Duane Peters and the Hunns

The first thing you'll notice about Duane Peters and the Hunns is how incredibly tough these bastards look. Duane Peters, from the US Bombs, with his tattoos and smashed-in teeth/face is one thing, but drummer Matt Spizer's eye patch has to take the cake. Their sound is pretty tough as well, with a heavy rocking West coast Clash street punk thing going on. Also on board is Humper Mark Lee, and as part of the thick two guitar assault presented here, he does a great job. Hot tracks include "Nuke H.B.," about the Huntington Beach scene in California, and "Cross Bones," which parallels the harsh lifestyle of being in a band to that of a pirate. All the songs here have an anthemic quality to them, especially "The Unity," and they luckily never get too wimpy or preachy. All in all, this is scrappy, catchy punk rock with a classic British flavour filtered through "cauliflowered" Californian ears.