Customer Reviews

Bucketfulls of Sickness and Horror in an Otherwise Meaningless Life

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alice Donut was one of the core bands of Alternative Tentacles back in the late '80s and early '90s. Their first album catches them at their rawest, but also their most fun.

Musically, Donut's style has much in common with the psychedlic punk style of the...Surfers, but I regard Donut as being the more straight-up fun-to-listen-to of the two. The Surfers are great, but in a different way. Alice Donut's work is better informed by a sense of humor and a lively attitude than the Surfers, who usually come off as being much darker and more serious. However, this does not mean that Alice Donut does not pack some weight - in keeping with many Alternative Tentacles bands, Alice Donut follows in the footsteps of the Dead Kennedies with thier lyrics - heavy sarcasm, but always socially and politically relevant. Buy this album, sit back, dig the lyrics and enjoy the wild, slapdash music!

This album has a bit of a darker cast than "Donut Comes Alive" or "Mule" (these three albums feature Donut's original line-up), but still carries the wild energy one should expect from this band. It is their first "real" album, since Donut Comes Alive was technically a "live" album. Be sure to check out tracks 1,2,4,5,7 and 8.

"Lisa's Father" is a CD bonus track. Originally appearing on a Alternative Tentacles marketing compliation album, it was NOT on the original "Bucketfulls" LP. One will notice that it diverges from the style of the album markedly, since it is basically Ted Houghton doing a spoken word bit. It is still really fun to listen to, and is in fact one of my favorite bits by Alice Donut.

Not quite the masterpiece that Donut Comes Alive is, this is nonetheless a great album. Even the ridiculous "Lisa's Father" is somehow a repeat listen - 15 minutes indeed.

It's a great album, and the only reason I don't give it 5 stars is the horrifying grammatical error in the title (look again) that I'm sure the band regrets constantly. The sound quality is not that wonderful, but there are some truly memorable tunes on it just the same. By all means, get this thing if you don't have it, but buy their self-titled debut album first. That, and check the alternative tentacles website before shelling out more than twelve bucks for this cd.

"Bucketfuls" is easily one of the best punkish/pop albums you will ever hear. Actually, that last sentence can used for every one of their albums. What's wonderful about this album is that every song has it's own uniqueness and sound and you will easily find yourself playing the album again and again.(As I did when I played the tape I had of this over and over until it wore out.) Yes, unfortunately this band ended it's legacy on a bad note with "Pure Acid Park", but do not let that album sway you from their other albums.(Most notably "Bucketfuls", "Revenge"(the best", "Mule", and "Untidy".) For those of you who never got to see Alice Donut play live, YOU NOW HAVE AT LEAST ONE REGRET IN YOUR LIFE.

MOST people haven't heard of Alice Donut EVER. I happened onto them quite by accident, but what a great accident! They're gone now, off to that Great-Bands-That-Nobody-Ever-Heard-Of Record Store in the Sky...but hey, they left all this great music! Look how cheap it is! Quick, start buying it now before they're "discovered" and their albums are $15 a pop! Bucketfulls of Sickness, Mule and Untidy Suicides are the three essential albums, start from there. Enjoy!

This is absolutely one of the best rock/punk albums ever. It's not one that you love at first listen; rather, it grows on you slowly until you find you can't remove it from your CD player. The melodies are catchy, songs like "Sky of Bones," "Dorothy" and "Buckets, Pock, Fork" are classics. Not to mention the slightly demented lyrics that add a touch of class. I can't really describe the sound in a way that does it justice, just take my word for it. This is an amazing record.

Going way beyond the bounds of "punk" and what was supposed to be played and discussed within the confines of "punk", Alice Donut helped to break the mold. Coming on hard on the heals of someone like the Dead Kennedys, A.Donut helps define the dark muse which so many Alternative Tentacle (Or just plain Alternative) bands reply upon. A great example of this, is "Lisa's Father" which is found on this disk.

The song deals with those amusing little Christian comic books which you get handed every once in awhile. In this particular issue, a little girl is getting molested/raped by her father and a neighbor while her mother hides with the help of Jack Daniels. Eventually, all is found out, but the parents discover Jesus and tell LIsa to pray. Hilliariously Horrible. And that is Alice donut.

This album is tremendous, as with all of their releases. Not only do they expand the definition of what "punk" can be thematically and lyrically, but musically, they are no slouches either. Listen to Dorothy as an example. Stephen Moses always provides great drumming, especially on that tune. Rockin' good fun.