RPG

Full Time (Arclight)
by Brian Varney

The tough thing about trying to describe RPG is not making the band sound much less cool than it is. Let me assure you that RPG is something special. Think of how difficult it would be to describe a band like the MC5, to whom RPG have been compared more than once, without making them seem boring and clichéd.

Assuming you’ve trusted me and laid down the cash for this monster, the first thing you’ll notice is that it sounds great, and it’s the sort of hot recording that always sounds loud, even if you’ve got your volume knob at a perfectly reasonable level. The second, and most important, thing is the songs, which are very simple, but loud, catchy, well-written, and clever (although I’m not much of a lyric guy, I’ve gotta give ’em props for working the word “onomatopoeia” into a song called “Crash Bam Boom”). The songs themselves have the muscle and arena-sized hooks of early Grand Funk or James Gang, but RPG plays them with the berserk punk attack of Fun House-era Stooges or the MC5.

As some of you probably know, the band released Full Time on their own Direct Hit label about a year ago. Those who purchased the original copy will probably want to buy it again since the Arclight edition includes a DVD called High Performance.
(www.arclightrecords.com)