that happens because I have no clue. Summation: more challenging than their previous outings, and a tastefully selected Supercharger cover. Who wins out of the two? The listener. Thumbs up.
–todd (Freedom School)