S K R A T C H a m o n t h l y m u s i c m a g a z i n e
Lung Cookie
Zymurgy
Naked Jain Records
REVIEW
By Mel Torment
And out of left field, almost completely unannounced, Lung Cookie's solid debut album, "Zymurgy" offers 16 tracks of solidly well executed punk, of which at least nine deal with beer and or alcohol.
The cover features a mini-man in a crumpet life-raft floating in a mug of beer, and the back shot shows the boys randomly tapping kegs in the old Costa Mesa Stag. Anyone beginning to sense the emergence of a theme?
While the need for another alcohol fueled punk band is openly debatable (sic Brain Damaged, P-Town & how many others?) Lung Cookie neither posts a drunken facade, nor attempts to downplay the obvious drawbacks of such a sodden existence ("Barfly" and "Sorry").
Because the musicianship is so damn good on this album. The good time feel of most of these songs override the obvious shallowness of a lot of the subject matter ("Blindness"... avoids the problem entirely).
Drunken lifestyles not withstanding, Lung Cookie foresakes punk rock formula for musical diversity that is punk because they manage to convey an obvious passion and fire for life. Ripping in such a way that it is obvious they don't really care what anyone else may think.
Songs like the ripping opener "Just Ain't Me", feature a sick-ass bass/drumming combo that never goes away the entire album, and there is enough churning guitar to keep the melody lines alive with energy and fire ("Got Away", "Useless") even when Lung Cookie is not cracking at break-neck speed.
Don't think that there isn't a sense of humor here as well; witness the subtle irony of the heartfelt ballad of, "Beer", with the live SD sample, or the finely honed Jimmy Buffet cover, "Margaritaville". On second thought....... forget the cover and rock out to the best track on the disc, "Black Water", heartfelt and core.
Lung Cookie speaks for itself on this fine first release. RECOMMENDED.
Splendid E-zine
presents our weekly collection of shorter reviews February 10, 1999
Lung Cookie / Zymurgy / Naked Jain (CD)
Call them a beer-swilling, frat-party-playing bunch of metalheads if you must; just don't call them late for your next kegger! These guys love beer! So much so that they've created a whole CD worth of songs about getting dirt, smashing, stinking, wastedly drunk! At this point a musical description of the disc becomes optional for me because I don't know how better to describe Zymurgy than music to party-hearty by. If you buy it, don't expect witty lyrics or envelope-pushing musical forms or challenging subject matter. There, I've warned you! -- nw
Reviews: All Music Guide
Volcom 1999 Summer Sampler
1999 Summer Sampler assembles a whopping 34 tracks from skate-punk label Volcom Entertainment, the company founded in 1991 by snowboarders Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall. Juxtaposing new and rare material with a cut from each of the label's previous full-length releases, the disc is a great jumping-on point for new listeners -- the sameness of the material wears thin by the end of the collection, but the band names alone (Four Stroke Donkey, Lung Cookie, Beef Recall, and Manbaby among them) pretty much ensure a fun listen regardless. ~ Jason Ankeny
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