Psychostick-The Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride

 Rock Ridge Music
2012

It's that time again when, in a post-Thanksgiving hangover, we all pull out the decorations, hang the lights and watch as the Christmas-themed metal albums come rolling in. It's like any other holiday tradition really. With Arizona's own "humorcore" act Psychostick, who (per Wikipedia) once existed under the name "Asinine", are already a band on the fringe so does it count as being extra silly for them to tackle this festive holiday? Well, for starts (and for the actual record) their page points out this little treat "A Psychostick concept in the works for a few years, "The Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride" was released in 2007 as a "Cynical Jab to the Overly Commercialized Holiday Season." As a short follow up to "We Couldn't Think of a Title," Psychostick's plan was to push this as a Holiday EP, thus making it a seasonal record, and they succeeded." So, this one looks as if it has been sitting in Santa's bag for awhile there (possibly fermenting for all the holiday "spirits"?) and sounds ready to be unleashed on all the good little boys and girls.Or is it for all the little naughty children? Good question. Anyway, for a band that is already known for their silly image and warped sense of humor in their songs and lyrics this latest release comes off as less of a novelty then the bulk of Christmas metal albums. Their style is already rooted in punk and hardcore (with all the metal trimmings) which is collectively known as "humorcore" so this release is less of a stretch then normal projects. Sure, they do score extra points for mentioning how they wanted a Boba Fett figure for Christmas (didn't we all?), but when it comes right down to it the music is nice and nasty with tracks like "Holiday Hate" and "Jingle Bell Metal" being a fun listen. Certainly this 8-track release is as rare as tickle-me-Elmo once was at Christmas time as far as being a novelty AND being a tolerated listen. Whether you love or loathe the holidays this is still a nice little slab of top-notch "humorcore"!

















http://psychostick.bandcamp.com/album/the-flesh-eating-rollerskate-holiday-joyride