MAXIMUM RNR
Horns Up
Independent
· Maximum RNR returns to Calgary, playing the Hifi Club on Saturday, August 20.
They look like a car crash and more often than not, they sound like one, too. A very fast, fatal car crash. No emo, no screamo, no misguided homages to new wave – just unadulterated, raw-throated punk that has more to do with the ’70s and early ’80s than today. It’s been the Maximum RNR formula for a few years and it’s earned them plenty of much-deserved respect.
Horns Up is the newest reason for the ongoing kudos and contains all the dual-guitar ferocity and hell-bent, bastard-child-of-the-Misfits vocals of their previous releases. With the drummer sounding like he’s wired on a mixture of speed and jet fuel, "Trust Us," the first track, crams the razor-tight starts and stops and full-tilt riffing that typifies Maximum RNR into a mere 50 seconds. It makes "Say What," the next track, clocking in at 1:21, seem like a Pink Floyd epic. The whole CD (repeated on the disc to fool you) is under nine minutes. They sure like to keep it brief and brutal.
That makes for great live shows, and while it’s admirable that they don’t let up in their short, violent sets, it’s no way to approach the studio. We all love him, but unless he’s doing it for free, it’s time to shit-can producer Ian Blurton and find a cheap, dank basement where they can afford to record an album that’s at least as long as their live appearances. Yep, 28 minutes of Maximum RNR would be great. Maybe none of their fans back home in grimy downtown Toronto drive cars, but some of us here do. It would be nice not to have to change discs at the first red light.
3/5
(coulda been four, cheapskates)
RICK OVERWATER
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