Blunt Force Trauma
I’m not a licensed therapist, but something tells me these guys could use some serious anger-management training. Following in the skull-cracking bootsteps of acts like D.O.A., Suicidal Tendencies, and Sick of it All, Austin’s Blunt Force Trauma is an old-school hardcore band swimming in vintage Y-chromosome aggression. And frankly, the local punk scene could use a few shitcakes of blind gut-rage to counter the alcoholic somnolence that goes hand-in-hand with the oppressive Texas heat. Though BFT celebrates Grampa’s cough syrup on “I Like to Drink,” the quartet’s louder, faster urban battle scenes like “C.S.R.” (a rumination on the doldrums of community service restitution) and “One More Day” (about running the pro-life gauntlet outside an abortion clinic) are more the rule here. Tunes like “You Can’t Gank Me” and “All for Limp E.” demonstrate BFT is also nursing some pretty deep wounds over failed relationships, as evidenced by the latter’s opening lyric, “You’re a big fat stupid slut, and I hate your fucking guts.” Perhaps such sentiments are too ugly for mass consumption, but vocalist Dirty Sanchez (don’t even ask) belts them out with venomous conviction that’s sure to resonate with the woman-done-me-wrong and world-is-shit demographic. And who can possibly argue with the concept of putting anger to work for you?
This article appears in June 29 • 2001.
