The Phenoms, you say? Well,
playing fast, trashy belch n’ roll doesn’t really count as a ‘phenomenon’
in the same way as say, crop circles or the Spice Girls do, but let’s give
it to ‘em anyway, since it rolls off the tongue nicely, just like a
well-timed insult, or a drunken come-on. These Chicago-based bruisers play
the same kinda punk-fueled, gasoline guzzlin’, teenage flophouse garage
rawk as fellow Chi-town panty raiders the Powerknobs, only without the
60’s medallion-rock hangover, and with a whole fatty liver’s worth of
angry, backed-up bile. The geetars are on such a pussy posse overdrive that you’d
figure the whole album to be a fast, fucked, and furious ode to their
dicks, but on closer inspection (i.e. I looked at the lyrics in the
booklet), songs like “Cross Section”, “Part of the Deal”, and “Sure to
Come” are all pretty serious and kinda bummed-out, thematically speaking.
Luckily, they all sound like a big wet dog ruining the furniture, so who’s
gonna notice? If you dig say, the Misfits AND the Sonics, and don’t mind
the occasional hand-wringing sob-session, then check these flailers out.
The Phenoms, you say? Well,
playing fast, trashy belch n’ roll doesn’t really count as a ‘phenomenon’
in the same way as say, crop circles or the Spice Girls do, but let’s give
it to ‘em anyway, since it rolls off the tongue nicely, just like a
well-timed insult, or a drunken come-on. These Chicago-based bruisers play
the same kinda punk-fueled, gasoline guzzlin’, teenage flophouse garage
rawk as fellow Chi-town panty raiders the Powerknobs, only without the
60’s medallion-rock hangover, and with a whole fatty liver’s worth of
angry, backed-up bile. The geetars are on such a pussy posse overdrive that you’d
figure the whole album to be a fast, fucked, and furious ode to their
dicks, but on closer inspection (i.e. I looked at the lyrics in the
booklet), songs like “Cross Section”, “Part of the Deal”, and “Sure to
Come” are all pretty serious and kinda bummed-out, thematically speaking.
Luckily, they all sound like a big wet dog ruining the furniture, so who’s
gonna notice? If you dig say, the Misfits AND the Sonics, and don’t mind
the occasional hand-wringing sob-session, then check these flailers out.