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 Never, in my years of reviewing CDs, both with and
without those warning labels, have I seen as fabulous a collection
as you'll find here. Take the kid's allowance money and spend
it on this.
For kick-ass, stomp 'em in the guts, garage-band
rock, nothing beats the double-set CD, "Dead From the Neck
Up" by Love Wormms. The thick, crunchy "Nail
My Tongue to Your Bedroom Door" captures the adolescent
paranoia of love's loss; while the more raucous, and I might
say, annoying, ballad, "Love 'em, Lay 'em, Leave 'em"
strikes a discordant artery in my feminist heart.
Blues legend Diddley Squat percolates
on "Dead Drunk at My Own Funeral" on Rigormortis Records.
Milky Fluids yowls on fluently throughout the grinding
two-hour dance remix of "The Bunny Hop."
The Fish Heads
drown in the joyless drone of "Me and Mrs. Paul" on
Salmon Records. More attuned is the abrasive buzz of "Eek
Eek What a Creep" and "Squeeze 'Em" by Dublin-based
girl rockers, Red Snapper. The elegant and playful Unmade
Beds live up to their name in the double-CD, "Gash on
My Face."
Native-American tootsie, Buffy Sainte-Bernard
woofs out her usual chow of confusing ecology angst on her tedious
"A Boy Named Sioux." My husband, Al, likes it; but
he likes those pesky owls, too. What a jerk.
Nurturing West Coast gangsta, Gum Rapper,
is back at the top of the charts with "Blood on My Schoolbooks,"
a follow-up to his revolutionary secular-rock hit, "Blood
on My Psalmbook." He would have been honored at The Grammys
this year had he not accidentally shot himself in the nuts while
getting into his tuxedo.
Hypnotic rhythms longing for release inhabit
the domain of The Black Crowes just-out CD, "I'll
Grind Your Eyes Out." Not to be outdone, foxy and sly Sistah
Souljah scores with "Booga Booga Yeah Yeah" and
"Circumcision Don't Go Far Enuff 4U."
Also worth a quick listen, tobacco scion turned
balladeer, R.J. Reynolds III has startled the industry
with his tuneful "Man With the Hole in His Neck," a
novelty song released posthumously. The hard-to-understand lyrics
are poignant, once you get past that throaty buzzing sound from
his neck.
The Dirt Bags,
three easy mammas from Memphis, cook up a spicy stew on their
new album, "Pity We Ain't Pretty." Best cuts are the
zesty "Google Foog, Coogle Psoog" and the less-rhyming,
though cognitive, "Hot Shot From Mister Bigg," a jumble
of groggy-grunge and lachrymal Cajun rock.
Swaggering decadence and cocky bravado illuminate
The Upchucks' new release "Stab Wounds" on the
Juice label. Bright prospects, but not anything close to melody,
loom big for Auntie Christ on her comeback CD "Get
Them Tubes Outta My Nose."
I raced to pick up the ear candy that is Queen
Latifa's "Boyz with the Big Butz." For playful
evenings by the fire, Zamir coaxes magic and nuance from
"You Remind Me of a Snake" and "Blood on My Tongue."
The Blue Donkeys are out on Tumescence Records with "Put
Dat Back Where It Belongs," and the title cut, the self-pitying
but dead-on, "We're Really Stupid."
Around the World
Topping the Euro-charts is the right-on "Help Me Rwanda"
by Tutsi and Fruitsi. Marseilles-born A Roomful of
Bouillabaisse enchants with the gloomy "Chanson in My
Pants" on the Au Jus label. The cooling gurgle of tulip-folk
pop is an acquired taste to be sure, yet Holland-based, full-figured
honeys Rubenesque can count on guilders in the bank with
the synthy, sexy "Tummy Chummy Ummie" on Run For the
Cheese Records.
On Tour
Don't miss the demonic, crash-and-burn wailings of Kansas-reared
Shit 4 Brains in their fall tour opening September 8 in
St. Louis. The group's complete ineptness and lack of musicality
is more than compensated for with sheer noise, clamor and clumsy
showmanship, especially when their special effects explode, hurling
the dazed rockers through the scenery.
Gator Aid, the
Louisiana bayou barf-fest, kicks off October 17 in Baton Rouge's
Lick My Crawfish Stadium with interracial folk legends Jess
Lissen and B.B. Gunn who will perform their seminal
"I Didn't Know You Had a Sister."
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