Choking Victim
“Crack Rock Steady EP/Squatta’s Paradise”
(Tent City Records)
Okay. I’m afraid to admit this, but these guys are pretty good. Why the hell they are just now releasing this album, since both EPs were recorded around 1996, is beyond me. Choking Victim is an ingenious mixture of punk and ska (minus the horns) not unlike the Dead Milkmen, but rougher around the edges. Although the lyrics leave much to be desired, Choking Victim starts off the CD with its rough skank-alike sound. Adding to the ambience is the fact that the first four tunes, collectively called the “Crack Rock Steady EP”, are all recorded live. The last four are cleaner studio recordings, but are just as interesting. Not a band to be taken seriously, they play off themselves like Blink 182. Truly solid bass lines lay down the basis of this album followed by strong, but sometimes uninteresting, guitar work.
