AMERICAN SPEEDWAY

Hipsters and pretentious pricks masquerading as legitimate punk-juiced rockers? Not AMERICAN SPEEDWAY, not even close. Well, the "punk-juiced rockers" part is correct and legitimately so. On "A Bigger Boat" what you hear from these Philadelphia rabble rousers on their sophomore release is the genuine article: inferno-hot, punk fueled rock 'n roll wildness. It's really that simple.

Diving headfirst into the crowd from a stage of splintered wood, beer cans, broken instruments, and a mess of tangled cords, the ass hauling begins with "Howl Ya Doin?" and keeps right on haulin' until the final notes of "Watch your Step". On "A Bigger Boat" it is one pace (fast),one attitude (drunk 'n surly),and one middle finger in the air. The band gets in and out with reckless abandon on these 10 cuts, all of which take a similar punked-up approach to off-the-rails rock 'n roll, yet redundancy is kept to a minimum. Though the attack is unrelenting, there is just enough spice in the riffs and skill in penning memorable choruses to make full-album spins not only satisfying, but essential for maximum enjoyment. Not a bad tune on here, but the real gems of the bunch are nonetheless the street punk rock 'n roll of "I Killed Laura Palmer" and the ridiculously infectious boogie-punk-rock of "Get off the Cross". Props go to "Watch Your Step" for its '70s AC/DC by way of southern rock by way of punk swing.

Here again, "A Bigger Boat" isn't the kind of album that lends itself to selective track listening; it's all or nothing. Once you start it you won't be able to stop it anyway, nor would you want to. If the members of NASHVILLE PUSSY went on an all-night meth binge and then entered the studio to record an album after traveling back in time to do so in collaboration with the MC5, it might sound a little like "A Bigger Boat". Play it loud and then play it again.