Blame Thrower

In Staccato Libido
by Craig Regala

I was gonna say “the Dolls, the Dolls, the Dolls are on fire,” but there’s too much grunt/thud/grrrr! early-metal bite to this to back-petal “merely” into such language. Wandering around until they realized “Fuck, Fuck, FUCK! Fer christsakes, let’s ROCK OUT! We all wanna ROCK OUT!” So they did. Throwing around chords and suckerpunch rhythms like a gene splice between glam/hard rock and early glam metal salted down for safe keeping with the good ol’ (not nü) “grit-hog or die!” Midwestern garage logic, and the wisdom that Cheap Trick are not a cutesy power pop band and Kiss wrote some great riffs.

Blame Thrower tap Bo and Chuck (ahem, Diddly and Berry) for root language the way decent people been doin’ since they realized Lester Bangs was right when he claimed “Chuck and Bo invented the entire nation of England.” Meaning sooner or later, the Blame Thrower guys are gonna do a Stones or Clash cover, and it’s gonna work just fine. Like The Favors in Columbus, The Shame Club in St. Louis, The Decibators in Chicago, or Lantern Jack in Detroit Rock City, these guys are writing real songs tangling up what they like about the short, sharp sock of rock and roll and hunting down a jam to kick the shit outta in some dirty little corner place that has $3 PBR 24 oz-ers. Even if that jam’s provided by Joe Jackson (love those unlabeled bonus tracks). Amen.

From their website: Don Moss (Blame Thrower’s singer) was testing concrete and stone at work. Apparently, he was pushing a wheelbarrow behind a truck that had begun to back up. In his effort to evade it, he stumbled, fell, and was killed. R.I.P., brother.
(www.blamethrower.com)