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Velcro Mary

 

 

No Cash: Run Your Pockets
[VMS/Morphius]

Imagine if you combined skater punk, a singer from a death-metal band and lyrics drawn from introductions to Marx and Chomsky readers.  Doesnt sound too appealing, does it?  Now throw in some nihilism and a Manichean view of the world that lacks the least bit of subtlety.  The horrible amalgamation of all these parts would leave you with the new release from the band No Cash.  There is no way I can emphasize how bizarre and caustic these lyrics are.  Here is a sample: Burn a church/Im not scared to die, or Here is your church and here is your steeple/Lets set it on fire and kill all the people.  Now, Im not sure music should necessarily be deeply philosophical or have well constructed arguments; however, for a band that wears the fact that they are high-school dropouts like a badge of pride, polemics against religion, the economy, or whatever else may not be the direction they should go.

Heres the kicker, though: the music is pretty good.  If you can ignore the ranting of their awful singer, you might actually enjoy No Cash.  They seem to be moderately skilled musicians, and if they would just follow their intuitions and ignore the formulas of their genre, they probably would be a good band.  The problem is that orthodox punk music is so derivative and structured that they have nowhere to go.  Their songs start with uninteresting, though fairly beautiful, pieces before they dive into the boring speed punk that is their bread and butter.  They should focus less on their idiotic philosophy of nihilism and focus on their music.  Its possible that if they did this, they might actually become a good band.

No Cash would probably make for an interesting live show, though unless you enjoy the novelty of possessing a booklet of sophomoric rants, this album is probably not for you.  Some may actually enjoy this band, but I cant think of any reason why. 

-John Thrasher
2/23/04

This album can be purchased at Amazon

Morphius Records Official Website

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