Nicotine
“Samurai Shot”
(Asian Man Records)
If NOFX were from Kyoto, they’d be Nicotine. Or, I guess, if Nicotine were from California, they’d be NOFX. “Samurai Shot” contains a whopping twenty-five tracks of SoCal sounding punk rock by way of the Pacific Rim. While far from possessing Fat Mike’s sensibilities as a singer, Nicotine’s lead vocalist Howie does a more than adequate job on the mic. Occasionally his Cat in the Hat rhyme scheme gets a bit old, but a decent effort nonetheless. The true genius at work here is Yasu, Shogun of the six-string ax. Yasu’s quick picking and effortless tempo changes are the real reason “Samurai Shot” is worth a listen. Sure, some subtleties of the English language are sacrificed here and there. Sure, some of the tracks sound like they were recorded inside a can of Hormel chili. Sure, “Aquarious” [sic], “My Mom”, and “Motel Hell” are a few of the dumbest songs ever recorded. There are enough hidden gems here to make this one worth checking out. Just don’t pay too many Yen for it.
