Peligro

(Alternative Tentacles)
by Scott Hefflon

PR from SF on AT, but sounds like SST. Peligro (producer/singer/guitarist/songwriter) must be someone. I wish I knew who, ’cause this guy’s got some great stuff. Punk with lots of high end in the mix, vocal and guitar screeches make this slab almost speed glam. The vocals remind me of punk/HC bands I was in during high school (mid-’80s, fuck you, I’m old). While not profound (surface politics rarely are), the record maintains a level of humor and irreverence.

Most notable songs are “Beloved Infidels,” “Black Bean Chili Thing,” and a cover of Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.” I’ll pause a sentence so the previous one has time to fully sink in. “Beloved Infidels” starts with a fist-banging metal intro and segues into a geeky funk riff a la Fishbone, before returning to a scream-laden political rant with chugga-chugga rhythms. “Black Bean Chili Thing” is a vocal bluegrass hoedown sorta thing. D.H. Peligro jumps down, turns around, picks a bale of cotton, jumps down, turns round, picks a bale a hay. The clincher (or clencher, if you were judge by the jaws of the people I enthusiastically played this for) was “King of the Road.” Some didn’t know the song. Some thought it was horrid. I think it rules. It’s my review, so I win: It rules. A peppy, riff-heavy schlock-rock cover of a classic juke box oldie. The rest of the tunes surged through their paces, but the album ran into a rather common problem that occurs when you mix producer and vocalist: He likes himself too much.