Hy-test Dishing Out the Good Times Review by Gary Hill
This album is raw punk that’s a lot of fun. It moves towards metal and other areas a times. In fact, the closing instrumental has some things in common with prog rock. All in all, this is a powerfully energetic disc that never fails to entertain and never feels redundant.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
9 Volt
Noisy, feedback laden sounds start this. Then the bass comes in and holds it for a time. The track screams out in a fashion that’s got some grunge, some metal and some punk in it. It’s a real high energy stomper.
Girl In Black A hard edged, fast paced cut, this is very much Ramones-like punk rock.
Crazy For You This track alternates between screaming punk on the choruses and a slow moving, almost psychedelic bit of weirdness on the verse. It reminds me quite a bit of Suicidal Tendencies.
Magnet While this is a bit more melodic and leans toward mellower territory, it’s still a fiery punk rocker.
Goodbye This punker is based on an old school rock and roll riff. It reminds me a lot of the Ramones. There’s a weird little psychedelic jam later that makes me think of Tomorrow with a punk rock edge.
Our Career There is a lot of Motorhead built into this. It’s a little more punk than Motorhead, but then again, the early Motorhead albums were pretty punk. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch to picture this as a Motorhead song.
All The Way The central riff on this reminds me of Ted Nugent. It’s a fiery rocker that’s a little less punk and more catchy metal. It gets more aggressive and punk oriented later.
Smokeskull This is ferocious. It’s pretty much hardcore, but the vocals are more metalcore.
Take Ya Money Drums and vocals make up the first twenty seconds or so of this piece. They tear out from there in some stripped down punk, but the vocals and percussion routine returns for the next vocals, too. Alternating between these two things, this is a fast and brief punk rocker.
Abolisher This is a raw and potent punk rocker. It’s quite aggressive.
Ramblings Of A Mute The title really tells it because this is an instrumental. It’s a cool cut that has much of the same sound built into as the rest of the disc, yet I hear some progressive rock and space rock on this, too. It’s a great way to end the album on a high (or should I say “hy?”) note.
