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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
Slick Shoes are a punk band that I actually stopped following after this release for reasons I'm not even that sure of myself. I've heard a little of their music following this release, and it wasn't all that great. Besides, I was a whole lot more into punk in '97 than I am now, so if I were to hear this for the first time tomorrow I would probably dismiss it as just another generic punk album. Or maybe not, since there is a lot of stuff you'll see here that isn't on any other punk album. The guitarist, for example, is by far the best in all of punk rock. Sure a lot of his stuff is just the regular old chords, but in one song, for a few seconds he delivers the most technically impressive punk rock solo ever, and a solo that's tied with "City is Burning" for the overall best punk rock solo. That's just one great thing you'll find on Rusty, there are others.
One of the things that's not great on this album is, like most punk, the lyrics. But believe it or not the lyrics on this album are much better than those on most other punk albums. Nothing is very painful, and in a couple of cases, just a couple, they are actually good. Subjects range from little romances, to political and religious statements, to angry moments and all sorts of other things. And no, I'm not talking about Bad Religion quality punk lyrics, but it's good to know that there are punk songs more intelligent than "I Took My Mom To The Prom." So on to the actual songs.
We kick things off with a little kid that sounds like Elmo saying "I've got a great idea you guys, Slick, Shoes!" and a bunch of people responding "Slick Shoes? Are you crazy?" to make this a very corny, but also somewhat funny opening to the album before it kicks into a rocking string of punk songs starting with "Feeble" and running through "Cliche" and "Regrets." And after the shout "I don't want to end with regrets!" we slow down and move into the title track. "Rusty" starts out with a cool little riff and moves into a truly heartfelt punk song.
Then it's "Joe's Sick" and "Proved Me Wrong," probably the weakest on the album. They aren't bad or anything, but their just kind of there while you're waiting for "Father Son Picnic." This one's the heaviest song on the album, and one of the best too. Check out some of the vocal work here too, it's some great stuff. Closing off the first side is "Losing Sight," another of the lesser tracks on the album, but it's still good, and still one of the better punk songs un the world today.
The second side continues all of the great songs with a great fast rocker called "Fall" to begin carrying things into "Walk Out," the only song the band didn't write. Some girl did instead. It doesn't matter, though, because it's just another great song on this album. What follows is another nice and fun song called "Bounce," with a very upbeat and catchy melody. After that one, though, the best stretch of music on the album starts. Remember that great solo I mentioned in the first paragraph? It's in the song "Last," and that's not the only reason the song is the best on the album. It's extremely catchy, and also one of the most melodic punk songs out there.
After that is the short but furious "By What Right" which pounds away and shouts at all sort of things the band hates. Then it's "Tired of You," another angry song continuing the great music that leads the band into the more uplifting and hopeful "What Happens Next," probably the strongest religious statement (the strongest political statement being "By What Right") and we close off this album nicely with "Represent." This is my second favorite punk rock album, behind only Pennywise's Unknown Road. Unknown Road just has a dramatic power that is beyond anything else any punk artist could hope to do. But this album comes close. So if you're going to buy one punk (or rather modern punk or new-school or whatever) album make it Unknown Road; if you want two, get Rusty as well.
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