Ugly Kid Joe's first full-length album reprises the hit "Everything About You" from their debut EP
As Ugly as They Wanna Be and delivers a set of similar rockers and a handful of power ballads, including a revamped version of
Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle." Listeners who are too far removed from their adolescence to remember the joys of spitballs and Saturday schools won't find
America's Least Wanted engaging in the least, but it wasn't designed for them.
Ugly Kid Joe rocks for the average high school kid, the one that doesn't think about anything except girls, partying, and metal. On the whole, the band's mixture of fizzy, fuzzy riffs, sing-song melodies, and calculated obnoxiousness isn't that offensive, but it will certainly try the patience of anyone who doesn't find their cutesy vulgarity fun. For fans of the band,
America's Least Wanted delivers the thrills. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine