"This is Rock & Roll"Candy Snatchers / Cheap DatesSplit LP |
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If the two bands sharing the spotlight here are any indication to their names, this ain't gonna be pretty. And "This is Rock & Roll" as it blares forcefully out the speakers most certainly is not-at their rawest extreme, Candy Snatchers 1998 material was less defined… er, refined maybe than anything since. In fact it's an old Kids' tune that opens the goody bag here-Candy Snatchers aren't going down in history for appropriate manners now are they? Scoundrels! I love the album cover art, simple, effective and rather dignified-for seventeenth century brigands out for a brief seaward fling at the government's expense! "House of Skag" is one of the best tunes here-short, quick, almost catchy, in fact very catchy with regards to the rest-damn I can almost sing along if I could make out even a single word. The vocals of Larry May, indecipherable at their clearest are very distinct-well they are from Virginia so… "Shortcut to Disaster," and "Ass Casserole," if for nothing else but its goofy title-though brilliant-gets the nod here as two of the standouts. There aren't many but more like simplicity at its most sincere, loud and bratty with little in the way of melodic tendencies, more like full blown volume dealing with straight and simple pitch and rhythm-a definite need for the Punk Rock and grime enthusiast… Cheap Dates share the "stage" as it were and damned if it doesn't sound like a crude live recording anyway, but they throw in their two cents by way of nine tunes that finish things off-"Cheap Dates," get it? The guitars are tuned way low for this one, much more abrasive and distorted. The San Francisco-based has that loose "I Got a Right" fucked up and messy Stooges style with more emphasis on the noise aspect and vocal burial. "Jaywalker," it's listed first for a reason eh, is a keeper, "Shortends," with it's bluesy strut and ballsy delivery, and "Wrecked!" because it's someplace we've all been before! A cute little economy class package of nastiness and groove spoken in old school Punk and sleaze… a split LP that'll split more than your lip if you're not careful. MAN'S RUIN RECORDS,
610 22nd Street #302, San Francisco, CA 94107 Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]
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