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It may seem silly to talk about songwriting chops when discussing Memphis' Final Solutions, a group of art-damaged punks who all look like they met in line at a post-apocalyptic unemployment agency. However, on Songs By Solutions, the group exhibits quality punk craftsmanship. Like the album title says, the Solutions are completely to blame for all of the paranoid, hallucinatory treasures contained within. There is no need for the Final Solutions to rest on the crutch of a classic punk cover; not when they are busy unleashing such rabid rockers as the amazing "Rubber Stamp Test", "Brown Panther" and the completely unglued "Liquid Brainstem Cocktail." The ingeniously amateurish DIY ditty, "I'm a Lightning Bug" is a not-so-distant cousin to some of the best jams from the Desperate Bicycles and the Urinals. "Little Man in My Mind" brings to...um, mind the unzipped ouevre of Chris Knox (Toy Love, Tall Dwarves) and the underrated skiffle revivalists, the Strapping Fieldhands. The spectre of the ultimate art punk band, Pere Ubu (the group's namesake) hangs over the recordings, but the Final Solutions love of riffs, manic energy and juvenile sci-fi aesthetic ensure that they could never be accused of musical cribbing. No one's ever gonna use the word, "mature," to describe these ding-a-ling delinquents, but the group is definitely successful at realizing their vision on record. Don't think that the Final Solutions have settled down, by any means. Their live shows are still dangerous, ridiculously fun events that are most akin to a Thunderdome duel. Until we all have grizzly-proof armor, these recordings are still the safest way to enjoy them. As the listener of Songs By Solutions, your sanity and dignity are the only things at risk.
Goner
Records www.goner-records.com |
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