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

Mad Sin

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

Thorp


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.