THE BRAZEN HUSSIES -- 'LIVING IN FEAR OF REPRISALS'
The first Brazen Hussies release kicks off with a song by the other original guitarist/singer Lou McDonnell, "Thin Lips" -- under two minutes long, it starts with a bit of a semi-jangle riff before a more straight up metal solo steps in and it riffs along. The combination of watery thrash and high falsetto seems pretty appropriate even if it's not Dave's song -- it's an aspirational epic with a piano-led coda, even! "Salt Leak," Dave's first song, is even shorter, has chorused vocals, a rhythm section that tends to squash the guitar parts, but a pretty good couple of solo breaks regardless. It's sorta post-Nirvana, really, though I suspect Dave might not appreciate the comparison! "Scrape" is the longest song by comparison and also in ways the most important, in that Dave used the name for his hotmail address that he maintains to this day, along with his blog. It's more distinct and fun than "Salt Leak," with verses that subtly build tension over the ascending chords (nicely inverting the glam descend approach), solos that are additional melody lines, and a good singalong chorus. The production is just sorta there, really, but it's still good fun all around.