Got Punk? Well, maybe. I haven't heard an album this confused in a long time. Ninety Pound Wuss, an established Christian punk band on T&N Records, continues to cultivate their widening range of influences with their latest release.
One of the few things I expect to hear on a punk record is electronics. But the opening song, "Short Hand Operation", employs a spooky industrial electronic intro, with modern rock type guitars building in the background, before after two minutes the band starts screaming along old school punk style. Huh? Talk about confusing! This continues throughout the album, sometimes switching from pop industrial to old-school punk to pop-punk all in one song, as in "Nostalgia." The eerie instrumental "It Seems So Far Away" employs the electronic element fairly well, but seems so out of place as to be ludicrous. Innovation may be the cited motivation, but the main effect of the electronic and pop moments is in distracting attention away from the bland old-school punk material that fills the majority of the album.
Still, the growing process of Ninety Pound Wuss is evident. From a band that has gone from selling out large clubs and venues, to an almost complete line-up change, then to being kicked off stage while playing for churches, this album is less a catharsis then it is an attempt at healing. The maturity of the band is obvious, the tortured lyrics often reflecting an unveiling of inner torment and self-realization, as on "Fufilled":
Joe Rockstroh (7/12/99)
