Facepuller

Unauthorized Volume Dealers (Alternative Tentacles)
by Lex Marburger

Creativity is not lost. There are still bands that come up with stuff that’s not only a new twist on an old style, but that’s listenable and powerful in its own right. Such is the case with Facepuller. The drums and bass combine smoothly to set up a foundation of power and thunder. On top of that comes a guitar that easily plays hard and fast rhythms or winding riffs that come from a mind warped by ScotchGard. But there’s a sense of humor and, as said before, creativity. On Unauthorized Volume Dealers, they show quick wit mixed with sloppy anger. “Homey” has the running mantra “There’s a DJ in my house/Spinning records in my house/ Scratching vinyl in my house,” while an ominous bass/drums groove plods and builds into a raging chorus of screaming energy, making you jump up and down for no apparent reason, other than it feels really good to do so. And in “B.O.R.N.,” Facepuller alternates a stop-and-start rhythm (think of a guy running headlong into a wall, falling down, and getting up to run headlong into the wall again) with the high intensity of anthemic hardcore. “What we are is what we are, what we play is what we play!” “Smash The Spiral” pounds out notes from a 300-pound sledgehammer, crushing all who stand in its way. Then there’s “Yikes,” a punk rock sing-a-long that ends with a blues shuffle. “Prime Miss” is all you can ask for in a song – tight hard grooves mixing with soaring, off-kilter guitar lines and belligerent crunch riffs. This stuff engages both the body and the mind. It makes me want to smash furniture over my landlord’s head, while realizing it would probably better to use someone else’s furniture.