At times on 1996's
Here to Ruin Your Groove, Jeff Clayton's scorched-earth vocals and Joe Young's equally unwavering guitar riffs make it sound like
Antiseen is moving into the European death metal sound from its original skuzzy, post-punk stoner rock. On the other hand, no record produced by
Jamie Hoover, of twink-pop pioneers
the Spongetones (who also sits in on banjo and keyboards), is going to go too far into the black. The sound is only marginally cleaner than before, but at least all the distortion sounds intentional this time out, and the rhythm sections' presence is beefed up considerably, giving songs like "We Got This Far (Without You)" a sonic punch that actually belies the album title. Highlights include the countrified "Billy the Kid," and the majestic closer "Fuck All Y'all," not to mention the four amusing, inebriated, monologue-plus-free form backing-track-links collectively called "The Dean of Sods Speaks." ~ Stewart Mason