Doctor Heathen Scum
A Man’s Way to Relax
Mind Boggler
The unfortunate death of frontman El Duce in April of 1997 (run over by train) didn’t keep bassist Dr. Heathen Scum from continuing the Mentors’ tradition of producing their own brand of “rape rock.” This self-produced CD is both a tribute to El Duce and a new direction for the Mentors. Dr. Heathen Scum, who is now Pope Scum of the Church of El Duce, sings on eight new songs which cover a wide variety of topics from reading pornographic magazines to watching pornographic films. The CD cover, beautifully rendered by Pope Scum himself, is a screen shot from a pornographic film. Did I mention the emphasis on pornography?
Pope Scum’s voice is a deep, rich natural baritone which, though not a true “whiskey” baritone like El Duce’s, is well-matched to the hard rockin’ headbanging (gang-banging?) rock and roll on songs like “Crusin’ the Porno Racks,” “Got A Feeling,” and “Rock Like A Man.” All of the songs, including the ninth, an instrumental (called “Instrumental”), focus on enjoying pornography, a man’s way to relax. There’s also the tearful send-off to El Duce, “Watch Out For Trains” which tells the story of two best friends and their love of pornography. In all seriousness, “Watch Out For Trains” rocks hard, but is really, really sad. I met El Duce on a few occasions and, well, he was what I expected, but I expected that he’d be around a little bit longer. I challenge anyone with a heart to listen to “Watch Out For Trains” and keep a dry eye.
I highly recommend this album to all who appreciated the Mentors and what they stood for. There’s also a photograph of Pope Scum without his hood. He looks like the junior high school teacher who never got married… Mind Boggler Records, 9515 55th Street, Riverside, CA 92509
