MORAL CRUX
The Side Effects Of Thinking (Panic Button)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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In 1989, when this album was recorded in the little desert town of Ephrata, Washington, punk was becoming a drag race. No, dresses were not involved. Drums were. Drums with double-kicks and six hundred tom toms. That kind of punk, which I personally call "some kind of metal," still exists, but a small crop of bands in '89 popped up and put a bit of order back into the chaos and a bit of pop back into the punk.

Moral Crux's music was far too serious and their guitars, hinting reverb, far too powerful to draw comparisons to most of what we call pop punk today, but this was what it was in '89. Forget that they were borrowing heavily from The Clash on "Revolution Eyes," their one dub track. The fact is, although it was derivative as hell (and face it, The Clash nicked it from someone who nicked it from someone who nicked it from Scratch Perry who nicked it from King Tubby), it was performed very well and made a killer closer to a great album.

Only one thing went wrong: not enough people heard it. It evaporated. They're back together to give it another shot, they're on tour, and they've got Panic Button behind the re-release of that 1989 classic, The Side Effects Of Thinking. It's a brand new world. The Internet has made it possible to spread the word far and wide. Maybe this time, huh?

© 2000 - DJ Johnson