DHARMA DOGS

When bands that would later be considered grunge first started playing, most folks just thought they were rock and roll bands - a little dirtier perhaps, and definitely more aggressive, but it was still just rock and roll. Of course, most of those sounds quickly morphed into something that was little more than  mainstream rock (though mainstream rock did expand its parameters a bit to absorb this new crop of unkempt youngsters), but there were still bands in that first wave who were dishing out punk, or at least playing their rock and roll with undeniable punk attitude. That attitude is what makes Wisconsin's DHARMA DOGS so infectious - even the laid back "Hokahey" and "Laxadaisy" are delivered with more than enough barely contained aggression to tip it over the edge, and the majority of these songs are seething even when the band are obviously songsmiths of the highest caliber. "Billboard Blues" reeks from the stench of STT-era SONIC YOUTH, while the whole recording owes a debt to the more sinister side of Mark Arm (with maybe a small stipend to FLIPPER). These two EPs were conveniently packaged on one cassette last year, and the contents are guitar rock of the highest caliber - the closer "Longshot" is a ferocious journey in an of itself, but the entire collection is a winner.

DROWN w/ MOON ROCKS + SPEED