Reviewed - 01/11/05

Ride With Death
[Dead Teenager]

There are times when a band's moniker is so fitting that it deserves mention all on it's own. In this case, Filthy Jim is everything you'd expect from a band whose name is slang for a used condom. This is raw, loud, dirty, sludgy, doomy, drunken, stoner rock n' roll of the highest (or maybe lowest) caliber. These Kansas parole rejects mix heaps of 70's influences with modern aggression in a mix that's somewhat similar to fellow former label mates Zeke and Speedealer, but perhaps dirtier, louder, and definitely more intoxicated. This is basically stoner rock, but Filthy Jim seem a little unconcerned with genre conventions or being pigeonholed in general.

Filthy Jim's influences are somewhat obvious, but they manage to move within those influences in a somewhat unique way that keeps it interesting and never feels like a retro rehash (something plenty of modern stoner bands need to think about). All the Black Sabbath influences are a given, but there's also some AC/DC groove, hints of Melvin-like sludge, the raw energy of the Sex Pistols, a little of Motorhead's beef, and (surprisingly) a little Ted Nugent for pure flavor. Then they go and cover an Alice Cooper song on top of it all. Sound interesting? Well, it is. Unfortunately for me, that's also a bit of a turn-off in some ways. Their diverse influences are not exactly blended and these songs can bounce around a little too much for my tastes if I'm not in the mood for it. I'm not sure if that's purely intentional or if these guys just have ADD and have self-medicated a little too much. Either way, it's still fun to listen to if I am in the mood and I just know that the average stoner rock fan will eat this up.