Spanic Boys

The only brush with fame for the Spanic Boys, a Milwaukee father and son combo, was when they were a last-minute replacement for Sinead O'Connor when Andrew Dice Clay hosted Saturday Night Live. Obviously, that didn't lead to much more, so it is with much surprise and delight that this album, their seventh, has come to light. On Torture they once again bridge the gap between their early rock influences, and classic Midwestern twang, ultimately recalling the glory days of American roots revivalism (Blasters, BoDeans). However, the crisp modern production is immediately grabbing, making Tom and Ian Spanic's harmonies almost indistinguishable from each other and their Telecasters gleaming with a fine metallic sheen. There's not a bad track on the whole album for fans of well-crafted twang-pop, even though the Spanics' lyrics rarely veer from standard rock'n'roll poetry. Their energy more than makes up for it.