Victim’s Family
Apocalicious
Alternative Tentacles
A new, colorful album by those crazy Californians. Their style has leaned towards the heavier side since changing drummers a few times, this time recruiting a wacky guy named David Gleza who sits up straight and plays traditional grip. Snare rolls a-plenty. The mastering (or possibly just the recording) can be described as “overblown.” There are some vintage “Tom Sawyer”-sounding segments in some of these songs, mostly due to Ralf’s Electro-Harmonix pedal; his latest obsession with weird electronics add even more sickening color to the rest of the atomic garbage dump that makes up this CD. Larry’s bass is even fatter than ever before (perhaps it’s those boots mentioned in the liner notes to 4 Great Thrash Songs again). This is a perfect example of when low-fi meets hi-fi when they both happen to be breaking into the same Masonic Lodge on the same night. Bassist Boothroyd even sings lead vox on a song called, “Worthy Adversary.” There’s a good amount of variation on the good old Victim’s Family tricks, explaining why their bio says they are “branching out adventurously into areas they have explored since their inception.” This is a damn good album, and should be an addition to the CD collection of anyone who wants to fall in love with bands that continue to create something unique and powerful outside of the mainstream. In these days of musical oversaturation, Victim’s Family stands as a twisted and slightly stinky obelisk built to stand the test of moronic media. I’m jealous.
http://www.alternativetentacles.com, http://www.victimsfamily.com
