Operation: Break Even
"Operation: Break Even" CD (Amphetamine Reptile)
Fifteen songs from 15 bands who sound like they attended the Seattle school of music, but somehow missed the day when everything/anything important was covered. The approaches range from a Doors twist, to a chick rock band which actually deserves that aphorism stapled to their name. But while the approaches may be varied, the success rate is hovering just above zero. Okay, so not every song was bad and they didn't all sound the same. Actually, Better Off Airport's "Celebrity Tournament" was a bold, if not brazen, tribute to the sloppy punk jazz of said music's greatest troubadour John Zorn. And while Los Diablos Del Sol failed to leave the CD's genre, they certainly do it better than anyone else...they're in tune with their fuzz pedal man. However, when these songs are followed by Acid Pure Hi-Fi doing their rendition of "my amp can feed back better / cooler than yours," or Density Bomb's game of "yell really loud 'till the mics feed back," it makes it hard to take much of this very seriously. (ADAM)