Armrug (Saturday December 3, 2005 17:54)
The following review was made from Prestone Forum member James. We liked it so much, we thought it should appear on our website. So here it is...

Well, this is nice. A proper jewel case, proper printed CD, and a very reasonable price too. These things count.

Most of you around here will have heard the title track that kicks off this mini-album. It's a ballsy garage-punk number, with the dirtiest bass you'll ever hear from a bassistless band. The chorus is frenetic, yet Jamie's reserved and flawless diction manages to stop this from becoming The Stooges' classic that it never was.

Weighing in at just over a minute, "Affected" is the swiftest song on an already swift CD. This is punk like Zeke. A blues riff on acid, and some surprisingly nifty guitar work. It almost feels like "first to the end of the track wins" and yet, it's not shambolic at all.

"I Want Doesn't Get" is practically an opus, compared to the previous numbers. It's still rocking, but much more thoughtful than the two tracks that preceed it. The song is held together by a relentlessly danceable bassline, bordering on disco at times. This is the first time I've felt chided by a rock song.

I could say that "No Woman One Pound" is a striking indictment of the materialism of financial expectations of the occasionally fairer sex, but in reality it's a tongue-in-cheek song about being skint. The lead riff is over-complicated, but it works. This is the weakest track on the CD, for me, and yet it still has hooks for which most other unsigned acts would sell their left knackers.

Rude song number one, "I Love You, Can I Go Down On You?" is firmly back in Stooges-on-(more)-crack territory. The chop-chop dirt rock of the song more than matches the tasteful (geddit?) subject matter. There's also a neat exercise in timing, and the song remains relentlessly powered along by the drums throughout. Certainly a live favourite, and with the added Granny-shocking factor, this is well on the way to being one of the defining songs of the North-West scene.

"You've Blown It Up" regularly kicks off the live set. Shouty backing vocals, and another recharged blues riff power along with a squeaky lead line, and in terms of inventiveness, this sits apart from the rest of the CD. Special credit must also be given to the frankly hilarious photo on the back cover illustrating this track.

Rude song number 2 "It's All Over Your Face" could be seen as the reclamation of masculinity from "I Love You..." More puns than you could shake a soggy stick at, this should be Tucker Max's theme song. The song itself is a twiddly, grinding rock 'n' roll number, and the vocals and guitars mix with a dexterity lacking in most music currently.

Closing track "Car Trouble" finishes as we started, with a pounding riff, combined with the clear vocal style. Seeming to lean towards Ford cars, this has none of the mundanity you'd expect, but the lovely gear-change remains. An exercise in tempo, this is the longest song, yet still under 3 minutes long.

Verdict? Good things come in small, easily digestible packages, and the member of the prominent Preston band who described Armrug as "awful" last night was very, very wrong. A very impressive package, which has gone no small way to easing my catastrophic hangover. Perfect for accompanying any time spent in the vodka hospital. Also, I would imagine, pretty good for shagging to, if you don't have that much stamina.