Fuckin’ Zeke—man, is there any band that has as much full-on, balls-out rock chops as these guys? That’s one of the reasons I was soooooo disappointed with their last (or was it the next to last?) studio album Dirty Sanchez, which pretty much blew. For awhile there, this mighty threesome seemed to be on the brink of self-destruction with cancelled shows and announcements of breaking up. It was a very sad day when I logged on to their website only to see the news that they were no more. Thankfully cooler, less strung out minds prevailed and the band reformed shortly thereafter to rock my world with their goofy Ramones cum Motörhead licks. ‘Til the Living End, produced by Jack Endino, is a return to their tried-and-true, high-octane formula. Actually getting through the whole album is mighty hard considering how many times you want to hit the replay button on the first five tracks. The junkies’ lament “Chinatown,” the neo-biker “All Through the Night,” and the opener “All Night Long” all sound like an unholy mix of Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke and the Supersuckers (when they still rocked). This is what speed metal should always sound like.
–eric (Relapse)