Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Darkside - Jukebox At Munster's

(Munster, 1992)

All accusations of mediocrity flung at these guys are probably deserved, but I’ve always found the
Darkside’s stuff to be a pretty awright noise, and have yet to kick their discs off my player when there they do appear. This one, a Spanish import, is from late in the game, and the A-side pulls off a lumbering fuzz-thick head-nod that’s much closer to Bassman’s S3 roots than most of the Darkside’s work. Heavy drums, repeato guitars, etc.: very Playing With Fire, plus a little amateur-hour stumblebum sass in the performance to lighten the mood. Sure, ol’ Pete’s got a wince-worthy flat croak for a voice, but the croon isn’t the point here, is it? A goodie. Not the B, though, where “Frankie Teardrop” gets a free-psych cover (with trombone!) that’s boring to the point where it actually makes me want to listen to Suicide. If you’re dumb enough to need more “Frankie” a torturous nine-minute version is on Munster’s Rev/Vega tribute CD.

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