Few bands are anywhere near as funny as they think they are -- The Dag Nabbit Stubbs is an exception. I mean, they're not, like hilarious, but they play their hand for all it's worth, backing up their redneck rock posturing with a sound like what the dead and zombified Skynyrd boys might make after emerging from The Big Swamp in the Sky to open for Motörhead.
I know, just last week I was bitching about the kind of classic rockers who you could picture singing a song about a man's Ahabian quest to hook the bass which killed his grandpappy, as the D-Stubbs do on "These Pancakes Are Made With The Devil's Bisquick". While such efforts almost always come off poorly, Hot Garbage is proof that it occasionally works.
Opening with "The Devil's Work," (all five songs on this EP have "Devil" in the title) the band quickly establishes their persona, singing about sitting on their porch when the Devil comes by to show off his private jet. Singer Sweetwater Jones demonstrates he's got the voice -- and the comedic timing -- to make this Arizona group sound like the band from Swampwater, Georgia they claim to be on their MySpace. By the end, they're repeating their name and playing out solos like it's the finale, though the Swampcore (their word, not mine) fun quickly continues on "Devlin' Under The Influence," wherein Sweetwater goes through a long monologue involving Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers and doing donuts before dropping a few lines of Van Halen's "Panama." It might not sound entertaining, but it is.
"The Devil's Dance Party" has a little more edge, approaching the "core" part of the Swampcore label at points, at other times showing the cover image, an homage to Def Leppard's Hysteria, isn't just a joke. "You, Me and The Devil Make Four" is the most boring track on the disc, slow, grinding and venturing a little too close to Alice in Chains territory for my taste. Still, Hot Garbage is a fun and funny record, and has a little something for genuine swamprock fans, as well as those who enjoy having a little laugh at the lifestyle bands like Skynyrd parlayed in to such successful careers. --Martin Cizmar
If you're a musician from the Phoenix metro area and would like to submit a CD for review, please send it in an envelope marked "YAFI" to:
Martin Cizmar
You Asked For It
c/o Phoenix New Times
1201 E. Jefferson Street
Phoenix , AZ 85032
