SSS

There sure are a lot of youngster picking up ye olde thrash gauntlet and going the old school route. Considering Earache's grand slam in picking up the mighty MUNICIPAL WASTE it should come as no surprise that England's thrash punkers SSS have also found a home on the storied label.

The strain of thrash heard on "Short Sharp Shock" is by no means a carbon copy of the U.S. act though, as SSS injects its "Kill 'Em All" riffs (the tone in particular) and D.R.I. crossover assault with snotty British punk, especially the enunciated vitriol spewed by vocalist Foxy. The album is 17 mostly short tracks (including bonus cut "Black Night White Light") on which the band goes for a straightforward approach, occasionally stumbling onto a killer riff and periodically giving the listener a chorus or lyric into which the teeth can be sunk. "New Dogs", "Overload", and the short, frantic "SSS" (well, most of the songs, for that matter) are all about chainsaw riffing and bad attitude, making the disc quite a lot of fun. Hardly the kind of thing that hurts the brain, the tracks nonetheless provide a quick fix when you have no patience for complicated structures and just want to release some aggression.

The best songs are those that bring the punk element closer to the front though. A speedy, minute-and-a-half tune called "Damaged Goods" features a nutty second vocal that appears during the chorus with only drum accompaniment followed by Foxy's quick shouts of "Damaged Goods! Damaged Goods!" Though not quite as anarchistic, "Monster" features a nearly-spoken chorus of "Face down on the floor, The Ripper's work is done" that is memorable. It's also one of the tracks that include brief and noisy dive-bomb soloing.

It has been a good year for throwback thrash albums and SSS can certainly be added to the list of keepers. Sometimes you just need a furious beat, a thrash riff, and a lot of "fuck you" attitude to get you through the day. SSS should give you what you need.