Minnesota’s Fret Rattles are a great live act in the sense that when you go to see them, they whap you around for an hour or so, knock the bored look off your face, and leave you dazed and walking funny. They are not necessarily the type of band, however, where you walk home from the club humming their tunes. As such, this seven-inch is more of a steamroller than a toe-tapper—a thick, rock’n’roll pummeling in the grand Sympathy For The Record Industry tradition of the mid-nineties. The hit here—as much as a band that just clobbers you from start to finish can be said to have a “hit”—is probably “One Step Ahead,” because it reminds me of fighting ninjas on top of a large hydroelectric dam. If they ever become a ska band, they can follow it up with “One Step Beyond” by Madness. What can I say, I’m an idea man. BEST SONG: “One Step Ahead.” BEST SONG TITLE: “Degeneration Ride.” FANTASTIC AMAZING TRIVIA FACT: “Fret Rattles” can be anagrammed into “Terf Starlet,” which I find excruciatingly hilarious.–Rev. Nørb (Self-released)