Posted on: March 18, 2010 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Guttermouth – Shave The Planet / 2006 Volcom / 10 Tracks / http://www.xxx-guttermouth-xxx.com / http://www.volcom.com / Reviewed 17 October 2006

I’ve loved Guttermouth for years now. The only thing bad, and I don’t know why I do this, is that I get the band confused with Millencolin. There’s really no reason for me to, but I do. Saying that, “Pee In The Shower” is one of the best punk tracks of the last ten years. “Shave the Planet” is obviously the title track, and it shows that Guttermouth has not lost a step in the twelve years since their first album, “Friendly People”, came out. There is still a very California-influenced sound that comes out of my speakers during “Shave The Planet”.

A blend of NFX and The Vandals in terms of humorous compositions blend together with a Pennywise meets Bad Religion speed and intensity. The band only needs a minute and a half to win over listeners back to their cause; no matter how removed individuals were from their last experience with Guttermouth, this will get them back up in front with fists pounding. A Jello Biafra-esque falsetto welcomes listeners to “Capitalizing From Plump Mistakes”, while the instrumentation goes back quite a few years. This instrumentation is nothing more than simple guitar lines that mesh well with the drum splashy drums on the track. What is really simple is catchy as all get-out, and the guitars are even given their own time to shine during their C.C. DeVille like riffs.

The disc only has ten tracks, which means individuals will have enough time to crack open two, maybe three beers before Guttermouth packs it in with their final track on “Shave The Planet”, “Upside Down Space Cockroach”. The one thing that can be seen as somewhat of a weakness on this album are the guitar licks during a song like the aforementioned “Capitalizing From Plump Mistakes”. In this track, it feels as if the guitarist just throws in some shrill lines without really incorporating them into the larger sound of the track. “My Chemical Romance” is a play on the band title “My Chemical Romance”, but that is the closest to the emo genre that Guttermouth gets on the entirety of “Shave The Planet”. “Shave The Planet” is an album that is very cohesive, and is one solid statement by Guttermouth. This allows new fans to get right into Guttermouth’s music without buying the rest of the band’s albums. However, I hope that the band can add more in the way of differentiation to tracks on a later album. The one sound thing is night, but even with this shortened album, one desires a little more by the end of “Upside Down Space Cockroach”.

Top Tracks: Primate Camp, What Then

Rating: 5.1/10

[JMcQ]

Leave a Comment