John Totaro and the Accidents

Bang, Crash, Drive (Spank Dawg)
by Scott Hefflon

John Totaro and his band, the Accidents, obviously have diverse backgrounds and a taste for many styles of music. The dozen songs on their Spank Dawg release covers such a spectrum that the generalization of “alternative pop” is just limp. Allow me to try to clarify (and probably make a mess instead).

The production throughout is rich and slick. The songs are layered with all the right, ear-pleasing harmonies, plugged in news clips, sampled car crashes and other effects. The musicians are all well-rounded veterans and pull the tunes tight to the point of being meticulous. For those who grow tired of all the shouting, Totaro understands the concept of melody and layered harmony as well as the polished surface of bubble gum pop. The flaw inherent in that knowledge is something called over-production. The sneering NY punk-influenced material loses its edge by being too calculated. Sometimes a certain amount of crappy, sloppy guitar work adds to the flavoring of Attitude Oriented Rock. The songs that shine the brightest are the free-wheelin’ gonzo jams, similar to those found in Social Distortion songs. The beat-the-hell-outta-your-guitar soloing, rockabilly ballads, and parking lot brawl anthems are the highlights of Bang, Crash, Drive.