Word: squirrelbait
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Dates: during 1987-1987
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...most health-hazardous band in the land. It the meantime, the Minnesota trio has taken off to a major label, college popularity and musical mediocrity. But now there emerges a new contender for the ramshackle throne abdicated by Bob Mould et alia, a contender going by the name of Squirrelbait...
Although this Louisville quintet has existed since 1982 and released an eponymous debut in 1985, it is on skag heaven that Squirrelbait make their best claim to sovereignty. Basically, this disk features four-chord power rock played with an abandon utterly lacking in most AOR music. It doesn't matter what material Squirrelbait chooses--from an original composition sensitively entitled "Black Light Poster Child" to a cover of Phil Ochs' "Road Tape From California"-- every song on skag comes out rough and tumble...
...hoarse but usually melodic singing of Peter Searcy, who could replace Paul Westerberg of the Replacements in a pinch. The twin guitars here are turned up so loud that, even though the chords are relatively straightforward, a whole host of wonderfully accidental noises are created. Also featured are Squirrelbait's homey and near illiterate lyrics, culminating in the heartfelt chorus; "I don't need no pig stomping on my buzz...
...rest of the album continues in much the same vein, with occasional diversions into pseudo-blues on "Slake Train Comin" and Ramones-style hard-core on "Kick The Kat." Squirrelbait's chief appeal lies in their dissemblage of traditional rock music through volume and intensity, where (if you care to think about it) Husker Du's original and only appeal also lay. In fact, despite an atrocious sense of grammar and punctuation, Squirrelbait is better than their precursor because their sound is not burdened with the Husker's tendency towards artistic pretension and lyrical sappiness...
...there who are belatedly purchasing Zen Arcade or other Husker Du albums, might want to take heed. Sample skag heaven by Squirrelbait and catch a new trend in the making...