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BELUSHI SPEED BALL – “Toxic Waste Was Everywhere in the '80s”
BELUSHI SPEED BALL – “Toxic Waste Was Everywhere in the '80s”
By Thor
Infamous Kentucky crossover thrashers BELUSHI SPEED BALL returns with a new drummer and a new bassist, and they’re armed with a new LP called “Toxic Waste Was Everywhere in the '80s”!
As much as I love thrash, particularly the crossover variety, this is my first extended listen to this very well-regarded band. From afar, their overt silliness was a put-off to me. I am aware that their live antics are legendary, but that type of thing rarely translates—or even shows up at all—on an album. And I don’t listen to metal to laugh very often.
So, what have I been missing?
My first impression is that BELUSHI SPEED BALL sounds like what would happen if some of MUNICIPAL WASTE started a band with some of GREEN JELLY. Now, one of those bands is a favorite of mine. The other is decidedly not. So…BSB’s approach is a double-edged sword for me.
Most of “Toxic Waste Was Everywhere in the '80s” is comprised of somewhat generic thrash in service to rapid-fire millennial pop culture references that are exhaustingly silly. Every so often an absolute banger of a riff escapes the ho-hum, but it’s quickly snuffed out by the vocalist yelling about boobs and TV shows from the times of yore.
Sonically, the album sounds raw and real, and in that regard it’s refreshing. As a DIY band from top to bottom, BELUSHI SPEED BALL’s output and hustle are impressive. I dig it. I just wish their music landed better with me. But alas, it does not.
FFO MUNICIPAL WASTE, TOXIC HOLOCAUST, LICH KING, IRON REAGAN, and South Park.
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