Released
1998
Label
Skin Graft Records
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Visit
Last Edit/Update
02 April, 1998
Mount Shasta
WATCH OUT
Track Listing
1. Lil' Hos
2. Vinegar Bed
3. Tang Dynasty
4. Bi-Curious
5. Brandy For Gerazol
6. (He's On) Planet Dumbass
7. Barb & The Sailors
8. Pinche Pero
9. It Has Wings
10. Putos Malo
Watch
out! Mount Shasta is back with a new full-length. This long-standing
outfit of barnyard troubadours from the Skin Graft label was last seen in
the company of Japanese noise-maestros Space Streakings, touring and
releasing an album under the name of Shakuhachi Surprise. Now they have
returned to their own neighborhood once more, and with the helping hand of producer Steve
Albini, recorded their third album Watch Out.
Just 31 minutes long, Watch Out
is a stormy affair. The ten songs all have a noisy punk edge to them, but at the same
time, each track is a living example of just how many ways there are of skinning a cat --
or, in this case -- of writing dynamic rock music for guitar, bass, drums and vocals.
"Lil' Hos," which opens
the album, has a strong garage feel to it, and is one of the songs that comes closest to
'the' Albini sound. The guitar meows distortedly, the beat is fast and
relentless, and John Forbes' vocal performance gritty. By comparison, "Tang
Dynasty" is from a completely different musical drawer. The song opens with drawn-out
distorted guitar riffs that eventually become quite melodic and almost surf-like in
quality. In addition, the band's rhythm section moves the song along with a nice sway,
lending the piece an over-all musical elegance that is unlike the virtuoso scum-rock that Mount
Shasta is otherwise known for.
With a title like "Brandy For
Gerazol" -- whoever Gerazol may be? -- it is perhaps not surprising that the
whole band plays this song with a drunken swagger, as if they had just staggered away from
one of Chicago's less reputable water holes. Forbes performs his vocals in a
growly, talkative fashion -- his vocal chords still aching from the brandy, one supposes.
Certainly, Mount Shasta's front man lacks nothing in the way of vocal
ability, as is particularly evident a few minutes later, on "Pinche Pero." This
song constantly changes tempo, and the combined screaming quality of the guitar riffs, and
Forbes' whining song, brings a touch of classic rock into the band's unique
musical flavor.
There are other songs on this
album, all of them a little story in themselves. But as Mount Shasta
would probably have it, this review will be kept brief and to the point. And the point is:
Get this album, if you are the least bit inclined towards guitar driven rock music of the
dirtier and noisier kind.
