5 out of 5

Produced by: ?

Label: Tortuga

Add Scissorfight to the short list of acts who went out on a high note.

Ah, but that comes with some caveats, admittedly: the ‘Fight is still around, but it would be a bunch of years after Jaggernaut that a followup EP happened, and the band was re-vocalized into something that felt like a cover band; riffneister Jay Fortin and bass beater Paul Jarvis still provided a solid backbone, but skins pummeler Kevin Strongbow’s confident, defining stomp and Ironlung’s wide range of singing styles – and semi-aware lyricism – would turn out to be key components, as replacements Ric Orcutt and Doug Aubin are only, apparently, aware of the babes and beer well of writing inspiration and only offer a dependable, but standard, 4/4 beat, all respectively.

So that is Scissorfight 2.0.  1.0, who dropped a small handful of amazingly crass and rollicking countrified hardcore discs, got sharper and sharper from release to release, for the above-outlined replacements, concluding on this album: a masterwork of all the belches and monkey jokes and pirate lyrics that came before, zipped up through tight production and sharp as shit rhythms and riffs, and given a bow of – wait for it – almost radio-ready accessibility.  But that ain’t a knock!  Imagine your favorite bar band who take the proper steps to emerge into the spotlight, never shedding an ounce of their passion or inspiration along the way; no “new sound” shortcuts or cute guest stars or label hops.  Nope: Scissorfight kept growling and releasing on indie Boston labels; kept celebrating fuckin’ and fighting, but then sneaked in the amazing punky, head-bobbing fuel of Funhouse Skull; the singalong cheer of Appalachian Chain.  Still, ol’ ‘Lung is chuckling at us, that he’s ready to tear some shit up in pre-album banter, gawd dammit, New Hampshire all the way, and blowing out the speakers as we celebrate victory over horseshit.

When I joined the Scissorfight fan base with Mantrapping, I knew I’d found a group who just sort of got the balance I’d been seeking of dumb metal and smart metal.  A few albums on, and that dedication was doubly and triply underlined by this freakin’ landmark release, with no tarnishing even possible by the distilled 2.0 ‘Fight variant that was then in the band’s future.