Rhythm & Views

Blue Collar Criminals

I could start off with my question of why any sane person would be "proud" to work shit jobs for shit wages, but this is a music review, not a rant, so I shan't.

What we have here is a punk/Oi band that at times verges on hard-core tempos. Add a singer with a voice like bourbon-soaked sandpaper, good production and well-played songs, and you have a decent local release.

While they show their love for the genre with a Last Resort cover, they expose their sense of humor and ability to have fun with their version of Dire Straits' "Walk of Life"--a path that, if followed more often, could make them the greatest bar band ever. (As long as the bar didn't mind the broken glass and cop cars.) They have to be given credit for letting the guitars sound like electric guitars, too, something most "street-punk" bands fail at miserably.

Unfortunately, they often fall into a trap that most fast-music bands fall into: too many words running all together, making the singer sound like an auctioneer. More consciousness of the less-is-more credo and strengthening up some of the melodies would make this band a monster.

While they're not in the class of the Anti-Heroes or the Wretched Ones yet, if you're a fan of this genre of music, you could do a whole lot worse.