The following is a tricky statement --
Jack Endino
's
Permanent Fatal Error
, is a great Seattle-sounding record. See, to those unfamiliar with
Endino
's body of work, it's possible to assume that he's just some other fooler trying to mine the great
grunge
gold rush of 1991. But for those who don't recognize
's name from the back of your
Nirvana
and
Soundgarden
CDs, he's been there from the beginning, as a member of
Skin Yard
and as the producer of the aforementioned bands' debut releases for
Sub Pop
:
Bleach
Screaming Life
. After a 13-year break between solo albums (his last was 1992's
Endino's Earthworm
),
finally got the itch to return from behind the boards and get behind the mic, along with help of
Barrett Martin
(ex-drummer for
Screaming Trees
Rob Skinner
(ex-bassist for
Coffin Break
Josh Sinder
, and
Alex Sibbald
(the drums/bass combo for
the Accused
circa the early '90s), among others. But whereas most automatically associate Seattle's "
era" with slow-paced
Sabbath
rock
,
's latest is full of
hardcore
-like speedy tempos, as evidenced by the album opener
"Count Me Out"
"Elusive."
Other highlights include a pair of
Wellwater Conspiracy-esque
instrumentals (
"Van Allen Wrench"
"Flight of the Wax Tadpole"
), as well as several melodic tracks (
"Bringing Me Down,"
etc.), on which
's voice sounds comparable to
Scott Weiland
. Forget all those third-rate
ripoffs you hear on the radio.
is the real deal. ~ Greg Prato