GUITAR WOLF Missile Me (Matador)

If ever an album could be adequately reviewed without actually being listened to then this beastie, the third or fifth by Guitar Wolf (even the press release seems unusually vague) is it. Observe the booklet photograph of three Japanese dudes in leather jackets and sunglasses. Check out track titles such as "Hurricane Rock", "Kung Fu Ramone Culmination Tactic", "Midnight Violence Rock ‘N’ Roll" and "Link Wray Man". Believe the display when it tells you that these guys cram in twelve tracks in under twenty-nine minutes. Got the picture yet? But give it a cursory spin anyway, if only to sample what has to be the worst sound quality in the history of recorded music: it’s as if "Missile Me" was taped using an answering machine and a very dodgy cellphone. (Still, it’s a great disc to have around the next time anybody starts spouting on about how good CDs sound!). You might also notice that this "fierce garagey hardcore roar", although derivative, lacks for nothing in energy and commitment, and I can quite believe the press release’s wild claims of frenzied-genius live sets. If you’re after a band that make Rocket From The Crypt sound like Steely Dan then Guitar Wolf are undoubtedly the tonic you require. But realistically, who would be?