The Dripping Lips
Ready to Crack?
Alive
Interesting Texas punk rock with some wicked, evil, haunting white blues. And plenty of hellbilly music.
Fans of the Cramps, Hasil Atkins, and the Stooges will really dig the Dripping Lips. “Hell Girl” is what Iggy Pop would be singing if he’d been raised in a swamp. It’s a wild, twangy, punkabilly tune about a “hell of a girl.” “Damn You” gets a bit more punk, along the lines of the Buzzcocks. “You Treat Me Too Kind” is an acoustic guitar blues that’s real lonely, sounding like it’s being sung by a drunken horse thief who’s shacking up in his girlfriends root cellar. “Push Push” is a slow, miserable heroin blues, with a distant feel of the Doors, which is all about strange women who hang out with rock and roll bands.
There is tremendous variety on Ready To Crack? I get the feeling that the purpose of the album was to showcase the band’s wide scope and to prove that they can play all sorts of great music, no matter what mood you want. I could get away with playing the whole album straight through on the radio and people would think ten different bands were playing. Other fine songs include the punk “Powerful” and the very Tom Petty “When the Dream Says No.” Alive Records, P.O. Box 7112, Burank, CA 91510
