Americruiser

Album review

Americruiser completes Urge Overkill's transition from just another noisy Chicago punk band into a deliberately slick, polished hard rock machine. Butch Vig's production adds an elegant, hard sheen that makes the album flow nicely, even accounting for the occasional moments of quirkiness (such as the country-flavored "Empire Builder"). "Faroutski" starts as tuneless punk and then becomes melodic, shiny guitar pop. "Blow Chopper" is as radio-friendly an anthem as anything Urge Overkill did in their later period. Only "Smokehouse," which sounds like a Butthole Surfers outtake, echoes Urge Overkill's previous dissonant material. If the album has a flaw, it's that the material sometimes blends together too well, which means that the individual songs are less memorable than the overall album, and it may seem that the band sometimes repeats themselves from song to song. (The album also seems way too short, which only highlights how indistinct the tracks are from each other.) Nonetheless, as a whole Americruiser delivers punchy, solid guitar pop and fans of Urge Overkill's later material should definitely seek it out.
© Victor W. Valdivia /TiVo