Get the Cannon,
All Else FailsI really am none the wiser as to how to start this review. I have had this CD for a couple of weeks now and after numerous listens I can still not decide to myself whether these guys are purile shit or underrated geniuses. Having given themselves the moniker of a 'beer punk' band, I had already decided on the former, and although some songs manage to hold your interest longer than 7 seconds, most are pretty mundane.
The four piece have been around now for a little over three years and managed to record one demo last year which has since led onto 'Get the Cannon'. If I was to tell you they had such song names as 'Keith Died last Friday (Poor Keith)', 'Far Q' and 'You're a cunt' you can build your own mental image of the band, and with all three of the aforementioned featuring the same uninspiring melodies and lyrics, you wonder where the band can possibly go.
It's not that the band are so bad at playing their music, but I can only really think of one or two songs which could hold their own in the big bad world of punk. The lyrics leave little to the imagination and the vocals veer from a nice blend of throaty angst to out of tune shit in quick succession, but as I said earlier there are a couple of distinct improvements that the band can look to. '8 Ball' features a couple of nice breakdowns with the melody and pace proving the highlight with a strong bassline running throughout as well, while 'Leave me Alone' is a decent enough ditty with another fine riff and a catchy as fuck chorus leaving its mark.
'Why won't you' features the strained vocals as mentioned earlier, although lead singer 'Filby' uses his voice to his advantage in the solid 'Adventures of a Pyromaniac'. 'You can't say cunt in digby's' sounds like it should be shit, but once again an infectious chorus saves it while 'Deadbeat' shows promise but never really goes anywhere. That leaves us with 'Ballad of Doughboy' which is an anthemic closer and you even get a live track thrown in at the end with 'I'd rather be asleep'.
Maybe I was being too harsh (Ross!) earlier on, but there is something ultimately juvenile with them, which really grates on me. In parts they have a decent musical vision with some songs showing strong leanings to the 'street punk' genre, but this isn't capitalised on enough and the band seemed more interested in proving they drink copious amounts of beer, and that I'm afraid is where they fall down.
Jay
