The Fartz
“What•s in a Name•?”
Alternative Tentacles
Jeminy Christmas, where do records like this come from? It’s like the Reagan-era ’80s all over again! Much like the once-fossilized Hirax and Broken Bones (see review) recently, old-school crossover maniacs The Fartz return after an extended respite in the loo, “What’s in a Name•?”, their first record in 11 years. Advertised on its cover as “15 tracks of thrash mayhem,” “What’s in a Name•?” is indeed exactly that, those 15 tracks written variously between 1981 and 2000 and sounding as much: like Corrosion of Conformity’s Eye for an Eye (perhaps a bit less unhinged) crossed with D.R.I.’s Dealing With It (ditto) • basically, 1985 all over again. Credit fellow Seattle legend Jack Endino for arriving at a vintage squall that screams the same, production-wise. It’s a fuckin’ blast, forever entrenched in fuck-all regression from a time when “crossover” meant the gene-splicing of thrash metal and hardcore punk • not baggy-pants metal with baggy-pants hip-hop, as the term has come to signify today • and filth-encrusted fun, at that. On a side note, ex-members of The Fartz are given special thanks in the liner notes, but “We apoligize (sic) for Duff•” (as in former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, an original Fart) • now what’s up with that!? Where’s the love?! A bit of residual jealousy, maybe? Probably. Whatever, poser.
Alternative Tentacles Records, PO Box 419092, San Francisco, CA 94141-9092; http://www.alternativetentacles.com
