From the front cover (a take-off on AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) to the album title, Apocalypse Hoboken's (who are actually from Carol Stream, Ill.) new full-length smacks of parody. But, having played a show with this 5-piece hard-core/ punk assault, I can tell you they are anything BUT a joke band. Here they deliver 15 songs (the first 14 in under 30 min.) that walk the line between hard-core, punk and ... art rock?
Yeah, strange flourishes rip through enough of this l.p. (check "Hazel Nut") to keep it from becoming "generic." The last song "One Last Tasty Morsel" is downright weird -- not to mention l-o-n-g (and at nearly 19 minutes, my least favorite track). It could serve as a party clearer, though.
More to my liking is "Card Playing War Cripples," with the opening verse: "When I was 12 years old, I mingled with my feminine side / They called me faggot I won't forget it / That's probably when I learned how to lie." and a chorus of : "I won't spend time evaluating / the time my dad caught me masturbating / it's no crime."
I really didn't think they sounded like this live (could've been the crappy P. A.) - but Apocalypse Hoboken have come out with an original punk masterpiece and in this day and age of oversaturation, that's no mean feat.