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Ooooh, so this is what rock and roll really is. A band that does not take themselves so horribly serious. This is not conforming to some scene, playing some set formula for rock and teen angst. The Goons of Doom bring American their version of the American Dream; it comes with a Parental Advisory for Explicit Content. “Love him, love him, love him with a chainsaw”. Irreverent lyrics, songs not constructed around a rigid verse to chorus to breakdown structure, it almost seems as music as art is still alive. “The Story of Dead Barbie and Ghost” is not a personal chronicles of what has happened to the vocalist since he last recorded, there is not a record executive behind the scenes pressuring them into fitting into the emo scene. This is music to make music, even if what they create does not appeal to you, at least understand it is still there.

Who to compare them to? It seems like they go farther back to the 1950’s or 1960’s, to SockHop style rock, think “Leader of the Pack”, except vulgar and foreign. Songs designed to convey the mood of the meaning and the lyrics. Traditional, basic rock and roll infused with a punk ideal and attitude. Sixteen songs, many under two minutes, while the others easily mix pace and delivery throughout the course of the song. Slow, love songs turn into rock songs about sex or a Dead Barbie, all the while brought to us with a lovely foreign accent that seems to give them more credibility.

A breath of fresh air, worth listening to, worth buying just to have this contemporary example of musicians creating something we haven’t seen in years this side of the Ocean.

reviewed by Kevin Ross