Former
L7 bassist and full-time riot wommyn Jennifer Finch returns to the
rock n' roll fray with a new crew of scruffy young punks and a renewed
dedication to, erm, shock value. Significantly, The Shocker sounds
like a youthful L7, from the screechalong girl-gang vox to the glammy
punk-pop guitars. L7 were getting' a little slick by the end of their run,
though, whereas the Shocker sound like they're barely keeping it together
in places, like they just learned the guitar parts five minutes before
they hit the studio, and like the drummer's kit keeps sliding around on
the floor while he's trying to play it. This is what we used to call "punk
rock" one thousand years ago, and even if it does seem sorta
self-conscious, it's pretty fun to listen to. The slinky, sleazy "My
Life as a Plumber" is the highlight, full of gutter scraping
guitars and a snake-dance rhythm, as is their storming cover of Ice T's "Body
Count", which actually sounds a lot like a Juliette and the Licks
punk rock protest song in their hands. The rest is a lot of yelling and
songs about blowjobs, if only metaphorically. This would probably annoy
the piss outta me on second listen, but luckily, that's not my job. Get it
if you've got any teenage rampage left in you. Or if you happen to be a
rampaging teenager, which would work even better. _______________________________________________________
Former
L7 bassist and full-time riot wommyn Jennifer Finch returns to the
rock n' roll fray with a new crew of scruffy young punks and a renewed
dedication to, erm, shock value. Significantly, The Shocker sounds
like a youthful L7, from the screechalong girl-gang vox to the glammy
punk-pop guitars. L7 were getting' a little slick by the end of their run,
though, whereas the Shocker sound like they're barely keeping it together
in places, like they just learned the guitar parts five minutes before
they hit the studio, and like the drummer's kit keeps sliding around on
the floor while he's trying to play it. This is what we used to call "punk
rock" one thousand years ago, and even if it does seem sorta
self-conscious, it's pretty fun to listen to. The slinky, sleazy "My
Life as a Plumber" is the highlight, full of gutter scraping
guitars and a snake-dance rhythm, as is their storming cover of Ice T's "Body
Count", which actually sounds a lot like a Juliette and the Licks
punk rock protest song in their hands. The rest is a lot of yelling and
songs about blowjobs, if only metaphorically. This would probably annoy
the piss outta me on second listen, but luckily, that's not my job. Get it
if you've got any teenage rampage left in you. Or if you happen to be a
rampaging teenager, which would work even better.