It did not take long to 'get into' this band. This punk trio
from Toledo, Ohio, only gives you 20 minutes to form an opinion
about them and, frankly, if you would decide you don't like them, I
don't think the band would really care. This is one of those
releases where the band sounds like they would play for 5 or 50 or
even 500 people. Bassist/vocalist Steve Wells, guitarist/vocalist
Todd Evans and drummer/vocalist Steve Irby ooze "we're buddies
playing songs we like to play."
This is evident on the lyrically pointed "Big Radio Hit," where Wells sings, "I like 12 guage shotguns and Monty Python and rockin' with Irby and T. My CD collection is mostly Black Sabbath" which foreshadows the last track on this CD -- a punked up cover of "The Trooper" for which the band wrote "We all know The Trooper is an Iron Maiden song. . . ".
Prior to "The Trooper," you have to pause at the humor in "The Tattoo Guru" where Wells sings "A guy walked up and said to me "Hey Dude! Check out my new tat!" . . . followed by "my cousin is so original/ his ass says "Exit only" . . . and the song's conclusion "If I want to see your tattoo, I will ask you."
There are some punk bands, like Dirty Rotten Imbecils, that were gone the day they taught musicianship. The Lazy American Workers, thankfully, were not absent that day. Guitarist Evans riffs his way through straight-forward riffs and drummer Steve Irby powers the backbeat with cymbals and quick snare fills, especially on "The Tattoo Guru."
So when you arrive at "The Trooper," that is the real test of the band. By this time, you've heard them run through 13 songs that never cross the 3:00 mark <heck "Whudja Call Me?!" barely crosses 40 seconds> and then you get to the 3:25 cover of "The Trooper," which adheres closesly to the original, but at a faster pace. As a base of comparison, I pulled out the (stellar and highly recommended double-CD) Slave to the Power -- The Iron Maiden Tribute release on Meteor City, to listen to Holy Mother's cover of this track. It boils down to Lazy American Workers nailing the parts, having fun, and sounding like they're at a bar jamming.
The tacked-on ending . . . I can't name the song but I can identify it's from a Metallica song and it's an ending the band plays in concert. It concludes the band's romp with style. You can't go wrong quoting Metallica.