The Kings Of Nuthin' "Over the Counter Culture" (Sailor's Grave)
By Dave Schutz
Tuesday. May 02, 12:02 AM
I’ll have what those guys are having… er, minus the bennies.

The Kings Of Nuthin’ do rockabilly and swing like Rancid and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones do reggae and ska: fast and snotty. That comparison probably stems merely from an overactive salivary gland shared by the singers of those three bands, but you get the idea. Over the Counter Culture starts out by slyly lifting the intro to the Stones’ “Sympathy For the Devil” before breaking into a train-out-of-control string of 14 tunes that clock in at under half an hour (vocalist Torr Skoog sings about ADD a lot). The title track and “If I Were You” deftly mix rockabilly and swing beats, R&B horns, and punk guitars into a stew that boils down to pure American rock and roll, with energy and charisma comparable to The Blasters live. Skoog and pianist Zack Brines have a knack for writing tunes good and catchy enough to shine through the raucous, boozy time they’re having.

It’s a shame, then, that they spend half the record covering everybody from Anti-Nowhere League and Eater to Hank Ballard And The Midnighters. Suddenly, it’s “are they a punk band putting a rockabilly spin on a punk song, or a rockabilly band putting a punk spin on a rockabilly song?” It doesn’t matter. Up against the strength of their originals, the covers sound novel… maybe not as starkly bad as Reel Big Fish doing “Hungry Like the Wolf,” but weak nonetheless. That complaint notwithstanding, Over the Counter Culture is hot enough to get your barbecue hoppin’: just no heart conditions or pregnant women, please.
www.kingsofnuthin.com
www.sailorsgraverecords.com

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Dave Schutz

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