For: 3rd Degree Burnout From: Stonerrock.com by Kevin - 29/11/01 After spending a depressing hour on StonerRock.com watching Superjudge 69 and the �foe of the day� beat the verbal crap out of each other, I was ready for a little pick-me-up, more than a spliff and a beer could provide. Then I heard the brass-knuckle pounding of the postman knock-knock-knocking on my front door. �Unarmed� I shouted, opening up the door to be hit in the chest by a bundle of tattered mail. Sorting through the usual threats by collection agencies and �have you seen?� circulars, my wondering eyes beheld a package with a peculiar weight, a heaviness if you will, belying its tiny size. Tearing it open with my recently-sharpened incisors, I couldn�t suppress a howl of glee as DAREDEVIL�s most recent slab of dementia slid into my sweaty palm. I love truth in advertising, don�t you? Daredevil�s new disc is called �Big Block Rock,� and it is, my brothers and sisters in rock, it is. The cover is a colorful send up of old z-grade detective magazines, promising �10 all new highway fried, tyre smoked, sonic fueled tales!!-the nice price! YOUR SOUL!� The accompanying photo features a sassy, bikini-clad hottie in knee-high, early 70s Alice Cooper platform boots. She�s resting against a vintage pink Thunderbird, the whole composition set against a psychedelic blue spiral straight from a bad 50s science fiction flick. The back cover shows said car with the hood propped open, revealing a Marshall cabinet in place of an engine, and if there are any lingering doubts about whether these guys take themselves too seriously, just look at the group photo behind the CD. Yeah, they�re having fun alright. Just don�t let them near my kids. Harlan Ellison once wrote that he didn�t take himself seriously, but took his work very seriously indeed. That�s the case here. Fans of Daredevil�s EP, �Third Degree Burnout,� will find plenty to love. That straight-ahead, balls-to-the-wall sound is here in spades. But I also sense a maturity and thoughtfulness in the songwriting that shows how far they�ve come since �Burnout.� I know that many of these tunes have been honed live over the past year, and it shows. Also, some of the songs have a �stonier� feel, at least to these ears. Tunes like �Supernova� showcase singer Dave Tomley�s confident, science fiction-oriented lyrics that make him a natural successor to MM�s Dave Wyndorf, now known at �the OTHER Dave.� Many of us on StonerRock.com have been less than pleased at the direction that the OTHER Dave has taken our beloved MM, but weep no more! A tab of Daredevil will make you forget those blues. Guitar players Troy Scerri and Charlie O�Neill get to strut their stuff on the infectious instrumental �Words Fail,� and there are some nice Sabbathy surprises on �Barely Legal.� I heard recently that drummer Mark Mills has been compared favorably to the skin pounder in the mighty St. Vitus by no less an authority than Nebula�s Ruben Romano, and I can�t say I disagree. Mark and bassist Jason Breitfuss form a solid rhythm section that no man can deny. Never showing off, they provide a solid foundation that really brings out the strong songwriting. Yeah, this is great rock n� roll alright, no nasty additives. If you love vintage Fu Manchu or Alabama Thunderpussy, then do yourself a favor and fork over the cash for this monster at your fave online vendor. It�s the best lift I can think of, outside of a spaceball or two. And speaking of that... ++ Back to Reviews