Wackiness.org Reviews Archive § Music

Arab on Radar are, due to irreconcilable differences, no more; however, Three-One-G are rereleasing all of their previously unavailable material, including this collection of unreleased singles. The first thing you will notice upon playing the disc is that it sounds nothing like Arab on Radar, at least for the first two songs, "Inventor" and "Aisle Five", which fall within the limits of respectable dance-punk-no wave. Pretty much the rest of the album, though, is more along the lines of their past albums, with the signature high-pitched nasal squeal-shout of the equally signature offensive, obscene or confusing vocals. Mostly, the album is pretty average, with the exceptions of a few excellent songs. Many of the songs ("Samurai Fight Song" through "Three Meals Away from a Crack Whore") are mixed poorly and the vocals are nearly inaudible (and completely indecipherable) behind the instruments. Spotty as it may be, and while it's mostly not as immediately likeable as the highlights of Yahweh or the Highway, this album does a good job of documenting the changes in the group over the years. It's definitely worth a listen from fans of the band, but probably won't hold much appeal to anyone else.

Rating

67/100

Reviewer

Noah Jackson

Published

September 11, 2003