Album #24 : Frenzal Rhomb - Not So Tough Now

Frenzal Rhomb

Not So Tough Now (1996)

I was supposed to be reviewing ska flavour of 2000 Area 7's album Say It To My Face today, but it appears nobody anywhere has the album anywhere on the Internet.

So instead of Australian ska, I'm going to bring you Australian punk rock, in the form of one of this country's finest exponents of the genre, Frenzal Rhomb. Part of what makes Frenzal so damn appealing is that their songs are never long, they're immensely good fun to listen to (and drink to), and while the band is known for possessing a social conscience and strong opinions, their songs rarely bludgeon you over the head with those, preferring to entertain first and foremost. They've also always expressed an irreverent, cheeky sense of humour in their music.

Not So Tough Now was the last album the band released with guitarist Ben Costello, who was replaced by noted JJJ personality Lindsay "The Doctor" McDougall. It's the band's second album and the first one I heard as a wee teenager.

Let's jump into the review and ponder just what I'm going to do about the 36 secret tracks.

The Album

It's flat out, breakneck pace, ballsy riff and machine gun drumming punk rock. There's little more that can be said, really. Most of the songs are rollicking good fun, with a few songs that can serve as big singalongs (Punch In The Face, I'm looking at you especially). There are also hints of the slightly poppier sound that would inhabit future albums when the band's songs became even more singalongy (that is now an adjective.)

Some songs also showcase the band's ability to pen very clever lyrics. Some are a little witty (Jesus and Not Your Thyme), while others are thinly veiled yet quite detailed and venomous attacks on individuals (the frankly excellent Parasite, which has a go at the type of musical scenester seen hanging on the fringes of bands pretending that they're important, the equally awesome Not So Tough Now which shames the sort of lame poseurs who strut around like they're King Dick until something goes wrong for them and album highlight You Are A Knob are all examples of this). There's also some clever lyrics in Wrong Is Right, particularly this verse attacking popular culture and society's lame acceptance of what celebrities tell us:

How will you judge your contribution to this
Foul Oprah religion of sanitised views
And self congratulation
Who will feast on all you sheep

There are also a couple of songs that are a welcome departure from the super-fast punk rock style. Uncle Ken is still super-fast punk rock but less melodic, and more abrasive, than the typical Frenzal tune; the vocals are barked rather than sung and the guitar riff is like a chainsaw. Then there's Not Your Thyme, which owes more to heavy alternative rock; slow in tempo, a heavier, more laid back drum sound and none of the rapid-fire instrumentation that is a trademark of the band.

As for the 36 secret tracks at the end, well Are You Getting It Yet Secret Track delves deeply into the Nietzchean idea of the ubermensch, while The Origins of Secret Track is a sprawling progressive rock epic that has more in common with the groundbreaking work of Frank Zappa. Secret Track The Gospel Version, however, is extremely disappointing as it promises to be gospel, but is in fact a terrible fusion of Kraftwerkian sounds with grindcore.

The Verdict

Not So Tough Now is an album full of two-minute speedy punk songs, with a couple of departures from the template. It remains a fun album to listen to (and drink to), even if it doesn't have the instantly recognisable classics of later albums. It's not a grandiose artistic musical masterpiece, but punk isn't supposed to be.

Worth a listen if you've never heard it, just because it is a lot of fun and doesn't require a great deal of intellectual thought while digesting its contents.

My rating: ***

Standout Tracks

Punch In The Face

You Are A Knob

Parasite

Not So Tough Now

Tomorrow: THE BEATLES!

(It'll be the first of two albums in the Project. One that I consider their best, the other that is probably their most important.)