KCUF Modern Primitive Punk (2006) Corporate Punishment

KCUF comes to us courtesy of former GWAR roadie Crazy "White" Sean and John Fahnestock, former bassist of Snot and Amen. Despite their history, the band has delivered a competent if not awe-inspiring disc of punk/metal in the vein of crossover classics like D.R.I. and of course, the immortal Poison Idea. Modern Primitive Punk is a solid attempt at “retro” punk, combining some of the best bands from that era; Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Poison Idea and Slayer. Unfortunately, the band falters when it loses sight of those influences and delivers fairly generic metal/rock and even nü-metal.

Take the first track, “P.R. Song,” which is about as solid a tribute to Poison Idea's “Feel the Darkness” as one could hope for. The second hits D.R.I. territory full throttle, and the third dallies in psychobilly-tinged thrashcore. “Every Second,” the fourth track, is the first of quite a few forgettable tracks; borrowing from the fairly pedestrian metal of Korn, “Iron Priest” also plays a little too close to the nü-metal of that era, with the faux-spooky guitar line and mumbled, slowly building vocal line and painful lyrics before hitting its “stride” with what sounds like a parody of bad metal.

Sadly, too many songs fall into this category; and reprieve doesn't come until “Man's Ruin,” which returns the band to crossover territory. And to add injury, much of the album is broken up by “joke” tracks, oddly placed remixes and one fairly awful and self-described “Bad Poem.”

Overall, there are some truly promising and very fun tracks on this record, but they are buried in between a little too much filler. When the band hits its stride, as it does on “Bloodbath” or “More Blood,” the results can be a lot of fun, but the signal-to-noise ratio is quite disappointing. Can the jokes and the nü-metal, and KCUF may just have something on their hands.

(Aubin)