Published on Jul 21, 1998
Why does there always seem to be an inverse relationship between
the length of an album and its title?
In the case of the hard rock act The Kill,
Superdragsmackheadpsychoplasticgogopunk (brother, if you
think I’m typing this one a lot, you’re crazy) clocks in at barely
over a half-hour, which is hardly enough time to fairly build an
opinion of any band. What you can figure out over the course of
these nine songs is this is a band trying to become the Guns N’
Roses for the ’90s, even if the songs don’t have as much bite as
the ’80s bad boys.
Comprised of vocalist Jas, guitarist Jason Jameson, bassist
Sammy Allen and drummer Tim DiDuro, one would think from the name
of the album that The Kill would incorporate a lot of different
styles into their music. If only this were the case; what they do
crank out are standard (though good) hard rock numbers
(surprisingly without a lot of flashy guitar work) that often touch
on the genre’s favorite subjects: sex and drugs.
Now, before you get completely judgmental, the songs that touch
on drugs show the dark side they have (“Ultraphobic, paranoia / I’m
your daily dosage, I’m your dark destroyer” on “Renaissance Man #6
(Deluxe)”, “You bleed, you speed, your speed kills” on “Quicker
Than Dead”). If Jas’s vocals were brought up a little more in the
mix, these kind of songs could do more for the anti-drug campaigns
than any “Just Say No” wimpiness.
As for the sex, The Kill likes it hot, sweaty, and full of more
kinks than any magazine Larry Flynt could come up with. Take “All
Tied Up,” which out-guns Guns N’ Roses for sheer shock value: “Baby
I’m an 8-ball I could fuck a brick wall / And I could really break
you but you’re all fucked up.” You really should give the lyric
sheet a read just to comprehend the whole thing – they cram more
into this song than I’ve seen on a hardcore movie on HBO. As for
“Gina’s Penis,” well… urk… the song says it all. ‘Nuff
said.
Where The Kill go wrong are in three areas. First, the length of
the disc (as we hinted at in the beginning of the review); 30
minutes is not enough for me to fairly gauge a band’s strengths and
weaknesses. Second, it would be nice to hear Jas higher in the mix
and to hear Jameson actually go wild on some guitar solos. Finally,
how’s about cutting out some of the cock-rock? It’s not cool when
Aerosmith does it, it’s not cool when The Kill beat it into the
ground.
Where The Kill could really have something is in songs like
“Sister Skeleton,” a song about a broken woman who still seems to
find a way of escaping her own personal hell. The musical side of
this needed a little more development (I heard some chords that I
couldn’t resolve in my head, but otherwise not bad), but The Kill
can really paint strong pictures of the downtrodden in society. I’d
rather hear a song about that than, aah, a well-hung woman.
The Kill are still very much in the youth of their career, and I
think once they find their focus, they’ll be a serious force to
deal with in the rising world of hard rock. But this CD, with all
its strengths, shows they still need to do their homework.