ANTiSEEN--The Boys From Brutalsville
TKO 2001
By the time The Boys From Brutalsville was released in 2001, it had been five long years since ANTiSEEN's last studio effort. Needless to say, the legions of scum were more than hungry for a new fix from them. With this disc, the leaders of the pack showed once more they weren't in any hurry to relinquish their crown.
In a lot of ways, The Boys From Brutalsville picks up right where ANTiSEEN's previous album, Here To Ruin Your Groove, left off. The production here is much cleaner and powerful than on the band's earlier efforts. Still, this disc does present a slight shift back to the rawer days, but it's an extremely subtle shift. The key reason for this is that the bass is once again heavily fuzzed, yet the recently found clarity of Jeff Clayton's vocals remains intact. It's like ANTiSEEN found their perfect balance, with this outing.
The parallels between the two albums don't stop there, either--there is a slight similarity in song content, as well. As has come to be standard, by this point, ANTiSEEN include a few songs with keys on The Boys From Brutalsville. On "Six Days On The Road," this helps fuel what is the band's approximation of a honky tonker, while the organ strains of "Smoke & Fire" help cultivate a slight Deep Purple vibe. ANTiSEEN have never been afraid to acknowledge their influences a bit and they do just that on the f-bomb littered "Run My World," which contains a salute to Iggy & The Stooges' "Head On." The sure-to-offend lyrics many think of the band for pop up most notably on "Talk Show Trash" and "Melting Pot," a song co-penned with Hellstomper's Alan King. The end of the disc wraps up with three ANTiSEEN classics, back to back to back--"Sod," "Sabu," and "I'm A Babyface Killer." It's a solid effort, top to bottom.
Often, there's an excruciatingly long wait between ANTiSEEN albums, but The Boys From Brutalsville stands as proof that it's always a worthwhile one. Most bands would've lost some magic after a five year layoff seperating LPs, but these guys come out standing strong as ever. Another worthy offering in a legacy full of them.
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