Debris Inc.

One of the most anticipated projects of the year turns out to be no more than empty baggage. What else would fans possibly expect from Saint Vitus guitarist Dave Chandler and Trouble bassist Ron Holzner other than the seminal doom metal that made them famous? Excepting a handful of tracks, the bulk of the album is rusty punk with appalling lyrics and worse song titles, not nearly as respectable as Vitus’ label-mates on SST in the ’80s. The slothful duo of "The Old Man and His Bong” and "Pain” resemble Vitus during their early years, and the shorter cuts "The Life and Times of Claude and Elmo,” "Fuckin’ Mess,” and "Full Of Shit” are groovier like Wino-era Vitus. The sloppier punk tunes ("The Nightmare,” "You’re The Reason I’m Medicated,” "Shut Up,” "I Feel Like Shit Again,” and the pitiful "The Ballad Of Debris”) are given slight credence by middling covers of X’s "Nausea” (with Karyn Crisis) and Fear’s "I Love Living In The City,” though the true dregs are the stunted intermission tracks of tuning up and goofing around in the studio ("Too Many Mushrooms On My Pizza,” "Dime-A-Dozen,” "Manhatten [sic] Breakfast”). Though this punk was vital when Black Flag and the Circle Jerks did it 20 years ago, Debris Inc. should stick with the doom they know best.