Customer Reviews

Numb Nuts

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

 

 

Okay, this needs written to counter a couple of other non-thinking reviewers. First off: comparing this to the Sex Pistols is just ridiculous. Snuff are old-timers in the punk rock game, but any comparison to the Pistols is just staggeringly clueless. They aren't contemporaries, they have nothing to do with one another. It's like saying Sartre is inferior to Socrates. Apples and oranges. Next up: Snuff have horns and organs to complement the early rocknroll/Motown sound that they love so much. There is NOTHING "ska-punk" about them, and comparing them (unfavorably to boot) to bands like Slapstick and Against All Authority is laughable. Not every band with horns is a ska band, and accusing Snuff of trying to be NOFX is just bewildering.

Now, as far as the music goes, it isn't up to Snuff's highest standards. There are some gems here, but most of it is middling material that sounds a bit too similar to stand out. The first half shows promise with standouts like Pixies, Yuki, and Marbles. But the latter half drags with a few tossaway numbers and some indistinguished standard fare. The album sort of mirrors Reach in a way, where the band just seems stuck in a creative rut. Thankfully, their followup EP Blue Gravy would prove more than adequate, and Disposable Income would put them back in the win column with a new sense of freedom and renewed purpose.

With reference to earlier reviews of this CD - maybe America just doesn't get Snuff! I've followed every step these lads have taken since the late 1980's, and "NUMB NUTS" is one of their finest.
"EFL VS CONCRETE" is one of the most poignant love songs you're ever likely to hear, " MARBLES" I intend to have played at my funeral, and "BOTTOM OF THE RIVER" just rules, dammit! There ain't a wrong note on this whole album, and for anyone new to Snuff, this is a great place to start>

This CD is not as great as some of the other stuff they have done but still a grat CD!!

The new snuff album is a non essential purchase. It is an album of songs with their trademark sound. This is not a bad thing. ok it is not a very aggressive punk sound, but just relax and the fun side of snuff will win you round. With too many 'punk' bands having the same so-cal punk sound this album stands out. Just buy it. if you like snuff you will like it.

Numb nuts, eh? I must admit, that's what *I* got after listening to this CD. Snuff are, for no reason I can figure out, very popular in England (kinda like Hi-Standard in Japan), and are selling their fair share of records stateside, too (with the help of the erstwhile Fat Mike, undoubtedly). They're on Fat Wreck, so they're bound to have the NOFX "influence" (meaning they try to write almost every song as if it were a NOFX B-side), but I was surprised at the amount of Leatherface I heard in the first few songs. I like Leatherface, as should any self-respecting punk rocker. Snuff's first few tracks kept my attention, with the singer trying desperately to sound like Frankie Stubbs (which I think just cannot be done). Then the ska-punk kicks in. It's not ska-punk like Less Than Jake or anything, but it's more like a VERY bad version of Slapstick or Against All Authority (meaning they try to be "punk rock" with horns). This just drags the album down incredibly. I would've MUCH rather listened to a Leatherface clone than a NOFX w/horns clone. I thought the English were better than this. Don't get me wrong, there are currently some great English punk bands (with Consumed and Goober Patrol currently topping my list), but Snuff isn't and shouldn't ever be one of them. And don't get me wrong, I DO like Fat Wreck, even though most of my recent reviews (No Use For A Name, Hi-Standard) don't show it -- I just like to hear a dose of originality with my Fat punk. Overall, Snuff has potential to become a good punk band (their singer does have a really cool voice), but I don't think they'll use it, since they've been doing the same thing for as long as I have heard their stuff, and it sells records.

Imagine a bunch of competent musicians setting out the write original material and perform it in the style of the Sex Pistols and you will have a good idea of what this record is all about. I hope that they are trying to poke fun because it would be sad if this were a serious effort.

The music does not have the same edge and raw aggression that the Pistols had. I suspect that is more a matter of the production and the lead singer than anything else. If "Numb Nuts" implies a flaccid collection in the style of the Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks" then the title is spot on.

I note that the CD is available with a slightly different track selection and running order depending on whether you have the UK or US release.

I cannot pick out a favourite or least liked track as they are all very similar. I'd have to recommend just about anything by the Sex Pistols as a superior alternative to this.