Slick Shoes – Rusty – Review

Slick Shoes

Rusty (Tooth & Nail)
by Margo Tiffen

Okay, I’ll admit Slick Shoes sound a hell of a lot like NOFX, but since when was that such a sin? This California (big surprise) foursome took their name from one of Data’s kooky inventions in the movie Goonies. (Remember? The one that caused the bad guys to slip and fall nether regions first on a log across the water in the underground pirate cave… aah, junior high.) While we’re on the subject, this album brings me right back to those halcyon days before teen angst set in when I used to dance around half-naked in my room getting ready for school singing unabashedly along to (dare I say it) Shame About Ray-era Lemonheads. Rusty has that same goodness, that heartfelt all-out pop honesty – the kind of songs where you’re not really sure what they’re about, but damnit, you know what he means, man. Most of the album falls nicely into the pop-punk genre, while tracks like “Fall” and “By What Right” showcase these teen skate rats’ fair enough competence for the heavier stuff… Okay, here comes the part where I have to backtrack and apologize. I should have known something was up when I saw MxPx mentioned a few too many times in regards to this band.

Remember when I said I knew what they meant? Well, then I actually got off my lazy ass and read the lyrics. The first couple of songs are the usual fare of fifteen-year-old I-like-a-girl babble, but then it came – “How about the unborn in the womb/ that’s robbed of its life/ before it’s born” and, “You haven’t learned/ You never will/ unless you let God do what he wants/ and not what you want to do.” About here I realized my little warm fuzzy nostalgia trip was more misplaced then I thought. Yep, Pa, that’s right. We’ve caught a certified god-band here, buncha slippery little Jesus-lovers. What the hell, though, I guess to each their own, and if bouncy, catchy little vignettes with lyrics like “Stole my right to pray in school/ and gave the right to kill a child” make you want to bop around in your towel while applying Wild Berry lip gloss, then these are your boys. Personally, I’m feelin’ a little betrayed and icky-like right about now…
(www.toothandnail.com)