Motochrist is a band that sounds so polished, so well-produced, you wonder if they don’t occasionally feel as if they’re betraying their tattooed losers image. Not unlike the plethora of Green Day wannabes that have haunted the corporate airwaves over the last eight years, Motochrist has all the ingredients necessary for a really crankin’ punk band. But instead they play it safe, putting out a pseudo-metal album that would be as accessible to both junior high kids and fifty-year-old headbangers. Greetings from the Bonneville Salt Flats is not the high-octane offering one might expect from glancing at the dragster on the cover. Ever see The Decline of Western Civilization: The Metal Years? Motochrist are, like Motley Crue before them, full of bluster and lyrics that pander to both thirteen-year-olds and big label reps in search of the next big thing. There are redeeming moments if you’re willing to cut them a little slack—“Someday” sounds a tad like early Soul Asylum and there have certainly been worse Ramones covers than their take on “I Just Wanna Have Something To Do Tonight.” All in all, Greetings isn’t a bad album, just one that is repeatedly sabotaged by run-of-the-mill rock and roll lyrics.
–eric (Heat Slick)