THE CHARGERS STREET GANG
Holy The Bop Apocalypse (Get Hip)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Hello, Cleveland! Yeah, The Hives are the garage band getting all the attention and glory at the moment, and they're fun, but when it comes to balls and the guts they hang from, The Chargers Street Gang are the ones that should be in the big spotlight. Of course, there ain't no pretty boys here, and the sound is too big for MTV's clientele. God, even the "ballad" leaves you bruised, dazed and confused. "Amazing Disgrace" announces itself as a ballad by its opening pace and chord pattern, but some air traffic controller fell asleep at the radar because there are sonic collisions all over the soundscape here until all that's left is flame and feedback, and finally the emergence of the power rockin' "Raised On Richards." These guys can play so well they can get away with making it sound sloppy while keeping it right where it needs to be, a difficult trick pulled off this well by very few bands. All through the album there's a ferocious garage ambience, fueled by volume and feedback and players daring each other not to turn it down, and the resulting high voltage is indeed captured on disc by producer Tim Kerr. He seems to have the secret formula for recording pure power. This sound is somewhere between his sound for Lord High Fixers and The Makers. If The Chargers Street Gang sounds anything like this live, they're gonna blow out a lot of club windows in Cleveland and, hopefully, a lot of other cities. My only bitch is that the opening song, ironically titled "Say No More Forever, Amen," went on for something like four and a half minutes and I stopped thinking it was a clever song by the three minute mark and started itching to push the NEXT button at 3:30. Opening songs on hot garage rawk albums oughta be hit and run. Hook us and reel us in. Once we're in the boat, we're easy.

[Pick this up at Get Hip Recordings.]

© 2002 - DJ Johnson