AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
Background Music (Equal Vision)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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I enjoyed this cd in spite of the fact that Wes Eisold sings in that same one-dimensional, sore throat style that is all the Rage (Against The Machine) now when you want to share what a tortured life you’ve had with your audience. Sonically these boys are in league with Lagwagon, or a slightly detuned NOFX (scrap the toilet humor though: "I am bleeding through, writing songs for you"). I’m sure they’d deny that, but those bands are quite musically adept chops-wise (minus the actual songwriting skills, which are sadly not in attendance with Fat Mike’s crew).

The eleven songs on the very succinct Background Music all have that brisk, skippity "punk rawk" beat behind them, and guitar lines that chase the bass lines (which pursues the percussion).

American Nightmare are a "hardcore band" apparently. Great name though (that’s a Misfits tune in case you didn’t know).

Our boys approached the bridge of the second track ("There’s a Shadow in the Black Hole of the Pru"), and Eisold signaled them back into the meat of the song with a shout of "one-two-fuck-you" which was so banal and cliché that it might have actually been on the soundtrack to a Made For TV movie starring Macauley Culkin as a band leader and angsty young man who srawls an "X" on everything, including his cat. Don’t laugh. It’s probably in the works. Why not? Anthony Michael Hall starred recently in a film about Def Leppard.

Grade: B-. (potential lurks!)

© 2001 - Jason Thornberry