Cheater Slicks

The kings of negative energy rock, the masters of skronk rockin' beats, the sultans of scrappy blues garage rock, the Cheater Slicks are back once again with what is maybe their most despair-laden outing yet. Their classic two-guitar, no bass and tom-heavy drum attack still sounds as Cro-Magnon as ever, and neo-primitive blasters like "Stop Breeding" and "Pants Down" are the proof. The more recent melancholy melodic style that came to the forefront on past records like Refried Dreams is still present, as on "Train Of Dreams," but doesn't really dominate this album. Downbeat and noisily discordant, the epic "Green Light" sounds like Thurston Moore after a lost weekend full of PCP and bourbon. What has confused people about this band is that even though they often play the most trashy garbage can rock imaginable, they're still really an art band in the tradition of the Velvet Underground, and at the end of the day they're as much about a hauntingly twisted melody as they are about ripping guitar feedback.