Ampsex
(tragic name, I know, but the good ones were all taken a long time ago) is
a power-trio from San Francisco whose sound is so slippery I had to check
a few times to make sure that the songs on this, their debut full-length,
were all by the same band. They vacillate wildly between crunching, glammy
hard rock like the slithery opener “Pops Fight” and its
punchy follow-up, “Crazy Bitch”, and 90’s altern-ica
like…well, like the songs that sound like Dinosaur Jr and Weezer and
Cracker. Best of the bunch? “Nobody cries in a porno movie”, Ricky Garcia
sings on the ultra-catchy “Porno Movie”, and while we must
be watching different shit, because I’ve seen plenty where the whole idea
was to make the girls whimper and weep in terror, it’s still a great,
radio-rock rock song, not unlike something Everclear woulda done before
they lost the plot. Swell. Nothin’s gonna save a song called “DJ In
Yo Band”, but otherwise, “Original Sound Recordings”
is flush with memorable tunes, albeit commercial ones. 1992 commercial,
that is. Flannel’s not gonna comeback, is it? _______________________________________________________
Ampsex
(tragic name, I know, but the good ones were all taken a long time ago) is
a power-trio from San Francisco whose sound is so slippery I had to check
a few times to make sure that the songs on this, their debut full-length,
were all by the same band. They vacillate wildly between crunching, glammy
hard rock like the slithery opener “Pops Fight” and its
punchy follow-up, “Crazy Bitch”, and 90’s altern-ica
like…well, like the songs that sound like Dinosaur Jr and Weezer and
Cracker. Best of the bunch? “Nobody cries in a porno movie”, Ricky Garcia
sings on the ultra-catchy “Porno Movie”, and while we must
be watching different shit, because I’ve seen plenty where the whole idea
was to make the girls whimper and weep in terror, it’s still a great,
radio-rock rock song, not unlike something Everclear woulda done before
they lost the plot. Swell. Nothin’s gonna save a song called “DJ In
Yo Band”, but otherwise, “Original Sound Recordings”
is flush with memorable tunes, albeit commercial ones. 1992 commercial,
that is. Flannel’s not gonna comeback, is it?