Voodoo Glow Skulls
“Steady As She Goes”
(Victory Records)

Despite the bold step of producing this album by themselves in their own studio, I have to say the new VGS album has left me completely UNDERwhelmed. They still adhere to their traditional combination of speed punk instrumentals, guttural vocals and a horn section to back them up, but “Steady As She Goes” has very few stand out moments. Essentially every song sounds like every other song, while repetition of the same lyric over and over again in every song got down right annoying.

There are a couple tracks that manage to rise above the mediocrity and establish an individual sound, but 3 out of 13 tracks isn’t a very good ratio. “One For The Road,” has a good instrumental hook and better melody line than most others on the album, but the vocal still has that monotone quality. At least it varies slightly through the course of the song. “Ethnic Cleansing Day” has a very catchy melody and unusual bridge to accompany socially conscious lyrics, although it’s kind of hard to make out the words without repeated listens. “The Basketball Song” has THE most interesting instrumentals on the album, but the lyrics consist entirely of “Give me the ball/ The basketball.” Luckily this is mostly an instrumental track.

The requisite VGS cover this time is “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs. My comment – should have left well enough alone guys and ended on the high note of “The Basketball Song.” Strictly for Voodoo Glow Skull fans.