Felons and Revolutionaries

Album Review

Dope plays a basic style of speed metal while lead singer/rhythm guitarist/songwriter Edsel Dope sings in a raging bass voice reminiscent of Motörhead's Lemmy Kilminster. The sentiments expressed in his uncompromising, obscenity-littered lyrics can be accurately summed up in such song titles as "Pig Society," "S**t Life," "America the Pitiful," and the all-purpose "Everything Sucks." "F*ck tomorrow" is the chorus of "Spine for You," a song that also contains the lyric, "Bam, I'd like to bash you in the head." The unbilled eighth track on the disc is a cover of N.W.A.'s "F**k tha Police." The CD booklet is adorned with cartoon artwork depicting the album's themes, and interpreting the lyrics as comic-book fantasy is the kindest way to treat them. [Some releases add a bonus track, a cover of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record)."]