FLAMETHROWER
DEAD TEENAGER
----Vinnie Apicella
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FLAMETHROWER FLAMETHROWER DEAD TEENAGER |
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| They do just what the name says on this sixteen song bombardment of senses dulling speed punk. There’s no scene stealing or Seattle-bred associations to be made here, these four guys just throw ‘em up there in two minute increments of self-deprecation and so-fucking-what?? and see what sticks… and most of ‘em do! There’s the occasional random act of senseless slowdown with a tune like “Drowning And Empty” or “The Job” but otherwise we’re running a rich mixture of about 90% track power that’s got the engine over-revved and stretching the same riff to the point of permanent exhaustion! | ||
| Carbon deposits aside, Flamethrower’s spit-soaked assessments of personal discontent come through refreshingly loud on the one hand, irritatingly static on the other, like an inescapable Marshall amp glued to both ears emitting stress-induced screams from an altered state of spirit. Split nerves aside, Flamethrower’s self-proclaimed ideal to put “evil” back into rock is dead on; if not literally taken as actual repetitive refrains of soul-selling sacrifice to the satanic one himself. The songs are first person views from the garage to the highway, highlighting the ever-present pathway problem peddlers post at every corner. With lead vocalist Brian High’s Lemmy-like liquor-soaked wail and the band’s Zeke-inspired guitar power, the tunes hammer away on the notion of teenage-pop-posing-as-punk as not a single note presented here has anything to do with arena-filling anthems and toast your neighbor sing-alongs. The lyrics are right from the garbage and the songs--pick ‘em--work interchangeably well from one gratuitous rant to another whether dealing with “dropping out,” “breaking down,” or “selling your soul to the devil for an ounce of speed and a spot on Letterman with Lemmy!” The stage is set for a band like Flamethrower to spread their prison cell poetry and four-barrel love for life’s left lane on the listlessness of the rock industry and return the missing element of danger and defiance | ||
----Vinnie Apicella
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