Radio-Activity

Album Review

With the shriek of a police siren via a bullhorn and lead singer Shelby Cinca yelling, "Evacuate! Evacuate at once!," so begins another Frodus album. At this point, no one should expect close to normal from this now defunct three-piece from the greater Washington, D.C., area that existed from the mid- to late '90s and brought terror and catastrophe wherever it played. While Frodus' swan song, And We Washed Our Weapons in the Sea, showcased a band with great maturity and a sound going beyond anything seen by its fans at the time, Radio-Activity displays some of the earlier material, as well as the cream of the crop from the group's Tooth & Nail release, Conglomerate International. Radio-Activity is actually three radio programs the band did, the first from L.A., the second from College Park, MD, and the third from D.C. While the radio program from L.A. showcases Frodus at its best, the second portion is actually the band's 1997 Swedish release, 22-D10, which was recorded live at WMUC in College Park. Between the tunes is all the fun bantering and Frodus-speak that fans have come to expect. With blistering guitars, screaming/yelled vocals, and some fast as hell drumming, it's easy to see how this self-proclaimed spazzcore (Frodus coined the phrase) act achieved a cultlike following. And doing over 500 shows in an approximate six-year career sure doesn't hurt, either. Definitely a must for fans, and not a bad place to start for those who missed out on one of the more popular unusually creative bands from the '90s.