Coming out of San Francisco, Apocalipstick really channels the energy and brashness of the earlier era of California punk, with a comparable attitude to bands from the area like Fear, X, and even The Germs. That is to say, they play a forward style of punk rock that is loud, nasty, dirty, and overall fun. Some of the songs show a desire to experiment with the limits of the music that they are playing; the distortion on the guitars during “Apocalipstick Now†is slightly different than the masking of a lackluster talent that is usually used in punk rock. The brashness of frontwoman Jackie O Nasstie, especially annoying at times (the whoop-de-dos of “Whoop-Ti-Dooâ€) is a refreshing change from the days where lead singers are firmly planted in front of their microphones, their wooden bodies lying their like so much kindling.
The recording makes it hard to really discern all the nuances of Apocalipstick, but what does shine through is more than indicative for what the band is and what they do while they are playing music. The style is timeless; throw this on a record player and I would bet that not a single soul would actually be able to pinpoint when this album came out. However, there are some minor problems that make this disc slightly less than perfect. First off, the bass sounds more as if it came from Cakewalk than actually being played by Bob Three; while I have no doubt that it was actually played, the distortion that was laid on it really makes it sound less than stellar. This is best noticed in “You Got A Problemâ€.
What is good about the lower-quality recording is the fact that the entire disc sounds like a live show. As such, the energy that Apocalipstick exerts on stage is captured in a much better way than if they were recorded with the most state-of-the-art instruments. The stop-start nature of a number of the Apocalipstick songs really give a context to the casual listener of what the live show entails; the songs lend themselves well to a herky-jerky, highly sexualized show. While the songs are not completely different in nature and general sound, the cohesiveness afforded by this familiarity is something that just can’t be found in much music nowadays.
Top Track: You Got A Problem
Rating: 6.6/10
Apocalipstick – Apocalipstick Now / 6 Tracks / 2004 Bazoom! Records / http://www.apocalipstick.us /Released January 2004 / Reviewed 23 March 2004 /