review - The High Score's We Showed Up To Leave

knoxville loves scrappy bar rock, and no one produces it quite like THE HIGH SCORE. they're fun and loose, but far from inept. they're funny and exciting, especially live, but in a very natural, unforced way. they take obvious cues from their progenitors, but without resorting to hack re-treading or hollow parody. and where lesser acts may drape themselves in (and hide their incompetence beneath) the flag of obnoxious, excessive drunkenness, the high score seem to have mastered the art of sounding like a perpetual 4-beer buzz. but how well does that somewhat tenuous vibe translate to record?

exceptionally. we showed up to leave, the follow-up to 2003's debut sexy losers, is a damn good indication of what the high score are all about. first and foremost, it pretty much rocks; it's got producer don coffey jr's trademark big, pounding drums and full guitar tones. the rhythm section - dave walker on bass and brad henderson (and, occasionally, original member jason peters) on drums - is tight and compelling. the songs are sturdy and utterly unpretentious, replete with snarls and screams and fist-pumping hooks and searing, grin-prompting leads (the chris cook / robbie trosper dual guitar work in "roky erickson" never fails to get my little fingers a-fretting the air). and between the chunkers and the twangers, there's enough variety in the material to keep you listening the whole way through.

it's not flawless. there are a lot of parts throughout the record, both vocally and instrumentally, that are undercooked or never quite manage the intensity they're due. even so, there's an endearing underachiever quality about that aspect, a kind of "fuck it" attitude that's wholly appropriate. all things considered, it's another in a recent string of soon-to-be-classic knoxville rock records. tap the keg, empty the ashtray, lay out the cheetos, pop this on the hi-fi and you're ready to go. let the stupidness begin.

RIYL: the replacements, thin lizzy, beer

MP3: Back Tonight (3:00)