Texas Terri and The Stiff Ones

Eat Shit +1 (Junk)
by Craig Regala

Well, well, well… This is what I thought the Runaways were gonna be like: Sleazy-toned dirty-ass rock’n’roll glam rubbed raw in all the right places. Texas Terri and the band, the Stiff Ones, own a place right around the corner from Nashville Pussy, their rocker stuff allied with punk by dint of tone and methodology rather than form or speed. Or rather you can tag it American punk (non-art division), in the old sense of the word when it was reanimating the rock’n’roll corpse and carried names like Pagans, Kneecappers, Dead Boys, Cramps, Weirdo’s et. al. Once again, I bring up the Sympathy For the Record Industry label ’cause they carried the torch that kept this fire burnin’ so these kinda bands could have some psychic space and realistic antecedents.

Look at it like this: Some kids run up to a mud puddle and jump in it just to splash the citizenry; thusly acting in a reactionary manner. This group run right up and do a belly-flop in the dirty water whether anyone’s around or not – just for the pure sensual delight as well as possible attention. If you get splashed, well, it’s all part of freedom. I mean, it’s not like you didn’t hear ’em coming. The tempo’s veer from moderate to quick and pushy, with a little fast stuff now and then. The singing is clear and basic, enough grithog to keep ’em closer to Motörhead than, say, the Muffs. The tunes are pig-iron simple and OK to good with some nice cover choices; Dictators, Dicks, and T. Tex Edwards. Perhaps a Huns cover next time?
(7071 Warner Ave F-736 Huntington Beach, CA 92647)