Published on Dec 14, 1998
As 1998 draws to a close, I’ve found myself going through a
still-growing pile of discs I’ve been sent to review, but just
haven’t had the time to get to. One such disc was a recent addition
to the Pierce Archives (or, rather, the Pierce Archives “in box”),
Oh, God! Help Our Fans! from The Loose Nuts.
I’d really like to tell you that this is a band that is worth
watching, but with a nine-song disc that clocks in at under 25
minutes, it’s really hard for me to form an educated opinion on the
band. It’s a good disc, but it’s too goddamn short!
A seven-piece punk ska band, you say? Imagine Green Day meets
Madness, and you have an idea of what you’re in store for with The
Loose Nuts. Led by vocalist John, the band plows its way through
eight originals (as well as a cover of “Tomorrow” from
Annie) at a breakneck pace.
The music might not be polished to spit-shine – and in the case
of this band, that works to their advantage. If songs like “Wishen”
and “Glue In F#” had been studio-polished numbers, I don’t think
the overall feel would have been as good. For this band, hearing
the break-neck drumming of Aren Nbutu, the frentic horns of
Paulyard The Third, Maria DeLuca and Brian “Brain” Bonvisutto, the
guitar madness of Ben Brewer and thumping bass of Tim Shaya makes
the mood special.
The fact that the band doesn’t take things too seriously is
heard in numbers like “Fuhcup” and “Cigarette Bitch” – but while
they’re having a good time, they don’t screw around when it comes
to their music. One might not think that punk and ska would be the
greatest mix. But The Loose Nuts make it work, even if their feet
are a little more solidly planted in the world of punk rock. That’s
not to say that they let the ska side of their music slide; tracks
like “Wishen” and “Roots” make sure that the ska elements are
brought to the front.
But what I find difficult to accept is that
Oh, God! Help Our Fans! is this short. I mean, did the band
not have anything else to include on this album that was worth our
time? I’d tend to think they did; why more material wasn’t included
is beyond me. The fact is, having more material would have helped
to solidify people’s opinions on this band – and I just don’t have
enough evidence in front of me to decide if The Loose Nuts are
possibly the next alternative band to watch.
Oh, this is still an enjoyable album, and one that you’ll be
able to listen to several times in one sitting (hey, anything beats
watching the Bears these days), but if The Loose Nuts want me to
take them seriously, they’d be wise to put out longer albums in the
future. After all, 25 minutes doesn’t go as far as it used to.