Bloodhound Gang - Use Your Fingers

If I were to review Psychostick, it only makes sense that I should review their counterpart, the more famous band, the mighty Bloodhound Gang.

Bloodhound Gang was formed out of the ashes of a synth-pop project called Bang Chamber 8 started by members Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs. Bang Chamber 8, admittedly, pretty much sucked because they tried too hard to be Depeche Mode.

I don't have an image of the band's line-up at this time, because I actually doubt any exist, but here, have a small image of Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs:

The band at this time was made up of Jimmy Pop on vocals, Daddy Long Legs on vocals and keyboard, Skip O' Pot2Mus on drums and backing vocals, M.S.G. on turntables and backing vocals, and Lüpüs Thünder on guitar and backing vocals.

Where as Psychostick are more metal, Bloodhound Gang's style can be described as hip-hop mixed with pop-punk, and later having influence from euro-pop and dance music.

Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs usually just exchange rapped vocals about stupid and funny stuff rather than serious things. Jimmy is quite the clever guy, though, saying lines like "I ain't got no soul, but I got more than Don Henley, I'm whiter than Casper, but I'm not that friendly." Where as Daddy typically just says stuff about how he's better than you, will have sex with your girlfriend, etc, so it's easy to see who's the better writer of the two. They both do well on vocals though, although it's pretty easy to see that Jimmy Pop is easily better.

The album has some good songs like One Way and Mama Say, but it has some real turds like their cover of Kids In America featuring Rob Vitale on vocals. Not even some of Jimmy Pop's cleverness can save some of these songs. It's not just the production on some of them, which honestly sounds very under-produced, but another problem that plagues some of their other albums on selected songs: Repetitiveness. They repeat the chorus way too much, to the point where you think "Okay, it's going to change now" but they repeat it two more times.

Also of negative note, while Daddy Long Legs is good occasionally, it's not even my opinion as much as it is fact that Jimmy Pop is simply better than him in every way, from vocals, to lyrics, to energy. There's a few points during the album you'll wish Jimmy would just smack Daddy upside the head and steal the microphone from him.

The album also falls a bit during the pop-punk parts. They just weren't good at it on this album. They weren't experienced.

While this does have some good songs worth checking out, if you're already a fan, this has some crappy songs on it too. If you don't like BHG and you hear this, you will think they're terrible. This isn't the right place to start with them.

5/10

Strange thing is, I can't find any of the good tracks off of this album on YouTube. Go figure.

Recommended Track(s): One Way

Psychostick - We Couldn't Think of a Title

The first release by 'humor-core' band Psychostick is one to remember, and is one you can certainly laugh at.

What do you get when you mix four bored guys, a lot of alcohol, humor, and some instruments? 'We Couldn't Think of a Title'.

Psychostick on this album were made up of Robert "The Notorious R.O.B." Kersey who would later become known as Rawrb, on vocals. Joshua "Special J" Key on guitar and vocals. Mike "Hawkizzard" Kocian on bass and vocals, and finally Alex "The Boy" Preiss on percussion and annoying bird sounds.

Yeah I couldn't find a picture of the line-up on this album sue me. Metal though, right?

Throughout the album, without giving too much away, the guys talk about everything from beer to killing themselves so people would buy their album out of curiosity and media exposure. The thing is, while some songs don't entirely hit their mark (Scrotal Torment comes to mind), a lot of the songs just work so well, and that's rare in a comedy album, although I can't really call it a comedy album because they are serious about the music, just not the lyrics.

The album is filled with little skits of them talking about random stuff, and even going out and doing things while recording it, like going to various fast-food places and asking for a 'death burger'. Sounds odd in concept and more stupid than funny, but that's what helps give the album personality. Not everything hits the mark perfectly, but all of it just fits so well together like pieces of a puzzle.

Their music is just basically metal with some influences from other genres at times, and as odd as it sounds, the fact that it's metal just makes it funnier. What would be funnier, a normal song about singing the ABC's, or a man screaming them at you over blaring guitars? A normal rendition of the hokey pokey, or a metal version of it meant for mosh-pits called the 'Hokey F**kin' Pokey'?

One thing becomes apparent though, if this weren't a comedy album, it'd still stand tall as a good metal album, just not as good as if it were a humorous one. Rawrb is very capable of screaming and singing, Josh and Mike are great at their respective instruments, and Alex is a fast drummer.

The album isn't all metal though, due to skits, plus some of their slower songs meant to parody emo and generally depressive music culture, at one point making a parody of a love song, by making 'Orgasm = Love'.

Sure it's not the most talented album you can come across, but it is certainly one of the most charismatic ones. I love these guys, personally, and I've loved their music since I was 13. Seeing them live (which I will later blog about) just made me an even bigger fan than I was before.

They're just some guys making music that they find funny and personally enjoy. If you enjoy it, that's great. If you don't, then don't ruin their fun.

7/10

Recommended Track(s): Beer, Throwin' Down