The ending title track tells the tale most efficiently-"Battered and busted days, to collect meager wage…"

Now I don't know about anyone else, but I think they've just created my own personal anthem for the millennium… in only a few simple sentences, these guys have written a punk rock self-help book that's gonna carry us through these trying and tenacious times we live in!

Bay Area bashing's the order of the day for The Workin' Stiffs, blue collar and blunt, rock and roll rigidity for every working class dog who's done their time, punched a clock and waited endlessly for that afternoon whistle!

Hard to imagine exactly where their coming from looking at the title and then getting blind-sided with "Notes from a Sandbox," one of those "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" complaints… and beautifully done I might add!

The order of business here is as you might expect; tunes about rough times in the neighborhood, social and political warfare and the strength to endure it all without going completely out of your mind… but remember, if things get a little too rough, the bottle's never far away!

Surely they're not condoning drinking to cure what ails ya…

Good heavens we must be a little more responsible-they have very conscientious messages at the core of the epicenter!

I'm not sure but I think these guys are kind of old… well at least they sound like it-a good thing in a nostalgic and English sort of way.

Blistering riffs preclude an assumed drunken babble for an outfront voice that freaks and shrieks about wildly… in an ocean of sonic outrage.

Not that I would classify 'em as necessarily angry however, but there's just that inkling you get from a tune like "Bugs, Bigots and Bastards" or "Three Ring City…" and let's all welcome the circus to town… or witness the inauguration of our new state assembly!

Plenty of offensive firepower coming quickly out the bottle here and a welcome relief from the day's long stresses… so I'd say it's time to unscrew the cap, pour a little "Liquid Courage," and watch your cares just float away as you baske in the afterglow of another wasted day…

Released by TKO Records

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]