| · CITR FM Vancouver DJ, Much Music personality and future Order of Canada recipient Nardwuar The Human Serviette adds yet another batch of idiot savant garage rock to an impressive body of work.
Part Cancon music historian, part pop culture gadfly, Nardwuar is all entertainer. His band The Evaporators continue to toss off, if not brilliant, then brilliantly fun songs in the spirit of the Sonics-era Pacific Northwest and early Canadian punk.
The Evaps are known fondly for moronically delicious one-line wonders like "Welcome To My Castle," but the songs of Ripple Rock are lyrically plump (with the possible exception of "(I’ve Got) Icicles on My Testicles"). Female vocals, in part courtesy of former Cub frontress Lisa Marr (The Lisa Marr Experiment, The Beards), are a welcome complement to Nardwuar’s all-out turkey squabble.
Canuck music history gets a solid shake with songs penned by old school punk bands – Calgary’s The Hot Nasties (best-selling author, former special assistant to Jean Chrétien, Warren Kinsella’s band) and Vancouver’s much-loved The Pointed Sticks. Toronto’s Cardboard Brains, of "The Last Pogo" fame, are given tribute in a ditty of the same name.
As he has in the past, Nardwuar mines the history books themselves for his musical tributes. The title track, in shades of Stompin’ Tom, chronicles the 1958 explosion of Ripple Rock, a marine hazard near Campbell River B.C.
Fans know that enough is never enough for Nardwuar and his merry men. The disc also includes The Squeaky One in "conversation" with Rahzel and Snoop Dogg. The Evaporator’s dub alter ego, Thee Dublins (sometimes Thee Goblins, sometimes Thee Skablins) present five songs and an enhanced CD video package featuring three Evaporators videos and Nardwuar interviews/altercations with Jello Biafra and a host of famous politicians. Now that’s entertainment.
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