Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

These guys have been garnering high praise from fans and critics the world over for being this innovative underground phenomenon bore of a DIY ethic and ol’ schooler mentality.  Playing with reckless abandon, CKY’s “Volume 1” turned a lot of heads, nearly twisting them off with their circuitous jaunts in and out of R & R expectancy, often losing a hold of traditional song structures by way of turbulent flight patterns criss-crossing genres at a moment’s indiscretion… And surprise, they’ve figured out the proper way of self-promotion.  First, jump up and over the mighty “Jackass” series gone big screen legend, become the soundtrack to the self-injurious, then speak out against authority and there it is; the big secret to success—tell kids not to accept direction; works every time.  

Yeah, it picks apart the ol' day one Punk ethic only now more people are willing to listen, and when ya got major label backing that’s caught on to this authoritative role reversal thing, ain’t hard to see how a band just begun in ’98 from a nothing town like West Chester sells a hundred grand and presumably way more this go round.  And they got it together here, with ten mostly solid tracks—I can never comprehend ending an album with a ballad, but I won’t kill ‘em for that—of Hard Rock with the odd electronic effect and catch the wind chorus that strengthen the character factor more than most.  

Think of the ground broken by FNM back in the day specifically in their playing, not so much the merging of Rap/Rock styles which save for a few “hit” tracks, wasn’t always so prevalent—CKY’s a forward-thinking retro-grade group with a voice, vision and off the wall mentality to go for broke and still end up rich. 

“Escape From Hellview” is like the next phase of their monster “96 Still Bitter Beings” sleeper hit from the last record, and yeah, there’s no mistaking that guttural guitar sound that leads the way.  Miller and Ginsburg got their rhythmic riff tradeoffs and timing to their playing not heard since Soundgarden stepped out.  

So on the one hand, “Escape,” “Flesh Into Gear,” or “Attached AT The Hip,” a quickie with another infectious verse, lend themselves to modern guitar Rock, “Frenetic Amnesic” and “Plastic Plan” take a catchier means for fleshing out mainstream viability (Pop? You didn’t hear it from me) with the static, insurgent “Sporadic Movement” coming away with both fists in the air.  

Few bands are bold enough to back up words based on revising Rock music and changing methods of tradition which today reads as a done to death Rock/Rap hybrid and Punk/Pop/Emo discourse hailed as some victorious variety.  But when you got 5 or 600 of ‘em doing it?  Yeah, CKY, obviously inspired by the ol’ Ozzy logo, builds well on a two-decade insight that first led to the emergence of true Rock and Metal musicianship played with spirit and a two shits to the wind philosophy that’s a proven success till the inevitable intrusion of the unoriginal.