PIERCED
EARS
4FRGNT
THRASHER
B
NE
ERS
ONALE
ON
SKATEROCK VOL 8
PIERCING TUNES FROM: BAD MUTHA GOOSE, D.I., HOUSEQUAKE, FUNK FACE,
CITIZEN X, SIX FEET UNDER, SKATEMASTER TATE,
MAD DOG THEATRE, TATTOOED LOVE DOGS, MCM
AND THE MONSTER & FLOWER LEPERDS.
Order this killer tape and other Thrasher products from page 121.
DAS DAMEN
Mousetrap
Twin Tone
These guys are college radio
darlings, which is not a bit surpris-
ing. since they feature those
despicable milk-curdling whiney
vocals. They're what REM would be
like if they had the balls of, oh, say
the Cult-which is not really an awful
lot of balls, but more than REM has
Struggling valiantly to maintain a
semblance of fairness, I'd say the
songs "Demagnetized" and "Please
Please Me" (a far cry from the
Beatles' ditty) are quite good, and
"Sad Mile" has some keen sound
effects, though I wish they'd put them
on the vocal instead of the guitar. If
they just had a Dewhinulating Trans-
mogrifier they'd be pretty okay. SO
FUZZTONES
In Heat
Beggars Banquet
Sinister beat attack of psychedelic
pandemonium. Plenty of Farfisal
organ grinding. Vox and Ricken-
backer riffs that faithful fans will
surely enjoy. Cult of Fuzz people
should really dig songs like
"Cheyenne Rider" "It Came in the
Mail" and "Charlotte's Remains,"
which seek out and destroy other
modern psych attempts as we know
them. Other cuts like "In Heat" and
"Nine Months Later" provide a more
up-tempo and eerie outlook on this
well-produced past-to-present repre-
sentation of the Fuzztones form. RR
MOTLEY CRUE
Dr. Feelgood
Elektra
This disk is a real "do or die" for
the Crue. While it outshines Theatre
of Pain and Girls Girls Girls, there's
not exactly a lot of new ground
broken here. Still, their return to
brain-jarring heavy riffs ala Shout at
the Devil is more than welcome. The
title track and "Rattlesnake Shake"
show signs of life and almost rescue
the Motleys from complete medio-
crity. Despite recent well-publicized
de-tox sessions, the Cruesters don't
exhibit any signs of newfound mat-
urity or any particular desire to move
RECORD
COLLECTION
beyond the shallow lyrical puddle
they've always wallowed in. MG
EINSTUERZENDE
NEUBAUTEN
Haus Der Luege
Some Bizarre
I got this record largely because
Voi Vod claimed to like it. What a
dumb reason. It's got the world's
scariest cover, in red, black and
white, of a horse with arcane symbols
on its eyes apparently peeing it's in-
testines out. Those nutty Germans!
If you get all goosebumpy when you
hear German spoken, you'll love
"House of Lies" (that's what the t-
tle means), it's replete with umlauts
and hocking noises. A lot of it is Art
(yech!) and a lot is industrial house
music (YECH!), but one number at
least is great fun-'Ein Stuhl in der
Luge" (A Chair in Hell) has tap dan
cing for percussion and a story line
about how Our Hero went to his
mother's sister's house and the two
ladies fed him and the dogs and cats
some pepper broth and the animals
died so he wished for his mother dear
a chair in hell. Lovely! SO
AMERICAN
STANDARD
Wonderland
AMERICAN STANDARD
Wonderland
PowerHouse
American Standard lashes out of
New Jersey's underground with a
MG MG SJ Skipper Jack 50
traditional power punk presentation
backed by strong melodic vocals.
This four-piece has kept a strong
foothold in the East Coast scene
since '87 by creating their own
distinctive blend of power and ver
satility while maintaining basic raw
energy song after song. Identifiable
lyrics relate everyone's struggles and
doubts about coming of age. Emo-
tionally charged with their own brand
of character and charisma, American
Standard's debut is destined to be
a bold representation of reality. RR
VOI VOD
Nothingface
Mechanic
After five, shall we say, eclectic,
albums, Voi Vod seems to be settling
into a more stable stylistic realm.
They have chosen a subtley melodic
sound ala latter day Die Kruezen,
stressing din and dynamic rather
than the extreme noise yammerings
on their earliest utterances. The tran-
sition from tracks like rambunctious
opener "The Unknown Knows" to
the brooding "Into My Hypercube"
will certainly confound thrash purists
and delight those looking for a twist
with their grind. Snake's vocals take
on a more melodic dimension, re-
placing his usually cold, mechanical
rantings with an off-kilter paranoia
that electrifies Piggy's MacGlauphlin-
Sase 0 McFarlane, Rick Rosar
meets-Motorhead guitar lines.
Nothingface rates as Voi Vod's most
challenging work to date. MG
RAGING SLAB
Raging Slab
RCA
This is a case of not judging a
record by its cover Been quite a spell
since I've heard any Southern fried
rock with the punch Raging Slab
delivers. Downright blistering belts of
lead and bottleneck guitars pick up
where Lynyrd Skynyrd and other
rebel rockers left off. Backed occa-
sionally by riffs stolen from our good
buddies Metallica, the Slab rages
with precise consistency. "Don't Dog
Me" and "Geronimo" stand out as
sure-fire roadhouse riot anthems.
The South will never be the same
with these good old boys (and girl)
behind the wheel. RR
MUDHONEY
Mudhoney
SubPop
Here it is, the long-awaited
Mudslide of hits by our favorite lords
of grunge. Once again, Mudhoney
achieves an alternate path of
resistance to the norm: primitive grin
ding guitars, heavy bass and brutal
drumming. Cuts like "This Gift,"
"Here Comes Sickness," "Running
Loaded" and nine other bone-
crushing tracks are included on this
well-produced Lp. Mudhoney will be
touring again soon, so check them
out, they're great. And get the limited
edition version of the album. RR
ICE-T
The Iceberg
Sire
Call it poetry, call it politics, call it
pure power, loe's third Lp is decidedly
deeper than your everyday dope jam
The beat is boomed, the mix is kick-
ed, and the stone cold Syndicate
chieftan drops heavy science. From
Creative Writing ("Peel Their Caps
Back") to Poli-Sci ("Freedom Of
Speech") to Social Studies ("You
Played Yourself") to Sex-Ed ("The
Girl Tried To Kill Me") to-uh-Wood
Shop ("Black 'N' Decker"), this is a
hardcore education that you'll never
get in any classroom. SJ
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