KILLED BY THE BULL – Failing Is Fun

You know that kid in school? The one that didn’t really bother anyone and kept to himself? Others may have even projected some assumptions of him as a “nerd” or something? Yet that kid had bigger agates than most of the football team? Remember that kid? This band is that kid. Not all obvious, not all aloof and non-existent. They’re there, and when the time comes for them to be heard, they do it, loudly and in yo’ grill.

Punchily strummed out, Killed By The Bull shake out a Dead Kennedys-ish vibe with a System of a Down manner. Not so much in the sound (although “Turn Me Into Dirt” does kick some SOAD moments) but in the presentation and structure of the tunes. It’s frantically theatrical — not in a hammy, cornball way, but in a way that melds well with the whole package and shoves each song at you with upbeat urgency (“More Words From The Prophet”). A Spaghetti Western twist on the song “Amanda O’Dwyer” makes that tune jump up as a mandatory selection for that drive-around mix tape in your 1984 Shit Bucket. Tight, yet not too tight, fun, melodic without the standard melody path of the more melodic bands out there, forwardly punchy without being all macho and shit. Just a solid and different sound.

(Koi Records, 18600 South Parkview #1836, Houston, TX 77084)