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Mad Sin

...Sweet & Innocent? ...Loud & Dirty! [reissue]
2005
Thorp

Mad Sin - ...Sweet & Innocent? ...Loud & Dirty! [reissue] (Cover Artwork)


Review by: Anchors
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Published on January 6th 2006

This re-release of the German psychobilly act Mad Sin’s ...Sweet & Innocent? ...Loud & Dirty! really reminds of such bands as Tiger Army and Nekromantix. Unfortunately for Mad Sin, I really don’t like either of those bands. It’s not that they’re musically lacking, but it’s just never been a style of music I could find myself enjoying, and this album does little to change that.

If variety is the spice of life, these guys have an empty rack. It’s the same two or three formulas that are repeated across the course of 19 songs. The manic vocals, speedy instrumentation, and just an overall feeling of being off kilter is really all there is to be found. The songs are all essentially medium paced, with some faster tracks thrown in here and there to attempt and energize things, but it’s really a fruitless attempt. There needs to be more variety than how fast or slow a song is played, and at this point, there just isn’t. There’s some great guitar solos to bridge verse and chorus, as with “Take a Ride,” but even that seems overpowered in both the repetition and the monotony. I’ll give them credit where it’s due; they make strides, and make attempts to keep things at least somewhat diverse, as the vocals do undergo various changes throughout, but it’s still hard for the songs to fully keep my attention.

It feels like a lot of the problems could be cut out if there were just not so many songs. Being that there’s an hour of music, with this style, it’s simply hard not to repeat yourself. The slow, plodding “Love Dictator” sounds nothing like the frantic “Russian Roulette,” but too many songs do sound like the latter. They start out with some lightning quick guitar work, and quickly transition into some slower material, only to keep speeding up over the chorus while the drumming keeps the fevered pace.

Any fan of psychobilly is liable to find a lot that they like, and a lot of positive things to say about this release, and why not? For the genre played, it does everything right. The fierce, harrowing vocals and the guitars that never quit, and just the overall attitude is just what you’d want from a band like this. I doubt I’ll ever really be able to immerse myself in the genre as some people are able to, but if you’re one of those people, just the extra three tracks on this re-release and the extra DVD content should be enough to take that money from your wallet. The music on the album you already knew, well, that’s just a bonus.






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    Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 1:08 AM (EDT)

    Marty's retarded.

    I know this is late, I've just been hearing a lot of shit about this band lately for some reason. All bad things.

    Posted by dir on 2006-06-27 01:07:50

    Marty's retarded.

    I know this is late, I've just been hearing a lot of shit about this band lately for some reason. All bad things.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, April 16, 2006 at 9:09 PM (EDT)

    Stay away from this type of music if its not your type of stuff. Fucking moron! It like me going and making comments on a eminem album when i can't stand the bastard! I wish the dudes out of mad sin would kick your ass.

    Posted by Staxic on 2006-01-12 20:00:29
    My Score:

    Mad Sin is the top of psychobilly chart. Would be nice to have a reviewer that knows a genre review a CD. Kinda like me reviewing gangsta rap....
    I would agree that Survival of the Sickest is their best.

    I can tell there's a lot of MTV babies in the room since they can only quote Necros and Tiger Army. Surprised you all weren't posting Horrorpops!! Horrorpops!! I don't even know if I'd call Tiger a psycho band anymore, the last one sucked. Sounded more like alt country.

    Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 8, 2006 at 4:36 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Mad Sin rules.
    Anchors is gay. He probably wears thick glasses too.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at 11:48 PM (EST)

    the cramps, the meteors, mad sin. all great psycho bands.

    Posted by Anchors on 2006-01-07 21:12:09

    Uh, are you guys new to this site? I'm a staff reviewer, I review what I'm sent, be it hardcore, pyschobilly, or Hillary Duff. Stop crying.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at 6:53 PM (EST)

    better psycho band: meteors, empress of fur, tiger army, frantic flintstones (Schlachthof Boogie Woogie), Coffin Nails, Batmobile

    Posted by tylerdurden8136 on 2006-01-07 18:20:24
    My Score:

    apparently i suck at life so let's try this again.

    it’s just never been a style of music I could find myself enjoying

    then why are you reviewing this? you're obviously already biased against this genre, so there was no reason for this review.

    it's the same reason i would never review an album by this band because i'm a huge fan.

    lame.

    Posted by tylerdurden8136 on 2006-01-07 18:18:40
    My Score:

    it’s just never been a style of music I could find myself enjoying

    then why are you reviewing this? you're obviously already biased against this genre, so there was no reason for this review.

    it's the same reason i would never review an album by this band because i'm a huge fan.

    lame.

    Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at 4:38 PM (EST)
    My Score:

    Psychobilly eats a dick. Good job, Anchors.

    Posted by Holy_Hack_Ben on 2006-01-07 01:26:31
    My Score:

    Survival of the Sickest is their best album. If you don't have that then you should get it. Mad Sin is one of the best psychobilly bands out there right now. And stop compairing every psychobilly band to Tiger Army and Nekromantix. Doing that shows a complete lack of knowledge on the genre.

    Posted by SalsaShark on 2006-01-07 00:07:21

    I have to agree with marty_six_strings. Despite the fact that Anchors is a fine reviewer (definitely in my top 3 on here), he tends to rave about personal favorites, but when it's a genre he doesn't know much about, he's at a bit of a loss for words. Thankfully, it wasn't a badly written review; it's just that Anchor's talents are better used on other genre reviews.

    Posted by marty_four_strings on 2006-01-06 21:48:50

    Why the fuck does someone who isnt into psychobilly review psychobilly music? That's insane.

    If you dont enjoy anything of a particular genre then your opinion doesnt count, go review something you know a little about please.

    This review is just a waste of space and an insult to the band and psychobilly fans.

    Posted by ElVaquero on 2006-01-06 17:24:50
    My Score:

    Score

    Posted by ElVaquero on 2006-01-06 17:24:40

    This is tied with God Save The Sin as my favorite Mad Sin album. "Scarred Ole Heart" is my favorite song by them. Guess it's just not for everyone.

    Posted by psychoos231 on 2006-01-06 15:13:20

    Yo -sirens, i said i better psycho bands than those 3 mentioned in the review meaning better than tiger army, mad sin and nekromantix.

    I wasn't "name dropping" as those were in the review, nice try though.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 at 2:22 PM (EST)

    jeez anchors way to hog all the new reviews

    Posted by inanechild on 2006-01-06 11:43:44
    My Score:

    This is probably my least favourite Mad Sin album. Way too poppy. Thankfully, they've recovered with their next two albums.

    Anyone starting into psychobilly should do themselves a favour and pick up "God Save the Sin" instead of this one, as well as the Meteors' "In Heaven," Demented are Go's "In Sickness and in Health," the Quakes' s/t, and the Tall Boys' "Funtime." I know I'm missing a lot of other classic records, but that's a good start to overview a lot of different styles.

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 at 9:58 AM (EST)

    Oh wow, that dude bellow..." I can name a dozen better bands..." then you go on and name the same two in Anchors review, and the 2 most popular. Real classy. Mad Sin is way better than Tiger Army and Nekromantix, but nice try name dropping.

    -sirens

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 at 8:34 AM (EST)

    meteors are soo much better

    Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 at 1:35 AM (EST)
    My Score:

    mad sin are fucking legends. sound like tiger army and nekromantix?! just like how the ramones sound exactly like nofx.

    Posted by psychoos231 on 2006-01-06 00:12:38

    i could name dozens of psychobilly bands better than Mad Sin, Nekromantix and Tiger Army.. oh well at least this band kicks ass live.

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