More than most outside the city would have realized in the early '90s, Seattle's music scene was all over the place, as this delightfully brash and fun debut album shows. Like a more
punk
-edged
Cheap Trick
(though certainly
Willoughby
can't measure up to
Robin Zander
's amazing pipes, but has a good set of his own),
Flop
takes
pop
hooks and loud riffs to the masses with good humor and energetic playing. With production mostly by
Young Fresh Fellows
/
Fastbacks
guru
Kurt Bloch
, who obviously knew a good time when he saw it,
Mopsqueezer
skips from one highlight to the next. Including the
Kinks
'
"Big Sky"
as a cover choice is actually a touch misleading --
Village Green Preservation Society
this isn't, either as a concept or as quite so mannered a style, though it's still a fine romp through a solid
Ray Davies
number that's not out of place. There's as much
metal
riffing as melody at play on
, it's just that the latter always keeps the former in check.
Johnson
is the secret weapon of the band, both a good timekeeper and able to fire in some sly flash here and there without stealing the show. Check out his steady, solid punch on the heavy groove of
"Morton the Venereologist"
or the galloping rhythms on
"Ugly Girl Lover"
and
"Parasite"
(not a
Kiss
cover). As a guitar team,
Campbell
give out all the chunky feedback one could want without sounding at all like they want to be new
Pearl Jam
members, even pulling off some great psych guitar squalls on
"Asthenia."
Certain
himself sounds far too open and cheerful to stereotype, even when some songs can obliquely address deeper subjects than expected. Certainly most
grunge
-
gloom
mongers wouldn't include the varying speed fragment
"You Would Be Right"
just for kicks. ~ Ned Raggett