THE SPECIMENS the quick and the deaf

It's Wednesday! Past the halfway hump of the week! Wahey! Let's look at some music that is packed with cheap thrills...

Okay first off, if you’re someone who loves great lyrics then steer well clear of this. Shakespeare it most certainly ain’t. If, however, you’re someone who likes track after track of speeding punk rock this album might be for you. If you also love a liberal helping of gratuitous swearing then pull up a chair dude, The Specimens are your new favourite band.

The Melbourne four-piece follow in the great Aussie tradition of raucous, macho pub rock that was once defined by the likes of Radio Birdman. On ‘Get On Top’ singer Terry Opie says he “don’t wanna be lonely” so he implores his chick to “get on top baby, yeah!” It’s that sorta record.

The amphetamine fueled riffing of ‘What You Wanna Do’ and ‘Drama Queen’ also calls to mind a more confident, less paranoid Husker Du. They could even be outtakes from Bob Mould’s lost weekend in Hawaii where he did nothing but sit on the beach, drink cocktails and sing Status Quo songs. Well they could be if that ever happened. Which it didn’t. As far as I know. Anyway, I digress, what I’m really trying to say is that The Quick and the Deaf is kinda dumb but kinda fun too. A good Summer party album in other words.

If The Quick and the Deaf was food it would be a $5 steak: simple, macho and meaty.

By Andy McLean. Copyright held by author.

First published in The Brag, Sydney, 2004.

The Quick and the Deaf is available through Infidelity Records.