The Cripples – Dirty Head – Review

The Cripples

Dirty Head (Dirtnap)
by Craig Regala

Now this is a nice take on “garage rock.” No guitars, two synth guys with a great bash-away drum and bass team down in the engine room. Synths as noise generators, hissing and stabbing, not samplers, not as “waves of gauze,” not as a fake piano. Cool off-hand snotty vocal melodies, the short, sharp shock of early (pre-suck era) Devo/Ultravox rock songs, and a smidgen of The Cars make these guys a pop version of the mighty Six Finger Satellite. The true value is the tunes, so pick one to be “that special motivational song” which pulls you outta bed’n gets you up and toolin’. Contains a cover of Rapemans’ “Superpussy,” references to The Screamers in the promo, and knows enough about rock to avoid being silly-willies if they play with Guitar Wolf or Pere Ubu.
(PO Box 21249 Seattle WA, 98111)