Labels: Drunken Sailor
Review by: Tom Howells
The recently departed Shit Creek included Ben White of J Church/Snakepit “zine
fame and Brandon Hamilton of Dude Jams on dual guitars/vocals, and that heritage
coupled with the fact it’s on Drunken Sailor pretty accurately informs what you’re
getting here (though not a patch on either of those bands). Four tracks of mid-paced,
three chordy oi/pop punk (I’m not getting the glam references on label’s site, so best
assume they’re being flippant) with vocals that range from endearingly strained to
horrendously garbled.
The title track and ULPS are the best of the lot here; marginally more dynamic and
tuneful instrumentation (very slight differentiation here mind) and Hamilton’s vocals
are far more concerned with melody than the horrible croaking on the other two”
especially Song For Lance, which is borderline unlistenable.
There isn’t really much more it’s possible to say really, except that the record artwork
for Pissing Blood must be some of the most disgusting I’ve ever seen. Quite aside
from the questionable, over-riding bowel system theme in general, the kidney image
on the front is far too lo-res to be printed at this size, and there is something truly
sickening about the shade of claret used for the title.