Scott "Deluxe" Drake
Grand Mal
Rank Outsider Records
By Dimitri
(SugarBuzz USA)
SugarBuzz Magazine
The first time I tried to quit drinking, I somehow ended up in Chicago, with Flipside's Marty McMartin, the Humpers, and members of Die Electric, and Beautiful Bert, and the Original Suffering Bastards. We walked past some liquor store, and it had an enormous display for DMITRI VODKA. Naturally, I took that as a sign from the dogs, to drink some anarchy juice and get high, and I got really blasted, and spent the night babbling to Billy Burke about Hanoi Rocks, Beasts Of Bourbon, Brian Damage and Cheetah Chrome.
Last time I saw the Humpers, I'd been hanging around at some heinous bar, lookin' all forlorn, cos my loud and mean ex-girlfriend had ditched me for a junkie rich kid, so a bunch of my old punkrock friends kidnapped me, and drove me to see the Humpers. I don't remember hardly anything about that show, other than I was obnoxiously hassling poor ole Scott Drake to perform a Suicide Kings song about his switchblade, later re-recorded by the Vice Principals.
The rest of that night was a blur of my old pal Johnny hittin' on the Muffs chick, Falling James, Cheater Slicks, Tom from the Long Gones (R.I.P.), and me, drinking really excessively. My old bassist, Kid Loser, who drove, got arrested in the parking lot, and Johnny Sex from Snotboy '77 had to drunk drive us all home. Only I had no home, so he just dropped me off back at the bar.
Drunk'n'roll dignitary and Humpers frontman, "Chairman Wow", returns to form with another top-notch rockin’ masterpiece. Every little thing this cat does is magic. Mark my word-in the decades to come, seedy hipsters will rediscover, and venerate his work, like we do the cool shit from the 60's and 70's.
Backed by various Oregon cronies, including original Humper, Jeff Fieldhouse, Drake delivers another album brimming over with garage rock instrumentals and catchy, smartass pearls of his observant, articulate, funny, and inimitable bad wisdom.
In spite of his reputation as a hard livin', streetwise sauce king, Drake's actually a highbrow intellectual, whose clever wordplay, rhymes, and story telling ability are as deft as any rappers'. He's like a punk rock vaudevillian.
When his brother, Jeff, explains that the Vice Principals exploded due to a surplus of genius, it actually makes sense. I'm still hopin' the Vices make another one, someday. 'Til then, we diehards got the Joneses reissues on Full breach, the Humpers (and Rose Tattoo) at this year's Vegas Shakedown, and this essential, sure to please, silver disc on Rank Outsider to soundtrack our summer relapses. More witty drunk tank bubble gum, and sing-along anthems to shitfaced glory, from the real rock'n'roll underground's premiere toastmaster.
Outstanding!